"I wish I could jump in to the book"

Bella, it seems, has joined the ranks of book lovers in our family.  We were reading our chapter of Charlotte's Web tonight for the first time since before Christmas, and she was full of questions about the characters.  She tried to visualize the size of the new goslings in her hand.  And as she looked at the picture, she said that she wished she could jump into the book.  And if she could, she wanted to know what Templeton would do to her (run away) and if the goose would bite her (maybe). We read on, and I wish I had a picture of the look of horror on her face when the old sheep told Wilbur that the farmer was going to kill him.  We were relieved to hear Charlotte promise to save him.  She has a theory about how that will happen.  She thinks that Charlotte might wrap Wilbur in her web to keep him safe, and that she might bite the farmer if he tries to still get to him.  I had to reassure her that I believed that Charlotte was very smart and would indeed find a way to save him.

My Bella

Last night she looked at me and said, "You are Pooh and I am Tigger." I admit it took me a minute to decipher what she was saying, I've been hearing a lot about Deepin' Duty and other princesses lately, so I wasn't following, but when I got it she then added that Gran was Piglet. When Pa walked into the room he volunteered to be Eeyore, but she picked up her nearby Winnie the Pooh book, flipped through it, then pointing to Rabbit, declared that to be Pa's new character. She hopped a good bit and had lots of carroty interactions with Rabbit too.

Today I was asking the kids what they wanted for lunch. Did they want turkey? Anna said, "I'm sick of turkey." Ethan added, "I don't really like turkey." (Really??) Rose, "No, I want peanut butter and jelly." And the whole time Bella is loudly declaring, "I like turkey. I like turkey!" Just in case you're wondering, we had arugula, green leaf salad with Chicken. And she didn't eat it. She did attempt to pick out some of the cheese and chicken :)

She can be a picky eater, but she still drinks copious amounts of chocolate milk. She also likes tea, her second choice beverage, as well as apple juice. She's also starting to eat sticky things, which she previously often avoided because she hates to have messy fingers. Now she eats them more often she just has to have her hands washed frequently while doing so. Apples are a new passion as well. She's been eating at least one a day lately - one day it was three! Every time I turned around she was eating another one!

She loves characters, still plays with her little plastic Lilo a lot, along with the doll house family, Little Peoples characters, her Mega Bloks princesses, and even Polly Pockets and Barbies. She even wore her first couple of princess dresses and watched Cinderella in the past couple of weeks.

Bella is such a cuddler. She is full of energy and often doesn't sit still when I need her to, but I love that she still loves to snuggle. She also still loves to sing. I just taught her "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". I just had to hear her say that word. So cute. I really do think she may have perfect pitch.

And Bella Gracie is still a big helper. A couple of nights ago she "helped" Brian take apart her toddler bed for storage. She said to me, "Look at me, Mommy, I helpin' Daddy." I had to take her picture, so as she helped Brian carry one side of the frame down the hall (she was holding her end up!) she said, "Take a picture, Mommy!" And I had to take one of her carrying the headboard too.

I love that she's talking more and more. Finally. Her sweet little "you welcome"s and "I love you, too"s make my day.

Bella loves spiders

We frequently hear her renditions of the "Tinky tinky pider going up the wahger 'pout". And this is the perfect season for a love of spiders. So far she's accumulated spider pants, shirt, socks, and purse, as well as a Ty beanie baby spider. She was thrilled today while sitting on the potty beside an open window, to watch a spider glide up it's thread and back out the window. Every book that has a spider in it is all about the spider. When she wants a picture drawn in her sketchbook, it's a spider. When she draws her own picture, it's a spider. Obsessed, do you think?

Of course, I love catering to my children's delights (thus the socks, purse, etc...), so I'm plotting a spider costume for Halloween, we printed these out today and adhered them to popsicle sticks, and I found so many other fabulous links that I thought I'd share them here.

And just for the record, she has a few other favorite songs too. Although she seems to have finally gotten tired of "Zaccheus", "Jesus Loves Me" is always sung with much enthusiasm. And the cutest is hearing her voice down the hall singing, "Walking on sunshine, oh-oh, walking on sunshine, oh-oh, walking on sunshine, oh-oh, and don't it feel good - WOO!"

• I'm thinking this could make a really cute t-shirt.
• I love this crocheted set, but I'm not that talented. I was thinking that maybe a few stuffed felt pieces in addition to her new stuffed spider might work.
• These look more doable. Finger puppets and a felt board set.
  

Bella fingerpaints

Her first time!

Nature Journalling: Trees

We finally made it to the park today, despite Bella being up with a stomach ache half the night. She did well and we had a marvelous time. First we fed the ducks and geese a bit. Rice chex. Bella wanted to feed the cereal directly to them. She chased a mallard around in circles trying to get him to take the food from her hand, and finally, before I could stop her, offered it to a Canadian goose, who wasn't very careful about how he snatched it. She was unruffled.

Next we set to work finding examples of the three types of conifer leaves: needle-like, scale-like, and awl-like. The conifers were far outnumbered by deciduous trees, but we, amazingly found the three different varieties all in the same spot. Ethan and Anna Kate drew the different needles, also observing the pollen cones and seed cones and drawing those. Our tree identification book left much to be desired, so they were also drawing the trees' shapes, needles in actual size, and as many other details as possible in hopes that a ranger at the ranger station might be able to identify them for us. As they were finishing, a ranger came in with a school group to the picnic area behind us, and I ventured over to ask him. He identified the trees for us and also gave me a mini history lesson on the tragedy of the American chestnut tree. Fascinating stuff.

Rose was being Rose this whole time, living in her world of daisies and rainbows and drawing in her nature journal. I'm pretty sure she drew a goose - as for the rest, I'm sure it will be a surprise. She also found another tent caterpillar. There's always a good supply of those, which is probably a good thing, since she has a tendency to love them to death.

We then began to try to identify some angiosperm trees. Once again the guide was not a great deal of help. We managed to identify oaks,maples, and sweetgums, and learn about the flowers on dogwoods. We hiked around the lake, and found lovely pink flowers that looked like honeysuckle - and later at home discovered, they were indeed wild pink honeysuckle - pink?! who knew?

Bella enjoyed picking up random rocks, continuing to make friend with any ducks she met and feeding them with the "one for Bella, one for the duck" method. The children had great fun sliding out over the lake on a fallen log until their feet touched the water. They decided that they were lucky to be homeschooled because school kids would not have been allowed to do this. Some days you win...

First Braids

Daddy's happy.

Bella's bracelet

See that little bracelet on her wrist?

That is a Barbie necklace.

She put it on in November.

And has been wearing it ever since.

I thought she would like to try the white Barbie necklace.

I was wrong.

She likes the green one.

Bella loves to slide

This was at the park last week. She climbed the slide over and over, and nearly always said a little "wheee" at the top before coming down. Had to capture the cuteness.

In Case You Ever Wanted to Know What Trouble Looks Like

***

These are a few of my favorite (Christmas) things

Okay, so I'm feeling Scroogish, and I hate to shop, so here are a few of my favorite Christmasy things (off the top of my sleep-deprived head). I'm trying to feel the Christmas spirit here! :^)

• candlelight church services
• getting to wear my jingle bell earrings
• little girls in velvet with poinsettias in their hair
• the Nutcracker
• dressing up
• our Jesus' Birthday party
• the glow of Christmas tree lights
• my nativity on the piano
• the Little People's nativity which Bella presses to play "Away in a Manger" over and over
• gingerbread creamer - and chocolate mint
• The Polar Express and The Nativity Story - especially the scene where Elizabeth greets Mary

What are some of your favorite things?

graphic was a free sample from Dover Publications

Bella Gracie is a helper!

I came in from a freeeezing cold run to the store last night to a verrry hungry Bella. I said to everyone that I needed help unloading the Walmart bags and then we could eat. Brian got up to help, and I don't recall much help from the other children, but Bella astonished us. My petite 19 month old dragged each Walmart bag - probably about ten of them - through the living room to the kitchen one at a time. She also helped unload them. My favorite was turning around to see her standing on a step stool manhandling the loaf of bread up onto the counter above her head. What a good helper!

Bella's ball game

I've made it through four babies without them drinking from the toilet

...until today. And, of course it's the week everyone is passing around a virus. Hopefully she won't get sick again.

Bella Gracie is such a busy little person. She likes to dance on her Sesame Street dance mat, climb onto beds and bounce, watch kidsongs and baby genius dvds, play outside on the slides and with Sadie, cart around stuffed animals, tuck into bed with her little bear Fuzzworth, baby Daisy, and glow seahorse Stella, eat grapes and cheese, drink yogurt smoothies and strawberry nilk, and poop in her diaper right after she's been changed.

This afternoon Bella has...

taken a nap that wasn't nearly long enough

gobbled down her pasta Alfredo

watched her Baby Genius nursery rhymes DVD

somehow figured out how to climb up onto my waist-high bed where she festooned herself in some plastic leis left over from my dad's birthday party

danced on her dance mat

nursed

been repeatedly disciplined for climbing into the teetering floor lamp and power cord laden corner behind her daddy's easy chair

rocked on the rocking chair

poked holes in the soft peaches on the table

danced on the table

had a snack of diced peaches

danced on her dance mat

learned to stack the blocks from her block table, cheering for herself (a very cute habit of hers) and saying boom when they fall

asked for the tropical door fringe decoration hanging over the door frame and when denied it, dragged a step stool over to the doorway in a vain attempt to reach it herself (which she realized before even setting down the stool and standing on it - smart baby)

found and played with her daddy's palm pilot

explored her backyard with her big brother and her puppy

made her mother a little more crazy

Bella feeds herself with a spoon: Joy to Anguish

Southern Snow - A Rare Treat

From Three Weeks Ago: This is Anna Kate standing in flurries excitedly exclaiming, "I have snow on my finger!" (swiped from the bag of mulch.) That was pretty much it for that time.



Yesterday and today were our annual Ice and Snow days for the year. that's about how often we get a snow that you can play in. and it was a good crusty snow this time, perfect for sledding.

that's how far the sled would go

my family loves the way the ice molds, then

comes off the magnolia leaves in imprinted sheets

Anna Kate handed Bella a piece of ice, which

she thought was very neat for about one minute -

then she started yelling about how could it

made her little fingers!

Aunt Eloise's birthday

It started with asking if Aunt Eloise was doing anything for her birthday (a few days before Christmas) and then a request to bring her over and I'd have a cake to surprise her.

But I am me, and they are my children, so it kind of morphed into a bit of a birthday tea party.

Bella thoroughly enjoyed her first tea - I think it was tangerine zinger. :^)