And then you were: two and half

Our little Birdie is 2 and a half years old and is busy as a beaver.  She is chatty as can be and likes to count to ten in french, paint pictures for her friends, sing nursery rhyme songs, dance to the Nutcracker, love her kitties and chase the chickens.  The last month has brought a discovery of baby dolls and now they are "put to bed" throughout the house in various pots, bowls and bags.  She adores her big sisters and wants to be like them.  She does her learning time along with the big girls now and seems to already know her ABCs.  How'd that happen? She is a hoot and a firecracker and we love our Phoebe girl. Some funny Phoebeisms are: pomato (tomato) and permember (remember),  I am busy (dizzy). 

The winter doldrums hit us and so we've been working hard at getting in our walks and sunshine, have taken trips to the local greenhouses, play a lot of music (We are learning colonial band music currently), learning to type on an old computer and send out letters, learning all the local bird songs and cooking colonial meals.  Emmie and Lena have been building Cair Paravel our of snow and ice and were quite distraught when it melted.  Phoebe still doesn't like the snow or ice, but prefers hot cocoa with Mama inside.  The days are overflowing and we're working on being gentle with ourselves and with each other, holding each one closely and rejoicing in each day.

 

Festivities

There have been many times I tried to get to the blog this but the last month has been hard.  We lost a dearly loved "Grandma", (Dubie) to glory. How we rejoice for her and imagine her joy.  And how we miss her.  I hope to have a post with her memories, but it is all too fresh at the moment.  In the meantime, here is a catch up from the rest of December and beginning of January.   We've had many cozy inside days by the stove, imaginary tea parties and snuggles.  A new egg gathering apron has made going to the coop a bit more exciting. We've had weddings and concerts and many a Boston Tea party re-enactment. (We are studying colonial America).  The kitten was given a festive bow and our first Yule Log was made. (This seems to be the making of a new tradition). We saw cousins and took walks and read mountains of books.  On top of that, the tears and hard questions have been taken to Jesus in prayer and we are learning to rest in His perfect care.