Just like her Daddy and I love to do, Katie usually loves to begin her days with reading. I try to wake up before she does in the morning so that I can read even a little. One of the luxuries I miss most in my life is the glorious feeling of reading in bed in the morning for hours, maybe falling back asleep...I think in two years, I've maybe done that a couple of times when Bill has played with Katie in the morning. I really do miss it sometimes...but then again I know a day will come when Katie will have left our home and I will have hours on end to read in bed, and I will miss her. So I just enjoy life as it is right now.
And we can continue the morning reading tradition together! On days when our schedule is more free (as on Sundays), we read for 45 minutes to an hour before starting breakfast. Sometimes we read in Katie's room, and other times we go downstairs and read on the couch.
In this picture, Katie is reading one of her favorite books while I refill my coffee.
After breakfast today, we watched a Disney sing-along and I cross-stitched a little while we sang together. Katie helps to pull the needle through, sometimes. I don't often indulge in my cross-stitch when she is awake, but sometimes on Sundays I allow myself the pleasure of a little time to work it. I love to cross-stitch and I love the sampler pattern my mom drew. When I am done, we will each have the same sampler, but in different colors. Maybe one day I can pass the tradition to Katie.
We like to order our home a bit on Sundays, readying it for the busy week ahead. While I was sweeping, Katie asked for her Halloween bucket. Since she had eaten a good breakfast, there was no harm. Well, this little girl has grown quite adept at unwrapping Hershey's kisses. I saw her unwrap two and pop them into her mouth. I said that two was plenty and I removed what I thought were the rest of the kisses from her bucket so that she could continue to play with the other candy. Several minutes later as I was finishing up sweeping around the corner, I heard Katie become totally silent.
Parents, if there is one thing we know it is that when our children become totally silent, they are up to something. It is almost as if the silence takes on a different feel...it isn't just being quiet... So I go around the corner and peek at her and see that she has found a third Hershey's kiss and has unwrapped it. I sneak over to her and put my face right by hers very quietly, and laugh and ask, "What are you doing?" She turns to me with a big smile, and says very precisely, "I'm just fine!" She makes me laugh so much. Then she held up her kiss and said, "It's a chocolate chip for a mouse!" I love the way she thinks...
A little bit of laundry later, we decided to play outside for awhile and to have lunch in the swingset fort. Katie loved playing with Grover (who used to be mine long ago) this afternoon.
Katie and Grover in the fort. Katie helped Grover go down the slide a few times.
Then Katie pushed Grover in the swing for a bit.
We got the idea to take Grover for a walk in Katie's stroller. Katie pulled out her walking hat and wanted to put it on Grover so that the sun wouldn't get into his eyes. She also made sure he had water (all her own ideas, by the way) because sometimes we get thirsty when we go out for long walks. She is a thoughtful little soul. 
I love my beautiful daughter.After lunch I had some time to work on my real estate studies a bit more. I am now finished with all of the work and quizzes and studying for the second course and am ready to take my final as soon as I can schedule it. And then I will have just one course---Escrows---left before I can sit for my license exam!
