When we awoke, I asked Katie what she wanted to make for our family breakfast. She chose scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and orange rolls. She was a bit torn between pancakes and orange rolls, but the orange rolls prevailed. Ever my little helper, she greased the pan and helped to pull the rolls apart and put them in. We all sat down at our dining room table and let the morning light and time together make us happy. We plotted our upcoming trip to Disneyland (in about a week and a half).
After breakfast, Daddy and Katie read a bit while I did the dishes, and then I took over the reading session, and we read together for about an hour more. A few weeks ago, Katie said, "Reading is love" and I am so filled with joy that she equates our reading time with heart-nourishment and comfort. I hope that reading will always feel that way to her, the way it does to me.
We then got dressed and decided to work on an art project outdoors in the beautiful springtime sunshine. Amie and Boppa gave me a wooden bird feeder with acrylic paints for Christmas, thinking correctly that it would be a fun project for me to do with Katie. I love receiving presents that involve something creative I can do with my daughter, as such projects are now my main hobby. They also gave me a mosaic stepping stone kit. I have a couple of other such gifts as well. But today was perfect for the bird feeder.
We each painted part of it, and some parts we did together. I would paint a base color and then Katie would embellish once the paint dried. We are pleased with how it turned out, and Katie wanted to hang it specifically by the fountain Boppa made. When we finished the bird feeder, we still had some paint left, and Katie asked if she could paint a rock. Of course I said yes, and she went to town decorating her rock. We have a book that talks about a boy who paints rocks with berries and ground pebbles and makes toys from animal hide and is not inclined to be a warrior or hunter like his people. Little Gopher receives a dream vision that his destiny is to paint great scenes for his people, and the remainder of the book is about him fulfilling his destiny. As she painted her rock, Katie said, "I am Little Gopher! I am an artist!"
Katie paints her rock as the finished bird feeder sits nearby...
Working on her rock...
Holding up the bird feeder....
Though difficult to see in this picture, we wrote "Katie" and "Sarah" on the bird feeder...
More work on her rock...After painting, we ate some lunch, Katie napped, and I worked on her Year 3 scrapbook while watching North by Northwest. I definitely need to make sure I have all the pages designed and ready for pictures all the way through to her birthday next fall, since Eric is due in August. I actually have just a few more pages to finish designing, and on some of the earlier pages, I am ready to start attaching pictures (each scrapbook spans from one of Katie's birthdays to the next).
We also cleaned out Katie's backpack today, as some ants were exploring it. It feels so good to tidy it every once in awhile.
It was a fun day with my sweet daughter!
