It was two o’clock yesterday afternoon.
The two little girls were sleeping, but I knew they’d be up soon.
The dishes were waiting, it was dusting day, and I hadn’t even gotten around to making my bed yet.
On my way to the bedroom Miss A stopped me with a quiet whisper. “Mom do you want to play a Memory game with me?”
My immediate reaction was no. Instantly followed by a mental reminder that I had just prayed the night before about choosing to focus on my girls, not just take care of them.
So I pushed the chores out of my mind and forced myself to say “Yes”.
We sat down on the floor in my bedroom and she quickly spread out all the cards for a game of Winnie-the-Pooh Memory.
She flipped her first card. “Pooh with an umbrella.” Second card. “Piglet with a pinwheel.”
All the sudden my mind jumped backwards four years. Almost half of her life ago.
And I remembered sitting and playing this very same game. Being as descriptive and articulate as I could about the cards. Encouraging her to repeat after me. Hoping to hear her at least try to say something understandable. I knew her little language well, but it was hard for most people to understand her, even at four. She’d only been talking for a year and a half.
So we played games and did flashcards and I hoped and prayed and made myself trust that it would all come with time.
Back to the present. My turn: ”Tigger on a pogo stick. Owl with a fire.”
“No Mom. You mean Owl with a campfire.”
Right. Sorry.
And the game went on. And it didn’t matter that the chores weren’t done. Because me and my girl were hanging out talking.
Sweet little Miss A~2006
For Today… January 25, 2010
Outside my window… mud. Mud everywhere!
I am thinking… it’s impossible to get anything done without some kind of routine or schedule…but how do you have a routine/schedule without becoming a slave to it???
From the learning rooms… re-working the lesson plans, AGAIN. By the end of the year I’m sure I will have the perfect system down. In the meantime Miss E and I had fun making a collage of ocean animals today. There are some crazy creatures down there!
I’m thankful for… this. That there is such amazing hope in the midst of devastation.
From the kitchen… had a big flop trying out a new recipe over the weekend. SO disapointing.
I am wearing…
I am reading…
When summer time came Betsy and Tacy didn’t need to bother with school anymore. They could play all day long. They did play all day long, and they never once ran out of things to do. A day filled all the hours which it took the sun to wheel from behind the white house on the Big Hill, across the vast blue spaces of the sky, to the trees down behind Tacy’s barn. By the time evening came and Betsy adn Tacy were playing games with the other Hill Street children, they could hardly remember the cool morning hours when they had had the world to themselves. But in all the long golden time in between, they never ran out of games to play.
-Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy~Tacy
I know it’s just a story, not real life…but I still dream of my girls having memories of a childhood like this.
I am creating… a fun little Valentine’s surprise for my girls.
I am hearing… Hombre complain about how difficult children’s books are to understand. 
Around the house… trying to maintain a clean house so any free time I have can go to catching up on the photo albums…I’m only two years behind!
A few plans for the rest of the week… Bible study tomorrow…the first since Christmas break. Show and Tell for the kids on Friday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Here’s a picture thought I’m sharing with you…
“It’s snowing time!”
For more daybooks, or if you’d like to participate, click here.
Or leave me a note in the comments… I’d love to hear about your day 
Here’s what we’ve been doing to pass the time while the rains continue to pour forth…
Remember those winter projects I didn’t know how we could find time for?
We seem to be finding our way through that list quite rapidly thanks to this wonderful storm that never ends.
Our snowman now has his own lovely eskimo village…
And we have our own Eric Carle inspired creations on display…
To break things up and get a little exercise, we squeezed in some ballet.
All in all, a wonderful day. Who knew being cooped up could be so much fun?