Catching Up...

Just a few tidbits from the weekend:

Sunday was kickoff to prayer week and we enjoyed having prayer in our home Sunday evening. Though it was a bit embarrassing when Evie went over to Jael, whom she adores, and asked, "Can you go bye-bye now?" She didn't want her to go (and neither did we) so I am not sure why she asked. We are glad Jael has a sense of humor.

Lily is really into climbing. She finds ways to climb up on the couch and gets a smug look of victory once she succeeds. I think she feels more like she is on our level. She also climbs on the stool in the bathroom and shouts into the sink. I am not sure why she shouts into it, but I am sure she gets most of her ideas about how to behave from Evie so that could explain it. My favorite is when she pulls all the toys off the shelf and climbs in the shelf - not the bottom one that is easily accessible - the top one, of course. Then she sits there all hunched over and sort of bouncing a bit. Any notion that she might be cramped or uncomfortable is overcome by the aforementioned smug look. She couldn't be happier.

I wish my brother had been here today to see Evie running around the house with only her undies on insisting that she wasn't cold and didn't need clothes. I am sure it would have brought back memories for him. Sometimes she tells me that her clothes actually make her cold. Did I ever try that one, Buck?

Today it snowed a little and we girls decided to brave the elements so we could go to Walmart while Daddy went to deacons' meeting. On the way to the garage, Evie noticed the snow and, after making sure to get up to her knees in it somehow, decided that she needed to shovel. She retrieved her shovel and began a one-handed swirling motion that accomplished great things from her vantage point. I encouraged her to keep going and then, when she decided we could probably get the van out, we shoved it in a snow pile right next to Daddy's shovel. The look of satisfaction on her face was more than worth the few extra moments spent out in the cold. I love it when she senses that she is helpful - I want to encourage that as much as I can. (The picture above shows her hard at work raking this fall.)

Well, when we got to Walmart, I carried them both to the sidewalk because it was slushy in the parking lot. When I put Ev down, she took a good look at the parking lot and had a very serious look on her face as she took in the scene. It was obvious she considered herself a shoveling expert now because she looked at me and said, "Maybe I need to shovel here," with a tone of voice that implied that the weight of this task rested squarely on her shoulders and she alone could manage it. We had to table that idea for another occasion.

This trip to Walmart was much less exciting than last time. Evie spent most of the time "going to meetings" and Lily spent most of the time trying to get out and play with Evie. She adores Evie and does not like being away from her - when she wakes up the first thing she does is look and shout for Evie (pronounced "Ehduh" - a rather violent sound usually accompanied by a swift, choppy arm motion) . Lily was not even held off by my lame attempt at distracting her - a pretzel. If only it had been cheese...