A coat of paint for my soul

Painting the walls in the house is supposed to move me forward. If the upper floor of the house looks less like Mom's house I'm hopeful it will help me miss her a bit less and move on a bit further in the process.

So a nifty green and light milk chocolate are the colors in the living room, hall and stairwell.

Now what color do I need to paint inside my head?

Don't get me wrong, I'm doing okay. But clearing out her stuff is still ahead of me and that paint color isn't looking too good.

Unlike Miss Hannigan I'm thrilled to be...

...drippin' with little girls. Adorable, funny, smart, mischievous and lovely. My lovely Bella, of course, doesn't seem small when compared to her three little nieces: Sabina, Iris and Ada. A couple of days spent with them is like a giant mood elevator with a touch of back pain thrown in. I seem to have a bit of trouble when I fold myself into tiny spaces playing hide and seek with a giggly two year old.

Ada has grown so much. She's amazingly calm, a very observant baby and can nearly sit up on her own. She loves to roll around and looks at her 'big' sister with complete adoration. Iris had better start eating a lot or Ada will be as big as she is soon. Speaking of Iris, she's really reading; 26 months old and she looked up at the sign above us and said "aisle 6, Mimi, this is aisle 6'". Wow. She's so funny, can figure things out so quickly and is deeply entranced with ears. She couldn't stop gently tugging on Maggie's droopy mini-dachs ears and seems to really enjoy giving Ada's ears (which resemble mine, poor baby) a pull now and then.

Sabina is more three year old than two now. She's speaking in such complete sentences and expresses herself so beautifully. She is very empathetic and wells up in tears if anyone is hurt or upset. Her curls are changing color a bit but are still more copper-colored than any other shade.

What did I do to deserve these wonderful little human beings? I feel very lucky, very blessed.

Poster board, construction paper and all that

Isabella chose to learn about the solar system and to produce an informational display about it at our 'science fair'. She perused books, the internet and her favorite placemat. She learned a lot and frankly so did I. Astronomy and knowledge about things celestial has grown enormously with the help of super duper telescopes and those amazing space 'probes'.

We learned why Pluto is now just a dwarf planet and what a dwarf planet is exactly. Amazing.

So now it's nearly done, she only has to put a few last details on it. Hopefully the puppy won't chew on the corners or wet on it.

Glitter glue, cool typefaces and a nifty printer assisted her in her efforts. So did her minions - otherwise known as Momma and Poppa.