Celebrating Fall

Little Betty Crocker uses the Kitchen Aide for the first time

"Sifting" the flour and other ingredients

Waiting for the bread to bake

Ellie is so excited and can't wait to try her chocolate tea!

So careful

Fun with Fancy Nancy

After I said, "No more marshmallows."

Today was a great day. Today was a "Mommy and Me" day. Today was a day that I truly relished having a little daughter. I did not hurry through the moments in order to get things done on my list of things to do. Ellie did not whine and push my buttons as she has tended to do as of late. Instead, we took our time enjoying the second day of Autumn and just being Mommy and daughter. It was so much fun.

We woke up and made banana pancakes (for us) and coffee (for me) and watched a bit of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We went to Little Gym and saw our friends and laughed out loud at Ellie's silliness. While Ellie napped, I was able to switch out my summer wardrobe with fall/winter and cook a nice lunch (fajita quesadillas...Ellie LOVES to say this out loud). We tended our garden (LOTS of tomatoes for Ellie and the pumpkins are turning a nice orange just in time). We ran errands and treated ourselves to some time at Borders. We purchased the book Ten Timid Ghosts (we've already read it too many times to count...it's a must-have for toddlers this time of year) and purchased princess slippers ($2.50 at Target...again, a must-have for a toddler girl) and then headed home. Ellie decided what I would make for dinner: pasta with noonals (noodles) and cheese and broccoli and tomatoes. (I laugh every time she asks for pasta WITH noodles...she doesn't understand they are the same thing.) She sat in her big girl chair and drank from her big girl cup and enjoyed the meal that she chose all by herself. And as is common these days, she beamed with pride as she showed off her new independence. Then the fun REALLY began. Ellie and I harvested zucchini from our garden and then baked zucchini bread. I cannot tell you what joy was on her little face. I let her do EVERYTHING from grating the zucchini to cracking the eggs to sifting the flour. She had a ball! While the bread baked, I made "chocolate tea" (hot cocoa) for a real tea party. We used my real pottery and I let Ellie put as many marshmallows in her cup as she could fit. Of course, Ellie insisted that Antsy (Fancy) Nancy join us. What a time we had! By the time we were done, chocolate was everywhere, I was exhausted, and Ellie was in desperate need of a bath. Later, as I sang her to sleep with the same song I have since she was born, I caught our reflection in the mirror in her room. She has grown so much and so quickly, but there is no more beautiful and special moment for me than that one at the end of the day. No matter how the day goes, that moment is always the same: I want to hold her as much as she wants to be held and the rest of the world just melts away. Just me and my beautiful daughter. Thank you God for such a gift. Love to all, Angela