We had a busy day Wednesday, and since Chris wasn’t home for dinner, I let the girls choose whatever…sandwiches, yogurt, crackers, it was simple and easy. Partway through dinner, Maggie got up to wander, and I was just about to snip at her to stay at the table when I realized she’d wandered over to me. She threw her arms around my neck and sighed “I Just love you MOM I’m so glad you’re my mom”

It was totally out of the blue and it was wonderful. She’d had a great day. She brought a friend home after school – it was a half day and the friend got to ride Maggie’s bus instead of her own. This is HUGE in first grade! They played happily all afternoon, even sharing their playtime with Katherine. She was exhausted, but she had a great day, and she threw her arms around me in the middle of dinner to tell me she loved me. It was so sweet.

Of course, an hour or so later, in her excitement about being invited to Riley’s birthday party, she told me “You know, he’s kinda like my boyfriend” Um, let’s go back to sweet and innocent please! You’re too young for boyfriends!

In other news we had fabulous (though much too short) trip to Evanston on Sunday to visit with our favorite Iowa City residents. It was wonderful to watch the cousins play together. A trip to the park, playing on the front porch, reading stories, and a “private” dinner at the “kids” table in the kitchen - it was perfect!

We’ve had perfect weather for the last 3 weeks; Almost no rain, and warmer than average temperatures. We’ve been soaking it up – knowing that all too soon the snow will fly. Almost every afternoon has found us outside raking leaves and jumping in the piles. I never get tired of watching their glee, jumping, tossing, skipping through the leaves.