Zoey's phone calls

"Hello..."

Because I took this video on my phone and the file is too big to download directly...  see Zoey on YouTube! 

This is us preparing for Fourth Christmas here at the Manor.  Zoey was calling her friends and family in order to get dinner planned. (I figure.)  She called many people that day.  I even took a video of another few calls, but this one is the best!  I simply LOVE this kid and her imagination!

Enjoy!  (Video from early January 2013)

**Evidentally, I shush her and turn my back when I'm on the phone...  "Monkey see, monkey do!"  oops! 

The question.

Tonight after Zoey's bath, prayers, and another chapter from "Adventure Cat goes to School,"  the kitties curled up on her bed with us and we just lying there.  Talking some...  about our kitties.  About other kitties.  About our day at Grandma's for our third of four Christmases this year.  About how we must smell like Calico (the cat at Grandma's).  She told me about playing with Delia and Calico in Grandpa Stan's room.

Then it happened.

She asked the question I can't answer.

"Where is Grandpa Stan?  I haven't seen him in a long time."

I felt like I was kicked in the gut.  Literally...  My gut sank in.  The tears welled up.

"Well..."  I said.  (Thoughts about ...he was sick...  he died...  no, no, that's not it...  ummm...  ummm... She's four.  Don't scare her.)

"Do your teachers talk about heaven in school?"  (Of course they do...  they had a birthday party for Jesus the week before Christmas....)

"Yes," she said.

"What do they tell you?"  and she proceeded to sign and sing a song about heaven.  She showed me the signs.

I could have left it at that...  not really answering her...  but I couldn't.

"Well, that's where Grandpa Stan is...  in heaven."

"Why?" she said...

(Oh boy...)

"Because it was his time to go be with God,"  I said through the tears - trying to hold myself together.

Then we continued to talk about it...  sort of.

I said I missed him and asked if she missed him.  She said No.  That she was happy he was with God and wondered if he was a "siple"...

"A disciple?" I asked.  And she proceeded to sing another song - that I'm not so sure she was sure of the words.... because I couldn't quite catch them.

She asked about my tears.  I really couldn't say much.  Just tried to make it through...  not get too blubbery and hoped not to get her crying.  (She tends to cry whenever I do.)

But she didn't cry.

We just kinda layed there, next to each other...  with the kitties. 

I'm not so good with this stuff...  not good with death or religion or anything. 

But thinking back on this...  I am simply in awe of my sweet little girl.  Four and a half years old...  she remembers so much.  She feels so much.  Is so loving and kind.  so sweet. 

Through the tears, I am blessed.

Daddy, I love you.  I miss you.  You are forever with us. 

Caroling through the streets!

 Last night Zoey and I put rubber soled boots to the road... Our friend Jon wanted to celebrate his birthday with Christmas caroling.  We gathered at Cat's store -with nearly 30 others - and took our show on the road! 

Papers with song lyrics were available and Zoey carried hers around most of the night.  She pretended to read the words right along with all of the adults.  :)  (Rudolph and Bunny ended up hitching a ride in my coat pockets, which I figured would happen...  I suppose that's where the need for backpacks and purses starts... We, ladies, always take our friends along!) 

One of our stops found SANTA.  Poor Santa was sitting all alone in the local gifty/fudge store.  Boy, he was surprised when we showed up with a TON of kids!  (Or perhaps...  he KNEW we were coming... and stopped toy production to see US!)

These pictures were taken with my phone - and none of the ones from outside (our main singing spots) came out clear.  So, take my word for it...  we sang on the street corners, we sang in a bar, a pizza parlor, outside the other pizza parlor...  in front of tons of stores...  even crashed a business holiday party.  Oh, and yes, we sang Feliz Navidad outside Tampico's Restaurant.  The owner was cool about it and didn't make fun of our hideous attempts at Spanish.  :)  Thankfully, when invited into the restaurant, we sang a different song to the patrons.  :) 

Talk of making this a tradition happened...  perhaps we just might do it again. 

The Girl Who Waited

Waiting..  The plastic bag has food in it.  Santa and his firefighter helpers collect items for the food pantry.

Here in our little 'burb, on a Sunday afternoon in December, Santa rides on the firetruck all over the neighborhood.  When we first moved here, we caught this phenomenon by accident.  Now, we KNOW it is going to happen.  We research what exact day the big man will make his appearance and we wait. 

 While we waited...  (She was ready at breakfast; I knew he wouldn't hit our street until about 4 p.m.)  We made cookies.

Every time she heard the siren, she ran to the door and waited.  Ocassionally she would open up the door to hear more clearly.  It was raining, so we had to stay inside until THE time.

The whole time she waited, I kept thinking about little Ameila Pond...the girl who waited.  I find it funny that I always associated Dr. Who and Amy Pond with blues (tardis, suitcase, night time, etc...) But Miss Zoey was wearing head to toe red (Hello Kitty shirt, of course!).  Even the chair was red.

One of my favorites.  She just ADORES Bunny bun bun and was telling him something important... I'm sure.

 

Here's hoping you get to experience some magic this season.  Even if it is through the eyes of a waiting child. 


Pictures taken on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012.

Graham Cracker as Gingerbread Housing!



Today, yes, today!!!  Zoey and I finally made our gingerbread house!  (Our first ever.)  We had a blast!!  

With an egg...  waiting for the eggs to reach "room temp" was the hardest part.  ;)

Loading up Grandma Joyce's sa-weet mixer!

My girl with the sensative ears.  This time she not only stayed in the room with the mixer but right there next to it! (small steps)  :)

Piping the walls.  Zoey really did a lot of the work!  She's quite the little baker/maker!

Our base house (and little snowmen that turned into trees!)

Concentration.  She really did work!  :)

Our stash of candy and things (all "found" items in the pantry)!

Candy on the roof.  (Yes, I piped it.)

Making our bushes and trees.  (Marshmallows covered in icing - pretty cool, IMHO.)

Presenting our very first Miller Manor Gingerbread House!!!



Our chimney is an out-of-date Kashi bar that I found in the back of the pantry.  ;)  Really, it is on straight - it just looks crooked. 

A close up.  One icing/marshmallow tree and a window.  She decorated the windows all by herself and then put the icing on the backs for me to put them on the wall.  :)

This is my first time making royal icing.  I learned quite a bit.  For one, it doesn't take a doubled recipe to ice a tiny house.  2) add vanilla for a better taste... As in, it IS really edible at all!!  and C) I'm interested to find out what happens with the massive amount left over in the fridge....  still usable/tasty?  And this recipe is easy!!  (Would it work on the upcoming wedding cookies?!?  Hmmmm.....) 

Hope you enjoy a timely look!  xo

Christmas 3: Sun Valley

Sunday after Christmas we piled into the little car and drove over the river and through the woods to Grandma Pat and Grandpa Stan's house.  Zoey was 100% better and we were ready to enjoy the holiday.  It had been a good six months since I'd seen my sister and her family.  (We missed Turkey day due to sickness...  we weren't going to let that happen again!  And Zoey was in good spirits to do it!)

Cousin cuties!!

John

My seeester.

Grandma and her fiesta!!!  ...and her hooch!  :)

Keith and his hooch! 

This next one isn't the best picture, but it features some of the best times of the day and since then.  My incredibly talented sister knitted a bunch of vegetables and a shopping bag for Zoey.  They are to compliment her new kitchen from Santa.  Tracy said she thought Z could use them to make healthy snacks.  And boy, howdy, she has!  I hope to take some better pictures of the cutest food ever...  here's hoping that will make it's own post.  In any case, they are probably my favorite thing of all Christmas gifts this year. 

Zoey and her veggies!



This picture is entitled "All pictures of Christmas"  simply because that was the joke...  Keith's head or someone else's (usually his) would end up in just about every photo my Mom took.  Not on purpose, mind you, it just happened.  THIS photo was kinda on purpose.  :) 

I'll end our Christmas saga with just a simple one of Zoey and a present.

We are all so blessed for ALL of our Christmas and Solstice bounties and time together!  Much love to all.  Here's hoping I can get back on the wagon of posting!  Happy New Year!

Christmas 2: Miller's Homestead

Joyce's beautiful tree!

Hello All!  Here's the Part Two of our Christmas Trilogy: Grandma and Grandpa Millers.

After a worried morning at the Manor, we spent a few hours up at the Miller homestead.  We had a very nice time opening presents and sharing some holiday cheer.  Uncle Bill joined us (Sarah spent time with her folks and then joined us later that night). 

How we spent much of the day...  checking the baby's temperature.  She's used to it. 

The game: opening up the kitchen items, dumping them on the floor.  Someone else putting them in a bag.  Zoey dumping them on the floor.  Good times.

Love Zoey's face opening up the dollhouse from Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandpa!  One of my favorite holiday photos! :) 

Grandma doesn't like us to take her picture.  (I think she's afraid, like those people in the historial museum exhibits,  it will capture her soul.)  ;)  So this is a picture of "Little Daddy."  He came with the family in Zoey's dollhouse.  He's quite happy to play as stand-in for Grandma.  (**By the way, I do have pictures of her...  because no matter what she says, someday Zoey will want to have pictures of her Grandma.)

Uncle Bill!

Christmas at the Manor

Christmas at the Manor was a bit different than I had expected this year...  And, I'll start with saying I'm sorry it has taken this long to get any information (aka pictures) to my faithful followers. 

In brief, Zoey was sick.  Normally we go to my Mom and Dad's on Christmas Eve.  This year we decided to extend the holiday and spend the Eve here and go to Sun Valley on Sunday after the big day.  It's a good thing we did.  I'm afraid we might not have caught her sudden fever had we been celebrating and driving back that night.  Her fever came on right about dinnertime.  (And fevers are scary for us with this little one.) 

Christmas morning wasn't met with the bright-eyed toddler experiencing the magic of lights and Christmas goodies that we had intended...  Overnight her fever went up.  Story short:  Zoey spent Christmas morning in the bathtub.  Instead of seeing her Ariel Mermaid doll hanging out of her stocking, Mama got to deliver it to her in the tub.  No seizures, no trips to the Er.  Thank God.  It was the best it could have been for the situation. 

Before we got her in the tub, Zoey threw up some nasty ick.  We called Grandma and Grandpa and woke them up (Grandpa having not slept more than about 45 mins due to sinus pressure or something...) but they came right down in the SNOW anyway.  After medications were delivered, towels acted as fun blankets in the water, and all, Zoey did get her moment to walk into the living room and see Santa's goodies.  Mama and Daddy got to see magic through her eyes.  It was really nice.  I was glad to have the Grandparents here, even if for not the best reasons. 

I kept thinking that day, "What do normal people do?"  As in, I have a feeling most adults, most parents, don't run and call their Mommys (or Mommy-in-laws) when the kid gets sick.  It was probably just a little bug, even if she did fever up again throughout the day, bad enough at dinner that I called the ER trying to talk to someone-anyone about medications and dosing... -Just a bug, because she was better the next day.  Much better.  Better so we felt confident enough to expose her to my Dad.  (That's part 3 of the story... to come.)  But I digress...  We did call Grandma.  We do call.  I call my mom, John's mom...  I ask for advise (sometimes I take it, sometimes I don't).  Do other people do that?  Does it really matter?  I suppose I think too much.  "It takes a village, right?!"  I'm just so happy we have the support.


Our sick baby on Christmas morning.



Daddy feeding Zoey some breakfast while she played on her new slide.  (Even sick kids still play!  Thankfully!)

 Now that I have explained the not-so-fun reasons we will remember this Christmas,  I can tell you we did have fun in the midst of it all.  I made breakfast for everyone.  We got to watch our little girl play.  We opened presents and all the normal Christmasy things.  :)


Christmas wouldn't be Christmas at the Manor without pictures of our furry babies...  This is a close up of Annie.



Here's our fatty, Crinklehead.  :)

Zoey exploring her kitchen from Santa!





Christmas bounty!  Yes, that's "A Christmas Story" on the TV.  We turned it on Christmas Eve night.  We didn't actually get to watch it this year, but that's ok. 



Outtakes!

Here are some outtakes from the mini photo session I pulled together this morning for our Christmas card...  Actually the whole thing could be considered one big outtake - because I was just messing around.  She's not even "dressed up" for a special card.  But then I decided, to just roll with it and order anyway!!  This is real life Christmas, baby!!

I almost used this one as part of the card -simply because it's the face she makes at me a bunch lately.  "Real Life, yo!"

This one is simply titled "Bored."

Too bad this one wasn't in focus - or exposed properly! :)

One of a series of "Runaway" shots....

More evidence of how the whole thing went this morning... :) 

Bribery....

And, just in case you were checking out my house...  We still haven't put any ornaments on the tree.  We might just skip it this year.  Zoey and the cats are doing really well not messing with anything as it is...  and while at Grandma Pat's house, she tried to take every ornament off.  I think I can handle the simple beauty of just lights this year... skip the possibility of something getting broken or eaten or chased around the floor at night (that'd be by the cats).  :)  Or we may put up a few way at the top (like we did when the cats were kittens), but eh...  we shall see. 

And nope, my furniture isn't usually like this...  but moving everything makes a mean area to pretend to ice skate and we frequently move things around for massive dance parties in the afternoon!! 

In the runaway shot you can see the balled up quilts on the hearth...  Usually those are spread out for two reasons...  1) an attempt to keep some cold air out and 2) a slight buffer in case Zoey would happen to fall. 

Oh and none of these pictures have been edited... like at. all.  I'm just not into it - especially without the proper equipment.

Those are just a few of my secrets!!  Happy almost Solstice and Christmas!!