Princessey Goodness

Bet you didn't know I had royal offspring.


It's true. Violet and Stella have recently been playing princess every morning. Some days they make wands and dance and 'wish' each other, some days they just lounge on the royal steps and look cute.



Or sassy.

But mostly just cute.


Incidentally, that hat Stella is wearing was mine when I was a kid. I think it's come full circle to being fashionable again.

A sad day

This morning we are going to say goodbye to Misty, the therapy horse Violet has been riding for the past year. Misty contracted Lyme disease, and none of the treatments are helping her. She is in a great deal of pain, and we were told yesterday that she needs to be put down. I don't know if it is a good thing or bad thing that we get a last chance to see her. Mostly, I am worried about my reaction. We have been trying to teach Violet that life and death are intertwined and that death isn't a bad or scary thing. My sobbing might just speak louder than any of that carefully thought out discussion.


We are bringing gingersnaps because Misty loves gingersnaps, and we are bringing her pretzels, because Violet is sure she loves pretzels. I don't know what kind of private discussions those two have had, so it would be kind of boorish of me to insist otherwise.


Misty has been such an essential part of our last year. I don't know where we would be now without her. Our gratitude is immense, and our sorrow is sincere. Thank you, Misty, for everything you have done for us, for being the silent friend and patient teacher you have been to Violet.

Through a child's eyes

I just loaded all Violet's pictures onto the computer, and it seems I haven't done so since February. There were still pictures of shrimp on there. Remember the shrimp?

What I love about Violet's pictures is how they give me some insight to how she sees things and how her complex little brain works. Sometimes there will be 18 pictures of the same thing, from the same angle. Most notably the little bear, the toy airplane and various computer games. She has also launched into the art of self portraiture. And she has no qualms about recording life as it really is, whereas I am prone to trying to shoot from an angle that hides the clutter or whatnot. I have a feeling that before long Violet is going to graduate into a real camera. I'm glad digital is now inexpensive enough that we can get her a camera of her own. But that can wait until Stella is ready for the Fisher Price.









This picture was taken this morning at Violet's request. She made wands for herself and Stella, got them both gussied up and had a princess dance. Nice.