Fantabulous Friday: Bits and Pieces

Hey, friends out there!

• Can you believe that it's almost the end of October?  I can't.  And I can't get enough of the delightful fall days, either.  Does anyone have a pause button for fall?  Because I really don't like winter and the longer we can put if off, the better.  (I should be grateful, though, since by this time last October we had already had two snowfalls.  Brrrr.)
• I've been having weird dreams this week.  Three separate times I dreamed that I got a nose ring (it's a sign...I just know it).  Then I had a dream that I was the proprietor of a flooded cornfield in which I kept hump back whales.  I fed them popcorn shrimp.
• We bought the Beatles Rock Band game this week.  Now, let's make it clear that I am not a video games kind of girl.  In fact, I hadn't even held a controller of any variety until several months into our marriage.  Steve tries to teach me what to do on relatively chill games (like Smash Brothers) and I'm usually sitting there blankly saying, "Now what am I supposed to be doing?  What am I supposed to be looking at?  And which button do I push again?"  This delay naturally results in my getting creamed...and irritated.  However, I got over my video games phobia (or perfectionistic snobbery) long enough to learn how to play Beatles Rock Band and, in short, I love it.  I love that it is something that so many of us can enjoy doing together, too.  Our maiden voyage with the game the other evening found me on vocals for the majority of the time, thanks to a napping HarriEd.  But I did try the drums for a while, and that was cool.  (Maybe my aspirations to play percussion will be realized after all.)
• Today has been a rather crafty day thus far as two dozen Halloween cupcakes made it out the door by 10am and I've been working on making stuff for my art quilting class ever since.  I tried some different techniques while creating background fabric papers and it was so. much. fun.  I'll share pictures regardless of if they turn out well or not.
• Steve and I spent a good portion of yesterday figuring out what it will take to move to St. Louis - things like a moving budget, how to rent U-haul trailers, what we need to do to apply for apartments, if he wants to be full-time or part-time in school, etc.  Just writing everything down and sticking it in a completely dorky paper folder makes my brain feel so much better.  As long as moving continues to be a nebulous Thing of the Future, we don't make any progress on the practical side of life.  But when we start talking and breaking things down into smaller steps, we get lots accomplished.  And I'm praising the Lord for his abundant provision!
• To NaNoWriMo or to not NaNoWriMo.  That is the question.  I know that if I decided for the former, something in my schedule is going to have to take a hike - and it can't be Harriet or the laundry.  The idea for a novel has been simmering (slowly) for about a month, so that's something.  I just don't know what to dooooo!
• I'm going to introduce the first season of Jeeves and Wooster to Steve tomorrow.  Tee-hee.

Have a splendiferous weekend!

When the Darkness Will Not Lift

I earnestly believe that one of the primary reasons that God brought Steve and I together in marriage was because we are both emotive people.  Whether we like it or not, feelings are an integral part of our personalities and many times we act or neglect to act based on these feelings.  While we want to feel good and happy all of the time (and I will say that marriage has done much for us in that respect), we are both prone to battle with bouts of melancholy and depression.  Each of us went through a particularly dark period during our high school years.  For me, the weight of 2.5 years of a depressing cloud was completely overwhelming and seemingly endless.  Now I can see that this experience helps me to understand Steve and that his experiences "in the miry bog" help him to sensitively understand me.  

Interestingly, encountering believers dealing with depression is something that pops up rather frequently amongst our little circle of family and friends.  As a been-there-done-that gal, I'm always eager to gain insight as to how to help others who experience depression as well as how to help others understand what serious down-in-the-dumps can be like (particularly if they are of the naturally sanguine disposition).  Therefore, I was happy this week to read John Piper's little book When the Darkness Will Not Lift.

The Book was Quick and Easy
I really appreciated the short, concise treatment by Piper on the spiritual aspects of depression.  While acknowledging that depression is very much a real thing (major props here...there's nothing as detrimental to a depressed person than for someone to tell him or her that depression doesn't exist or that it is only a spiritual problem), Piper touches on possible physical influences, the role of medication, the vital importance of not confusing justification with sanctification, and some foundational truths to remember when bogged down in the darkness.  Piper incorporates thoughts from well-known theologians and preachers throughout the centuries (Richard Baxter and Martin Lloyd-Jones, for example) to provide a balanced perspective.  At just seventy-three pages, the littleness of this book makes it a more inviting read for those whose just don't feel like handling much more.

The Tone was Gentle yet Convicting
Throughout the book, Piper maintains that depression and the pain associated with it are realities.  Rarely are his suggestions for gaining hope in the fight for joy stated in such as way as to pile guilt onto the depressed individual.  While keeping a gentle tone, Piper is not lax in firmly stating spiritual truth and pointing out areas of possible sin.  I was convicted in reading this passage:

Sometimes the darkness of our souls is owing in part to the fact that we have drifted into patterns of life that are not blatantly sinful but are constricted and uncaring.... We find ourselves not energized for any great cause, but always thinking about the way to maximize our leisure and escape pressure....God has made us to flourish by being spent for others.  Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  Most of us don't choose against this life of outpouring; we drift away from it.

(Eesh.  So true.  That went right along with my thoughts on servanthood verses martyrdom a few weeks ago.)

The Advice was Helpful
The final chapter mentions a few things that those who are not naturally inclined toward depression can do to be supportive for those who are faced with darkness.  Suggestions such as not giving up on a depressed person, continuing to lovingly share truth, and providing supportive friendship all require a hearty Amen!  A brief recounting of how John Newton's persistent yet humble influence on the suicidal William Cowper is both inspirational and encouraging.

I do think that much of the premise of When the Darkness Will Not Lift is based on Piper's other books, such as Desiring God and When I Don't Desire God.  Some of the impact of When the Darkness Will Not Lift may be lost without reading those other titles, but

In summation...
It was a profitable read and I would recommend it to those who battle with depression, as well as those who love them.

(You can purchase a copy of When the Darkness Will Not Lift here.  I actually downloaded the PDF copy to my computer and read it for free.)

Why the Blog

Here's what Edith Schaeffer has to say:

Writing is certainly a medium for communication, as all art forms are.  It gives the opportunity for direct communication, for verbalizing thoughts and attitudes, for speaking truth and putting content into expression....  But one need not feel that writing has to be a career for it to be worth while, nor that it has to be prepared for by formal study before it can be fulfilling to the writer.  If you feel you have an unrecognized talent for writing, or if you simply love to write and want to do it, my advice is write.  But write without ambitious pride, which makes you feel it is a 'waste' to write what will never be published.  Write to communicate with someone, even if it is literally only one person. 

Sometimes I wonder why I blog.

 Is it to acquire a bunch of readers and be tremendously popular in the blogosphere?  (Haha.)  Is it to share craft ideas and recipes?  Pictures of the Baby?  Encouragement from the Word?  Sometimes I feel like I lack purpose...like this funny little bit of the web is just a mod podge of little ol' me.

Then the aforementioned quote starts to sink in: I love to write and this blog is a medium in which I can create with words and communicate with others all at once.

That's why I blog.

Harriet at Fifteen Weeks

"Look at me jumping!"

This week Harriet discovered the joys of the exersaucer.  She is such a get up and go kind of kid that the ability to stand up, jump, and spin around at will is a very exciting thing indeed.  This also helps Mommy tremendously because it gives her a chance to do things like dishes and laundry while Harriet amuses herself.

The exersaucer does prove to be rather hilarious for onlookers as little Harriet's head just barely reaches above the height of the seat, and sometimes she will disappear altogether as she dives for her taggie blanket or for the Hungry Caterpillar rattle and what not.  As the excitement of bouncing around reaches a fever pitch of shrieks and squeals, Harriet meets her expiration date and has to be picked up and snuggled for a while.  But hey, fifteen minutes in the exersaucer is fifteen minutes, right?

I will confess that this past week has been one of the most challenging parenting weeks thus far.  (The exception, of course, being the first few days after her birth in which I was feeling less than stellar.  Why is that?  Why do moms have to go through all the effort of childbirth, be miserable with the beginnings of breastfeeding, and still have to keep a child alive with little to no sleep?  In looking back I think, "What the heck?  That was the freakiest few days of an adrenaline rush that I've ever experienced."  Maybe it's because women traditionally didn't engage in warfare and had to have some sort of super-endurance experience every few years in order to chalk one up to their menfolk.  In any case, this is how God designed it to be...or at least how it works post-Fall.  But I digress quite shamefully.)

I confess that this has been a challenging parenting week because HarriEd's sleep patterns are whacko.  She sleeps so lightly that any movement whatsoever from me causes her to wake up entirely.  Staying up into the wee sma's was cute back in college, but now it really is the pits.  Because intense details of what I have done and haven't done to improve the sleeping of the Wonder Child are really unnecessary for this space, I won't divulge.  However, prayers for wisdom, patience, and a few solid winks here and there are appreciated.  Last night was a lot better, and that's because she was really pooped out and really full when she finally went to sleep.  Hopefully tonight will afford the same happy results.

My dear mother has always said that people don't grow up until they have kids.  I thought smugly, "Oh, yes, that's true.  But since I've had so many younger siblings, I don't need to worry about that so much." Boy, was I wrong.  The inability to do what I want when I want to do it is horribly frustrating at times and it really crushes my gotta-keep-everything-splendid ego.  I think that God has graciously given me a clingy little girl who craves physical affection and full-fledged attention in order to give my progressive sanctification a hearty boost.  Being Harriet's mommy in the way that Harriet needs me is way more important than being Super Crafter or Super Chef or Super Suzy Homemaker.  

And that's just that.

Fantabulous Friday: A Pumpkin and a Project

Ooh, boy, this has been the week of discombobulation.  I blame it on last weekend's trip and the fact that Steve has been home for (get this) SEVEN days.  A little distracted?  Yep, that's me.  All routine seems to have taken a gigantic hike.

Also, I think that the past four months of little or greatly interrupted sleep has caught up with me: I can't seem to drag myself out of bed before 9am.  The laziness of me!  It doesn't help that the darling HarriEd is on some sort of Got-to-Consume-Food-Every-Hour-Or-I-Will-Die kick, especially during the night.  We had a little discussion, she and I, about how she can be perfectly happy for four hour stretches during the day without needing to eat.  There's just something about having Mommy right at her beck and call all night which evokes sensations of extreme starvation.  I'm calling this a growth spurt in hopes that it will go away in a few days.  I'm too tired to try to figure out how to make her sleep more.

(But that sounds like a vicious cycle ready and waiting to happen.)

Anyways, I made a stuffed pumpkin last night for dinner:

It was very yummy indeed - just the right amount of warm, squishy, autumnal comfort food to make us all happy campers.  You can find the super-easy recipe here at Taste of Home.

Some of you beloved readers have inquired as to the Free Motion Personas art quilting class which I am taking (as evidenced by the button on the side of my blog).  I didn't know anything about art quilting, nor did I have a particular bent to learn until my mom plopped the kit for this online class that she received accidentally instead of the kit for her class.  My brother bought the class for me as my Christmas present, and so I'm learning something new!  Art quilting, from what I can tell, seems to be a combination of paper, fabric and fibers, all held together with free motion stitching.  It is so. much. fun, and I have barely begun the process.  Our first assignment was to make our background paper fabric.  Here is my first attempt (probably of many because the process was so amazingly liberating):

I dyed a square of muslin with coffee and then layered different pieces of vintage papers, magazine clippings, scrapbook paper, etc, onto the fabric and saturated the whole thing with watered-down glue.  The blue paper is actually tissue paper which "bleeds" the color when it gets wet.  The envelope up in the left corner was stuck in an old book of mine and contains a grocery list from 1927.  It's just really cool.

This project is fun for me because there are no rules: I have so much freedom to work with my creativity.  It's not about following a pattern just right, or about being judged on some idea, or even trying to create something that someone somewhere will want to spend lots of money on.  Anything goes with art quilting...and it combines my love of paper and fabric so perfectly.  

A new addiction?  I think so.  Sorry, Steve.

Harriet at Fourteen Weeks

Here is Harriet at fourteen weeks of age:

Photos by Auntie Clara

As you can see, Harriet has been working on building up her neck muscles and now she can sit in the Bumbo chair unassisted.  She continues to explore the world through grabbing whatever is closest to her (paper, hair, Mr. Elephant, her pants, and so on) and sticking it into her mouth.  She loves to tell stories and sing along to songs and generally entertain the masses.  Last week involved the beginning of a rather nasty habit of popping on and off whilst eating, along with a lot of aggravated scratching and kicking.  I think that hurting Mommy is not a Good Thing.  So Harriet is learning to redirect her scratching into grabbing my fingers while she eats as well as discovering that messing around results in no food source.  There are consequences, my dear darling girl.

I have been reading a book on infant massage and have been practicing some of the techniques on Harriet after her bath.  Since this affords her more time sans clothing (which is loves) spending time massaging has been a fun experience for both of us.  I really enjoy finding new ways to grow in my relationship with her, even when she is so small.

Harriet did well on her second weekend-long trip as she only had two major screaming fits.  I certainly didn't experience quite the nerve-frying this time around as on the trip to Colorado.  (Maybe I was just more relaxed about taking her on a road trip and that helped things overall.)

Speaking of road trip, there's nothing like a few days away from home to make you feel rather pooped out and unmotivated upon your return.  I guess I was motivated enough to fill a cupcake order this morning, do some laundry, and work on Christmas presents.  But now a nap sounds like a good idear.

You can see the rest of the photo shoot, plus some other random October pictures here:

lifeinoctober

Fantabulous Friday: Kitchen Experiments and Candles

But Amelia, you say, it's only Thursday!  You are right.  However, my weekend technically begins tomorrow, so you get Friday's post a day early.  We are actually going to take a teeny-weeny vacation to watch our mutual friend Justin galavant around a stage pretending to be Jack Worthing.  Not only will that be an amusing experience, but Steve and I will get to hang with old friends and (most importantly) with each other.  We've been living in different schedules for nearly two weeks without a break and so this extended weekend is greatly anticipated.

While making cupcakes is easiest with prepackaged frosting and mixes, I really don't like using them.  Today was the perfect time to experiment with some homemade recipes.  Behold, Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Fluffy Seven-Minute Frosting:

Wow, can I just say that Mrs. Joy's Seven-Minute Frosting recipe is the new love of my life?  It's light and fluffy, wonderful to manage and grease-free (thus making cleaning up a breeze).  This was my first attempt at a boiled frosting...I'm never going back.  And the taste?  Scrummy homemade meringue.  

See that candle in the background of this picture?  I have been (sort-of) participating in Making Your Home a Haven over at Women Living Well, and the first day of the challenge was to buy a candle and light it every day in my home.  (This was perfect because my house usually smells like diapers and dog.)  Aha, thought I, there is an enormous candle in the Grown-Up drawer in the bedroom.  I can participate in the challenge and not spend any money!  I am Super-Homemaker!  Out came the candle, sizzle went the match and I was off to a haven-ly home.

Did you know that candles can go bad?  Apparently.  This enormous candle was given to me at my highschool graduation six years ago...and six years is too long for a candle to be sitting around.  Instead of rich Hazelnut Coffee this candle smelled more like cold PMS tea.  Yuck.

Not wanting to give up on the candle-lighting challenge, I purchased a yummy Cinnamon Roll candle on a niftly-glifty sale.  It makes the house smell so good that Steve even remembers to light it when I forget.  And sometimes Steve remembers to light it and we both forget to blow it out...like a few nights ago when he went to work and I went to slumber party it up at the parents' house.  Brilliant.  Visions of a toasted dachshund danced through my head as I prayed that the candle would just burn out.

It did.  My home was still a haven and not a Hades.

(This week's Making Your Home a Haven challenge of playing music every day is a trifle less stinky...and dangerous.)

Have a good weekend, everybody!  I'm off to actually see the man I'm married to....

Things That Make Me Happy

I have a list about as long as the Sleepy Wrap of ideas for my blog.  I want to write about teaching children about Christ and about our silly candle experiences of late and how the Law is preached more than the Gospel and about how I want to be Edith Schaeffer when I grow up and...things like that.

And I was going to write some sort of brain squishifying post today about having to watch others struggle and wanting to always give the right answers, but I feel splendidly joyful on this perfect Autumn day and writing about depression was sure to get me rather gloomy.  Instead, I'm going to list five things that make me particularly happy today.

Number One: Babies.



Steve and I started watching this documentary last night on Netflix.  It is utterly delightful.  The lack of narration amplifies the simplicity and beauty of the babies as they grow in each of the different environments.  (And, yes, I started crying when the newborn African baby nursed...I swear it gets me every time.)

Number Two: A Cloudless Blue Sky.
Harriet and I went for a jaunt down to the hospital auxiliary Rummage Sale this morning and the weather was beyond incredible.  Why can't fall just stay here forever and ever?  (Getting 25 cent jeans at the sale makes me happy, too.)

Number Three: Cute Engagements.
Clara shared this link about a super-cute engagement photo session with me yesterday.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Can I please get married again so we can take pictures like this?  Steve already has the glasses...

[Amelia runs to get a Kleenex.]

Okay, I'm back.

Number Four: Bungalows. 
Did you know that my darling little house is really and truly called a Bungalow?  Lo and behold, that's what the appraisal papers say.  I've wanted to live in a Bungalow ever since I read about the Moffatts living in a Bungalow...or was it the Pyes?  Man, mothering brain has taken its toll and Google isn't helping me out here.  Anyways, I live in a Bungalow with a hydrangea in the backyard that I didn't even have to plant.

Number Five: The MOPS Steering Committee
Our MOPS meeting was yesterday morning and I was truly blessed by how our steering committee works so efficiently and well together.  I love the maturity, the empathy, the genuine helpfulness and the Christ-honoring spirit exhibited in these ladies.  It makes all of the hard work of planning and conducting each meeting seem like fun!  And it's making me smile a whole day later.

So, tell me: what is making you happy today?

  But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
         Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
         Let those also who love Your name
         Be joyful in You. (Psalm 5:11, New King James Version)

Harriet at Three Months

(In other words, my brain is fritzing out today on how many weeks old Harriet is...but her three-month birthday was on the 9th and I can remember that.)

For some reason she decides to nuke all of her cute chatty faces when I pull out the camera.  Silly girl.

I remember when I played with a friend's three-month-old baby just one day before Harriet was born and how I thought, "Wow, this kid is so big.  It'll be forever before our baby is this big."  Well, it certainly wasn't forever...I know that much.

Harriet is still a bit of a peanut, but you can see some chubby rolls starting to develop on her thighs.  (Maybe she will also inherit her daddy's thin legs and won't have to put up with inherent saddle bags like her mommy.)  Even though she looks small, Harriet acts very old.  She likes to be the center of attention constantly and prefers intelligent conversation.  She laughs at me when I sing to her and she can sit through an entire chapter of House at Pooh Corner.  She is moving on up into 3-6 month clothes.  She can sit for longer periods of time without needing to eat.

Harriet did relatively well on her major car trip.  She slept pretty well in the carseat, but when she was ready to get out she let us know with great vehemence.  I was grateful to be around people who didn't mind if a baby whose needs had been met still insisted on wailing as if I poking her with a hot iron or something.  Mom said that I was more traumatized by the screaming than Harriet really was, but that consolation didn't do much for my completely fried nerves.  Eeeeesh.  I'm glad to be home.

(And we get to go on another three-day trip next weekend.  Ooooh boy.)

I dubbed Harriet a High Maintenance Baby the other day and after reading Dr. Sears' The Baby Book, my suspicions were confirmed.  Basically, she has to be the object of our attention at all times - be it talking to her, carrying her around, wearing her in the wrap, and so on - or she will dissolve into a puddle of crankiness. I am not (let me repeat not) a proponent of letting the baby cry herself to sleep nor do I think that Harriet is being spoiled by all of this attention.  She's a three-month old for crying out loud.  But sometimes it gets a little wearing.


On the other hand, having a clingy baby definitely has its perks.  I love, love, love being able to "read" her and interpret her needs accurately.  I can tell the difference between a sleepy cry and a hungry cry.  I love it that her real routine is just being with me, so I can take her on an extensive road trip, see lots of new people, and sleep in three different places without her freaking out entirely.  I love it that she finds comfort and security in being "worn" and that I can really do anything with her attached to my body (except for showering...that was easier when she was attached to the inside of me).  I love the connection that we have.  I hope it continues for her entire life.


In other news, I'm trying to get back into the swing of home life after being gone for a few days.  My dear sweet husband cleaned up the massive pile of dishes and the house before I got home, so that was a tremendous jumpstart to my day.  He's my hero.

Spectacular Saturday (formerly known as Fantabulous Friday): A Little Roadtrip

 Can you guess where we are?

Out on the porch.

Yep, that's right.  On Thursday, Mom, Harriet and I packed into the red minivan and trekked across the more hideous parts of western Nebraska and eastern Colorado to go visit the grandparents in beautiful Estes Park.  Grandad was having surgery, so we came out to keep him (and Grammy) properly distracted and entertained.

Harriet being her entertaining self.

We like to think that we have been pretty successful since Grandad's surgery went off without a hitch (but with a stitch or two) and Harriet has slept every time we go up and down the Big Thompson Canyon...which has been three times, now.

Four generations.

Highlights of the trip have included:

•  stopping in the creepiest. town. ever in eastern Colorado.  Seriously, girls, lock your doors. 
• spending all day at the hospital.
• eating some scrummy Italian food.
• hyperventilating in Hobby Lobby.
• drinking lots of decaf coffee.



Harriet and Great! Aunt Paula.



 And seeing our wonderful Aunt Paula.  She is the total bomb and we love her muchly.

Harriet doesn't like to be squished.  I don't know many people who do.

Tomorrow we will go home.  I, for one, will be very glad to see Steve even if it is a work night (we weep!) because going for more than four days without kissing your husband should be against the law.

Servanthood vs. Martyrdom

(Blogger is telling me that "servanthood" isn't a word...is that true?  The Merriman-Webster online dictionary thinks otherwise.)

So, yes, servanthood.  I've been thinking a lot about servanthood lately because God used this past week to reveal that so much of the time my genuine desire to serve people is actually self-exalting martyrdom.  And it's not pretty.

"I do everything for everyone ALL of the time," I inwardly wail.  Adding a sweet baby to the scenario of keeping up a house and husband intensifies my heart of a martyr: "No one else has to ever care for her as much as I do and I have to feed her all of the time." And you know what's funny?  While I engage in The Internal Running Dialog of Ultimate Sacrifice, I continue to shove my hands into sudsy dishwater or run to the laundry room to pull out another load of clothes from the dryer...just because I want someone to notice and applaud my (obviously) superhuman efforts.

The truth is that it feels good (i.e. satisfies my stinky ol' flesh) to pat myself on the head and say what a good little sacrificial girl I'm being today.  And it's even better when someone says, "Oh great Amelia!  We couldn't survive without you!"  But is that really serving my dear husband and baby from a heart of love?  Nope.  What it really comes down to is Pride.  That's the difference between serving from a heart of a martyr and serving from a heart of love.

Then I think about how Jesus Christ was the ultimate servant:

...even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  (Matthew 20:28)

And in love he emptied himself so that he could fully serve:

...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:5-8)

 Jesus served and spent himself to the point of death...in love and in joy.

But what about me?  Is there any hope of really serving from love and in joy?  Can the martyr complex really be eradicated?

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Romans 6:6-8)

Because Jesus served and died, my prideful self is no longer enslaved to sin.  I don't have to be a martyr when I face another day of dishes and laundry and baby care.  Through daily reliance on his abundant grace I can serve freely and truly from a heart of love.

Aren't you glad that Jesus really paid it all?  Are you continually amazed at how his death and resurrection makes all the difference in how we live every single day?  I am.

(And I'm glad that Jesus wasn't a martyr.)

Harriet at Twelve Weeks

Click for larger image.

Here is Harriet Alice at twelve weeks of age.  She was not particularly camera happy this week, but that is probably due to the fact that she was all dressed up and cute and trying to poop while I was attempting to get all up close and personal with the camera.  Sorry, Baby.

What has Harriet been up to this week?  Oh things like...
...rolling over
...staring at Flori
...grabbing and chewing
...singing songs and telling stories
...putting up with her mom's new obsession with blog redesign and Etsy
...responding to her name, etc.

She's a sweetie!

Fantabulous Friday: Winnie-the-Pooh

I came home from running errands yesterday to discover Steve and Harriet cuddled up on the couch with this:

That makes my heart happy, yes it does.

Apparently Harriet listened to two whole stories while I was gone (I guess she her reading attention span is longer than her crafting attention span...we must work on this...).  Then we pulled out her very own Winnie-the-Pooh book:

It's so cute.  She loved it and we loved it.

I've been spoiled by things like Winnie-the-Pooh (and Dickens and Austen and Wodehouse and Sayers and Lewis and Tolkien and even McCall-Smith) and I'm having a terrible time finding new books to read that are actually worth it.  What about you?  What's something that you have enjoyed reading recently?  Let me know!