A More Relaxed Day

Since the last few days have been pretty intense, fitting in gingerbread house activities during every naptime and evening, I wanted to have a more relaxed day today. In the morning the girls played with their fashion plate girl (thanks, Kari, for this!):

The top lifts up so you can "dress" the girl with the fun fabrics included. Kardelen and Sofia love this! (It was one of our best travel activities on the drive to Montana this summer, too.) The girls also had fun with play-dough and alphabet magnets while I tackled the dishes. Although there's still some clutter on the ledges, it feels so good to have the kitchen counters clean again!

We also caught up on laundry. Kardelen even started a load herself! I was in the laundry room taking clothes out of the dryer when Kardelen came in and said, "I want to wash all the dirty things!" So I opened the washer lid for her and she threw them all in! Wow--I hope she'll keep doing this! Pretty soon we'll have our own little laundress!

After lunch the girls "helped" me vacuum. They like to use two of the vacuum's attachments to "vacuum" the floor next to me. I get such a good feeling when the house is vacuumed--it seems so clean and fresh!

I just remembered I called this a "relaxed" day, then I see I've listed all the work we did! I really only hoped to finish dishes, and then see what other activities I might be able to fit in, depending on how the girls were doing. They played together (and by themselves at times) really well this morning, and enjoyed helping me too, so I was able to accomplish quite a bit.

Naptime didn't really exist today. Usually Sofia will sleep 1 1/2 to 2 hours while Kardelen has at least 30 minutes of "reading rest time." Today, for some reason, Kardelen fought it from the very beginning, so I ended up bringing her into the living room with me so she wouldn't wake up Sofia. Sofia woke up not too long after that, so I just prayed that God would give me strength and a good attitude through the rest of the day with my probably-cranky children. (He did!)

In the afternoon Jacob came home from school and the girls played with him before he had to go to work. Then it was off to the doctor (again! it seems we've spent so much time there this fall!) to see if Kardelen has an eye infection, too. Good news--she doesn't! Let's hope it stays that way so we can still have her little birthday bash on Sunday!

After a quick errand and coming home for dinner, I put the girls to bed and got out all our gingerbread house decorating supplies. Yay--here we go! This is what I've done for tonight:

I had to make another double batch of icing to cover the roof with shingles, but it stirs together quickly, so it only took a few minutes. There's some left over for adding more decorations, too, which I plan to do tomorrow and Saturday.

I admit, after seeing how the house is turning out, a part of me is whispering, "Isn't this a little over-the-top for a 3-year-old's birthday?" But I know Kardelen will love it, as she's enjoyed gingerbread books so much lately, and I'm having SO much fun making it! So I'm not going to worry. :)

The gingerbread house has filled the guest room with a wonderful aroma throughout the day. Mom and Dad will feel like they're sleeping in a gingerbread house when they come tomorrow or Saturday!

The well pump went out tonight around 6:00, which means we have no water, so I may change my plans for tomorrow that included scrubbing and cleaning the bathroom. The girls and I should still be able to make cupcakes for the party, though. I promised Kardelen she could decorate them with lots of sprinkles!