This n' That

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Since I know all the grammas, aunties, etc.. just can't get enough pics of this little chica, here ya go. All dolled up in a new bib I made to match her car seat, and a smaller size more fitting a newborn. Yep. She's the bomb diggity.

And Wow- I guess I shouldn't be amazed at the stamina of darling daughter #1 (it kinda runs in the family), but she's just oozing out determination when something she really wants is on the line. I have written about how frustrated I have been in the past with her seemingly non desire to learn to read. For example, this ENTIRE summer, we have done I think 2 reading lessons from her book I started using back during school. At the end of 10 lessons (there are 100 total) she's able to go pick out a prize. In the past that prize has been from the dollar store.. so what we did was not the usual.

But on Friday of last week out of the clear blue sky, Lena wanted to finish a line (of 10) of her lessons. According to her chart she was 8 lessons away from a prize. She wanted to do them all-8 full reading lessons- in ONE day. They each take like 1/2 hour to finish. We did almost 6 on Friday. On Saturday we did the remaining 2, and as a reward for her perseverance, we took her and her build a bear, over to the store and she got to buy a new outfit for her poodle. She was pretty excited. And even though her desire to do her reading lessons is more fueled by her desire to get the prize right now... I at least feel so much more confident that she DOES have the skills and she will be okay and will learn to read. And surely she will eventually (hopefully) enjoy it as much as I do.

This "alfresco" shopping center below is seriously one of my favorite reasons for living where we do. I am less than 10 minutes away from this fabulous haven. Honestly it feels like I never come here to actually shop much, as having 3 tagalongs makes my ability to shop pretty much go down the drain..but just browsing around, walking, enjoying the restaurants and people watching is just such a treat in and of itself. And getting some delightful Italian ice, too. There are so many different nationalities of people to see there, in our predominantly white Midwestern town, it almost for a moment feels like we are in a big city like New York. It's really really cool. I love that feeling.

Another fun tidbit is that we just got this book in the mail created by this guy. Lena came up with her recipe for cheese for the book, and here it is! What fun! oh and p.s. if anyone (family)wants a copy I can get you one for a discount! Just let me know!