under the magnolia tree

 So far this month we had a visit from Papaw and his son, Jackson (pictured in background).  It was a wonderful visit.  Magnolia and George are always thrilled to see their papaw.  We went to Discovery World, out for lunch, and then ice skating downtown.  I managed to have all three kiddos on the ice by myself while George II and George III sat inside Starbucks watching.  Then George IV, Magnolia, and I soon followed.  It was Jackson who stayed out there the longest, seemingly loving his first time on ice skates!  Inside Starbucks, Magnolia stood in line and ordered her first hot chocolate all by herself paying by scanning her daddy's phone.  This made many people in line smile!

 Of course, we are back at the house projects.  One thing always leads to another.  In this case, I removed all of the framed photographs hanging in the upstairs hall to the wall leading up the stairs.  This left a big bare spot upstairs.  I asked George to build a frame and stretch canvas over it.  He then painted it white and set Magnolia up with paints and let her paint!  We love it so much that George did another canvas for George.  Every couple of months we can paint over it and let them do another masterpiece.  :)

 George, like me, has a real love for cookies.  So, anytime he says he wants to bake cookies, I'm game! This morning I asked him to find a warm spot for the butter to get a little soft.  I laughed out loud when he let me to the "perfect spot."  Can you see it?  That little ray of sunshine in our mudroom on a cold January day.  Oh, he is such a corker!

 I had this huge frame for a long time that I picked up at Goodwill.  A few years ago I painted over the art with cream colored chalkboard paint and wrote a quote on it with pink chalk.  One day Georgie smeared the chalk with his little hands.  When I tried to wash away the chalk, it stained so I had to think of something new.  I repainted the canvas, put these stickers on, and then painted it over in pink paint I already had.  When it was dry, I peeled off the stickers.  Now, every time I go to the bathroom I get that song stuck in my head.  :)

 In other news, we have been doing play dates.  Knowing that Magnolia and her friend were going to have to walk the whole way home (almost a mile) because I don't have a big enough car, Georgie and I decided to surprise them with a hot chocolate party.  Georgie chose the crackers and filled the bowls with marshmallows.  I left the hot chocolate warming on the stove.  It was a great surprise to the girls!

 Cheers!

Now it seems winter is settling in and while we don't have any snow on the ground, it is beyond freezing.  So cold we dare not go out and that certainly means no walking!  Hoping it warms up soon before we get cabin fever!

Other things on the burner:  

• Filling our calendar in the months to come, including some travel plans, yeah! 
• Dining room is filled with sewing projects and I have something exciting arriving tomorrow to add to my sewing projects!
• Georgie's room in nearly complete.  I will have to wait for his windows to defrost so I can get good light to photograph!  :)
• Magnolia and I have been working on filling a photo album of our trip to China.  While I was feeling terrible about taking so long to do this, it is actually perfect timing.  I sort and Magnolia puts the pictures in. I tell her about each picture as we go.  We do a roll of film a night and while I love reliving the memories, she loves hearing them!
• George is going to rebuild Magnolia's bed next.  Her headboard is an antique for a full bed.  Her bed is a queen.  He is going to add to it and build the frame to make it all more substantial.  Initially he painted it pink but it's the wrong pink and when it's done, it will get a fresh coat of white!
• The playgroup a friend and I started up in the fall seems to have fallen in a good routine.  We've added friends as we go and meet every other Wednesday and sometimes more often than that.  It has been so nice to have found such nice friends!

Stay warm everyone!