A Secret Garden

You would never know it is winter in Virginia and that we are 3 days away from celebrating Christmas. The weather has been incredibly mild and we have taken full advantage of it. Ada and her "best friend, Nixie Fae" have been playing outdoors most days, reenacting scenes from The Secret Garden, which happens to be the first chapter book Ada and I just finished and then streamed via Netflix. Ada is slightly taken with Mary, the young girl from The Secret Garden whose disposition was improved by digging away in the dirt and spending time with the flowers and animals on the moor. 

Since we clearly don't have a walled-in-garden, Ada and Nixie had to get creative and use the ground underneath the lawn table the previous owners left for us in the backyard. I only stepped outside for a minute to snap a few photos, knowing that my presence wasn't necessary during their imaginary play. I was only sorry to miss the riveting conversation between these two gals.

Thanks to Aunt Bonnie & Aunt Sarabeth for their suggestions of new and creative ways to engage their niece following my recent post about feeling uninspired and bored with our regular activities. I am excited to pass along our old camera to Ada this Sunday thanks to Sam's generous "pre-Christmas" Christmas gift to me, which you can see I have been using liberally. Ada will also receive several new art supplies to experiment with, thanks to Santa who we have been anticipating all month. Ada talks to him every other day on the computer thanks to THIS SITE -- you should make a video for your little one, too. And if you happen to watch the video on the link, yes, Ada asked Santa for 2 cookies and a lollipop this year.

While we wait for new art supplies, we have had fun making all kinds of Christmas crafts, including pomanders, which you can make using the directions HERE, although we didn't cure ours; maybe next year with a little planning.

And this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of this sweet face. I think I may need to lay off of the sweet potatoes, carrots and winter squash for a while. Look at that orange nose!

And just in case you missed it on Facebook -- Ada teaching her Dad how to sing Rudolph!