Sunny Days & Little Ladies

We've had some sunny days here. Actually, warm, truly warm, sunny days these have been. It's been glorious to go outside without my breath being taken away by a biting wind. Spring may come here after all! Oddly enough this winter hasn't seemed terribly long to me yet. Note to Mother Nature - that does not mean that a fierce late-winter blizzard is needed. It's just that we were able to play in our shirtsleeves throughout October, and despite being cooped up now for five months, despite basically roaming sleeplessly from one cold/cough to another throughout those five months, I am not yet at the point of despondence when I look at the snow in the yard. Today it sounded for all the world like it was raining outside.....that amount of melting was happening. It was wonderful, and I would love if we can make it to springtime now without a blizzard blast or terrible flood fight.

Anyway, we've been in good spirits around here with all the sunshine, especially now that it lasts later in the day.
*As we all played in the yard today, Sunny Mouse began shaking her little behind, bobbing up and down, bending her knees. She explained "I dancing. I show Hubet (the "r" is intentionally omitted for linguistic accuracy). I dance." Hubert was impressed for sure.
*Next, Sunny decided "Hubet" needed to notice the moon. "Look! Hubet, there moon, Hubet!" For the most part, he did try to look where she was pointing.
*Sunny: "Hubet! I make snowman! (more like a snowball) Hubet, see snowman?" Obediently, he did turn and look. He even seemed to make an effort to show doggy-interest.
*No doubt, Sunny appreciated this "doggy interest" since she herself had been dubbed "Whoofy the Dog" for the day. She is fairly volatile when it comes to following directions that Miss Mouse gives, but today she decided to happily be Whoofy Dog. I had to explain that "Whoofy" had stayed in the car at the pharmacy, and the "Little Girl" was coming in with us. Together they decided she would be "Little Girl Whoofy Dog". Hmm...I don't think they quite got my point...

Miss Mouse has been loving our afternoon reading of Little House in the Big Woods. In fact, we finished it yesterday. I did censor some chunks - particularly where Laura did not want to hear the pig squeal when it was being butchered and where Laura was concerned that their calf would be butchered to use its stomach for cheese-making. Laura was fine with the arrangement when she found out it was her grandparents' calf, but I wasn't sure Miss Mouse would be, although I know she would have stoicly bitten her lip and asked a few questions at the time....and then had a crying outburst later in the day about something completely ridiculous. And so I do something I swore I would never do, and I censor.....at some point, I'll stop, but right now...well, she's only four....

She has been enthralled with anything "grown up" lately. The other day, while she was doing the dishes of her own volition, she said to me, "Mommy, I can't wait to be a grown-up. I feel so grown-up when I do the dishes!". She's actually really good at it, too!