A Post of Happy Thoughts

While we were back in my hometown for a very sad reason, Lia still managed to enjoy the extended weekend with her cousins. She braved the somewhat chilly Pennsylvania air to take a dip in Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jim's pool. It is heated, but had not yet reached the optimum, hot springs-like temperatures we all love. The cold did not slow Lia down in the least. She leaped in without a backward glance and we actually had a hard time getting her little, teeth chattering self out!

Not everyone was as adventurous as Lia. (My mom, Daphne, Annemarie, Aunt Carolyn):

I found this fabulous Candlewick cake stand at my favorite antique shop. I can't wait to use it!

Today, I received a delivery from some of my co-workers of this lovely fruit basket. I truly work with the most wonderful, thoughtful people. The students whose lives they touch everyday are surely blessed and I consider myself very lucky to call them all friend.

Finally, I used this rainy Monday afternoon to bake cookies with Lia. She is thoroughly enamored with all of the letters that spell her name (thank goodness there are only three!), but she is especially fond of the "L". I found this L shaped cookie cutter awhile ago, but had not shown it to Lia yet. She was so excited about her "L" cookies! (*disclaimer: I know you are not supposed to eat raw cookie dough. We threw a little caution to the wind and decided to lick the beaters. We have survived to tell about it and I felt safe in posting this picture! If you look closely you can see the lipstick Lia insisted on putting on when she saw me putting some on.)

After we iced the cookies, I asked her what two colors she would like for the "criss-crosses" and she chose yellow and blue. As I finished the decorating, I realized she had unknowingly chosen the colors of the Swedish flag. I think my Swedish Grandma, who also happens to have had an "L" name would have been very pleased.