Snowflakes and Sugar Cookies

Greetings, all! It's been cold and wet and not snowing (phooey) here so I decided to cheer things up with some sugar cookies.

I've never met someone who didn't like sugar cookies, I mean, how could you not like them? They're sweet, and a little crunchy, and they have frosting!!

I decided to make them with vanilla, not peppermint, 'cause we didn't have any peppermint. I also put on some Christmas music, the perfect background for baking Christmas cookies!

While I baked, Kirsten and Charlotte made some snowflakes (paper ones, that is), 'cause we're tired of the lack of snow around here! If we can't have snow outside, we might as well have some inside!

Despite the lack of holiday cheer outside, there has been plenty indoors! We set out our snowglobe and nativity scene a few days ago, and we're hoping to get our tree soon. There's also been plenty of whispering and whisking away of catalogues and boxes, a sure sign that Christmas is near!

Anyway, I do love sugar cookie dough, even if it does have raw eggs in it. Does anyone else eat it anyway? 

"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay..." my sisters and I always sing along to the music, even if we aren't very good!

Cutting out the cookies is my favorite part, especially since we bought some new cookie cutters!

I slid them onto the cookie sheet and popped them into the hot oven!

Six minutes later, I pulled them out again, this time with crunchy brown edges!

While they cooled, I whipped up some frosting, of which I also partook, it's jsut so delicious!

"What do you think of this one, Kirsten?" Charlotte was saying when I set the platter of cookies on the table.
"It looks perfect!" she exclaimed, "but it looks like Becca's done with the cookies, so let's clear the table."

When I came back with the frosting, they had moved the snowflake supplies to one side and were picking out some cookies to decorate.
"These look fantastic!"Charlotte declared.
"Thank you," I replied, handing Kirsten the spatula. "We only have two spoons, so we'll have to take turns."

"That's alright," they agreed, and we set to work. I brought the sprinkles over, too, and we had a grand time decorating our cookies and singing along to all the classic Christmas carols. 

~Rebecca

Carving Pumpkins

Hello all! A few weeks ago, Rebecca came running into the house...

"Girls, come on outside!"
"What's going on, Becca?" I asked.
"Nevermind, just come out and you'll see."

So, we followed her outside, where there were two pumpkins, two large knives and spoons, and a little bucket.
"I bought some pumpkins for carving!" Becca exclaimed triumphantly,
"But, I thought we didn't celebrate Halloween?" inquired Kirsten.
"Well, we don't," she explained, "but I thought it'd be fun anyway. Besides, Halloween is over, this is just for funsies!"
"Sounds good to me!" I laughed, "I'll help Kirsten carve the little pumpkin if you want the big one."

 "Sounds perfect," they both agreed. So, we picked up our pumpkins and our utensils and set to work.

"What do we do first, Becca?" Kirsten asked.

"First we have to cut the tops off so that we can scoop out the insides, and then we can carve something on! Just start like this," and Becca began cutting around the stem of her pumpkin.

"It takes a little while to get all the way around," she explained, "but once you do, you can pop the top off just like - this!" And the top of her pumpkin came right off!

Then, Kirsten began cutting open our little pumpkin, while Rebecca scooped out hers.

"Charlotte, would you mind getting our large pot? I don't think this little pail will be big enough for the seeds."

"Sure, but why do you want the seeds? It's far too cold for growing anything."

"I can toast them in the oven with spices; I've read all about it, they're suppose to be delicious!"

When I came back, Kirsten had removed the top of her pumpkin. 

"Oooh, it's so gooey!" Kirsten exclaimed, pulling out the pumpkin guts.

"And rather stinky, too," I added.

"Do you think it's stinky?" Becca asked, "I rather like the smell; it smells like fall to me."

"Hmmm," she added, "I think I'll give my pumpkin a mustache!"
"Oh, Becca!" Kirsten laughed, "He'll look like Pa Grape!"
"Hehe, maybe he will," I chuckled, running over to see how Becca's pumpkin was coming along.

 When I saw him, I nearly shouted with laughter. "Becca! He looks exactly like the Monopoly man!"
"Hey, you're right! I guess I made his mustache just right."
"Charlotte, what do you think our face should look like?" asked Kirsten.
"Hm, why don't you make him a laughing face?"

"Well, he doesn't quite look like he's laughing, but he does look rather pleasant," she said after a short silence, in which she had been carving.

"I think he looks pretty good," I affirmed.

Then, cold, tired, and laughing, we all picked up our stuff and returned home to eat pumpkin seeds and admire our silly work.

~Charlotte

Washington DC!

Hello Everyone! Charlotte here :)  I recently had the opportunity to go to Washington DC for a couple days, so I jumped right on it!

Unfortunately, many of the official buildings don't allow cameras, so I wasn't able to take many photos, but I thought I'd share the few that I have!

Here I am in front of the Supreme Court, it was so huge and beautiful! I got to go inside and learn all about how the court works, it was quite fascinating.

 And here's the Capitol; it's so grand! The interior is amazing: so many statues and paintings. I love all the architecture and design, it's simply breathtaking. One of my favorite parts of DC was all the quotes from great leaders engraved around the city. The Lincoln and Jefferson memorials were my favorite, but I saw them the day I saw the White House, which doesn't allow any cameras.

Lastly, here I am at the National Gallery of Art. It was amazing seeing so many original paintings, so many are quite large--and beautiful. I think my favorites were Albert Bierstadt's gorgeous landscapes, I wished I could've stepped right into them, like Alice into the looking glass, they were just so lovely. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this quick update; sorry there aren't more photos!

Outfit Details:

Shirt: Janie Jumps

Shorts: Daisy Chains

Headband, flip-flops and watch: American Girl

Until next time!

~Charlotte

Picnic at the Lake

Charlotte here! Per my idea to go somewhere for the weekend we made a last-minute trip to the lake. After a long day of packing and traveling, we decided to have a simple picnic dinner by the lake. 

We had to walk a ways down to get there, but it was a beautiful trek! Everything was green (and rather wet) and there were flowers everywhere. It was also a wee bit chilly, but not too bad. We had just come down some large stone steps when we saw the most darling bridge ever! 

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Becca, running up and leaning over the edge, "Look at this sweet little creek!"

I was carrying the basket, so I couldn't run, but Kirsten went over to have a look. 

"Isn't this bridge just perfect?" she asked.

"It is!" I agreed.

"Ooh, let's play 'Pooh Sticks!'" Becca ran over and got two sticks. 

If you don't know, 'Pooh Sticks' is a game from the Winnie the Pooh books, which we all read when we were little. To play, you drop two sticks off of a bridge and watch to see which one floats the farthest.

I set the basket down and came over to see the fun. 

"Okay, ready?" Becca asked.

"Ready!" we said, and she dropped the sticks.

"Oh-ho! Mine's winning!" I shouted

"But mine's catching up--oh!--oh, now it's stuck on a rock." laughed Kirsten.

We played a few more rounds, but then Becca said she was hungry, so we continued on down 'til we got to the dock, where we spread our picnic dinner.

"What did you pack for dinner?" Becca asked me.

"Well, I didn't have much time, but we have ham sandwiches, watermelon, and milk."

"Sounds delicious!" she replied

"Mmm-hmm" we concurred. 

It was a perfect evening: there was a slight breeze, the sun was just getting ready to go down, and there were ripples going across the lake. As we ate, a family of ducks swam by and we threw them our crumbs.

"I'm so glad we could come!" said Kirsten.
"So am I," Becca agreed, "this is the perfect weekend get-away!"
"Isn't it?" I exclaimed, "d'you hear that frog? He's so loud!"
He really was very loud, singing his croaky song, and he didn't stop once night came either!
Once we finished, Becca wanted to dangle her legs over the dock, so I packed up the remains and we sat by the edge, dipping our feet in the cool water and singing campfire songs, though of course there wasn't any campfire. But those songs are just fitting for any outdoor occasion, don't you think?

Until next time!
~ Charlotte

At The Pool

Hello Everyone! Wow, I can't believe we haven't posted since the 4th of July. Whoops! Well, it's been a pretty busy summer, and it's also been pretty smoky around here; the fires are really bad, so we haven't gone outside as much.

However, a few days ago we did finally get out to the pool!

It wasn't too hot out, so we stood around in the shallow end, chatting and splashing each other. Well, it was mostly me splashing them, hehe! 

"Well, we have about a month left of summer, so we'd better make sure it's good!" I said.

"I can't believe it's already the middle of August!" exclaimed Kirsten, then added, "Hmm, we'll be going to the beach with Gwen and Megan in September...I'm not sure what else we should do. What do you think, Charlotte?"

"I've been looking into play auditions for myself, so I've got that, but maybe we should go somewhere for the weekend!"

I liked the sound of that, and asked "Ooh, like where?"

"I don't know, but we should look into it!" Charlotte replied, getting out of the pool.

"Hey, d'you think you can just get out of the water like that, without actually getting all the way in?" I said, pulling her back in. As we jokingly struggled, she slipped and fell all the way in! But then she pulled me under. Of course, then Kirsten was the only dry one, but just as we came for her she jumped in on her own so we didn't have a chance.

We chased each other around the pool for a while, but then we were exhausted, so Kirsten and I returned to the shallow end, and Charlotte finally got to leave! 

While Charlotte sat on her towel, us two continued to chat.

"I'd say it's been a pretty successful summer so far," Kirsten said, "I've sewn several doll dresses and I've re-read the entire Chronicles of Narnia!"

"I agree. I've baked a ton, and I've practiced piano every week. That's pretty good!"

Charlotte chimed in, "And I've gotten to learn more about designing and acting! I'd definitely say it's been a great summer."

"And it's not over yet!" I added. 

It was so beautiful out, and there was no reason for us to leave, so we stayed there all afternoon, just relaxing and spending time together. :)

I hope your summer's been as spectacular as mine! 

~ Becca

Picking Raspberries

Happy Independence Day, Americans!!!

A few days ago, I'd noticed that the raspberries were pretty ripe so this morning I suggested that we go and pick them for an Independence day pie! We all love pie, so they agreed immediately. 

Once we got down there there were so many raspberries!! Charlotte didn't want to get her hair tangled in the prickly bushes, so Kirsten said she could just carry the large bucket and I was happy to use the pail. 

"Wow, look at these huge red berries!" Kirsten, exclaimed, picking a beautifully plump one. She has pretty fair skin so she wore her straw hat. 

Charlotte stood back with the bucket so as not to catch her long hair, but Kirsten and I had our hair in braids so we didn't have to worry about it. Well, I never really worry about my hair anyway, hehe. 

They seemed to have a pretty good system worked out and they were chatting away when I decided to wander down a little further to find another patch. 

It was super hot out, and weeds kept poking my bare feet, but I didn't really mind. It was just so much fun to be out there picking berries with the bees humming and the chatter of my sisters in the background!

Near the end of the patch, I found a large clump of ripe berries, so I stopped there and started filling my bucket. Not that I didn't pop a fair amount into my mouth as well, they were so warm and juicy!

As I made my way around the other side of the bushes, my bucket was feeling pretty heavy and I could no longer hear the girls' chatter. I was getting quite warm and a little bit tired when suddenly I heard footsteps on the rocks.

It was Kirsten and Charlotte, and they were lugging the bucket full of raspberries between them! They were chatting and didn't seem to notice me, but I figured they knew I was there.

Having filled my bucket, I went running across the rocks to meet them, being careful not to spill my beautiful berries along the way.

Once I reached them, they stopped as well and we set down our berries to rest and admire our work. It was so nice and shady, out there by the bushes, that we talked for quite a while before returning home for lunch.

We had a wonderful time picking raspberries today, and, now that I've finished writing this post, it's time to make the pie! We hope you all have a wonderful 4th!

~Rebecca