Over the past week I have changed my mind a hundred times about whether or not I was going to continue this series on a weekly basis or change it up all together. I have new rules and goals in mind (that I have already broken), but I have decided to keep going as is. I am excited to see recurring themes, a developing sisterhood, and potentially a more finished house. Leave me a link to any portrait projects that you are doing. I would love to follow along. This year I am going to be linking my project up with this one that I have been following.
Winter has made her way to the south, but she brought the sun with her, so we ventured outside anyways. We often go to this community garden that we refer to as “the chickens” (one of the amusements is feeding the chickens). There is a children’s play area with a large sandbox and a big cob playhouse; it’s one of our favorite play spaces. Winnie finds and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth these days, so I spent most of my time watching her and swiping leaves and small sticks from her mouth. There’s no substitute for constant direct supervision at this stage. She figured out how to get over the ledge of the sandbox without planting her face in the sand and then moments later got sand shoveled into her face by accident. The big kids were playing bakery in the playhouse, bringing muffins and pizza made of sand back and forth to the adults who were putting in their orders. Soon, the kids announced it was closing time and took off to have the snack they packed over by the creek. They alternated hands in their pockets as they tried to stay warm enough to feed the chickens before leaving. Charlotte’s nose was bright red, her lips were chapped, and she was visibly and audibly shivering. She kept ignoring me when I was asking if she wanted to go home until she finally said, “I don’t want to go back home,” in a frustrated threenager tone that gave a clear message of “leave me alone.” Thankfully, the others were as cold as I was and not as stubborn about staying as Charlotte. We walked back and warmed up with a tea party. The pleasant feeling of getting warm almost makes being cold worthwhile.
All Mountains and Molehills 
These photos, as usual, are great!
Thank you, Jeff!