Girlfriends

There are women out there who are perfectly happy without girlfriends, I am not one of them. Life has been busy lately and most of my girlfriends no longer live nearby or now are busy with multiple kids. This week reminded me of how much I enjoy getting together with girlfriends. Maybe I feel myself lacking in this area of life because Larry’s so busy lately so I end up spending a lot of time alone, but I think it’s more because sometimes you just need girl talk. I need to know other women understand things I’m going through and I need to feel connected to the world outside of my home.

I got together with Deanna, Greta and Robyn one last time before Deanna moves. We had dinner at P.F. Chang’s and then we just stayed and talked as the restaurant started to empty, and that’s all I need to do with these girls to head home happy; we don’t have to have a fun activity planned, sometimes it’s nice to just talk.

Last night I met up with a larger group of girls to start a quiet book group (an activity books to help kids practice motor skills and keep them quietly entertained during church, etc.). Each girl in the group will be making multiple copies of one page and then we will exchange them to create a whole book full of different activities. I signed up to do two pages so I can make two books so I need to come up with a two-page layout. One other group member is doing a two-page layout and she’s creating a little race track with a garage to tuck the car in when that layout isn’t being used. I signed up to do a two-page layout where one page has flower stems with buttons at the top and the other page has a vase with stems and buttons at the top and you’re supposed to “pick” the flowers and put them in the vase. Some of the other pages will be so much more work though so now I’m thinking I should do something else. I was thinking about doing a clothesline on one page and a boy and a girl on the other page and making clothes you can dress them in or hang on the clothesline, but that may be too much work. My latest idea is a finger puppet theater with a theater on one side with curtains you can close and open and pockets to hold some finger puppets on the other page. I found some patterns for some felt animal finger puppets that look like they wouldn’t be too hard to make. What do you think?

My friend Brittany had an old quiet book pattern that had most of the pages my childhood quiet book had in it and it brought back such fun memories. I’m tempted to just make some of my old favorites so baby Ford can enjoy them too. I’d love to hear any ideas that you have!.