What a busy day we’ve had. First we began with an alphabet craft project, the letter L, for leaves and ladder.

Then we went and got haircuts. After that, we went to the grocery store with $5 of Claire’s money (from her aunt) to purchase food for the food bank. First Claire chose three bags of rice:

She tried to move the basket down the aisle, but it’s big and she had to choo-choo it:

Next she chose two bags of beans:

After the grocery store, we went to the mall to buy gifts for the Family Giving Tree. Claire wanted to choose two little girls her age. One wanted “anything princess” and the other wanted a child’s DVD.

We went to Target, where Claire demonstrated her penguin walk:

Then her eye was caught by a big pink box of temptation. I reminded her of our purpose for being in the store and said that pretty soon Santa would come, and other gifts would come from family members, and so to be patient. She selected Finding Nemo and a Beauty and the Beast Deluxe Bag (small dolls and dresses with a horse and carriage).

We purchased the items and brought them back to the tree, where they will be picked up tomorrow. All that shopping made us hungry, so Claire asked to go to Popeye’s for rice and beans and french fries. We used to eat there a lot when we lived close by; since we were near, we went. We had a leisurely lunch.

Then we went home, where I raked the leaves in the front yard. It was Claire’s first encounter with a pile of leaves, and she loved it! See the sheer joy:

And leaves in her pigtails:

This is all I had hoped for Claire’s childhood — the same joys I was privileged to encounter in my own:

She has now crashed for a late afternoon nap, and I’m savoring a quiet moment myself.