Manners Madeline

Not much terribly exciting is going on in the Cudnik household these days. We are in the middle of another hot, Georgia summer. We really only go outside for walks before 9am and to the pool. The rest of our time is usually spent in the house- making me so grateful for our playroom.

As of late, Jonathan and I have been spending more time trying to get Katherine to use some table manners.  Let me put this in perspective.  Here is a picture of Katherine chowing down on some Moes when she was a little over 1 year old:

Cute, right?  Well, now at 2 1/2, not much has changed.  She almost exclusively uses her hands to eat which makes a huge mess of her hands, hair, clothes, table, floor, and on and on.  We don't expect her to be prepared for tea with the Queen, but we would like to see her use her spoon, fork and napkin- not perfectly- but to be practicing.

Working on manners during meals just added another dimension to meal time- getting kids to actually eat is focus enough.  So, we decided to make it a little fun with Manners Madeline.  S has been inviting us to tea.  Here are some pictures of our tea parties:

The Menu

Manners Madeline and Priscilla

Practicing our Manners

So excited!

It has been such a sweet time.  It gives me some intentional time with Katherine, and it gives us a seperate time to work on our manners.  The trick has been Manners Madeline- who watches Katherine throughout the week and only invites little girls who are using their manners to her tea parties. 

It's so funny to watch how carefully she drinks her lemonade and how dainty she is when handling her tea cupcake and finger sandwich. 

So, we still have a long way to go- she prefers to stick her strawberries on the ends of her fingers and still finds her hands the most efficient way to eat- but the tea parties are helping- mainly because Manners Madeline is always watching.

Where Our Princesses Sleep

I wanted to do a post on the sweetness of little girls' rooms.  My 2 favorite rooms in the house are Katherine's and Abigail's.  I want to always remember the soft colors, girliness and the calm I feel when I am in them.  I know several years from now they will both be teenagers and probably have posters plastered on their walls and pictures of friends in frames instead of their family and parents that right now they think are pretty awesome.  Here are some pics of their precious rooms.

Abigail's Nursery:

Katherine's "Big Girl" Room:

The plates on the wall in Katherine's room are especially sweet.  Mama Anne, who recently passed away, bought a set for my sister and me on one of her trips to England.  It is special to look at that wall every day and think of Mama Anne, how dear she is to all of us, and her travels.

I had to share this precious poem our sweet neighbor and friend, Donna gave to Abigail for her birthday.

 I have to admit- I love everything girly- pink, tutus, dress up, princesses- the whole nine yards.  I think the princess movement (that I am just starting to be engulfed into) is mostly precious.  I love the emphasis on being kind, loving and generous to others and being respectful to yourself and others while waiting on your prince charming.  However, my hope and prayer is that my girls' truly understand who's princess they truly are.  That their heavenly Father is the King of heaven and earth and that in Christ they are adopted daughters of the King, making them princesses.  I have this poem in a special place in Abigail's room where we look at it every day, and I read it to her often.

So, Katherine and Abigail, you both are truly princesses, and I love kissing your foreheads and saying prayers every night tucked into your  princess beds.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  Philippians 4:8