I'm sorry I haven't been writing much, so here's a ketchup letter!
Before the wedding, Aunt Elizabeth came over to try on her dress a lot. Robin and I thought it was really funny, because everyone said the dress was a really nice one and just for the wedding like my flower girl dress, but my flower girl dress had to stay in the closet where it wouldn't get wrinkled but Aunt Elizabeth tried it on all the time.
Grandma Mira told Francie and me she was sorry about the flower girl dresses and made us nicer ones that didn't have to match the wedding, and they were beautiful! Francie loves hers – it's a really pretty blue, and mine is pink and I got to wear it for my school picture.
Mom won't let us watch TV that much, even Bindi the Jungle Girl. Bindi is really neat and has lots of cool animals on the show and it's educational and Robin and I like it a lot. But Mom gets upset when we ask if we can get a pet snake or monkey or lizard or anything neat. I guess the pets we have are enough. Robin loves playing with Butterscotch, and she probably wouldn't get along well with a snake.
Dixie died. Grandma Elly told us she went to a farm, but Dad's been reading us books about death and thought we should know the truth. I wish I'd gotten to say goodbye to her, or go for another run in the yard. She really liked playing with Robin and me before she got sick. Robin wished he could have said goodbye, too, and Eddy was looking sad, so I told them we could pretend she was there one last time and run around like before and say goodbye that way. I almost thought I saw her running around us. It was fun and sad at the same time and we all felt a bit better after.
Robin's getting better at talking all the time. Francie and I have been helping him with it. She plays at our house a lot now, since Aunt Elizabeth and Anthony were busy preparing for the wedding and stuff.
Dad was away in Colorado for a while before the wedding because he was teaching a writing class. He called all the time, so we didn't miss him too much, but it's good that he's home now. Grandma Mira helped us with the garden while he was gone, and even though some of it was starting to get ripe we waited until he got back to pick any of it. Robin and I picked the vegetables and fruit and Aunt April showed us how to make a salad and stuff out of it. It tasted better than anything from a store! But there was a lot of zuchinni and I don't like it all that much so we've still got a bunch of zucchini bread left over.
The wedding was a really long day. We couldn't play before because we were in our good clothes and might get them dirty, but Grandma Mira was nice and gave us some candy while we waited. We got to ride in a limo to the wedding and walk down the aisle while everyone watched and ate a nice dinner after. I was really careful to use my good manners and didn't spill anything on my dress.
This lady who I see Grandma Elly have coffee with sometimes was at the wedding and told me that I'd go into dance and theater which was kinda weird so I said that I liked going to the movies and ballet lessons might be fun and then she gave me this weird smile and walked away saying something about how kids always act up at weddings which I thought was mean because we didn't complain about our ugly dresses or Robin's weird suit or how it was hard for Robin when he had to leave his microphone at home because it wouldn't look nice in the photos and we even thanked Mr. Mayes for the nice limo ride which made him happy.
Aunt Elizabeth told Francie and me and Robin that we'd get a special gift if we were good at the wedding, but Francie and I just got shirts that said 'Flower girl' and Robin got one that said 'Ring Bearer' and that was it.
Mom and Dad went to visit Aunt Andrea for a week right after the wedding, so Robin and I got to stay with Grandma Mira and Grandpa Wilf and had lots of fun. We went to the zoo and got to visit Toronto and Grandma Mira said we could each buy just two toys at this big toy store we went to and Robin got a deluxe Lego set and a spy kit and I got a big toy Wall-E and Eve that can talk to each other!
When we got back, Granma Elly started acting really weird. She made Aunt April leave and Mom and Dad said she could stay with us and she's moved into the downstairs bedroom now. I helped her carry some of her stuff over from the train house. Robin and I were over there once and Grandma Elly was really really weird and called Robin 'Mike' and called me 'Elizabeth' and then 'Janice' and asked Robin if he fed his fish even though none of us have fish. When we got home, Mom and Dad said we couldn't go over there any more which is good because it was really creepy and Granpa John didn't do anything to really help. Eddy didn't want to stay there either, so he lives with us now and I'm really happy because he's my favourite. Dad showed me how to brush him right, and now that's my job.
Dad's been writing a lot (I checked – he's really writing and not playing games) and Aunt April is busy with school and Mom hasn't been feeling well so I'm glad that grade one is easy for me. I usually get my homework done before dinner and then read to Robin or play with Eddy until bedtime. I sometimes help Robin with his homework, because he's better at hearing but still needs a bit of help and I know how to do his stuff because I had it before.
Francie comes over to play a lot now because Aunt Elizabeth is busy with being pregnant and doesn't have time for her. But she let Francie have her cat, which was nice. Francie loves her new kitty and takes good care of her. She and Aunt Elizabeth and Anthony are going to be moving away to Vancouver in a few months which is kinda good because it's a nice city and Francie can be near her mom, but I'll miss her. We can still email and stuff so it's not like it's goodbye forever.
Halloween was very very very very scary. I dressed up as Eve from Wall-E and Robin dressed up as a regular robot and Aunt April and Eddy took us trick-or-treating. We got a lot of candy but I saw this scary old woman following us and when we were almost home she jumped out and scared Eddy and everyone else and she had this puppy and said something I couldn't hear because I was screaming and Robin grabbed on to me and Eddy was barking and then Aunt April took us home and we turned on all the lights and stayed close to Eddy until it was safe.
Great-grandpa Jim got really sick again, but he's as okay as he can really be now and we all went over to visit him for Remembrance Day and I made sure he stayed awake so he could watch the ceremony on TV like he wanted to and he smiled at me! I'm glad he can be happy even when he feels bad.
I went to the mall with Mom and Dad and Robin last weekend and got my Christmas shopping done with a little help. I got Francie a stuffed toy of June from Little Einsteins 'cause that's her favourite character. I got Robin a big toy snake while he and Mom were in another part of the store. I picked out a book of baby names for Aunt Elizabeth because she's going to need it and a real-looking plush kitty for Aunt April because she likes animals. I got stuff for Mom and Dad and everyone else, but I'm going to keep it secret. And I got a box of candy canes to give to everyone in my class and a tree ornament for my teacher because I have a lot of friends this year and don't want to leave anyone out.
Grandma Mira and Grandpa Wilf have been visiting a lot lately which is good but everyone has been kinda sad. I want to cheer them up, so I'm going to go ask Grandma Mira to help me make some Rice Krispie Squares for everyone to make them smile.
Bye for now!
Merrie