Elly Quotes - Santa and Fire

At the dinner table tonight...

Elly (looking at our fireplace):  How will Santa come out of our fireplace?  It has a cover on it.

Lacy:  He's magic.  He can just come through.

Elly:  Oh.  The cover is there so the fire doesn't come in our house and ruin everything right?

Brandon:  That's right.  Fire is very dangerous.  But it's also very useful.  Do you know what useful means?

Elly:  It means something you can use.

Brandon (super proud):  That's right!  That's exactly right!  We can use fire for lots of things.  Can you think of some uses for fire?

Elly:  Candles on birthday cakes.

Brandon:  Yup.  That's one.  What else?

Elly:  Uhhhh...I don't know.

Brandon:  What do we do with fire in the backyard.

Elly:  Oh!  Roast marshmallows!

(We discussed some of the more practical uses of fire as well, but none seemed as interesting or important as those relating to sweets and treats.)

"Sisters"

This is what life would have been like if Elly had a little sister instead of a Brothee.  This is Elly's doing, and Miles just plays along.

Garden

Elly just turned 5, and she also recently started reading and writing really well.  She loves sounding out words on her own, both to read them and to write them.  The other day she drew this garden.

The garden signs read (from top to bottom):
Squash
Carrots
Apples
Strawberries

Then she lists the family members, of course, with "Noo Baby" at the bottom.  Her initials - ECA - are apparently how she signed this particular piece of art.  She also threw in a little portrait of her and me.