Raising An Amara-Goose

Steve judging me for trying to dress up Amara's plate

 When you hear me call her goose, it's a shortened form of Amara-goose which was a nickname that came about from her being such a silly-goose.  She's a lot of fun and silly.  She loves humor and her favorite show is Studio C, a comedy sketch show on BYU-TV.  She can repeat to you verbatim just about any sketch they've done.

She's silly at dinnertime in a different way, a not so funny way.  She frequently does not like what is made for dinner, and makes ugly faces at me when I tell her what I've made.  Well, a few months ago, I took a different approach to a dinner she hates, Hawaiian Haystacks.  I decided to make her a special plate that looked elegant to see if it would make her happier.  Sure enough, I brought her the done-up haystack and she smiled and was actually excited to eat it. Lily was amazed and asked me to make her one too.  She grabbed my phone and took plate pictures.

Lily's plate

Our Spontaneous Event Planner

If you look around our house right now you will spot handmade flyers on the piano and the living room wall advertising an upcoming dance performance for next Saturday.  If you look on the girl's bedroom door you will see another handmade paper that says C-Girls Dance Studio, another of Amara's creations.  There's always some new event or activity that she's busy creating.  Today I share with you a carnival she threw together one day.  She set up all her stations, then she went around the house, handing out a flyer to each of us, inviting us to come to her "carnivle."

Her very enticing flyer

 She created a fishing pond in our office by blocking it with one of our barstools draped with a blanket.  The fishing pole was a paintbrush with yarn tied to it. When we went fishing, we got a fish with a quarter taped to it!  Steve liked going fishing!

Another station was "Guess Which Cup."  She would hide a quarter under a cup and mix them all up and have you guess which cup it was under.  Steve was good at this game because he could find incongruences with the cups and win every time. 

Then there was the Knock Down Shooter game where you were given a ball and tried to knock down the pyramid of playdoh canisters stacked up at the end of the entry.

Fortune Telling was a fun one!  You got to go in the girls' room and sit on a pillow across from the fortune teller (Amara got all dressed up).  Then she would look into her crystal ball (a painted glass ball Steve got from his uncle in China) and tell your fortune. 

Our Cute Harvest Queen

She has always loved growing things and harvesting. When I need someone to spot cucumbers hiding in the leaves, she's who I call.  One of her favorite things we grow is the strawberries.  Unfortunately, the strawberry patch is severely neglected and there are very few survivors.  One day we'll build it up again into something beautiful and hopefully plentiful.  

Amara will go out and check the strawberries on the plant.  She knows to wait until the berry is red all over and then it's perfect to pick.  When she does pick the little berry, she'll bring it in the house, wash it up and cut it into small pieces so everyone can have a taste.  Isn't that so cute and sweet of her?

Her selfies with a beautiful strawberry.

Outside

She likes to be outside when she can.  She'll jump with her sister on the trampoline, do school work next to the cat, or ride a scooter when she needs something to do. 

She's also created her own fairy garden from things she's found, collected, or purchased.

Surpriser

She loves a good surprise and creating them for others.  The other day when I went to help a widow in our ward sort through her late husband's things, Amara ran out to the car and handed me a card she had made on the spur of the moment for that woman.  The card had a drawing of a teddy bear and a poem she created about thinking of happy things when she's feeling sad like pretty flowers and "precious shiny rings."  That card sure made me smile and when I gave it to the woman she loved it so much and made sure that she sent me home with a thank you card for Amara.  She placed the card standing up on her counter top where she could see it often.

Another lovely surprise she did was lunch.  She made Lily and I a surprise lunch one day that was so creative and visually amazing!

She covered our plates with bowls so she could reveal them at the same time.  She also sliced a banana in the shape of a "C" for Christensen.

Look at my darling plate! PB and Banana open-smiley-faced sandwich with crackers, Cheese shapes, and grapes.

She sure knows how to make me us feel special!

Smokey-Love
She loves her cat.  She bought Smokey a collar at the dollar tree. It only lasted one day.  We found it squeezed around Smokey's middle the next day.

She split the $95 vet bill to get Smokey's paw looked at and get him dewormed.  Both the girls love that cat!

It's an absolute pleasure and joy to raise an Amara-Goose!  Steve and I are so blessed!