Our sweet little girl, hereafter known on this blog as "Prairie Girl", celebrated her sixth birthday last week. She is enamored with anything that has to do with Prairie life, including wagons, horses, log cabins, dresses and pig tails! How did this all start? Well, between reading the Little House on the Prairie books, studying the time period in history and watching some of the old Little House television shows, which we have on DVD, she has become quite obsessed with the pioneer life. (Laura Ingall's is her favorite character, by the way.) A neat thing about this interest of hers is the bond it has helped create between her and Ma-Maw --her Great Grandmother. Ma-Maw grew up, not on the prairie, but out in the very rural country and lived life very similar to the era in which Laura Ingalls lived. Ma-Maw actually grew up wearing the petticoats and dresses --I am not sure about the pig tails. She didn't have electricity, I believe until she was married. She had a very simple life (though not easy) of helping her Mom with the young 'uns, doing various farm chores and she had a spirit of personality about her that was very similar to Laura Ingalls on the TV show. She was also very close to her Pa, so this has endeared Ma-Maw to the television show. Well, through this fascination, we have been able to watch as an older generation connects to a much younger generation. It has been priceless to watch them have conversations, and then to hear Prairie Girl thank Ma-Maw for talking to her about the olden days and that she "so much enjoyed listening to her stories". Yes, it is priceless, I believe, to all the generations involved!
Here is a picture of the "old fashioned" home made chocolate cake that Ma-Maw made for Prairie Girl. Ma-Maw is famous for her cakes (to those who have tasted them, at least).
