Pen pals...

No, I haven't been practicing my new hobby of letter writing...one of these days. Last night I was invited to dinner at Marie and Dave's.  It was nice to talk with Marie and share some wine; we both had tough days at work.  The kids had all sorts of stories and whatnot.  So Maya asks me if I think Maddie and her family will ever come to visit.  I explained to her that two days before her birthday, Maddie is going to have a new baby brother or sister, and it probably wouldn't be for a while, but maybe someday.  It is really so sweet of her to ask, as the girls only got to spend a few days playing while all were in Portland for our wedding back in June.   Then Maya said, "I miss Maddie."  In true Mia/Sara form (sometimes I think these two are kindred spirits for the things they say), Sara said, "I miss...you know, the other girl?"  I told them that if they wanted to write a letter to the girls I could help mail them.  Maya was excited about having a pen pal, but had to go pick up before bed.  Sara, on the other hand, went and got her folder out of her backpack, a pencil, and a piece of blank paper.    Sara started with "Mia", then decided to squish "Dear" into the little space before "Mia", and sounded out her first sentence: "I like scool".  "Like" is a sight word she's learning, so most of the sentences were about things she likes about school.  She's only 5 years old and in kindergarten, so I was totally impressed with her letters and sounding out of words.  Since it was bedtime, I helped write the other sentences she wanted to say, and then she signed her name and drew a picture of herself saying "I like Mia".  The heart with "M" and "S" are for Mia and Sara.  I didn't tell her Mia is 6 already, so she added another "M S" heart with "5 5" underneath.  So precious! It went in the mail today, and Amy said she'd make sure Mia wrote back.  I can't wait to see the letters the girls come up with over the years.