Smiles

Smiles can melt my heart. So can hugs, but today it was smiles. The sweetest smile I got today was from our friend's daughter Ella. (You can read her story here) She has a critical immune system and was unable to make our Christmas craft playdate so Riley, Bree and I brought the crafts to her, her sister and her mom.

When we first arrived Ella was relaxing and resting on the couch. Celine, Ella's mom, informed me that Ella had been like that for most of the week. She just didn't have the energy to get up and do much. However, after some coaxing, Ella built some towers with Bree, then took a rest again. She played a little...then would rest again. However, when Ella found the bag of construction paper, stick glue, and cotton balls she perked right up. She was very patient when asked to wait until I was done feeding Bree.

While we were doing the crafts, her little face light up and you could tell she was really enjoying herself. It was when I brought out the red paint to fingerpaint the nose on the reindeer that she smiled. She was so proud of herself for making the nose AND the eyes out of the red paint. My heart seriously melted into a puddle of happy goo tonight. Ella is such a sweet little girl and I love every little bit of her!