A Surprise for Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger Page B
Authors: Mary Ann Kinsinger
Tags: FIC053000, Amish—Fiction, JUV033010, Pennsylvania—Fiction, Friendship—Fiction, Schools—Fiction, Amish—Juvenile fiction, Family life—Pennsylvania—Fiction
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it. She was even more homesick now than before she had read the letter.
On Monday morning, Lily and Joseph looked at the windows of Whispering Pines as they passed the house, expectingto see Mama wave to them. But no one was at the window this morning. Papa didnât come out of his woodshop. It was the same thing in the afternoon. No one waved to them.
Aunt Susie was waiting for them on Grandmaâs porch steps. âYour papa stopped by today. Dannie and Paul have the chicken pops.â
âPox,â Lily said sadly. âThey have the chicken pox.â She was so disappointed. She wasnât sure when she would ever get to go home.
âWhy donât we make a busy book for Dannie and Paul,â Grandma said. âIt would give them something interesting to do as soon as they start feeling a little better. We can start it this evening after supper.â
With that thought, Lily felt a little better.
After supper was over, Grandma slapped her palms on the kitchen table. âI think the ladies will let the men do the dishes tonight. We need to get started on that busy book.â
Grandpa looked shocked. âWell, what do you think of that, Joseph?â
âI think it stinks,â Joseph said, frowning.
Grandpa chuckled. âIt never hurt a man to get his hands wet.â
The two made a funny pair to watch. Joseph cleared the table, moving as slow as molasses in January. Grandpa was in a big hurry, filling the sink with warm water and stirring in soap to make it sudsy. Lily would have liked to watch them longerâit wasnât every day she saw Joseph or Grandpa wash a dishâbut Grandma had disappeared off to her craft room.
Lily and Aunt Susie followed behind her. Grandma had spread out a pile of brightly colored felt on her craft table. She was digging through her pattern box. She pulled out anenvelope that said BUSY BOOK in big black letters across the front.
Grandma handed Aunt Susie and Lily a sliver of bar soap to trace around the patterns onto the felt. A funny bumpy cloud-looking pattern was actually supposed to be the top of a tree. Lily placed it on a piece of green felt and carefully marked around it with her soap sliver. Then she cut it out. Grandma was cutting out little red felt apples. After they were done, Grandma found a long strip of Velcro and cut little bits off. One half of each bit was sewed to the green treetop and the other half to an apple. Aunt Susie cut out a brown felt bushel basket. Grandma sewed the tree to a piece of white fabric and the bushel basket on another piece. She had already made two pages for the busy book. Dannie and Paul would be able to pick all those apples off the tree and put them in the basket.
Lily grinned. This was going to be fun.
By bedtime, Grandma had made several pages. One had a tent with a zipper that could open and close. Inside the tent was a little embroidered bear. Another page had felt flowers to pick and put in a vase. And another had a coat with hooks and eyes to open and close.
Lily could hardly wait until tomorrow night. Grandma had said they would work on it some more. She was sure Dannie and Paul would love playing with this interesting book. And she was happy to tell Joseph that he would be doing dishes another night.
The busy book was finished after a few nights. Grandpa took it over and dropped it off for Dannie and Paul. ThenGrandma started a scrapbook for the boys using old calendars. Some evenings, they played a Bible game. Everyone had a Bible in their laps. When Grandpa said a letter of the alphabet, everyone quickly tried to find a verse that started with the letter. Whoever found it first, read the verse. Then the last letter in that verse became the first letter for the new verse. Everyone raced to see who could find a new verse. It was always fun. Aunt Susie couldnât read very well but she could still hunt for verses. Then, Lily or Grandma would help her read her verse.
Two nights ago,
On Monday morning, Lily and Joseph looked at the windows of Whispering Pines as they passed the house, expectingto see Mama wave to them. But no one was at the window this morning. Papa didnât come out of his woodshop. It was the same thing in the afternoon. No one waved to them.
Aunt Susie was waiting for them on Grandmaâs porch steps. âYour papa stopped by today. Dannie and Paul have the chicken pops.â
âPox,â Lily said sadly. âThey have the chicken pox.â She was so disappointed. She wasnât sure when she would ever get to go home.
âWhy donât we make a busy book for Dannie and Paul,â Grandma said. âIt would give them something interesting to do as soon as they start feeling a little better. We can start it this evening after supper.â
With that thought, Lily felt a little better.
After supper was over, Grandma slapped her palms on the kitchen table. âI think the ladies will let the men do the dishes tonight. We need to get started on that busy book.â
Grandpa looked shocked. âWell, what do you think of that, Joseph?â
âI think it stinks,â Joseph said, frowning.
Grandpa chuckled. âIt never hurt a man to get his hands wet.â
The two made a funny pair to watch. Joseph cleared the table, moving as slow as molasses in January. Grandpa was in a big hurry, filling the sink with warm water and stirring in soap to make it sudsy. Lily would have liked to watch them longerâit wasnât every day she saw Joseph or Grandpa wash a dishâbut Grandma had disappeared off to her craft room.
Lily and Aunt Susie followed behind her. Grandma had spread out a pile of brightly colored felt on her craft table. She was digging through her pattern box. She pulled out anenvelope that said BUSY BOOK in big black letters across the front.
Grandma handed Aunt Susie and Lily a sliver of bar soap to trace around the patterns onto the felt. A funny bumpy cloud-looking pattern was actually supposed to be the top of a tree. Lily placed it on a piece of green felt and carefully marked around it with her soap sliver. Then she cut it out. Grandma was cutting out little red felt apples. After they were done, Grandma found a long strip of Velcro and cut little bits off. One half of each bit was sewed to the green treetop and the other half to an apple. Aunt Susie cut out a brown felt bushel basket. Grandma sewed the tree to a piece of white fabric and the bushel basket on another piece. She had already made two pages for the busy book. Dannie and Paul would be able to pick all those apples off the tree and put them in the basket.
Lily grinned. This was going to be fun.
By bedtime, Grandma had made several pages. One had a tent with a zipper that could open and close. Inside the tent was a little embroidered bear. Another page had felt flowers to pick and put in a vase. And another had a coat with hooks and eyes to open and close.
Lily could hardly wait until tomorrow night. Grandma had said they would work on it some more. She was sure Dannie and Paul would love playing with this interesting book. And she was happy to tell Joseph that he would be doing dishes another night.
The busy book was finished after a few nights. Grandpa took it over and dropped it off for Dannie and Paul. ThenGrandma started a scrapbook for the boys using old calendars. Some evenings, they played a Bible game. Everyone had a Bible in their laps. When Grandpa said a letter of the alphabet, everyone quickly tried to find a verse that started with the letter. Whoever found it first, read the verse. Then the last letter in that verse became the first letter for the new verse. Everyone raced to see who could find a new verse. It was always fun. Aunt Susie couldnât read very well but she could still hunt for verses. Then, Lily or Grandma would help her read her verse.
Two nights ago,
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