"Thank you, Mummy." Lucy smiled up at her mother, revealing two dimples on her angelic face.
Molly, who was five years her sister's senior, smiled at Audrey as well. "Yes, thanks Mum."
"You're welcome girls. It's a good day for soup, isn't it?" Audrey replied as she took her own seat at the small kitchen table and nodded towards the window. Outside, though the sun was shining, a thick layer of snow covered the ground.
"I like alphabet soup." proclaimed Lucy in agreement.
"Here, Lucy," said Molly, lifting her spoon to show Lucy a collection of letters. "What does this say?"
Lucy, who had just started learning to read, peered at the noodles before grinning brightly. "It says Lucy! That's my name."
"Yes it is, love." agreed Audrey. "What about this?" She used her own spoon to pluck two letters from Lucy's bowl.
"A-T." read Lucy. "At!"
"Good." replied Audrey. "Now why don't you try adding another letter to the front of this word."
"Okay." said Lucy happily. She scooped up a C and carefully transferred it onto her mother's proffered spoon. "C-A-T. Cat!"
"Look what I spelled, Mum." interjected Molly.
"Molly Weasey?" asked Audrey.
"There weren't enough L's, so I used this bit of carrot instead, see?" Molly explained.
"Ahh." said Audrey. "I think that's enough spelling for now girls. Eat your soup before it gets cold, please."
"Yes Mum. Then may we go outside and play?" asked Molly.
"Yeah!" cried Lucy happily. "Let's build a snowman."