An Eight Year Old and a Three Year Old!

Why do kids keep growing? We celebrated 2 birthdays this past weekend with LOTS of partying! Of course, no I am paying for it by being sick. Anyway, Michelle turned 8 and Leah turned 3! hard to believe!

Michelle has grown so much this past year, has gotten more mature and probably a little more saucy! I have to remind her constantly that she is NOT a teenager yet and should not be carrying her attitude as though she is one! She is definitely wanting more responsibility and I am doing my best to work with that. She wants to take care of her sisters and seriously thinks she is ready to walk to school by herself with her sister, most likely drive a car, and all the other things she thinks she can do! Thankfully we can bring he down from that cloud every so often and remind her to slow down because as soon as she passes these milestones, she'll be wishing she could go back!

Leah has also grown so much. She has such a great heart and loves so beautifully! It is hard to believe she is getting farther away from the baby I have always seen her as! At least she is still small and I can scoop her up and squeeze her! I know that those times are getting closer to being done and knowing she is my baby makes that hard.

My girls are the best gifts I could ever ask for. I have to remind myself that they will grow up and they will not need me as much as they do now and when I am getting irritated by the clothes, toys, shoes, dishes and many other things that are all over the house and by all the snuggling that they want to do when I am trying to cook dinner or do laundry, I know that someday I will be hungering for these moments. Take them now!

School!

Hard to believe that I now have two girls in elementary school. We are coming to finishing the first two weeks of school and they love it! I am so happy to have girls that WANT to do something everyday. I mean, Carolyn said she wants to live at school! She thinks the weekend just gets in the way of the fun of school! How long will this last? So far, it's the only thing that they are doing right now. Ballet starts next week and then Nutcracker rehearsals will start after that! Then they may get too tired to do be as happy about school! I hope not though!

 I just can't get over that Carolyn is in Kindergarten and Michelle is in 2nd grade! At least Leah still has 3 more years before she goes. I don't think I could handle all of them in school yet. It moves me closer to having to get a job though! I would like for that to take all the time it can getting here! I do not want to go back to working. I enjoy being involved with the girls in every way I can. I love this part of being a mom!

I don't Care!

Hilarious! I was downstairs yesterday, the big girls and I had just returned from a day at the waterpark. Leah stayed home so we could do more slides together with our friends. Carolyn was talking to Leah from downstairs as Leah looked over the balcony.

"We went to the waterpark and you didn't!" says Carolyn, in a mocking tone that will be getting her into trouble quickly.

"I don't care. I don't care, Carolyn!" shouts Leah.

I was dying laughing at her big girl attitude as she shook off Carolyn's meanness. Leah definitely can hold her own!

Father's Day

What a day. Father's Day is maybe a card day, mostly a way to sell greeting cards and is definitely not the day like Mother's Day. Fathers are not near as recognized as moms. Yes, there are many more things that moms do than dads most of the time but I believe that we are equal in so many ways.

Dads love, play, discipline, pray for our children. For me, my dad is my protector, even though I am no longer at home. He wants the best for me and wants the best for my children. For my kids, their dad is their playmate, protector and earner of our financial security. He has a love of God and wants the girls to have that same love for Him. He is teaching them that God is our father unlike our earthly father.

Brian has been an amazing dad even though he has girls! He loves them each so wonderfully. He plays with them in a way that I could never play. He has patience for them that I do not have. He watches cartoons and sings songs with them! It is so funny to watch him with the girls. I see so much of him in each of the girls. It is so funny!

Brian has a lot to fulfill as a dad because he does have 3 girls. He has the role of a man and the girls are learning what kind of man that they should find. I am so thankful that they have him to look up to. He is an amazing person and I am so blessed to have him as the father to my daughters!

Snuggles

I forget sometimes to just sit back, take the time to love on my girls with nothing else pressing to do. Michelle and Carolyn have been in Houston all week going to ZooCamp. I am excited that they have this opportunity and that they can both go.

Since, it is just Leah at home, I figured I would get lots of things done. She still takes naps everyday, she goes to bed at a reasonable time and she is only 1 child! Well, other than venturing to the gym and a handful of errands, I have gotten nothing accomplished on my TO DO List!

She has taken full advantage of her big sisters being gone! We have watched TV together, played toys and gone into stores. At night, I have to sing a wide array of songs: Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Mary Had A Little Lamb and often a new song that I have to quickly make up the words to. I'm pretty sure she has gotten needier!

As I am rocking her in my arms the other night, trying to soothe her to go to sleep, I realize she is my last baby. Unless God has other plans, Leah is our last child. I hold her in my arms, remembering all the snuggles, the hugs, the shhhhh sounds, the rubbing on their backs. Of course I still do most of those things if needed but I don't have the little one, fitting into my arms, snuggling so tight they could almost fit back in the womb. Almost.

As much as I love the talks that I get to have with Michelle and Carolyn about all the different things they learn about the world they are in, the questions they have, especially about God, I already miss the time of holding them as babies, being the one to comfort them perfectly, knowing how to make them happy. As they get older, they get their own thoughts and ideas and I don't always know how to help, how to make them happy again.

As every parent who has raised their children to adulthood knows, you have no idea what they will turn into. You just have to hope and pray you do you best while they grow. I sure hope that I am and by the grace of God I am not messing them up too much! I just know that when Michelle and Carolyn come home tomorrow, I am going to hold them in my arms and snuggle them the best I can. Who knows how long I can.

Ballerinas!

Here are our ballerinas before their recital! This is Carolyn's first and Michelle's 3rd Spring Recital for A Time to Dance. They were so wonderful and Carolyn even got to dance twice! It's crazy how different and grown up they look when you have makeup on them! Thankfully it's still just for this!

Here is a quick video of Carolyn practicing her dance. She is in the middle!

Cleansing

Why is this so hard to do? I need to go through the girls things, get rid of stuff, purging their toys, clothes, etc. It is a challenge. Especially when you have 3 girls at different stages of playing, growth and personality. Clothes are getting easier but Brian says I keep way to much. Though, now that I have a niece, she can wear all of what I saved! I suppose once I have gone down the nieces phase (assuming I will have more!) then I can get rid of more clothes. It's not my fault I had 3 girls! Erin says that Ellen has a new outfit for everyday till she's 1! Ha, that's what 3 girls gets you, a LOT of clothes!

Toys is another matter. I want to get rid of some stuff but then as soon as I think I can, someone plays with it! Ahhhh, please just grow out of it already! There are definitely things that I have gotten better about though.

1. Don't save puzzles that don't have all the pieces anymore, you will not find the missing ones and if you do, you won't want to figure out which puzzle it goes to.
2. Don't save board games for the same reason. The good games are always around forever, ie Candyland, Shutes and Ladders, etc.
3. Toys are not made like they used to be! Things are getting more cheaply made and kids are hard on them.
4. Don't save it if it's broken. You will not find the time to glue/sew/patch it back together (see #3).
5. Don't let your kid have something you don't want ruined, broken, used for who knows what in tea parties. You'd be surprised what I find after a tea party (see rule #4).
6. Which reminds me, tea parties should be sanctioned. Unofficial tea parties always lead to trouble.
7. If your child has a table in their room, make sure the rules are clearly defined as to why it is there (see rule #5 and #6).
I am all about storing things and keeping them but there will be a point when the attic is full and I will have to go through the contents and do some more purging. I WILL NOT get myself to the point that Clean House or Hoarders will need to come to get me some help. Brian would disagree but I just remind him of all the money that I have saved from not getting rid of clothes or toys when we have had another kid and that now we get a great tax write off when I finally decide to let go!