A Few Things About Age

Well, you can see I got stuck in October again. We are currently on our first day of vacation in Sanibel, Florida. Spending quality time together as a family always provides some memorable moments. These are just a couple quotes from the bigger girls today about age.
"You always have an age no matter where you are. Until you're 100 and then you probaby don't have an age anymore...you just die." -Emily (In response to hearing that a boy in the airport was 7)
"Well, 3 is your age and you've got to stick with it" -Grace (In response to me telling Grace that it was hard for Lydia to be 3, because she was knocking our game cards on the floor)

Wedding Planning

We were having a conversation about wedding plans and these were a couple of comments made by the brides-to-be.

Grace-"Who cares, I can marry any Christian boy I want."

Emily-"When I get married, I'm going to wear either a white or red dress. (Pause) I think I'm going to wear a red dress, because it's more rosy."

More Beautiful You

Having all girls, at least so far, makes me think about how I want them to know that they are so precious and valuable to us and mostly to their loving heavenly Father. There is a song by Johnny Diaz that I really like these days and it's called More Beautiful You. Girls, if you ever look back at this blog some day, the words to this song are just some of the things I want you to know.

Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine

Says she wants to look that way

But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake

And she’s always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see

That beauty is within your heart

And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair

Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you

don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through

You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do

So there could never be a more beautiful you

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come

You starve yourself to play the part

But I can promise you there’s a man whose love is true

And he’ll treat you like the jewel you are

Although you're only 6, 3, and 6 months old, I want you to know that there will NEVER be a more beautiful you! I love you so much.

Mommy

Quotes of a 3 Year Old

Lydia is definitely a great source of entertainment in our home and full of lots of words (as she once proclaimed). Here are a couple of funny things she said recently.

Hey, get in there foot. Hey, get in there odder foot. Hey, don't fall me down foot. (These were said while trying to get on her shoes.)

Her has chuggy cheeps. (This was naturally about her baby sister.)

Just In Time For The Snow:(

We've been working on a little project at our home lately that was prompted by the birth of our fourth bundle. I realized this summer how little time I was able to spend outside with the 3 big girls and we decide to find a way to let the kids out in the back on their own. Here are a few pictures to document the progress of our not so small project.

Large pile of boulders in our front yard to be moved and used in the back.

Large pile of boulders now in our back yard making their way to their final resting place.

Emily testing out the way too big play system for our now gigantic project.

More to come soon...including a video clip of Emily enjoying the final product (she's been feeling a little slighted on the lack of video clips of herself on this blog).

Coffee Talk

Today I went to this cute little coffee house with Lydia and Elise. I thought I would get Lydia a cookie, but instead she opted for a piece of apple/peach pie. I also thought I would get her a cup of coffee, but she decided she didn't care for any today. I know...she's only 3, but her grandmas have her addicted already. This is funny, because she's pretty much the only member of our family to drink coffee. However, today I decided to get a decaf latte and of course, she couldn't resist. So...we were sitting there having our refreshments with several "older" people around us chatting up a storm and this was just a small glimpse of our conversation.
Lydia-"Mommy, let's talk."
Me-"OK. What do you want to talk about?"
Lydia-"Jesus."
I think she was looking around at all the other tables and thought that we should be having some real conversation. How fun to sit and have some special "chatty" time with my delightful Lydia!

Grace's Terrible, Awful, Almost No Good Day!

Grace's tooth had been loose for what seemed like an eternity, at least to me. When she first discovered it, she was instantly excited, but that excitement quickly turned to despair. You see, she's the kind of girl who doesn't do well with change. To give you an example, we had a hail storm come through our neighborhood this summer and she was nearly brought to tears at the idea of us getting a new roof. How one becomes so attached to a roof, I'm not sure. Another characteristic of sweet Grace is, well, how can I put this...vanity. She's very concerned about looking funny and the idea of a gap in her smile was horrific. I'm not sure where she got this from. She clearly hasn't taken a good look at her mother lately.

However, today she finally lost it (with the assistance of Dad-don't mention this to her)! I think you might get an idea of how she feels about it from this clip.

Blood and tears were shed and she mentioned she didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take her tooth, so she hid it in our room. When she woke up the next morning she checked under her pillow and found no money and then ran to see if her tooth was still where she left it. When it was, she declared, "There's no Tooth Fairy!" However, when she took a closer look, (while she was scurrying around I finally got the note and money there in the nick of time) she found she had indeed been visited by Miss Tooth Fairy. Her mourning was quickly turned into gladness. She found a silver dollar and a note that read:

Dear Grace,

I heard you wanted to keep your tooth, so I made an exception. Keep brushing.

Love, T.F.

She was sooooo excited and said, "I can't believe she's real. You wouldn't have wanted to come into my room in the middle of the night to do this." It was so much fun to watch her and then Emily got in on the excitement, too!

I think she looks so cute with her gap in her teeth, but it's also just a little bit sad to know she's growing up (too fast I might add).