A trip down memory lane

A few videos to brighten up your Friday Thursday (I'm taking the day off of work tomorrow, so my brain is telling me that the weekend starts tomorrow):

A few words

I managed to capture one of the sweetest sounds on Earth this evening.

The Middle

So, Charlotte.  I  wish there were words to describe this girl.  She breaks all molds and words really fall short.  She is one who you have to really spend some quality time with to truly grasp the many facets of her personality.  She seems so much older than her three years, but at the same time she loves to be babied every night before bed.  She loves to be on the go, but loves almost nothing more than sitting in your lap reading books.  Her older sister is her idol, even if she often doesn't know how to communicate that.  Her perception of the world is refreshingly unique.  When she talks about when she was a baby, she says, "When I was Camille . . . ." And when she talks about being older, she says, "When I'm Caroline one day . . ."  I love that perspective.

She talks and talks and talks.  She loves to ask questions.  Almost always those questions end with  " . . .right?"  It's as if she knows that she knows the answer, she just wants to get you in on her thoughts and discoveries.  All things Barbie and princess fill her days.  As I said, she adores Caroline, but she is great about using her imagination to spend time playing alone in the dollhouse, in their kitchen, or with her dolls.   She hates jackets - so thank goodness she lives in Louisiana.  She still loves dresses above all else. She still hates vegetables, but has finally branched out to eating apples as long as you peel the skin off for her first.    Her love for life is evident in her radiant smile.

My words fall short.  Each of our girls is such a gift!

Not a baby

Camille will be exactly 19 months old tomorrow.  She's officially not a baby anymore.  It's all toddler now in our world.  She "talks" all the time.  If you want her to say anything in particular though, you better tell Caroline to ask her to say it.  If I ask her to say something, it's a 50/50 shot that she'll repeat it.  If Caroline asks her to say it, without fail she repeats anything and everything.  Some of her favorite words are "me," "no," "eye-ew" (I love you), "muah" (kiss), "appuh" (apple), "moe" (more).  And her voice has a truly uncanny similarity to Charlotte's.  Her laugh is loud and infectious.  Her belly is huge and just invites tickles.  Her mischievous nature is coming out of the shadows.  Her independence is coming out loud and proud.  Her love for books, songs, and playing dress-up are precious reminders that no matter their numerous differences, my three girls share so much in common. Her sweetness is still central to who she is; hugs and kisses, snuggles, are treats to anyone close to her.  And her curls?  They still melt my heart.

A Louisiana girl

Last weekend we had our first crawfish of the season thanks to some wonderful friends.

As a random side-bar, spellcheck is telling me to spell "crawfish" like "crayfish".

Um.  No.

No indeed.

Caroline was particularly excited about it all.  After a little peeling refresher lesson, she was all about it.

In other news, she lost her sixth tooth tonight.  It had been hanging on in some gravity defiant feat for about a week.  After I did a little work on it, she finally "pulled it" out on her own.  She was so very proud of that tiny tooth.  Truth be told, she was just the next person to touch it after I basically pulled it out, but she doesn't need to know this.  So, the tooth fairy will pay yet another visit to our house tonight and I'm kind of in awe of the reality that she has lost six baby teeth.  How is this possible?  

There's no place like home

It's no secret that my girls love to dress-up.  Actually, "love" is an understatement, they live for dressing up.  It makes my heart happy to see them in their princess dresses, super hero costumes, capes, my old shoes.  It reminds me that they dream.  And dream big.  

They are royalty.  

They are heroes.  

They are Moms.  :-)

Their imaginations and desire to be part of a big story are equally encouraging, inspiring, and humbling.  I would give anything to be able to capture a fraction of their wonder and get rid of a little cynicism and practicality.  

Honestly, all too often it does not come easy for me to cultivate that joy and delight in the things of childhood.  The reality of life as an adult weighs too heavy on me more often than I'd like.  My prayer recently has been to loosen the reins a bit.  To enter the joy of life as my girls see it.  To, even if just for a moment, see the wonder of life in the moment through my girls' eyes.  To remember that the joy, wonder, trust, delight, and love of these precious ones is the home of the kingdom of heaven.  Matt. 19:14.

And just for fun, my sassy little Dorothy and her To-to.  

Something to look forward to

When my day gets the better of me and I'm not sure if all of the craziness and contentiousness of work is worth it, I think about these three faces waiting for me in the afternoons and it somehow seems like all is right in the world.  There are no words for the amount of love sitting there on that driveway.  

Pride

This girl?

Yes, this one.















The one who scored THREE goals in her soccer game this past weekend.














I am so very proud of her.

Deal: Get Lady Antebellum album for $0.25

I know this has nothing to do with my children, which is the reason the majority of you visit our little blog, but I had to share:


You can get Lady Antebellum's album, Own the Night, for only $0.25 today at Amazon!

What?! Yes.  One quarter.  Twenty-five cents.

Get it here.