all those beautiful girls....

We had a meal after church on Sunday and I took some pictures of some beautiful girls....

No smiling....

Nora: "Mommy, mommy, mommy (fussing) my belly hurts real bad."

Me: "Your belly hurts? Why does your belly hurt?"

Nora: "Because, because, it has a really bad headache."

Not sure if your kids are this way but in that type of situation there can be no smiling, for a smile only produces more tears. You give a very serious look, repeat back to her what she just said--with that serious look, and give lots of kisses.

Family visit

Goldilocks and the Three Bears, mixed with Little Red Riding hood, talk about whales, ducks, and large elephants, that are really very kind....are the sounds that filled my house the past few days.

Kevin's parents flew in for a visit last Thursday till Tuesday and Emma and Nana spent many hours cuddled on the couch (she was freezing from our New England temps--and no, I wasn't freezing her out, the temps in the house were always above 70) telling each other story after story. Only minutes after Nana would finish one, Emma would ask for another and on they would go, taking turns, exercising their imaginations.

When story time would fade away the singing would start and Nana would teach Emma new songs, some with hand movements and some without and Emma would sing along and just laugh and laugh at how funny she thought her Nana was being.

Paw-Paw (Roy) went to work with Kevin every day and us girls just hung out at the house, that way we could keep Nana warm and comfortable. Last time they were up I kept a busy schedule taking them to do many things but this year we decided to just hang around the house, following our normal routine, for one because of Linda's health.

Nana brought stuff for the girls to make cookies and they loved that and Nana loved the results.


The last picture is of Roy losing his hat to a parrot in the pet store.

A few funny things

Before I forget....

(Things happen through the day that really make me laugh, or smile, that I usually forget to write down)

...Hannah and Nora are sitting at the counter looking at toy catalogs (they each had their own). When they are finished, instead of just swapping books they take the time to swap their seats.

Emma...."Mommy this is GINORMOUS" (enormous)

In a conversation about what 'we' want to be when we grow up...

Emma--a baby doctor or an archaeologist
Hannah--a baby
Nora--a princess--I said, "But Nora, you would have to marry a prince.". Nora, "Yes, mommy, I know"--with her sweet smile and her head hugging her shoulder.

Nora's prayers..."God thank you for Hannah and Me, for Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and for Hannah and Me and for Ariel and Belle."

Hannah rubbing the hair out of my eyes saying, "Mommy you have such beautiful hair", Hannah touching my lips, "Mommy you have such beautiful lips". Hannah rubbing my belly, "Mommy you have such a squishy belly"

Cool days...quiet play

Fall is here (Well, it finally FEELS like it is here)! The weather has been so nice and cool and we are lovin' it. We had a few days that were just cold and rainy and we enjoyed staying inside and just being home. I love quiet play. Every once in a while everyone takes off to do their own thing and they are just content to be alone.

I love being home. I really want to work with my schedule so I am at home more often. I love the smells of something baking in the oven. I love the giggles and having time to figure out where they are coming from. I love coloring pages taped all over my walls.
I love having the help cooking, when I am not rushed and allowing them to lick the spoon and make a mess with it. I love listening to them search through toy catalogs and explain to me what the perfect gift would be for their birthday.

I love cuddles under warm blankets while watching Shirley Temple movies. I love tickle fights and being able to doze off with little hands rubbing their fingers through my hair. I am so thankful to Kevin for his hard work, willingness, and encouragement for me to be doing exactly THIS.

Never stop playing....

that is right, some days they just never stop playing. I love it. I love hearing them have fun , imagine together, and work together, getting along and all. They can easily spend hours playing 'animals'. They play with their plastic animals more than any other toy we own. Once in a great while they play 'man', which I would call playing house, but they call it 'man'. I am glad they are so close in age that they enjoy being with each other like this.

Yes, the fighting is hard to deal with at times and some days they just can't say anything kind to each other, but that is just how it is. As adults we deal with the same things...it is hard to live with someone, that has a completely different personality, and get along all the time. That is what is great about having more than one child...they get a lot of practice and that practice takes place in a safe environment, with loving parents, that understand, because we are working at the same thing. As a family we are all brothers and sisters in Christ working toward the same goal. So I want to lovingly encourage them to stretch and grow and to deny themselves in order to serve others. Having three girls, very close in age, with very different personalities, gives me a lot of 'stretching material' to work with. I can only pray that I be stretched and taught as well. In the meantime, I love to see them excited to be together and to never want to stop playing.

The case of the missing.....

....what?!

Yes, that is what I would have said if I just happened upon this lovely specimen, but I was handed this and told what it was... Gum, yes...gum, lots of gum.

Story:

Well, per advice of a good friend, I started putting the girls in different rooms for 'rest time'. I rotate them, so every day is exciting and new. I don't require them to sleep, but just to sit quietly and read, play stuffed animals, etc....well, on this particular day I had Hannah in my bed....my curious little Hannah. I took a quick, 10min, cat nap on the couch, and went to check on Hannah when I got up and found her looking like she was caught--you know that kind of face they give you. I didn't notice anything strange so I didn't say anything, just kinda gave her 'the eye'. Well, that night I go to get into bed and there are gum wrappers everywhere...under our pillows under the blankets but there was no gum. Kevin assumed that she ate it, but I know I didn't see her chewing on anything so I thought I would ask her the next day. I asked all three if they knew what happened to my gum. Emma said, "daddy, that stinker, ate all your gum again.". Nora said, "Not me...!" and Hannah said nothing and gave me a pout. I gave the whole, 'well, God knows speech' and talked about lying a bit and then 10 min later Hannah came crying to me telling me what she did, BUT she said that she didn't eat it....Hmmmm, so where is that gum.

Later on that day she came up to me and said, "Here mommy, here is your gum." (now this is about 2 packs of Trident)
but then this morning, while making my bed I found under my pillow another BIG chunk of Gum....and I think that is all of it, case closed, until next time....
what can I learn from this....don't take a cap nap when Hannah is in my room.
(although part of her punishment is that she cannot be trusted in my room for a good amount of time)

Where did I put all those critters....

Well, my kitchen table was 'the home' for 4 days, but thankfully.....
my dear husband built them a new place to live. Ummm, and I was informed last night that we are now raising crickets?! I think I will be moving their little home into the basement because their 'sweet music' is really starting to annoy.

In my dreams

Yes, I have arrived at the place that I believe I would trade my left arm to be able to sleep-- one entire day. I find myself, at many times throughout my day, admiring my bed, rubbing my pillow with my hand, and imagining how nice it would be to just climb in, snuggle up, and drift away. Imagine one whole day though, with NO alarm clocks, no checking the time and having to dread getting up, No interruptions, no crying, no loud thumps of someone falling out of the bed, no--"I need a drink of water please!", no--"I need to go pee" (for the 4th time)--NOTHING. Just one day of uninterrupted sleep would be more than I could dream of.

I remember the last time I felt like this, that I was just too tired to take anymore, Hannah came down with her second round of Pneumonia and this time I had to stay in the hospital with just her (the first time I had Nora in there with me too) and all Hannah wanted was for me to hold her. Yes there were times when it was miserable because she felt so miserable and it is hard to see your baby hurting that way, BUT all I could do was lay there--my food was delivered to the bed, I had a pile of books, tv, music, and my baby girl. What an answer to prayer that time was...no cooking, no cleaning, no working--just laying there cuddling--there is no mistaking that it was God. Well, that was about 2 years ago...I am back at that place again. I would hate to have one of my kids get sick again, but I would LOVE to have that time off.

YAWN....

Wow, notice on my posting time...1:49 am. Almost every night for a week now I haven't been in bed before 2. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN BRINGING ME COFFEE. You are all so generous. (Jen, the reason I am up late is that I am wide awake...the coffee I am drinking to keep me awake up till dinner is keeping me up even later...I am trying to work it all out--this was in response to your comment)

The new members of our family

Yes, you heard that right...the new members of our family.

We went to a reptile exhibit on Saturday (kev's b-day thing) and came home with many critters...let me introduce you.

Below is Kevin's thing...I hate snakes. This is a female King snake with a 'smile face' on it's head...do you see it? Kevin is picking a name.


Below are two green tree frogs. Nora named them Snow White and Dopey. (we do have them in a regular home now--don't worry)
below...again another shot of the smile face

Emma holding Mr. Tumnus....the veil chameleon. (Hannah named him)
He is really cool to watch
Below is Bill the Leopard Gecko (Emma named her--notice I said--HER)
(Mr. Tumnus just hanging out)
Below is Sweden, the brown basilisk lizard....also known as the jesus christ lizard, because it runs on top of water. This lizard is very fast. He is fun to watch move around the cage.
and where are we going to put all these new pets?! That is a great question.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Kevin had another b-day and we had a small party for him. I just love this picture below because it captures Emma's love for Kevin in her face. She just adores him and thinks he is the greatest and it just glows all over her face.


Kevin is 'into' pumpkin things so I made him a pumpkin cheesecake, instead of the traditional b-day cake.
Opening gifts

The missing child

I always go into the girls room to check on them before I go to bed and this time I walked in and couldn't find Hannah and for quite a while too, but there she was asleep by the door. I walked right by her and didn't even notice her...good thing I didn't step right on her.

Dancing