Three is my favorite

I've decided three is my favorite age.  It is seriously challenging, as your kids push you to be on your toes, negotiate, argue, disobey... BUT, the wonderfulness of independence, personality, sense of humor, intelligence, wit and wonder outshine all of the challenges.  And even those challenges leave you silently laughing and impressed when you're not pulling your hair out :)  As I've said before, Mollie blows me away every day.  She answers questions I never knew she could answer, she asks questions I would have never thought of asking.  She says things I hope I never forget.  She cares about others and loves to make people laugh.  Her imagination is simply amazing!

This week she melted my heart with...

When in bed reading a book, she looks at me and says "Mommy, will you stay in here forever with me?".  Well of course I will!!

And when the book we were reading had a page about the son growing up and buying a house across town, I said "Mollie, are you going to grow up and move away from this house?".  She said "Don't worry Mommy, I will live in the house next door"... and after further thought... "next door in the back yard!"  Not that I don't want to give my children wings, but that made my year!

And last night before bed "Ohhhhhh Mommy, we forgot to pray.  What would you like to thank God for?"  After I answer, she says "Thank you God for pizza, restaurants and living next door, in the backyard".  I hope she never forgets our deal, and if she does, it is documented here!

Thank you, Mollie, for squealing with joy and excitement about the littlest things and the biggest things and for bringing such delight to every day!

Maxin Relaxin

A new concept that I am quite a fan of!

7 Months Old

WOW, 7 months old already.  I can't decide if time is flying since Kendall joined us, or if she's been with me my whole life?!  She is a joyful seven month old, still content in Mommy's arms, but if pushed can get up on all fours or stand at a play table and play.   She blows raspberries all day.  Her eating repertoire (although sometimes requires a sneak attack to get into her mouth) has expanded to prunes, oatmeal, avocado, banana, squash, and her very favorite... crackers!  She is so happy to be able to feed herself, which is fascinating to watch and a delight to clean up ;)  The highlight of her day is still her sister making her laugh.  Mollie loves to tickle and chase Kendall and Kendall always responds with squeals and laughter!  When the sailing is smooth, she's a great sleeper and even starting to be more content on the floor, but when the boat is rocked a bit, back in mommy's arms.  I love having you there big girl!  

Can't believe you're seven months old.  

Having her first cracker.  She couldn't have been happier!

Brunch just got much easier

 Cracker + Highchair = Entertainment!

Go Stars

Mollie and Kendall went to cheer on the Dallas Stars today with all their girlfriends.  The guys definitely had their hands full with the six ladies and newborn baby boy, but our girls just loved the action.  They actually sat and watched the game with Daddy for awhile, then they played in the closet and ran up and down the halls as expected :)

Little Fishies

 When we said it feels like summer this week with the warm weather, Mollie asked "Does that mean we can go swimming?!"  Although she meant the outdoor pool with the sun and diving boards, we worked with what we had and hit up the indoor pool at the Y.  Both girls had an absolute BLAST!

 Mollie couldn't stop squealing with excitement and Kendall had the biggest smile on her face before she even got in the water.  She loved just watching the other kids swim.  She was just as happy once she got in, but her extremities turned purple quickly, so she had to take a break.  Overall, big success!

Ready to take off

Summer?!

Today was 82 degrees and the girls were thrilled to be in short sleeves and play outside in the sunshine!  And so was Mollie's other bestie, Charlie.

Oh Happy Day

Hope this precious smile makes your day.  It certainly makes mine!

She's Back

Well, it took a week, but Kendall is over her first bad cold and the bright smile is back.  Mom and Dad are happy the sleep is back as well!

Star Wars Day

 We don't know why, but Mollie has a thing for Star Wars.  She's never seen it, but somehow she knows about Darth Vader, the Storm Troopers, Yoda, etc.  So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when her first coherent drawing was of Darth Vader.  She did an art project on the wall with Dad and was very proud to display her drawing, which was very similar to Daddy's impressive art work above.

The obsession went a step further when she and Daddy made Star Wars cookies, thanks to Nana's Valentine's day gift.  Beware of the dark side ;)

I Love You

"The three most powerful words in the English language are: I Love You.

Use them generously today, and without hesitation."

A note from the Dean of Miami University's Business School, forwarded from my brother-in-law to my sister, and passed from my sister to me.  I do agree it's important to use those three words generously, and I hope I do it every day.  We had fun getting creative on how we used them around our house today. This made me smile...

Here are some Valentine's pics of the loves of my life from Kendall's six month photo shoot!

So proud of this family.  I LOVE YOU!

Celebrating this special day

Mollie's school was all over celebration of Valentine's Day.  They had a party in the classroom full of LOTS of sugar, decorating cards and cookies and of course, exchanging valentine's day cards.  Then the school put on a Grandfriends Tea,  so we were able to host Nana for lunch on this special day to tell her how special she is to us.  It was a wonderfully adorable event with yummy lunch, lots of treats, but most importantly a performance by the kiddos.  It was so fun to see Mollie front and center on stage, even though she didn't sing a note.  When we told her good job on stage, Mollie said "but I didn't sing".  When Nana asked her why, she said "I was scared".  Precious way to celebrate this day!

Happy Valentine's Day from our Crazy Girls!