One of My Favorite Things

Anne is so joyful all the time and she is just so much fun to be around.  She has a simplicity to her that I love watching at her age.  She knows what she likes and she knows what routine she's used to.  She will typically ask what is planned for the following day and whether I have work, Atrium, or whether her dad & brothers will be home or at work & school.  I have to say, though, that one of my favorite parts lately is seeing the joy in her of having her siblings all home.

If she realizes it's the weekend and her brothers & dad will be home, she is SO excited.  She really loves to have those boys around her.  And they, too, are very happy with her.  Each of them plays with her in their own way and it is so fun to watch.  Lately, she has even wanted to have her bedtime books read to her by Leyton instead of me. She wants Leyton to lay by her.  Jacob is so good at imaginary play with her no matter what the topic of the moment is.  Nathaniel will talk so gently to her and get her anything she needs.  She just seems so happy with all of them.  It's as if that's what makes her day complete.  Don't get me wrong, she really enjoys playing with Leah & Catherine, too.  She & Leah are upstairs right now playing dentist.  I can hear them taking turns calling the next "patient" and they also needed napkins to unfold and put on their shirts like they do at the dentist.

Watching these siblings is so much fun.  If getting to enjoy watching my children with each other is the reward for sweeping the kitchen floor twenty times a day and mopping up milk spills over and over, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Advice from a 3 year old girl

This morning I was loading the dishwasher after we took the boys to school.  The girls were sitting at the table.  Leah told me she was going to paint Anne's nails.  They sat and discussed their color options.  The next thing I heard Anne say was, "You can NEVER go wrong with PINK!"  With her tone and inflection, it was the cutest thing.

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful Easter!  We had a wonderful time with family.  Grandma Donna & Grandpa Jerry came and stayed with us for the weekend and we all loved having them.  They and the Lees joined us for Easter lunch at Aunt Stacy's with the Robinsons.  We went to the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening again and the kids really enjoyed it.  They did really well and especially enjoy the Liturgy of the Light (just makes mom & dad slightly nervous to have the kids all holding their open flames!).  I tried to catch some photos, but as you can see, the only possible group photos didn't even catch everyone in the shot.  Oh well.  It's tough sometimes to catch them all at once!

Dedicated basketball player

Things We Say

we have sure been in the basketball spirit lately. It has made the girls act more like cheerleaders. Leah has been saying that she wants to be a cheerleader in college and asks if that's ok. I've said, "We'll, I don't know. Let's just wait and see. (Aka highly doubtful, but I won't crush your thoughts today)" then the next part has a preface...the boys have asked what I would give them if they make it in the NBA. They have asked if I would give them $100. Well, I figure that's a pretty good deal. I've even said I'd give the, $500. They obviously haven't thought about that the last thing they'd need if they ever get to the NBA is $500 from dear old mom. But, it makes for a fun conversation. So then back to Leah. She asks abut being an NBA cheerleader. "Mom. If I be an NBA cheerleader, will you give me $100?" I reply, "Sure." I then have another child running off blissfully at the idea of a little cash that will never materialize under the current agreements.

After all of this talk, Anne calls out, "Mom, when I grow up, can I be a Princess?" ... And this is with a little grin and big eyes and much expression.

The other interesting comment comes from Catherine and Jacob. She's really been chatting up a storm. I'm sure she has her mind running and we are all left to wonder what the babbling means. It seems very intentional. I recently heard her say what I thought was, "hi." Jacob, however, disagreed. Thanks to his reading and English teachers (I should tell them, too), Jacob said, "No, Mom. She said 'oi', you know, the vowel diphthong." Oh, pardon me, how could I have misunderstood. What a funny guy (although her was quite serious).

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So on Tuesday of this week, I packed away all the winter snow gear and gloves, hats, etc.  And what do you know?  It snowed more today and may this weekend.  Yikes.  I am ready for spring!!!  We had a couple of heavy snow storms in mid-late February I guess it was and the kids really enjoyed playing in it.  I think Anne enjoyed it the most actually.  We even got Catherine out there, which was lots of fun.  I think we had about 10 inches one time and then the next storm was more (and the first wasn't gone yet).  The kids had 4 or 5 days off school and I enjoyed a break from the routine of running around as much.  Sometimes it's nice to have a good reason to just not go anywhere (and enjoy that no one is sick, either!).  We were home and played and they actually are past the phase of bundling up for 5 minutes then coming back in.  What a nice treat for everyone!  They would stay out longer this year.  The surprise was that there was no interest at all in sledding.  Oh well.  One other funny thing was that after the snow was here a few days, I shoveled the patio and wouldn't you know, we had kids out shooting baskets with the snow piles to catch the loose balls.  It worked out pretty well.

Happy 1st Birthday, Catherine!

A year seems to go by more and more quickly.  And with my lack of time to note things on here, I fear I'll forget some of the cute things we've had happen or all the little cute things Catherine is saying these days.  She is really saying a lot these days.  She'll say, "-Eah" for Leah, "Hanks" for thanks, and when she wants something & I've said no, she'll say, "peez?"  It is so much fun when you don't expect her to respond and then she does with a fitting comment.  Her highest frequency word is probably, "NO!"  I can't say how it really sounds, but it actually has quite a bit of inflection and sounds enforcing.  She most often says it when others are really showing their "love" to her in ways that she maybe doesn't prefer.  But, she's a great baby.  She sure looks a lot like Leah did.  Hard to believe that she's heading toward 16 months already.  She's a good sleeper, loves to mosey around the house and see what everyone is doing, likes to look at books, and loves sitting in the little rocking chairs we have around.  She is another blessing - we feel overwhelmingly blessed in this house.  How did we get so lucky?