Signs of Aging

It's happening.  I'm getting old.  No, I'm not experiencing one of those "Yikes!  I'm turning 30!  Where did my life go?" moments.  Mostly because I'm not turning 30 yet.  It's actually one of those, "Holy Cow!  My kids are growing up!" moments--Morgan turns 5 in a few weeks.

And, as was bound to happen at some point, my sweet little Morgan stopped calling me "Mommy" a few weeks ago and has now resorted to simply "Mom."  Much better than her attempt to refer to me as "Mother" last year, but, why can't I be "Mommy?"  It's bittersweet. I love to watch my kids grow up, and I want to freeze time so they can stay little.

Let Them Be Little

by Lonestar 

I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand
Felt so good in it, no bigger than a minute
How it amazes me, you're changing with every blink
Faster than a flower blooms they grow up all too soon

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

I've never felt so much in one little tender touch
I live for those kisses, prayers and your wishes
Now that you're teaching me things only a child can see
Every night while we're on our knees all I ask is please

Let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

So innocent, a precious soul, you turn around
It's time to let them go

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

Let them be little

Licking Envelopes

Yesterday, as I was cleaning out a bunch of random drawers in our kids' craft stuff, Sadie came across a stack of old envelopes and a childhood memory that I'm sure very few of us still enjoy--licking envelopes.  She was so serious about it that I just couldn't help but take a video.  And, everyone of those envelopes was empty.  Oh, well.  If I still haven't used them since high school, I doubt they would ever be used anyway!  Now, I just need to keep the rest of the envelopes we actually use out of her reach!

Random Stuff

Who needs toys when you have boxes???  Morgan and Sadie entertained themselves for a good half hour watching a "movie" in the "car" (i.e. staring at the flap on a cardboard box).  

Oh, how we love Home Depot on the first Saturday of every month!  The girls wanted to paint their flower pots they made.  Daddy helped, which is why they actually turned out sort of cute.  And, they water their flowers faithfully, everyday.  This is the extent of our garden this summer.

 Last week at the library, I checked out the movie, Pillow Talk.  I was pretty sure Brian wasn't going to like it (he actually did think it wasn't too bad), but I remember watching it with some friends in college, so I got it anyway.  Sadie begged and begged to watch it!  I guess the DVD case looks pretty exciting!  So, I let her watch it, thinking she wouldn't last more than a few minutes (there's not a whole lot to the movie--it's from 1959 and it's not geared toward kids).  She totally shocked me and watched it for almost an hour (holding onto the case the whole time) before losing interest!  

Front and Back

A couple of weeks ago in church, Morgan was drawing a picture.  When she finished, she showed me and started to say something about how now she needed to draw the back.  

Trying to keep her quiet, I quickly dismissed whatever she was saying and went back to the meeting.  I didn't give it much thought and just assumed she wanted to draw on the back of the page.  

It wasn't until after the meeting was over that I notice what she meant by "the back."

The Front:

The Back: 

This is the same piece of paper, so she simply drew the back side of her characters from the front.  (She cheated a little and traced their general outlines from the other side.)  I can't say I would have thought to do that!  Aside from the boy having both pants and a shirt that are two-toned, I think she did a pretty good job!

My Girls

Oh, how I love these girls!  Being their mom is so rewarding (a lot of work, too!) and I love it when I catch them just being themselves and enjoying life!

Here's Sadie, reading.  She's in her princess attire, reading from her Disney princess book.  Why she chose to kneel at the mattress on the floor, I don't know.  That's Sadie for you.  She reads wherever she finds a book--the floor, at the bookshelf, on the couch, in the car.  I think my favorite part of this picture is her purse.  I was even nice today and let her carry around a "lip gloss", though she had strict instructions that it would be taken away if she opened it up!

When our new library opened, I purposely directed the girls away from the children's section and into the non-fiction stuff.  Morgan is currently fascinated with whales, dolphins, the planets, caves, earthquakes...you get the picture.  Every week we try to go and get different books, and Morgan has been getting books about various species of whales.  She's having trouble remembering all the facts that she's learned ("Mom, do you remember what kind of whale eats trash??  It eats garbage so we have to be careful not to put trash in the ocean!"), so we've started a chart (i.e. Excel spreadsheet) to keep track of their size, color and what they eat.  I really think it's her excuse to type on the computer, though!

China

The girls picked a couple of movies from the library before we went on our road trip to Utah last week.  We have a few Disney Collection storybooks and CDs, so they're really into all the Disney movies right now.  So, Morgan selected Mulan for her movie.

When I put the movie into the DVD player for them to watch, Morgan quickly turned the start of the story in her book and proceeded to read to Sadie: "Mulan: The Girl Who Saved China."

We've talked about geography a little bit, but mostly just continents and the United States, so I was pretty sure she didn't know what China was.  So, I asked her and here's how the conversation went:

Morgan: Mulan: The Girl Who Saved China!  Sadie, she saved China!
Me: Morgan, do you know what China is?
Morgan: No.
Me:  It's a country in Asia.  You know, like we live in the United States?
Morgan: Oh.  (brief pause) And, lots of my toys come from there.  They say, "Made in China."

Sadie Spotlight

I feel like I always post about both the girls, or, if I single one out, it's usually Morgan, so today, I thought I'd post a few random, but very characteristic pictures of Sadie.

Sadie refers to herself as "Sadie-Cinderella" or "Sadie Bugger" these days.   When she's not eating, she's wearing her Cinderella dress.  And, about a month ago, I banned her from taking her "blankie" out of her bedroom.  If you get to see it, you'll thank me.  It's seen better days, and I think Brian's willing to let her get her ears pierced if she parts with it.  But, she's not old enough for pierced ears yet, so we'll have to keep blankie (in her room) a little longer.  So, she totes, Lulu, her hippo, around the house now, instead.

Dress up should be this girl's middle name!  Here's Sadie all decked out to...cook in her play kitchen.  Her current specialty is oatmeal, something I'm sure she misses me fixing around here.  But, come August, I promise, I'll be better about it again!

Since we've had like the 4th driest winter on record, it's been important to water the lawn and trees this season.  It doesn't matter if there are ice chunks coming out of the hose!  If there's water, Sadie finds it!  Brian said he even tried to not get her wet, but it's no use!

When the Sun Goes Down...

We've lived in our house for over 4 years now.  And, for over 4 years now, we've had regular, uninvited visitors.  They haven't technically bugged us (sorry for the pun), and they've stayed far away from the house, so we've just let them come and go as they please.

These, my friends, are our regular lawn visitors.

They're only there when it's not too hot or too cold and the sun isn't too bright.  And, they stay right here, in this pile for a couple of hours, and then, miraculously disappear for a couple of days/weeks/months, until they come back.  We've even tried washing them away with the hose--they still find their way home.

The pile is large enough that you can see it when we pull up the driveway and into the garage.  So, the first thing the girls do if they see the pile as we come home, is get out of the car, run over to our "guests" and scream, "You naughty ants!  Go away, you naughty ants!" and stomp around the pile.  Heaven forbid they actually step on one and get it on their shoe!  My girls are such princesses!

So, until they get closer to the house (at that point I WILL be doing something about it!), here they stay.

Thoughts on a Tuesday

I was just thumbing through the latest Deseret Book catalog, and came across this quote:

"If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart.  So it has been with the best people who ever lived." --Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

If that doesn't completely sum up my thoughts right now, I don't know what else could!

I know we all have trials and they make us stronger and draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  And, I know that even if I don't particularly like my given trials, I wouldn't trade them for anyone else's.

Easily Distracted

Sadie was downstairs playing this afternoon.  She came upstairs, with her helmet on (their bikes are in the basement for the winter), and said, "Mommy.  I want to ride my bike but I need shoes on first."  

Here she is a few minutes later.  I think she forgot what she came upstairs for.