"Happy-Making" Girls

Since Abby was little, I have told her (and now Katie too) that they "make me happy". When Abby was two, she would say, "Abby happy-making". So now it is a bonding phrase we use, and I told her many times yesterday that she was "happy-making" and she laughed! It was a heavenly day, the kind that feels full of glimpses of heaven. Now that I have been working part-time, I treasure my Fridays off with the girls. We all wake up with the question, "so what are we going to do together today?!" Yesterday, Abby was full of joy, good attitude, quick obedience, patience and concern for her sister... she was busy "happy-making".

Here are a few random quotables from the last few days...

When I heard Abby in the backseat telling Katie, "I will hold your cheese, if you want me to," I said, "Abby, that was so kind. You are a great big sister." She responded, "It's kindness in my heart." So, I asked, "How did it get there?" (thinking I knew the answer she would give)... She surprised me with, "Someone put it there when I was dead." "Huh?" I said. "Yes, they put kindness and a hat in my heart when I was dead." "Oh. How did you get alive again if you were dead?" "John The Baptist healed me." Random.

At 6:45 am this morning, Abby was standing at the edge of my bed with no clothes on and her face was right in front of mine, saying "Mommy, I need to take a bath." I said, "Ugh. Abby, can you please wait a little bit? Put jammies back on and cuddle with me." Silence. Finally, "Mommy, what's wrong? I need to take a bath." I said, "Abby, Mommy needs to sleep a little more." Abby: "Mommy, I am trying to take care of business and I need your help!"

Abby was singing "I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock...and if anyone hears my voice..." I asked her who is knocking on her heart. She told me Jesus. I asked is she was going to invite Him in, and she thought for a minute, then sadly told me, "No, I want to stay here with you..." So we talked about living here with Jesus in our hearts, even before we go to Heaven one day. So sweet.

Abby: "Katie, look at this!"
Katie: "Wow!"

When I got home from work one night last week and a friend named "Avril" was watching the girls, Abby said "I can't call your friend "Armadillo". I said, "What?" She said, "I asked her, and she said 'no'. Her name is 'Avril.' It's a French."

Katie's latest word, "Belbow" for elbow.

Katie: "Babby!"
Abby: "Katie, please do not call me "Babby" anymore. My name is Lilly."

Abby: "Popop, please don't call me Abby-ca-dabby" anymore. I am 'Abigail'(pronounced in Spanish)."

Abby: Drawing a face, said, "look, I can draw a nose with two holes for picking"

Current obsessions....

Katie is obsessed with cleaning.

Abby is obsessed with names...telling us every hour that her name is something different.

Katie is obsessed with walking on her knees, rather than her feet.

Abby obsessed with drawing and writing letters. Little pieces of paper are all over our house, covered in wonderful letters and faces and shapes.

Oh What Lovely Days!

Oh, what lovely days we have had lately! And, so you know, I borrowed the phrase "lovely" from Abby. She always wakes up with a joyful heart, and one morning out of the blue she said, "it's a lovely morning to spend with family!" We do not know where she learned it, but we loved it! And she was speaking truth! Abigail is in the sweetest stage. She is truly a pleasure to be around. And Katie is talking and singing nonstop... and thinking about walking. Abigail is loving that she can really communicate with her sister now. She asks Katie questions, and Katie responds with "hmmm hmmm" or "uh uh"... Abigail loves it so much that she will ask the same question over and over until they both burst out laughing. They also get a kick out of the "Katie - Abby" cup game. Abby has been mimicking my efforts to keep the ownership of their cups straight by pointing at each of their cups, saying "Katie... Abby...Katie...Abby" Then, Katie will copy Abby by pointing at the cups back and forth... And she still calls her sister "Baba". She usually wakes up earlier than her sister at nap time, and if I take my eyes off her, she ends up in front of Abby's door, hollering "Baba! Baba!" and then lets forth tons of squealing and laughing when Abby wakes up and opens her door. We are drinking deeply of the precious moments around here...what lovely days, indeed!

Young Life Camp - Part II

I was cleaning out the camera today and came across more pics from Young Life Family Camp at the beginning of the Summer.

Feeding the chipmunks