Getting outdoors!

Here's the Line to See Jesus

Thanks to Abby...

Look Who's Stepping Up to the Plate

Family Flowers

All four of us got out in the yard on Friday to plant purple pansies. Everyone had a job...

Abby was busy smashing the newly planted pansies with up-close and personal jet spray...



While Katie checked the suitability of the soil...


...giving it two thumbs up!


And asking, "what's next?"


Until Abby got a mischevious look on her face that made us all think she had the next move planned...

Um, uh!

Who Needs an Alarm Clock?

A few days ago, I posted my morning wake-up call... Abigail in my face, telling me that she needed to take a bath...come on, what's wrong, I am trying to take care of business and I need your help!

A few days later, I was awakened by blinking lights in my face...opened my eyes to see that the blinking was Abigail's new "light up" shoes that Mimi had purchased the day before...but only after MONTHS of asking by Abby. She was so excited to get the shoes that she had them on before anything else and was quick to head down the hall to show them off to her SLEEPING Mommy.

Well, here's the topper. Saturday, I was awakened by Abigail hollering to me from the "potty" in our master bath. She was saying, "Mommy, I am pooping on your potty because I did not go at Tuesday Morning yesterday!" We had gone shopping at Tuesday Morning the day before. She urgently told me, "Mommy, I have to go potty." So, we asked the clerk for the key and then Katie and I waited for Abby to finish her business and return the key to the clerk. Not two minutes later, "Mommy,I have to go poopoo now." Seriously? So, we again got the key and went to the bathroom, only to sit for 5 minutes while reading all of the signs in the bathroom. She spelled out T-U-E-S-D-A-Y M-O-R-N-I-N-G more than once...

Then, on Sunday morning, which happened to be the one morning of the year when the calendar gives everyone an extra hour of sleep. That is, everyone but Abigail and her parents. At 5:45 am, she bopped into our room full of energy and got into our bed. Her motor was running. Every word she has ever learned came out of her mouth in the hour between 5:45 and 6:45. The only thing that stands out was her asking me, "Mommy, what was that girl's name that we saw at the zoo on Tuesday?" I kept telling her I did not know what she was talking about, while pulling the pillows tighter over my head. Until, finally, she got frustrated and insisted louder and louder that, "Yes, I did know who she was talking about. That the girl was wearing boots and her mommy was wearing a pink shirt!"

Lately, I have been wondering whether I will ever experience the frustration of getting a teenager Abby out of bed on a Saturday morning... hmmm...

Big Accomplishments!

Look carefully. Abby's first signature! I helped her write the letters of my name, but she did her name all by herself! The portraits are of Mommy on the left and Abby on the right. They both have one big ear and one little ear... two eyes and a bellybutton.

And...Here's Katie's big accomplishment for the day! She has actually taken a few steps, but hasn't fallen in love with walking quite yet...

"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.