Surprise!

Just when I think there's nothing to write about today, Lainey comes through for me. I went in to check on them tonight after they'd been in bed for a while and this is what I found:


Now, in case you can't see too well, let me explain a little. She has taken some ribbons that were decorating a gift I got and has run those through the slats on the bed above them. She has then taken Legos and put them together with the ribbon running between them. Pretty smart, huh? Now, I don't know if these are party decorations or if she's fashioned some sort of alarm system to alert her in case Sarah Grace gets up too early. Last night when we went to check on them, we found something similar. She had a blanket hanging near the end of the bed and the ribbons hanging near her head. We asked her this morning why she did that and she said, "It's for Mama's surprise party!" We just never know what they're going to come up with next!

Stomach Bugs and Parades?

Some days it seems that bedtime just can't come soon enough. Today has been one such day. Lainey woke up with some sort of stomach bug at 3:00 which involved baths for both her and Sarah Grace, changing sheets, cleaning the bathroom, laying on a pallet on the floor with Lainey until she finally fell asleep at 5:00 and then having Abby and Sarah Grace get up before 7:00. Thankfully I am blessed with a husband who is great at helping at such tasks in the middle of the night thus making the work go that much faster. Needless to say, nap time was a welcome occurrence in the Graham home today. Thankfully, this bug seems to have been a very quick passing thing and Lainey has been fine the rest of the day. Now we pray that no one else gets it. Some of you may remember that we were all sick at the same time back in February and our prayer is that it NEVER happens again like that. Our home felt like death had walked in and taken over then.
Even in the times of sick children, we can find something to laugh about. As I took my shift on the floor with Lainey last night, she said to me, "Dad thinks this is a stomach bug. What's a stomach bug?" I told her it was just a germ that had gotten into her system and made her tummy hurt and made her throw up. Sarah Grace then spoke up and said, "Yeah, like a parade!" No clue where that came from, but at 4:15, I'm not up for a lengthy explanation. Who doesn't think of parades when their sister has just thrown up all over them in the bed? If that's not a time for flying flags and marching bands then I don't know when is!
Hopefully tomorrow will be better or will at least involve a full night's sleep for, as Scarlett says, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

Conversations

I often enjoy listening in on the conversations between Lainey and Sarah Grace without letting them know I'm listening. They tend to be quite entertaining and I often hear my own words echoed in theirs and wonder to myself, "Do I really sound like that when I talk to them?" I definitely see some firstborn/second born hierarchy in their relationship from time to time. This morning the girls were playing with their Play-Doh and Sarah Grace took something that Lainey wanted to use. Lainey said, "When you finish using that, you give it to me, okay? (No response from Sarah Grace.) Say okay." Sarah Grace agreed and did pass the toy on when she was done just as she'd been told. Lainey is the little mother from time to time. Yesterday when we were returning from our picnic at the bay, we heard this conversation:
L: "What is that? "
SG: "I don't know."
L: "It's sand. Don't eat sand."
Tonight we were getting ready to go have dinner with some friends and I told the girls they needed to find their sandals. Sarah Grace couldn't find hers and asked where they were. Evidently, Lainey had already told her where they were because when Sarah Grace asked, Lainey said, "They're right in the middle of the hallway. I've already told you that enough times!" I hear these little echoes and think, "Ouch, I hope I don't sound quite like that!"

Best Birthday Ever

I can't begin to put into words how very blessed I am as I sit here in the waning hours of my 33rd birthday. What a fabulous day today has been! Nothing over the top exciting, but so much special family and friend time. As a nursing mother, I got to enjoy some of the wee morning hours of the day that would normally be missed. Now it's not unusual for me to be up in the middle of the night, but what was unusual last night was that at 2:10, I was joined by Sarah Grace. She came padding out and sat on the couch with me and watched an old black and white movie on PBS (I now know it was Strangers on a Train by Hitchcock). She looked at me one time and said, "I not sleepy." I quickly said, "Well, we're going back to bed kiddo!" I didn't want to experience EVERY hour of the day.

The family sang happy birthday to me and when they were done Lainey said, "Did you like the way I smiled at you when we were singing?" We had our holiday danish for breakfast and later in the morning Lon made a chocolate cake (from scratch!). Lon went back to work while the cake was in the oven and as I was looking after it for him, Lainey came in the kitchen and said, "Mom, can we sing a special song for your birthday?" I said sure and, trying to think of one I knew she would know, suggested "The Old Rugged Cross". She said, "No I was thinking of 'Deck the Halls' instead." So that's what we sang. Those of you who think that "Deck the Halls" is only for Christmas are really missing out! We took a picnic for lunch out to Birch Bay State Park and the girls had a great time throwing rocks into the water. The weather was beautiful and I think they would have stayed out there all afternoon if we'd let them.




A couple from church called a few days ago and offered to keep the girls for us so that we could go out to dinner by ourselves so we accepted their offer and went for dinner at The Keg (thanks to Lon's parents!). When we returned back to get the girls we had some more friends over to help us eat cake and ice cream. I've said it before but it bears repeating, I love our church family. The Lord has been so good to us in providing us with people who love us and Him and who treat us just like we are their own.

The girls had a great time with Mr. Ken and Mrs. Debbie while we were out on our date. When we got back, Lainey had to show us the horseshoe pits where they'd been playing and where she got a double ringer. She said they had french toast with orange jam, but not the fruit orange just the color orange. Ken let them put on life vests and sit in his kayak while they "rode the rapids" in his backyard. I think some special memories were made and, again, I'm grateful that my girls have these people in their lives.

What a blessing this year has been! I have a husband who loves the Lord and me, three precious and beautiful girls who are learning to love Jesus, a great extended family, and a church family that loves us and cares for us tremendously. My heart is very full. Indeed, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

Two Rules: Learn the Gospel at home and always take care of your Popsicles

This morning when we were getting ready for church, Lainey was getting her church bag ready and wanted to put a Gideon New Testament in along with her other Bible. I told her that she didn't need to take the New Testament with her and as she put it down, she said, "Yeah, I can learn the gospel at home!" I'm thankful she knows that she can indeed learn the gospel at home, but she still makes me laugh. Tonight I was trying to help the girls straighten up their room (translated "Mom was doing most of the work while the girls watched")and Lainey said, "Why do we need to clean up?" I said, "Well, it's good that we take care of our things. It's how we show that we appreciate them. It's good to take care of them so they'll last longer." Lainey said, "Yeah, especially Popsicles." I said, "Yeah, especially Popsicles." I have no idea what she was talking about, but sometimes it's just easier to agree than to ask for an explanation.

"Clean" Garages, Snakes at church, and Fireworks

Lon and I decided today that we should clean out our garage and sort through the myriad of boxes we have moved from place to place. We decided that today would be the day we sorted through things that have been in boxes since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago (or longer in some cases) and get rid of a lot of stuff. Well, 5 1/2 hours later, it doesn't look much better, but we did get rid of some stuff. It's amazing how emotionally attached we can become to our stuff. Wedding presents that we got and have NEVER used because we've simply had nowhere to put them or because they just weren't practical for us to use, toys the girls haven't played with in forever, all sorts of stuff. Why do we have it all? Better yet, why do I have a hard time getting rid of it? We did manage to rid ourselves of some or at least plan on ridding ourselves of it as soon as the thrift store is open for donations next week. The girls "helped" with some of this. We had two piles going, a throw away and a keep pile. Lainey started her own pile and said, "This is stuff I'm keeping." I had to break it to her that she didn't really get her own pile.

The girls and I went to the church today to clean up and while there, I asked Lainey to bring me a package of wipes upstairs. I knew she knew where they were so this shouldn't have been a problem. Well, she looked and said she couldn't find them so I went downstairs to get them and they were right beside her foot. I said, "Laine, if it had been a snake it would have bitten you." A few minutes later she came to me and said, "Mama, where's the snake?" And then later said, "Why is there a snake at church?" Hopefully folks out in public won't hear her ask that and think we attend some sort of snake-handling congregation.

While we were outside cleaning up, Lainey and Sarah Grace decided they would play hide and seek. Sarah Grace was the seeker and Laine was the hider first. Sarah Grace walked over to the porch, put her hands over her eyes and counted to 5 and then said, "Ready or not, here I come." Now, while she was doing this, Lainey got in a box and hid. Sarah Grace ran right to the box and said, "I found you!" It was really cute, cuter than I can capture by just telling you. They played again later and Sarah Grace hid. Her version of hiding was just to lie down on top of some boxes and grin great big at Lainey. Lon asked her if she was trying to blend in with the ground. The folks across the street came home while we were out and had their radio on pretty loud with lots of bass and Sarah Grace said, "It's getting pretty bumpy out here." We heard some sirens in town that went on for quite some time and Sarah Grace kept saying, "There's fireworks." Even when we told her it was a siren, she insisted they were fireworks and would not be corrected.

In our search through boxes, we found some pictures of Lainey from age 16 months to around 20 months. They warmed my heart, but made me sad as well. Why does time have to go by so fast? It's hard to remember that she ever looked that way or was that small. Just makes me want to hold them a little tighter for just a little longer and to make as many memories as possible with them. What sweet little blessings we've been given!

A Silly Little Thing We Like

Here's the girls' latest favorite video. Sarah Grace requests it often by saying, "Do pretty handbag we love you." It really won't mean much to you if you're over age 7 or 8, but it entertains us because it entertains them!

Good Friends, Feet, and Off-Duty Bees

Tonight we went to have dinner with the Blocks, our dear friends from church who have taken us in as part of their own family. We had a shrimp boil and it was great. It was one of those things that while I was eating it I thought, "Abby is not going to appreciate me tomorrow for having eaten this tonight, but it's so good, it's worth it!" So, we shall see how tomorrow goes. Lainey and Sarah Grace enjoyed playing with the Blocks' granddaugther Annalise who's not quite a year younger than Sarah Grace. She and Sarah Grace chased one another for quite a while around the island in the kitchen and giggled and had a great time. It makes my heart smile to see them all playing together. I hope they'll be friends for years to come. The Lord has been so good to bless us with friends that are like family and we love them dearly. I wonder if other pastors and their families feel the attachment to their church family that we feel to ours.


Abby discovered her feet earlier today. I went in to check on her once she woke up from her nap and found her with a foot in each hand and her feet up in the air. I can't wait until she discovers her toes and starts sucking on them! I couldn't get a picture of that, but I did get a picture of her relaxing in her crib during her nap.


Lainey told me another story tonight that was really cute. She'd been sent to time out and when she came out, she said, "I was telling you a story in there." I asked her to tell me about it and she said, "You know what it was about? A squid. And some bees." She said, "The bees dropped me on the honey. And when they saw me, they were glad with joy." She later said, "And the bees didn't sting me; they were off duty." She does make me laugh!

Negotiations

You know, I think our leaders have it all wrong when it comes to negotiating with terrorists. Peace talks with politicians get us nowhere fast. Politicians don't seem to have the skills it takes to truly negotiate. If America really wants to negotiate with the terrorists, they need to get a group of about 50 moms of small children together, have them fix dinner for the terrorists including something the terrorists have never eaten before or have a history of not liking, and have the moms set about having the terrorists clean their plates. We can broker some peace in between the give and take of what they do and do not have to eat. Can you tell dinnertime at our house is sometimes a battle?

Ordinary Days

Most days around here are pretty average and don't really offer exceptional stories that I can pass along. Today was one of those average days where I thought more than once, "Wow, this motherhood thing is hard." I don't know how I'd get through without the Lord's help. Abs was up before 5:30, Sarah Grace followed shortly after 5:30 which meant I was up for the day. Laine slept until around 6:45 when, according to her, Sarah Grace came in and said, "You want to wake up now, Laine?" I guess Sarah Grace figured, "Hey, you're sleeping the day away, I've been up for over an hour now. Let's get shakin'!" At various times today, Abby and Sarah Grace have cried at the same time; Sarah Grace because she got up too early and Abby because I think she doesn't like Caesar salad too much and I do. She and I've got to terms on the diet before too long! In the midst of the ordinary, I did get some cute pictures or Sarah Grace reading to Abs and of Abs just taking it all in. I got a not so ordinary picture of Laine at the computer yesterday. Perhaps we can take a tip from her on how to check our e-mail better?

What? Don't you check your e-mail with your feet?

Abby's taking it all in.

Hook 'Em! (With Apologies to Jana and Travis)

For the benefit of our Texas family:

Hook 'Em Horns!
(Or as Sarah Grace says, "Book 'em Horns!")

Sisters

I'm so grateful these girls love each other as much as they do. I love the sounds of them playing together and look forward to hearing Abby's voice added to the mix. "Come on, Laine, let's go play in our room," and "Let's play Sarah Gracie" are heard often. I watch them all together and pray that they'll always be so close.
Here's a picture Lon took of Lainey and Sarah Grace on Friday before we were leaving for our errand running:


Here they all are this morning as we were in the process of getting ready for church. They were all on our bed and, though you can't see, were holding hands.


Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Parades, Buckets, and Garden Hoses

We have entered the parading season here in Northwest Washington. Today we went to the Discovery Days parade in Birch Bay. After the parade, we walked further into town to see the crafts and such. The girls enjoyed it all and were excited about the candy they got from folks in the parade. I suppose we should teach them that parades are the only time it's really okay to accept candy from strangers because it really would be rude to pick the candy up and throw it back.

Lainey, mid-jump

Taking it all in (and eating a Sweet Tart)!

Abby was not impressed!

Later this afternoon, Lon went outside to play with the girls and ended up playing a game with the hose and some buckets. I'm not sure how all that came to pass; I only know that they all had a great time!

Fun times in the Graham home!

Five Loaves, Two Fish, Peanut Butter And A Free Lunch

Today we had lunch at a local restaurant for free as a gift card was provided to us. It was much fancier than our usual Friday fare of Dairy Queen or MacacDonald's. It was one of those restaurants that has buckets of peanuts on the table and lets you throw the shells on the floor when you're done. The girls loved that and Sarah Grace was most excited when she figured out how to open the peanuts on her own. Prior to acquiring that life changing skill, I caught her licking the peanuts and trying to eat them shell and all. I love my kids, but sometimes they can be just plain gross! Once she got into the peanuts, she declared, "I like this peanut butter!" I suppose by the time she finished crushing the shell, it was more like peanut butter than peanuts. We spent a little time at a local festival and walked about town seeing what things there were to see which really amounted to not much. It's really just one big sidewalk sale from all the businesses in town. The girls did each get a free (always important) balloon and were able to play in a bouncy house (also free) for a little while. Funny thing, when they were in the bouncy house, another little girl got in with them; her name-Abby! So, there they were, Lainey, Sarah Grace, and Abby all bouncing and laughing together, perhaps giving us a small glimpse into what our future might hold! The real Abs finally rolled over again today; she hasn't done it since Sunday, but today she rolled from her back to her tummy and then to her back again. Show-off! Speaking of show-offs, tonight we were watching Jeopardy and the clue was "Jesus used 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed this many people". Without hesitating at all, Lainey said, "5000." Okay, so she didn't phrase it in the form of a question, but I think even Alex would have been impressed with her brilliance!

A Smile from YouTube

The girls and I discovered this video today on YouTube. Some days this is what it feels like in our house. I get everything picked up just so and then somebody touches one little thing and it all explodes again.



And then sometimes it feels like this, where we're all smiles and everyone is dancing around! You'll need to stop the playlist at the bottom of the screen to fully enjoy this one!

"A Trip to the Zoo" by Lainey

Tonight I went in to check on Lainey and Sarah Grace after they'd been in bed for a while and found that Laine was still awake. She said that she'd been telling herself stories about her and Sarah Grace and Kaitlyn and Charis. I laid down beside her and she told them to me. Here's one she told:
L: We went to the zoo to see the animals. Guess what kind of animals we saw?
M: What kind?
L: Elephants. Guess what Will did? (Will is brother to Kaitlyn and Charis.)
M: What did he do?
L: He jumped on the elephant's trunk. Guess what the elephant did? He sneezed.
M: Oh, did Will go flying through the air?
L: No. Guess what he did? He went inside the elephant's nose! Then the elephant's ear itched and he let Kaitlyn and Charis climb in his ear. Guess what I did? I climbed on the elephant's trunk too. Guess what the elephant did?
M: What did he do?
L: He pushed me with his tail. Guess where I landed? Where the lions are!
M: Oh my! Did they roar at you?
L: No, they ate me.
M: Oh, I'm sad!
L: It's NOT real.
M: Oh, okay, thanks. Did the lions say, "Hmm, we need some ranch dressing with this little girl?"
L: No, I'm not pizza.
M: Did they say, "Hmmmm, we need some salt. This little girl's not salty enough.
L: Yes, and they had ketchup too.
M: Did they put ketchup on your toes when they ate you?
L: No, they put it in my hair.
L: Guess what Sarah Grace did? She climbed on the elephant's trunk. And the elephant pushed her with his tail. Guess where she landed.
M: Where?
L: With the horses.
M: Oh, did they eat her?
L: NO, they don't eat little girls. Guess what color the horses were? One was pink and the other one was pink and red. Guess what they smelled like?
M: What?
L: One smelled like pink lemons and one smelled like pink and red lemons. Guess what else they smelled like? They smelled like cotton candy. And popcorn. Guess what Sarah Grace did.
M: What?
L: She turned into a horse.

How can you not love that imagination? She makes my heart smile!

Sweet Sounds

I wish there was a way I could record the sound of the girls' laughter and play it on here for you. There can't be many sweeter sounds in all the world than the sound of them playing outside and laughing together. I heard it this morning and paused and thought, "Lord, please let me remember the way this sounds forever and ever because it is just precious." Also precious is hearing them pray. Lainey has been able to pray on her own without having to repeat after us for a while now and it is a sweet and near sacred thing to hear her talk to God. Just the other day and without any prompting from us, she prayed for the family of the lady in our church who passed away recently. She prayed that God would help them not to be sad because she was sure they missed her. Sarah Grace has recently started saying that she wants to pray as well. She still has to have help, but she can tell you who she wants to pray for and when she does pray, she often repeats names several times. What a blessing to know they have this desire at such an early age. It is our prayer that they don't ever remember a time when they didn't love Jesus.

Tonight Sarah Grace was trying to read The Jesus Storybook Bible but was intertwining some Goodnight Moon in as well. So, as she'd turn the page she'd say "Goodnight Jesus. Goodnight Mary. Goodnight Jesus. Goodnight Socks." I laughed. I suppose she's got to start somewhere!

A Day Full of Empty

When I was a junior in high school, my English teacher had us write in our journals several times each week and would often call on several students to read aloud what they had written. Early on in the year she seemed to catch on that one particular student (not me) never had anything worthwhile to write about except that he had nothing to write about. She called on him often and it seemed that he always wrote about how he had nothing to write about. That's what I often feel like when I sit down here to fill you in on the happenings of our day. Some days there's just not much to tell or at least not much that I should tell. But still I try to find joy in the simple things of our lives here. Today a package arrived in a large box and, after it was opened and the girls discovered it was nothing exciting for them, the box became the greatest toy ever to enter our home! Lainey asked if she could have it and when I told her she could, I heard her run down the hall saying, "Come on Sarah Grace, this can be part of our plan!" I wonder, no pun intended, when we lose that sense of wonder. As I was closing their door at bedtime tonight, I saw Lainey pick the box up again and say, "I know I'm going to sleep with this box!" Who knows what adventures she's had in there since we said good night? This morning I discovered that Sarah Grace is indeed a true optimist. She got some oatmeal out of the pantry for breakfast this morning and wanted to tell me that the box was empty. Instead she said, "The box is full of empty." I said, "Oh my little optimist! Even when it's empty, it's full!" I guess that's what some days are like around here. Even when they seem empty and meaningless, they're full; we just have to know what they're full of! I thought Abby had embraced my eating tomatoes and garlic again as I had certainly embraced them, but it seems that it is not yet to be. At least not yet to be with spaghetti. She has cried the bulk of the day and has not been a fun little baby to be around. So for now, I shall put away my tomato sauces and pastes, my garlic cloves and garlic powder and pray that by doing so, a full night's rest might come my way yet again! I daresay I've missed the full night's rest much more than I'll miss the passing joy a plate of pasta might bring!

Closing out my writings about nothing until "nothing" comes to me again tomorrow! Good night!

A Quiet Sunday

After Abby's initial rolling this morning, she did it a couple other times during the day. It turns out she can also roll from her tummy to her back as well as she did that a couple of times in the nursery this morning. And it seems that we didn't really miss her first rolling over. I talked with the lady who had her in the nursery last week and she said that she didn't roll completely over last week, but was really close. So, I feel like a better parent now having actually captured a first on video! In church this morning, Lainey was sitting on my lap and she leaned over and kissed me and then said, "Your mouth is sparkling." It was one of those moments that you want to laugh, but just can't and so that makes it all the funnier. The girls were able to be outside for a while this evening so here are some pictures from their time there. I love these sweet little faces!

She did it and did it!

Abby rolled over this morning! AND we got it on camera! Here are the still shots we got!

Saturday in the Park

After a beautiful day and lots of playing outside, we took a picnic to the Blaine Marine Park for supper. The 133rd Army Band was there for a free concert. The girls really enjoyed it and were most excited about the picnic. All the way there they sang, "A picnic, a picnic!" When we arrived, the band performed the Star Spangled Banner so we showed the girls how to place their hands over their hearts while they played. Later on when they were playing another song we looked over at Sarah Grace and she had her hand over her heart again; Lon told her she didn't have to keep it there the whole time. They enjoyed eating outside and were most excited about the cupcakes we had for dessert. It really doesn't take much to delight them!

"I can't wait until I'm old enough for a cupcake too!"

Out and About

Today was our day to be out and about together and we did the usual errand running and such. The girls are usually pretty entertaining in the car and today was no different. Along the way Lainey started singing "The Old Rugged Cross" or as Sarah Grace calls it "Far Away" as in "On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross. . ." . They're so sweet singing hymns and I'm so thankful that we've made it a part of our routine to do family worship together so that they're able to learn so many of them. Sarah Grace seems to have reached the phase where she is now into making up her own songs. So, as we were in town today we heard her singing over and over in that sweet little voice of hers, "Sing to my heart, sing to my blessing and sing to my heart and sing to my blessing." It was just precious. Sarah Grace often falls asleep in the car and if she sleeps too long then there's no more napping during the day. When we all fit in the Sportage, we kept her awake by rolling the windows down and shaking her awake, etc. Now that we have the mini-van, she's too far away to reach and there are no windows to roll down so we've employed Lainey as our enforcer. Lainey calls to her and pokes at her and attempts to keep her awake. I think perhaps this is a job that she enjoys a little too much. We tried this tactic today, but the power of the nap overtaking Sarah Grace was bigger than any aggravation Lainey could employ so we pulled over to the side of the road and I got in the back of the van in between the two car seats. I can describe my ride there as Pooh Bear described himself when he got stuck attempting to leave Rabbit's home after having eaten too much honey, I was a "Wedged Bear in a Great Tightness". The girls thought it was great fun that I was sitting in between them and in spite of the almost instant car sickness I began to feel, I enjoyed entertaining them in the back. However, the end justified the means (and the nausea) as Sarah Grace didn't fall asleep in the car and later took a nap which allowed me to take a nap as well.
Abby is a pretty good little traveler on our days that we are out and about and is either sleeping in her car seat or is very quietly resting though near the end of our journey she was hungry and was chewing on her hands so loudly that Lon decided to call her Chewbacca from Star Wars (nicknamed Chewy). We did stop by the doctor's office and had Abs weighed just to see what she's gained lately and she weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds. That's up one whole pound from four weeks ago. She's growing very quickly and is doing really well though she still hasn't rolled over for us this week. Soon enough I suppose!
Sarah Grace prefers to lay down for her nap in our bed and she always wants to get under the covers; I'm willing to go along with most anything for a nap. I usually lay down with her and today Abby was with us. Here's a picture I took of the two of them after I got up; I wish Lainey was in the picture too, but the truth is, she only takes a nap when one sneaks up on her and takes her!

Prouse on the Hairie and regly cheese

It's funny to me how expressions that your kids use just wind themselves into your everyday vocabulary until they just become the accepted way of saying things and you have to recall what the correct term is to call things when talking with someone outside of your own family. For example, in our household we don't eat American cheese; we eat "regly cheese". "Regly cheese" is separate and distinct from cheddar cheese which is special, thus it is "regly". When we have steak or chicken, Lainey is quick to point out that she doesn't like the "little ketchup" which to outsiders would look like a bottle of Heinz 57. We eat cinnamon rolls every Saturday the Lord sends unless it's a birthday or a holiday in which case we have holiday danish (or holidanish if you're Sarah Grace). Well, on Cinnamon Roll Saturday as it's known around these parts, the girls get to drink chuhrocolate milk. Anytime we're out and about and pass those famous golden arches, Sarah Grace says, "It's MacacDonald's!" I really try not to let the girls watch too much TV, but one show we do like to watch together is Little House on the Prairie. Lainey has always called it "Prouse on the Hairie" and now Sarah Grace does as well. I said to Laine a few weeks ago while we were watching, "You know when I was your age, I used to call this show 'Little House on the Cherry'." She laughed and said, "Yeah, but now you know it's Prouse on the Hairie, right?" Her attitude was like, "Come on Mom! You're so silly. I'm glad I'm here to make sure you get things right now." So for now, I guess we'll keep watching Prouse on the Hairie and eating regly cheese!

Just Hanging Out watching the Puppycats

This is often what it's like around our house with silly, silly girls! The weather was nice today so once the backyard was a little more shaded this afternoon, I took Abby outside to sit in Sarah Grace's swing. She liked it well enough and both Lainey and Sarah Grace enjoyed pushing her.

I'm so grateful that these sisters love each other and that, on the whole, they get along so well. Our home is often filled with happy sounds of tea parties, games of house, baby dolls, and lots and lots of laughter. Now, don't get me wrong, at least once each day there is a property rights dispute in need of negotiating, but overall, the sounds you hear are happy ones. I pray that these girls have happy, happy memories of their childhood and I hope that I can remember as many of their moments as possible. I suppose, in part, that's why I've created this little blog. If I write things down, perhaps I'll remember them better and if I forget, maybe someone else will be able to remind me of them.

Sarah Grace saw our neighbor walking his dog today and looking out the window said, "Oh, that's a pretty puppycat." I'm making a note to work on biology early on with the home schooling!

Jesus Loves Me

It is such a blessing to parent these three little girls that the Lord has so graciously given us. As we rode down to Bellingham this evening, Sarah Grace started singing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" all on her own. Later, both she and Lainey sang "Jesus Loves Me". It thrills my soul to hear them singing hymns together. Just the other day at lunch, they sat across from each other singing "His Name is Wonderful". Sarah Grace's version goes a little like this "His name is wunnerful, His name is wunnerful, His name is wunnerful, Jesus my Lord. He is a mighta King, masser of everthing, His name is wunnerful, Jesus my Lord. He is a mighta King, masser of everthing, His name is wunnerful, Jesus my Lord." It makes my heart smile and I suspect the Lord takes delight in it as well. What a blessing to hear these sweet little voices singing praises to God. As we read a Bible story about Jesus the other night, Sarah Grace asked "What's a Savior?" Just tonight, Lainey asked "Why did Jesus have to die?" What a privilege we have to tell them about who Jesus is and pray that they would love Him as He loves them. I just pray that the Lord would give us wisdom and walk with us as we seek to teach these sweet little girls all about who He is!

Wet Cats, Ice Skating, and Runaway Bunnies

Today has been sort of a humdrum ordinary day in the Graham home so it's hard to come up with anything exciting to write about, alas I shall try to come up with some little tidbit of entertainment. Even if no one else is enjoying these posts, I know the grandparents are so, for them, I continue. Our cat Felix has recently decided that he wants to be an outside cat. If he doesn't get out when the girls go out, he has discovered that if he paws at the back screen enough, he can open the door himself. It would be simple enough to walk out and pick him up and bring him back inside when he escapes, but not nearly as entertaining as the way Lon has chosen to get him back. Let me preface this next little bit by saying "Please do NOT call PETA." Lon's way involves the garden hose and a good squirt of water. Most of the time he leaves the screen open so that Felix only gets a little wet as he runs in, but sometimes, if it's the 3rd of 4th time of the day, he closes the screen door so that Felix really gets a good shower. Well, this morning, Felix got out and Lon got him with the hose. The girls were eating breakfast at the table and Sarah Grace said, "The porch is all wet, " to which Lainey said, "Now we can ice skate!" I'm not sure what one had to do with the other, but it made me laugh then and makes me laugh now as I think about it. Hey, a girl's gotta plan her day!

Not Felix, but perhaps what he feels like

Lainey continues to do really well with her reading. It's exciting to sit down with her and hear her actually reading a story though it can be painfully tedious at times as she struggles through some words that she's read with no problem just 2 or 3 pages before. Today she read Runaway Bunny and did excellent. I think it excites her to know that she's able to read well enough to follow the progress of the story. I think she'll be great as we continue the home schooling process. Here's a picture of reading time last night; even Sarah Grace was getting in on the action.


Who knows what tomorrow may hold? We shall have to wait and see!

Little Moments

You know, I've never really been good at capturing the girls' "firsts" on camera. I find that I'm often too caught up in the moment to stop and think, "Hey we need to record this so we can watch it over and over." I decided I'd be different this time and do my best to get as many of Abby's "firsts" recorded in some way. So when Abby started showing signs of rolling over a couple of weeks ago, I dutifully got our video camera out and recorded many minutes of her lying on the floor trying to encourage her to kick her leg over and finally make it to her tummy. It seemed that every time I got the camera out, she'd stop trying and so I'd end up with minutes of her just looking at the camera doing nothing exciting. She's still as cute as a bug so I hate to say that the time of recording was wasted and that we won't some day enjoy watching it and remembering how small she was and seeing how much she's changed, but it just doesn't have the excitement or the "moment" I had hoped for. Well, in spite of my best efforts at capturing her first time rolling over on video, it seems that I missed it completely. She did it today in the church nursery when neither Lon nor I was around to see it and there was certainly no camera nearby. Alas, perhaps she'll do it again soon and I'll get that one on video. Hopefully I won't be too caught up in the moment and miss it again! Since I don't have any pictures of her rolling over to post, here are a couple from earlier today just to show you how precious she is and how much she's growing. What a blessing these precious girls are to us. In the words of the story Love You Forever, "I'll love you forever; I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

Cute Girls

Here are some cute pictures Lon took of the girls tonight at supper. We went over to Lynden for a bite to eat (just in case you were thinking we might have a USA Today news stand outside our kitchen window).

Fun Times

We walked downtown yesterday morning for Blaine's Old Fashioned 4th and had a great time! The girls really enjoyed the parade and made quite a haul in candy from those in the parade. Lon sat with Lainey and Sarah Grace right at the edge of the road so they could see better while Abs and I stayed close to the sidewalk to guard the stroller. Abby was not impressed by the parade at all; she slept through the entire thing waking only long enough to get her pacifier once or twice. I got several pictures of Lainey and Sarah Grace taking it all in, but they still don't capture the joy they had. Several times I just caught myself grinning at them because it was so obvious how much they were enjoying themselves.



After the parade, we spent the day with friends from church and had hamburgers and hot dogs. At one point during the afternoon, Lon and Ken, the friend who's house we were at, and Lainey rode into town to the fireworks stand and bought a few different fireworks. Ken kept saying they were for the "kids", but it seems that the adults enjoyed them most of all.

During the afternoon, Lainey and Sarah Grace played with toys that had belonged to Debbie and her sister Carolyn. At one point, Lainey walked in with a toy picnic basket full of toys plates and such. When I saw the picnic basket, I said "HEY! I had one of those. Come on Laine, I'll play with you!" It's amazing how vivid some memories can be. My grandparents bought this picnic basket for me at Roses or K-mart when I was 4 or 5 years old and I played with it for years. It was one of my favorites. I served many imaginary peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on those plates and poured many a pretend cup of lemonade from the thermos into the cups. Seeing one again brought a smile to my face.

We ended our day by watching the fireworks from our front window. We missed several because of the trees, but we were able to see enough to say we'd seen fireworks on the 4th. All in all it was a fun day and the girls played hard and enjoyed it all.

Thunderstorms, Laughter, and Parades

Sorry for posting so late in the day, but Lon and I have spent the day cleaning our carpets (mostly Lon; I sorted through the girls' toys and got rid of approximately 863 Happy Meal toys). So as not to be underfoot, Lainey and Sarah Grace spent the day with a friend from church. She had plans to take them to a local farm to pick some strawberries and pet the animals in the petting zoo, alas the weather was too wet to get out. We've had beautiful weather for the last couple of weeks and have even been hot for a few days (those of you in the South, read that "hot" as "in the 80's") so I guess we're due a little rainy weather. We even had a bona fide thunderstorm last night. We've lived here for 2 1/2 years now and this is the first storm we've had during that time. We've heard thunder a couple of times, but nothing that you could call a storm. Well, this was a good one; so good in fact, that Sarah Grace crawled into bed with us around 3:30 and Lainey followed around 4:30. Shortly after Lainey arrived, I decided that 4 people in a double bed was about 2 too many. I figured, "Okay, there are two perfectly good unoccupied beds across the hall so I'm taking one."

When we arrived to pick up the girls this afternoon, we stayed and visited with Vicki for a few minutes. While we did so, Lainey was crouched down in front of Abby's car seat showing her a leopard beanie baby. Sarah Grace came over and wanted to take it from Lainey and as they were pulling back and forth, Abby started laughing! She's chuckled at me a couple of times in the last week when I've tickled her, but nothing like the cackle she let out for the show the girls were putting on. It was precious! As I said in my last post, time does indeed go too quickly, but I'm always excited when my babies start showing more of their own personality.

I hope you will all have a wonderful 4th of July! Our little town has an old fashioned 4th of July complete with an antique car show, crafts and food booths, and a great parade! We live close enough to downtown to walk so we'll be heading down in the morning to enjoy the festivities. As Lainey said tonight before bed, "Tomorrow is the end of July, so we get to celebrate the parade!" She's got a few of the details mixed up, but she knows what her priority is! There's nothing quite like seeing these things through the eyes of your child; it should be great fun indeed!

Goosebumps, New Bodies, and Steve Miller

I'm often curious about people who start blogs about the daily minutiae of their lives. Are people really interested in these sorts of things? It seems that perhaps someone, somewhere just might be. So, here I am starting my own blog to record the minutiae of my own little life in case someone out there just might be interested. It's mostly for the benefit of our parents who live too far away to enjoy the antics of their granddaughters everyday, but perhaps others will benefit from reading the ramblings of a stay at home mother of three girls. I don't know that these postings will be daily, but as often as I can, I'll update with the happenings around the Graham home. I'm certain that with all the antics of Lainey, Sarah Grace, and Abby, I won't lack for material.

Just today, I had the privilege of sitting beside Lainey as she read her very first book on her own. It was My G Book by Jane Belk Moncure and is all about words that start with "g" sounds. The plot was gripping and somewhat curious as there were some grinning goats and gorillas wearing glasses and goggles dancing together while a goose and gander looked on and giggled. But the point is she read it and was quite good at it and quite proud of herself. We celebrated this great accomplishment with a Popsicle. Next up, War and Peace. I may need to buy a bigger box of Popsicles.

Lainey, who will be 5 in a couple of months, keeps me on my toes with her curiosity. On Thursday of last week, our conversations ranged from "What causes goosebumps?" to "Why do we get a new body when we go to heaven?" Regarding the latter question, we had a lady from church pass away and were trying to explain to Lainey that we weren't going to see her at church anymore because she had gone to heaven to live forever with Jesus. Lon was going to the funeral home that night which lead to an explanation of what a funeral home is and how when we die we leave our bodies behind because we get new bodies in heaven. This lady who passed away was a very godly lady who loved the Lord very much and served Him as a missionary for many, many years alongside her husband. I said to Lon at dinner, "You know when someone like Edna passes away, it makes heaven seem that much more real." Lainey, not missing a beat, said, "But heaven is real." Oh, the faith of a child! I think there's a lot to learn from these little people the Lord has placed in our home.

Sarah Grace is the inspiration for the "pigtails" portion of the title of this blog and is full of energy. She's also a curious little girl but doesn't quite know how to form the questions that her big sister does so she keeps it simple by asking "Why?" ALL DAY LONG! It can be tiring sometimes and there are occasions that Lon and I answer her "why?" with "when?", "who?", "where?", and "what?". She usually responds with a crooked little grin hidden behind the thumb which is almost always in her mouth.

Dear sweet Abby doesn't provide for much entertainment at this point as she is only 3 months old, but she delights us all with her big smiles and sweet little dimple. Lainey and Sarah Grace love her dearly and are thrilled when she smiles at them and when she "talks" to them. Abs (as we affectionately call her) is close to rolling over and I fear will be on the move too soon. Where does the time go? It seems that I was just sitting on the floor with Lainey coaxing her to roll over for the first time and now she's reading! As the modern sage Steve Miller once said, "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future."