Dance Class, Excitement, and the Running Washington

Lainey's dance classes started back today and to quote her, she was so excited she "couldn't even hold her breath". I have no idea what that means except that, from the looks of her, she was extremely excited to be back. We traveled down to Bellingham before lunch today to get some new ballet shoes because her old ones wouldn't even go on her feet; it's amazing how quickly these little kids grow! Sarah Grace was really disappointed that she couldn't go to dance too and even more so that we couldn't stay and watch Laine dance.

Lon and I fear that Lainey is turning more and more into us day by day. Today I gave her a piece of cake I made the other night. She said, "This is good. I knew you put some of that Mama Lainey lovin' in it and that's why it tastes so good." I often don't know where she comes up with the things she says, but it makes for good blogging!

Tonight as the girls were getting ready for bed, Sarah Grace came to me and said, "Mom, the Washington is on. Can you turn it off?" I said, "What do we need to turn off?" She said, "The Washington, " as though I were an idiot not to have understood this immediately! Pausing for a moment and trying to figure out just what she was talking about, I heard the dishwasher running. OH! It's all so clear now! Washington=dishwasher; I'll add that to my lexicon!

Funny Little Lainey Stories

There's never much to tell on a Sunday evening so I thought I'd entertain you with a couple of stories from Lainey's world today.

Lainey got a book for her birthday that has activities in it for helping her learn Bible verses, but I don't think she quite understands the concept yet. She had it today and saw a picture of three crosses in it. She saw it and said, "Hey, it's like they know Jesus as their Savior." I said, "Yes, Lainey, they do. That's a book to help us learn Scripture together." At least her heart is geared towards thinking about such things and being hopeful that someone knows Jesus as their Savior.

Today during church, she was sitting beside me and was sprawled out all over the pew. I said, "Lainey, you have a dress on so you need to sit like a lady." She said, "But I'm wearing tights." I said, "Yes, I know that, but when you have a dress on, you need to sit with your legs together." She looked up at me and whispered, "Like magnets." I said, "Yes, like magnets." I'm not sure where she comes up with these things, but she does make me laugh.

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Nothing delights Lainey and Sarah Grace more than holding Abby. Here are some pictures I got a couple of weeks ago of each of them with her. I think she enjoys it as well, though perhaps not quite as much as they do!

The Greatest Show On Earth!

Wow, am I tired. Sorry for the lack of post last night and today, but we have been quite the little go-getting family and there just wasn't room for the blog anywhere until now. As I was watching the news at lunch yesterday, I caught a brief story about the circus being in Everett and something about half price tickets. Never one to want to miss out on a deal, I asked Lon to check online to see when the tickets were half price. It turns out it was last night so we quickly decided that our schedule was free and that we should go. So, we left home around 5:00 yesterday evening and returned around midnight. (Now you see why there was no blog last night; I'm just not that dedicated!) The circus was great fun and the girls loved it. I think it really is "the greatest show on earth"! After every act, Lainey would turn to me and say, "Is it over? Is that it?" She was pleased to know that there was more to come. They loved the tigers and ephelants and horses! Of course during the intermission, they paraded out the cotton candy and popcorn, etc. so that all of the kids would then badger their parents to buy some. As the cotton candy was $12, and as that cost nearly as much as 2 of our tickets, we didn't get any. Lainey almost won me over when she pulled out the big doe eyes and the "please, Mommy, I'm really hungry," but my shrewd financial wisdom won out. I just couldn't hand over $12 for something that probably cost them $2-$3 to make. So, no, they don't have the memory of having cotton candy or anything else to eat at the circus, but they still had a good time and we still have the $12. The circus started at 7:30 and was over by 10:00, though we slipped out around 9:45. We still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us. Anyone who knows our children knows that they are creatures of the schedule we have created and that schedule includes bedtime at 8:00. So, while Lainey hung for the whole thing and only complained about being tired once or twice, Sarah Grace wilted after intermission. She never went to sleep, but she did lay down on Lon's lap a couple of times and was very obviously miserable. By the time we got out of the parking garage and onto the main road, they were out. Abby will have no memory of having been to the circus, but she did pretty good while we were there. She has become an unhappy traveler in the car and made for a pretty long trip there and most of the way home. There was talk of tying her to the roof; alas, there were no bungee cords in the van!

Today was the day of 1001 errands. I made my list and we struck out. We left home around 10:15 and got back about 5:00. Sarah Grace was especially glad to be back home. When we pulled into the driveway, she said, "We're home, we're home, we're home!" Banks, libraries, offices, Walmart, Costco, Albertson's, Safeway, oh my! We accomplished all but one thing on the list so I count it a success! We used some of Lainey's birthday money and got her a book bag and some school clothes. As she stood in line wearing her little book bag on her back just as proud as could be, I had to hold back a tear or two. Where does the time go, I wonder!? I fear that tomorrow I'll be holding back a tear or two as she tries on her cap and gown or, worse yet, her wedding gown (though she did tell Lon once that she wasn't ever going to get married to which Lon said, "A verbal contract is binding!"). Lord, please let me pause and enjoy each little moment with these girls and not take any of it for granted (even those moments when I only wish that bedtime would come sooner!).

Here are a few pictures of our circus trip!

Your Call Is Very Important to Us. . .

Or is it? Perhaps she's in training for a future career as a customer service representative?

Simple Pleasures and Lifetime Habits

We tried to get back into the swing of things with homeschooling today after taking last week off while grandparents visited. Abby wasn't really in the mood to make homeschooling easy today, but we did manage to get a few things done. As Abby is my third child, I am more prone to let her "cry it out" a little longer than I did with the others. I'm hoping that we can get back into a regular routine so that life will be easier for all of us. Lainey got some new paints for her birthday and both she and Sarah Grace got their own set of paintbrushes so we did some painting this morning. They had a super time. It was fun seeing how much they enjoyed it. I gave them each a pint sized mason jar filled with water to rinse their brushes in and I think they both delighted in seeing the water turn colors almost as much as they enjoyed painting. I caught Sarah Grace dipping her brush into the paint and then rinsing it off without ever having put paint to paper a few times. "Look Mommy, the water turned all brown!" It's the little things that delight us so!

I want to begin teaching Lainey a Scripture verse each week so today we worked on Psalm 56:3 which says, "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." I chose that one because she came to me a little worried this morning about starting school soon. She memorized it quite quickly and we reviewed it several times throughout the day and one last time right before bed and she did a great job. What a joy and a blessing to hear her quoting Scriptures. I pray that this is a habit we can begin now and that she will maintain it all her life. What a benefit having the Word hidden in her heart will be!

Here are a few pictures from our painting adventures today! The last one is my favorite!

Labor Day Adventures: Shopping, Fishing, Falling, Riding

I decided to take the girls shopping today to take advantage of some of the Labor Day sales. Evidently, we were not the only ones in Whatcom County who had this idea. We didn't accomplish nearly all I'd hoped to, but we did enough. Shopping with 2 in the stroller and one walking is difficult, especially when the one walking is actually running about the children's department at J.C. Penney's exclaiming that she's found something in a 5T or a 2T AND when one of those in the stroller kicks her feet out to make getting through the oh-so-narrow-aisles all the more difficult AND the other one in the stroller is completely unhappy about being in said stroller AND you have to figure out how to push the stroller, look for clothes, keep up with the runner, carry the baby because somehow the Snuggli got removed from the car and didn't get put back in, keep the other one in the stroller from reaching out and grabbing clothes from the shelves or shaking the tables on which the clothes are neatly arranged in an attempt to make them all come tumbling down AND your stroller is about 3 inches wider than said aisles in store. It was an adventure to say the least, but, you know what, we still got some deals so I say it was worth it! What a disappointment it is to shop for clothes for your sweet innocent 5 year old when you realize that everything is skin tight or has slogans like "It's All About Me". It ISN'T all about them (not even a little bit) and I sure don't want them thinking it is! When did it become okay to be proud about being a self-centered selfish snot nosed brat? It's not okay in our house! That's not to say that those attitudes aren't there; they're just not okay!

This afternoon, we headed up to "the pond" to help celebrate Jim and Audrey's 55th anniversary. Jim and Audrey, for those unfamiliar, are friends from church who have taken us in as their own. They are so good to include us on all sorts of family things and it was an honor to help them celebrate 55 years of marriage. They didn't become believers until 20-some years ago and it's a blessing to see how the Lord has preserved them and raised them up to be a wonderful example of what a godly marriage should look like. They give me something to which to aspire.

While at the pond, Mr. Ken took Lainey fishing. She insisted we take her pole up there and Mr. Ken, always being game for 1) anything involving a rod and reel and 2)seemingly anything that brings delight to our girls, obliged her and tried to help her catch her a fish. They hunted for grasshoppers for a time, but unable to find anything that satisfied her desire to catch "The Big One", Lainey opted instead to use herself as bait. That's right, my dear readers, Lainey fell into the pond. Thankfully it wasn't deep where she fell, she didn't get hurt, Daddy was able to rescue her quickly, and Mom always has a change of clothes handy! All was well. Of course she had on her brand new WHITE shoes when she slipped in, but thank goodness for the power of a warm water wash and strong detergent; all is white again! She really didn't let the fall slow her down and they continued to have a great time. Mr. Ken even pushed them around in the wheel barrow for a while (This totally brought back memories of my Granddaddy Comer's green wheelbarrow that he kept propped up by the pump house. I used to get rides in it from time to time!). I'm not sure who's going to sleep better tonight, my girls or Mr. Ken!