When I turn 4...

Look at this sweet angel...

heehee...and this precious picture...

She is full of personality; funny, spunky, energetic, sweet spirited and a heart of gold. She is also extremely ornery and some would label her as "a handful." She is beautifully strong willed in a way that the Lord will use for GREAT things one day; until then, we help her learn to harness it. :)

Anyway, Lilia's favorite thing to say is "well, when I'm four..." (fill in the blank.)  Example: she was dying to sit in the back of the van with Mia. Our deal was that she could sit in the back when she could entirely buckle herself. Instead of this pushing her to try, she cocked her head, shrugged her shoulders and sighed "well, when I'm four I can buckle myself." Please keep in mind that she doesn't turn four until December.

Her lack of determination in anything we want her to do just cracks me up - in a separate room, by myself, where she doesn't know it is funny of course. Lilia is constantly drawing on walls or floors, breaking things on purpose (I'm not speaking about the many different accidents that happen), or downright disobeying just to test the boundaries. If you tell her to "clean up your toys or I will get rid of them" she will throw them in the trash for you. If you tell her to eat her dinner or she gets it for breakfast, she will put it in the fridge for a leftover breakfast the next morning. It's a constant challenge staying on top of her quirky responses as we try to teach her value, appreciation and obedience. 

This morning, Lilia came up to me while working and says "Mom, when I'm four I will not break things. I'll just pour my cereal and eat my breakfast." Processing her very serious comment to me, I asked "Well, why don't we start practicing now?" Her response was simply, "Well, I'm just three."

Yes, sweet girl, you are too funny for your own good. But you always know where you stand with Lilia and she will love you to pieces....and some day she will truly value each of those special pieces. One day. When she's four.

Memorial Day Weekend

I love three day weekends! I love the extra time together and the possibility to say "hmmm...what should we do" that an extra long weekend promises. This weekend was just that for our family.

Saturday started bright and early as I motivated myself out of bed for an early grocery run. Payment for such motivation was a nice quiet morning with the children, doing chores, watering flowers, and a yogurt parfait breakfast. The girls and I wrapped up the morning at a little friend's Fairy Garden Birthday Party. The party was so sweet as the girls each dressed up like little fairies, painted their own flower pots, swung at a flower pinata and indulged in pink sprinkled cupcakes before lunch. Such a fun morning! The rest of the afternoon was reserved for family - naps, yard work and going out to dinner.

Sunday we packed up the van and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Samuel's house where the family was grilling out. The occasion? My Aunt and Uncle were visiting from Idaho. We grilled burgers and ate Popsicles. The children splashed in the pool until they turned into Popsicles themselves. We laughed, teased and conversed the afternoon away. The highlight for the girls was an impromptu tea party on the deck, organized by Great Aunt Donna as a surprise for Great Grandma! What fun memories we are making with these loved ones. Tucking the girls in to bed that night, it was fun to explain to the girls that this Monday was a special day; we get to spend extra time together as a family and be thankful for all those people who fight for our flag!

Monday we spent outside...yay for summer!! After watering the flowers and the grass, we headed out back where the girls played with their slide, bubbles, and water table. I brought Kasen's jumpy outside so he could have some fun too. I propped up my feet and enjoyed a good book - and a slight sunburn. We ate lunch on the deck and then after naps we took a family "hike" (really a slightly strenuous walk) with the kids - one of our favorite things to do! Fried chicken for dinner, quiet times and snuggles before bed rounded out the weekend.

So in love!

oh, and just for fun...this pretty much sums up the in between times! LOL