To Have A Daughter

I never imagined myself with a little girl. I think it's because I had three brothers growing up and it just seemed more natural to want what I was used to being around -- boys. My boys are a blast and nothing can compare to being a mother of two rambunctious, life-filled, hilarious, cuddly little guys.

But the same goes for having a daughter. Nothing can compare. As I painted her fingernails the other day, I told Jay, "I have been waiting to do this!" It's so fun to look across the bookstore as Olivia listens to a lady read a Dr. Seuss book to a group of kids and see that she is applying her "lips" (aka: Burt's Beeswax). Olivia wears some form of pink every single day. She sways her pigtails and allows her brothers to pamper her. She cooks at her little kitchen and has about 4 tea parties per day. She lines her babies and animals up around her crib before bedtime and makes sure that they each get a hug or a bottle. Olivia loves to wear beads, tutus and fancy shoes. And when she eats, she makes less of a mess than the brother born 2.4 years ahead of her. :)

The other thing that I love about my daughter is that while she has a "girlie" side, she can take her brothers down! She wrestles with Isaac and Josiah, knocks over their blocks, eats like a champ, jams out on the electric guitar, plays with Thomas The Tank Engine, pretends to be a cow, and has an affection for airplanes and sharks.

When I put Olivia to bed at night, I always tell her how much joy she has brought into my life and into our family. I hope she gets to experience this same joy one day.

It's A Party!!

Josiah asked if we could have a party tonight for dinner. 30 minutes later, this is what took place.

The boys decorated the table with some party stuff we have from past parties. They were so excited and did a mighty fine job.

They even drew extra pictures to lay on the table.

Isaac made some great place cards.

And Liv delighted us all with her wonderful artwork.

These are my party planners.

We enjoyed a nice dinner party

with some wonderful background music

with our mouths full

and some nice conversation.

Notice Jay's party hat. Isaac made it for him and drew a picture of himself wrestling with Jay. He loves his daddy.

Here Isaac is showing off his latest missing tooth (as of last night) and the place cards he made everyone. He asked each of us our favorite letter and then wrote them in capital and lower-case. He also added the first sentence he ever read, "The pig sat in the mud."

I love these people.

She was so upset that there was no more dessert.

He figured out how to make it last longer. (Don't worry all you table manners people. He got the stink-eye from me.)

He also saw that his brother didn't finish his dessert and figured he could just hop on over to that chair. No such luck, my little energy-filled-sugared-up-before-bedtime little boy.

Oh yes. You also need to see my party hat. Josiah made mine and drew a picture of me with him saying "Boo!" And I'm wearing a bow tie. hmmm

Also, he writes mirrored image. Pretty cute.

My favorite people in the whole wide world. Thanks for the party, guys!!

A Bub A Bubblin'

This was one of our science experiments for the week. I can't remember what we were supposed to learn from it, (something about the air going through the wire), but it sure was fun.

All of my kids are finally at the age that they can blow their own bubbles. No more lightheadedness for me. :)

caught one

double bubble

She actually held it away from her lips a lot. But there were several times she practically ate it...and never flinched from the taste.

He was proud of our homemade wands.

This started happening...

So she got it all to herself.

Later on, Olivia started crying and I thought she had scraped her hand on the cup of bubbles. I came over and kissed her hand and then she pointed at it and kept crying. This gives me shivers to even write what had happened. Well, our really cool, homemade wands weren't all that cool. Part of the wire jabbed into the top of her finger and I had to pull it out. Poor baby. It was pretty rough on both of us. But the good news is, she got a monkey band aid and was all smiles.

New Friend and New Recipe

This friend arrived in the mail the other day. Olivia was delighted! For some reason, she started saying "peacock" all of the time. I don't even think she knew what a peacock was. My mom picked up on it while she was visiting us and thanks to Gee, Liv has her own peacock and it's her new best friend.

The peacock was immediately invited to tea.

Olivia has a friend named Erin who has the most adorable little kitchen that her grandpa made for her. Erin is always so sweet to let Olivia play with all of her toys...even her beans. :) Erin's mom, Nancy, is such a fun parent and let Erin cook with dried beans and pasta. Olivia enjoyed it so much that we had to cook some up at our own house. But remember, Nancy is a much more fun, relaxed mom that I could ever dream to be. So, Olivia had her fun and now the beans are waiting up high in a cabinet for a rainy day. haha

I think this lasted for about 3 hours. Then she had to take a nap. When she woke up, she immediately asked for "beans" and forsook her snack. If you know my kids at all, you know that is major!

I was good with this for all of yesterday. But today, as I was cleaning house, it finally got to me.

Especially when this rascal jumped in.

They are so much fun to watch together.

Watching Her Brothers Play

Lookin' Kinda Homeschool-y

I love homeschooling my kids for so many reasons.

1.) My daughter can dig in a box of old clothes and put together an outfit and wear it for two days. Nobody cares. Isn't she smashing?

2.) Josiah gets creative while I work with Isaac on his school work.

He taught Isaac how to make a book.

3.) She can color in her underwear. Nobody cares.

4.) We can draw crazy pictures all day long and come up with silly names for the unique animals. "Grass is yum." Josiah's dimple is yum.

Photos From My Cell Phone

Okay, maybe it's not that interesting. But I finally figured out how to send the photos from my cell to my computer. I wish that I would have learned this a long time ago because I've deleted LOTS of pics. Some of these are about a year old.

I love my boys!

crazy faces

Argh, matie.

when Olivia learned how to open the door by herself

Sometimes they get along. :)

Riding toys at the outlet mall in St. Augustine

One of our favorite places.

Isaac popping bubble wrap and Josiah playing in the rain at the townhouse

silly guys

drinking milk from a straw for the first time

playing outside on the driveway

cheese

playing in Olivia's room

a fun tunnel we go through on the way to and from Texas

Jay's a fun daddy.

I love having a child that can read to his siblings.

This is one of the restaurants Jay and I ate at in Winter Park, FL on our anniversary. I wish I would have remembered to take my camera. It was such a fun town.

Olivia and Sadie when Rachel came to visit last year.

Olivia right before having tubes put in her ears and having her adenoids removed.

My three kids and I eating out at a Mexican food restaurant here on Fleming Island. I love that Isaac has on a Florida shirt and Josiah has on a Texas shirt.