SPRING!

Today, spring came. We've been anxiously awaiting it. Today it was here. The girls were up early, but we had to go to the bank to close on a loan (thanks to the 40 days and 40 nights of rain that got in the way of spring's arrival and also came in through our basement walls, requiring over $10,000 in repairs). Then, Lydia had a birthday party to go to.

While Lydia was at her party, Charlie and Audrey were completely blissed out playing in the yard. We gave them spray bottles, because spray bottles keep kids busy for hours. They spray everything. Including each other, which we try to discourage, but really, who can blame them? They spray trees. They spray the deck. They spray the house. It's like it's their job to spray things.

When Lydia got home from her party, their was more playing outside and more spraying. Also more fighting, but that happens when all three are together. We grilled burgers and ate on the deck. Finally, we came in and threw all three girls in the shower and hosed them down. There was dirt, there was leaves, there were scraped knees. I put "Magic Owie Lotion" on the scrapes and we cuddled up on the couch to watch a show (America's Funniest Videos) before they went to bed. Shortly after the show started, Charlie asked to go to bed. SHE ASKED TO GO TO BED. So, we got Charlie to bed. When the show was over, the other two were asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

A successful welcoming of spring!

Sunny Days

Jayson and I are 99.99% firm in our decision not to have any more kids. However, any time I see a newborn little baby, I get a little lump in my throat and really want to have one to just hold and love and smell for a few hours and then give back. I am 100% done with being up all night, feeding all the time, and constantly being attached to a little miniature human being. I am so happy that Charlie sleeps through the night, feeds herself, and is very independent. In fact, having older sisters to play with helps a lot because if I'm busy doing something, I don't have to worry about keeping her entertained.

So, one of the joys of finally having all the girls independent is that now that the weather has turned absolutely beautiful, they all play outside together whenever they can. And playing outside all day long leads to excellent bed times. We have a gated back yard, so we can send them out without having to worry. Not that we just send them out and ignore them -- we go out too when we can, but it sure is nice being able to make dinner in peace while they play outside and run off some energy.

They're really into bubbles, chalk, and riding bikes. Today, they watched a butterfly fly around the yard. Until Lydia called for me and said, "Mom, the butterfly is in our bubbles." I came out to inspect the big bubble tray they use for making giant bubbles, and there was a butterfly submerged in the bubbles, with one little leg still trying to hold on, and it quickly faded.

A little later, after they had been outside for close to an hour, Audrey came up to me to show me how clean her hands were. I was a bit surprised. They had played with bubbles and gotten sticky, then chalk and they got dusty, then back to bubbles. They had been crawling around on the deck and searching for toys in the piles of junk on the porch. "Those are really clean!" I said. "How did you get them so clean?"

"I licked them," she said, very proudly. Wonderful.