Three Little Musketeers

These three...

Close in age...

That share a similar history...

And a love of princesses, all things girly and enjoy the dirt and mud...

Who laugh and learn from each other,

Pray for each other,

Are silly with each other..

And just altogether precious 

And dearly loved.

Heaven knows how thankful we are that they are part of our families 

And friends for each other.

Pancakes with Papa

I was feeling under the weather this evening and Flora Lin was having one of THOSE days (which I later found out was because she felt just like I did), so Sam came to my rescue after a weekend of work and made breakfast for dinner.

He had a precious little assistant this time. : ). (Look at that sweet smile on her face!)

Charlotte was so excited to help! "All by self, peeease!"

She loves to help, and her Papa loved having her help!

It won't be long, she'll be perfecting her technique!

Our little girls make even the mundane (feeling sick, need to get dinner on the table, etc.) special!

Flora Lin wanted her picture taken, too.  : ). The two of us sickies snuggled on the couch together and edited pictures on my computer.

FL and I definitely have something, and C isn't feeling too sharp, now.  Hopefully, the yummy pancakes and a good nights' rest will have us feeling better for the busy week ahead.  Either way, the days are bright because of these two girls. 

Silly. Singing. Sisters.

"I loooooove my sister" is what we are hearing a lot of these days...

And then they snatch, bump, push, disagree, etc. etc. the very next second.  : )

   I guess that just goes to show that they truly are sisters!

One thing they do agree on almost always is singing, thought it rarely is the same song...

And laughing - they both love to laugh and laugh together often.  : )

It's one thing I never tire of hearing.

They really do love each other.

We can't imagine and wouldn't have it any other way. : )

Fire Safety Week

Fire safety week started with a fire of our own!

Our pool and pool deck was in such bad shape, there was only one economic thing to do.

Burn!  Under careful watch, though (don't worry, the girls were napping while it took place).

So, two little firefighters in training came to inspect.  And be cute.

We also started learning about fire, matches, lighters, extinguishers and how to call for help.

I drew a "9 1 1" and the girls cut and colored the majority of the numbers.  Then they glued them onto the paper in the proper order.

C and FL also practiced dialing 9-1-1 on my I pad, phone and a big pretend phone.

I know they are a little young to understand, but I don't think it's too early to begin and plant those seeds.  Plus, they were excited about touching my I pad and phone!

We also looked for things that helped keep us safe in our home, like fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.  They like to look in everyone's home for them, too!  Let us know if you need detector detectors!

Ella helped make it more fun.

Sam and the girls tested and updated each detector (which is a lot of smoke detectors due to our home study requirements!).

They were nice and loud!  We practiced what to do when a detector goes off.

We picked a fire drill family gathering tree to make sure we were all ok.

The girls also pretended they were fire fighters.  Here they are at the "station" waiting for a call to come in for fire help.

DING DING DING DING!!!   C and FL sprang to action and quickly donned their gear and hopped on their fire trucks.

GO GO GO!

We drew some fires that they put out.

They also found some other "fires" along the way.

They liked riding their scooters to the scene!

The old fire dog stayed at the "station" happy to play along with this resting role!

Later in the week we did more fire/emergency art.

This was painters tape painted over in fire colors.  Their favorite part was removing the tape and playing with in afterwards!

We also painted fire using forks!

I liked how this turned out and how the yellow and red blended to make orange.  We will do this again sometime.

I think they learned a little bit and their art turned out well.  Charlotte's is on the left and Flora Lin's is on the right.

We still plan on visiting a fire station, but we will have to fit that in at another time.

It was a fun and safe week! : )

Just Because...

She is growing and changing way too fast...

And there's so, so much I want to remember and capture and keep and hold on to...  

And because I know I can't keep her little, though she says that's what she wants.

And I want to remember that every time I say, "You're growing up so fast!" She says, "No, Mama!  Shaw-yotte stay yiddle fo'ebah.  Mama can wock an' cah-wee Shaw-yotte fo'ebah and ebah."

And even though she promises me these things, she also tells me that she and Flora Lin will take me to the grocery store when I am old in their matching red cars.  

And that they will both be leg doctors together.

And that they will live at home with Mama and Papa in "'dis house."

And that she tells me Flora Lin will have spikey hair.  In rainbow colors.  That I painted... (And that I actually believe that might happen!). And her hair will be brown and she will have it down (which I also believe!).

And that she used to say "sehben, elehben and sehbenteee" instead of seven, eleven and seventeen.

And she used to call her sister "Fo'Yin" instead of the newer "Fo'la Lin."  

And that she regularly translates for her sister when we just can't understand.  And they have these hilarious conversations while they both sit on the potty and I have no idea  what they are saying, but they can't stop laughing.

And when I tell her she can take a break from therapy for her left hand, she says, "No, fank you, Mama.   I want it get stwongah and stwongah.  I do it."

And as she rocks her Dolly she tells me, "Shaw-yotte is Mama.  Dah-yee is Baby Shaw-yotte."  And she repeats all the things I say to her to try to comfort her, convince her that I will never leave her and how wonderful and precious she is to me.  And then she turns to me and says, "I a good mama for babies, Mama?"

And when I carry her, she twists her little fingers into my ponytail for comfort.

And that every now and then, she tucks her little arms under mine and wraps herself around me and says, "Hug me tight, tight, Mama!"

And that every new step she takes and every time she grows, she is all the more precious to me.  

And that she always will be.

And I'll tell you every night for as long as you let me tuck you in:

Happy or sad, glad or mad, I will always love you.

Whether you make good choices or bad, I will still love you.

Kind or mean, I will still love you.

Even if you run far, far, far away, I will still love you.

There's nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you.

Love you, Pie-Pie.  Love you just for being you.