"I a fairy...."

Harper comes up from the basement after jumping in the jumpee in just her panties and some torn up fairy wings. She then announces,

"I a fairy who needs to poop"

That's our crazy Harper!

So,that's why they put a lock on the fridge water!

So, hanging out in the TV room before bed like we usually do, didn't see Haley and this is where I found her. She had opened our cup drawer, picked a cup, then carried the stepstool over to the fridge, and got her own water...of course most of it ended up on her but I was super impressed with her ability to get what she wanted! I think she knows how much we value independent girls in this house! Of course she used her newfound skills to steal warm cookies off the counter the next day...

I.LOVE.SUMMER!

Before our summer started, I thought, "I'll have so much time to get stuff done now that we're done running around to school and back everyday" Ummm...not so much. Here's our breakdown of what we've done today:
Took like an hour to eat breakfast
Played out back with our neighbors, ate some snacks
Rode our scooters in the front, Harper pushed Haley on the sidewalk in the stroller because as she says, "I Haley's Mommy"
Filled up our pools
Ate lunch
Jumped in the jumpee while I cleaned up, threw in a load of clothes
Washed the car which included standing in the soapy bucket, jumping out and yelling, "I've got bubble shoes on!"
Used the sprayer to wash off the driveway
Read 4 books
Did some ab excercises while the girls tried to do it too
And now it's nap/quiet time & I'm sure we'll continue to accomplish big things the rest of the day like walks, popsicles and changing our clothes alot because we're dirty. Soooo...I've given up my giant to do list for the summer and switched it out for a much better one!

Room cleaning excuses

It was room cleaning time and here were some of Lily's excuses
"But I can't see anything to clean up" because their shades were closed
"But we've been doing so many fun things and we really need a rest"
"But it will take sooooooooo long"

Because I'm a grown up

I don't usually resort to "because I'm a grown up" but sometimes it's true. Lily had put a nightstand on top of her bed which was not a great idea.
Me, "Lily, you need to take that down"
Lily, "Why?"
Me, "Because it could fall on you and hurt you"
Lily, "No, it can't"
Me "Yes, it could fall over and hit you on the head"
Lily, "No, I'll be careful"
Me, "Yes, it can. I'm the grown up, I know better that it could fall. Take it down"
Lacy, "Daddy's the bigger grown up so he knows even better"
Me, "Yes, and he would tell you to take it down"
Lacy, "And Adam & Eve are even bigger grown ups because God made them first"
Me, "Yep"
Lacy, "And God is the biggest grown up because he made himself"
Me, "Yep and he would tell you to take it down too"

Faith & Family

As the girls get older, I think we've been trying to solidify what our family will be and what is most important. I kept thinking of all these different character traits that I wanted to see develop in them and how to be intentional in teaching those. But I think we've been able to bring it down to two simple things that we want to instill in the girls, a strong faith and a strong, tight family bond with us & their sisters. Faith encompasses all of those character traits that we think is important and puts a guidebook there for it, the Bible. We're still working on making Faith a daily, regular part of their world and a few times, I felt overwhelmed because it's not like I have them memorizing scripture everyday, heck, I still don't know 1/4 of what I need to from the Bible. In talking to Jennifer about how she practially applies God "stuff" on a daily basis with her kids, she gave me great advice. That advice was, when your kids see you making it a priority to have Bible/God time each day, they'll follow. And of course because God knows I usually need at least a few diferent sources to drill it in my head, our Fathers' Day service @ Church focused on how it's not teaching scripture and discipline that will ensure your kids grow up to walk with God, it's the example that we set as parents. Little bit of pressure!

Picture Catch Up

Happy 5th Birthday! Lacy requested chocolate crinkle cookies instead of cake

Still shy sometimes when you snap a picture!

Haley & Colby hanging out before Jennifer hit the road

Front porch popsicle time!

Haley LOVED her first popsicle!

Happy girl!

' 'Cause you need goggles in a pool that's 4 inches deep

Painting our pots to plant flowers

Harper making her MESSterpiece

Love doing crafts with them!

Lily & Lacy's birthday party!

Harper making sure she eats every last crumb

Lacy with her peeps

Lily with her peeps

Preschool Graduation...they even played Pomp & Circumstance. Jason had to roll his eyes at that!

She LOOKS super sweet!

Action shot...blowing out the candles on the cake she & Lacy decorated

Opening Rapunzel

Pink Rubber Pancakes

Need to blog about birthdays and parties but didn't want to forget this...Lacy requested pink heart shaped pancakes for her birthday dinner. On their birthday, they get to pick whatever they want for meals that day. So, after spending time making the batter the right shade of hot pink, using our heart shaped pancake mold, produced her requested pancakes.
Me, "How do your pancakes taste?"
Lacy, "Well, you know how when you haven't eaten something for a long time and then you eat it..you know how it kind of tastes like rubber?"
Me, "What?"
Lacy, "You know, when you haven't eaten it in a long time, it tastes like rubber"
Me, "Are you saying your pancakes tastes like rubber"
Lacy, "ummm..yeah"

What will I look like?

Living near a cemetary always leads to questions about Heaven, dead people,etc. & yesterday, as we headed to the park on a hot, sunny day (finally!), here was a snippet of their conversation:

Lily, "That's the where the dead people are"
Me, "That's where their bodies are, I bet alot of their souls are up in the Heaven"
Lily, "Will I go to Heaven when I'm 6?"
Me, "Probably not, probably when you're really old"
Lily, "What will I look like when I'm really old?
Lacy, "Probably like Grandpa"
Lily, "No, I won't! I don't look anything like Grandpa"

Caught!

So, we had our first experience with STEALING! And I just knew it was going to be Lacy, she's such a "stuff" person and our big hoarder of the group. I routinely clean stuff out of her bed because if I don't, she tends to accumulate tons of little things which are then put into various containers that she also collects like Altoid tins, oatmeal containers, shoe boxes,etc. So, I opened up her oatmeal container to find some coins, chapsticks, littlest pet shop pets, some Barbie shoes AND an unopened little container of Mentos gum. I was LIVID! I called her upstairs and began the inquisition.
Me, "Lacy, where did you get this?"
Lacy, "From the toy store" lip is trembling at this point
Me, "That's stealing, you know that's stealing? When you take something without paying for it?"
Lacy, "Cause I didn't ask you?"
Me, "It's against the law to steal, to take things from the store without paying. Mommy is just so upset"
Lacy, "I'm sorry"
Jason was in a meeting but I sent him a text, "Lacy stole gum. Any advice?" Of course he replied we should take her back to the store to return it and apologize. Figuring doing it right away would have the most impact, woke the little ones up from their nap, told Lacy to get her piggy bank because she was paying for the gum and loaded everyone up. Of course Lacy couldn't steal from Walmart a mile up the road, she has to steal gum from a store all the way in Gurnee. So, during rush hour, Lacy and I practiced what she needed to say & even though I was so upset and embarassed, I was also proud of her because when we got to the store, she spoke up when I told her it was time and said, "I'm sorry I took your gum and didn't pay for it" When Jason got home, he read her a Ten Commandments bible story and explained it's not just our rules but it's one of God's rules that we don't steal. I hope & pray she got it and that Lily got it too. Later, Lily asked for a snack and I told her no. She said, "we're not having a snack because Lacy steals???" Progress not perfection!