saying goodbye to wish fish

We have sad girls over here because their only pet, Wish Fish, died.  There were even more tears than I expected last night.  We said goodbye and sent him on with a flush.

I don't think I've every written about Wish Fish and I have to tell his story.  You see, Wish Fish, was the craziest party favor we have ever received!  I can say that and know that the friend who gave him to us should be laughing right now. :)  He came home with us 2 1/2 years ago, I think, or maybe 3 years!

I never bought him a bowl, he was always in a vase I already owned.  He was kept alive for so long only because my husband faithfully fed it.  Adam claimed that he was a he, because he's so out-numbered around here.

We have marveled at that fish for so long.  Long after all the other "party favor" fish had died.  Now my girls are looking at me with puppy-dog-eyes and longing for a new pet and I can't quite think about that yet.

For my friends who have been amazed by my neglected, but loved, fish for so many years...you must know that I'm sad for the little guy in the end.  If you have any words of comfort for the kiddos, I'll make sure they read it. ;)

i love mom

I have something big to share!  Huge.  Kind of gave it away in the title...

She now says, "I love mom."

You know, it often hits me how independent they already are and it can overwhelm me.  But then they go and start saying, "I love mom."  And I'm perfectly content with how old she is and how much she's not a baby anymore.  Just one of life's little rewards, I guess.

She also says, "I love dad" and "I love sissy."  But my other favorite is when we tell her we love her and she points to her chest and says, "I love me."  Classic, isn't it?  It makes me laugh.  (Yes, sometimes you love yourself too much.  It is true of me too, honey.)

5:14 p.m.

She looks like a tech-savvy 2 year old, doesn't she?  These are possibly my favorite moments...just goofing off with my kids...probably procrastinating something else. ;)  I think you can tell, she was totally hamming it up for me.  Every once in awhile she'd get distracted and show me her "boo boo."  We'd also have to take breaks and make sure she wasn't calling Japan.  That would hurt. 

1st day of kinder & 2nd

We are back in school!  I have Tues. & Thurs. with just one little girl now.  It's rather life-changing.  I also have one more girl to home school on our Mon/Wed/Fri. school days though.  That's a little tricky. 

The only one in the family who cried on the first day of school was our toddler.  She misses her sisters like crazy and she gets giddy when we go to pick them up.  It's sweet.

Well, having two kids in school is still really hard to believe.  Kinder?  Really?  She was just born yesterday.  It actually makes me feel older all of a sudden.  Not a good older...like wiser or more mature. No, just old.

I wish I had more pics to share but I took just a few - and they are the world's worst photos.  Oh well, I was just lucky to get them off to school with the bizillion things we had to remember.

Yes, we sense trouble ahead…

If you are the baby of the family, I imagine it’s tempting to want to always be treated as the baby. You get a lot of attention and spoiling.  Well, when you are 2…you just flat out admit it.

Yes, we are totally raising our eyebrows at this and can see that there is trouble ahead for us. As my mom articulated, ”She has your number! Just wait till she’s a teenager and she wants that expensive prom dress. She’ll pull out this argument.” Little does she know that she has 2 first-borns for parents…and we can see through this completely.

But for now we will laugh and chuckle at her honesty. This is the on-going discussion we’ve been having this week:
“Don’t you know you are a big girl now?”
“No! I’m momma’s baby!”

And fake sneezing is hilarious.

for ashley

A little while back my cousin, Ashley, wrote a post including an old cousins photo.  She was shocked that I didn't comment on the incredibly flattering photo of myself.  :)  Well, here's my response.  Ash, as you enjoy the flashbacks that I can offer...just remember you opened this door.  Heehee.

The 4 of us grew up close.  I loved sharing childhood with my cousins and sister.  I'm still so grateful that they are close and we are still making memories.

this girl makes me smile

Last week was a hard week.  It was Bible club week, which is enjoyable & exhausting.  On top of that, every one of our 3 girls got a stomach virus all on different days.  It was a nasty bug.  There was a lot of laundry!  I'll spare you all the details.  I had 2 sleepless nights...that I still feel like I'm recovering from one week later.

I've been tired.  I took only a handful of pictures of club stuff.  So I went to go look through those photos and I found these.  I barely remember taking them...and I can't tell you what day this was.  But they made me smile.  I love bathtime pictures.

First of all, my toddler is contained...when else does that happen? Second, she's happy which sometimes (I'll be honest) feels like a rare moment in this fussy-toddler-phase.  Finally, for all of it's challenges I love this age.  I have a feeling that I will treasure these pictures more than most.  Her little chubby hand.  Her last baby curls (aka the rat tail...as my sister calls it).  Her fascinations with water & bath toys...which lead to water everywhere.  All of this encourages me when I stop to think about it.  And as one-tired-mom...I needed the encouragement and the smile that this little girl brings to my face.