Lawn Mowing

Really I didn't think we'd ever get to the point of saying these babes are a lot of fun.  I guess the very hardest things in life turn out to be the greatest blessings.  I will say this: never in my sane mind will I ever wish these two youngest terrors to be small babies again.  Heaven help all of us! 

This last weekend we hit a pretty sweet milestone.  I mowed the entire front lawn with Micah and Copper sitting on the front porch, and Kota a few steps down.  No crying, no chasing after me, no being scared of the mower, and no falling off the porch.    Usually I have to wait until 8 at night when Tim is home in order to mow the lawn.  It's nice b/c I can be busy and he can be with the kids.  Still, it may have helped this time that I gave them the last of the Sour Patch Kids to snack on.  But I was so impressed that I successfully attempted the back yard.  I should have gotten a picture; Micah kept herself busy by finding a small bucket of water, which she poured over herself and then climbed in the sandbox.  One messy kid in exchange for mowing both lawns?  I'll take it.  

 This is Micah after I said, "Raise your hand if you're being incredibly cute."  She knows it.  Micah looks for messes everywhere; she can't eat anything without becoming a mess, and she can't play outside without finding the mud puddles or dirt.  She loves food and will eat just about anything.  Unlike her same-aged sibling, who seems as picky as Copper.  And all those months of her throwing up everywhere and screaming like she was near death... she's turning out to be a mellow, low key kid.

 This is Kota after I brought her in when the lawn mowing was done; her pants were FULL of sand.  These kids love the sandbox; I don't.  Kota especially loves shoes, even ones that don't fit her yet.  It's cute- if I'm sitting down she'll find shoes and back up into my lap until she's sitting.  Then she'll lift up her foot so I can fit a shoe on.  She also loves necklaces, hats, and anything dress up.  She makes incredibly silly faces and throws world class fits.  She's a ham and likes to be the center of all things going on.

Copper gets more fun the older she gets.  The latest phrase she's learned is, "Don't want to."  This is often what happens:  I'll say, "Copper, get your shoes on, it's time to go."  She'll say, "Don't want to.  Oh wait.  Forgot.  Ok ma."  I think most of the time she just likes saying it.  She wakes up most mornings and says, "Oh ma, slept in my bed all night."  Then we all make a big deal of it, because sometimes in the mornings this is what our bed looks like:

  It's pretty horrible.  Some people have kids who are good sleepers, and then there's me.

Copper's also said these funny things:

"Ma, I dwarted" (farted)

"Ma, one, two, three, four, five....nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen..."

(She cannot fathom there are any numbers after 13)

"Ma, belly g-r-o-w!"  (that's how we get her to eat her dinner, by telling her that her belly will grow)

She's saying more and more all of the time, though her articulation lags.  She starts "talking time" this week, a speech therapy class through the district.  It's her "big school," not to be confused with her "little school."  She stopped saying, "NO" when I told her that preschool is at a house (instead of the elementary schools she passes on the way to Julie's or my mom's).  After day two today, she still loves it.  Walked right in like she's been there her whole life, and was sooo excited when Tim picked her up today.

We've finally got this family thing down.  The week typically looks like this: wake up, hurry, leave for the day, come home, hurry and clean and make dinner, eat as a family (albeit most nights at 7:30 so we can eat with Tim), hurry and bath, hurry to bed.  But on Mondays we're really trying to preserve family time.  If we can, Tim and I meet at home around 2 or 3.  We go out for lunch or ice cream and play games together. It's about the ONLY time during the week we have together without three busy girls.  When we pick up the kids at 4:30, it's a relaxing evening of playing outside together and eating an early dinner together.  We ask Copper every day at dinner about her day and whether it was happy or sad.  Usually she says happy,  though sometimes she'll say, "Toa (Kota) naughty." We laugh as she rambles about something we don't understand.  Then it's bathing before dark and playing games as a family in our pajamas.  By games, I mean playing with the babes until they go to bed.  Then Tim and I play Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders with Copper.  She's funny to play with.  Her rules are everyone's rules, and everyone ends up winning all the time.  Off to bed early to get a good start to the rest of a busy week.  I'm glad that we make time as a family- more than the busy, mundane activities of daily life.  Hope our kids grow up knowing and saying, "This is how my family does it, this is what's important to us."  I guess that's the goal in life.  Maybe I'm doing better than I usually think I am at this whole parenting thing?  With the help of Heavenly Father; imagine if I'd be doing it on my own. Ha!