Silly girl

Whenever I put this silly girl down for bed, she always whispers "I lub ew". I won't miss the messes she makes, but I sure will miss that sweet little whisper.

At least once a day...

Caylin puts her baby down for a nap. She closes the blinds, turns on the fan, and shuts the door. Oh what a good mama she'll be one day :)

Fall Fever

We are going through our first round of Fall colds. I fought it for 2 days, then Anika for 2 days, now Caylin's on her 2nd, and hopefully last, day with a fever. Yesterday we handled our cabin fever by diving into Fall a little. We went out and bought a couple pumpkins to decorate the front along with a couple scarecrows, and a few little crafts.

Little explorer

I decided long to be very thoughtful when choosing my battles with Aiana. Matching clothes and perfect hair was a battle I decided not to have (even though it was a little battle within to release the control). I valued her creativity and self expression more than the looks and judgement of others (which is really the only negative thing about it if our insides are happy). Besides, I knew that the day would come all too quickly when things would turn around. The time has now come with Aiana and yet just beginning on the other end with Caylin.

Raised to new life

Aiana and I have talked about baptism before, years ago, and told her that when she was ready to be baptized she would know. Our church holds beach baptisms twice a year and every time I'd imagine how cool it would be to witness my own kids being baptized, yet I never said anything to Aiana because I wanted her choice to be between she and God.

So about a week ago, she told me that she had signed up to be baptized. I was very excited, yet, didn't want to show too much excitement. :) We worked through a little booklet together and talked about the meaning of baptism. She is a teen, and did seem a little more excited about sharing this experience with her good friend. She and her friend were baptized by there middle school pastor. When I watched Aiana come up out of the water, my heart smiled when I saw the joy on her face. It was a kind of joy I had never seen before. So cool!

Colossians 2:12

12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

Day of firsts part 2

Today was Caylin's 1st day of preschool. She has been watching Aiana get ready for school everyday this week and has anxiously been awaiting her first day! What a wonderful difference from last year (when Caylin ran out of the room screaming and jumped onto the chain link fence). This year she walked right into her class and made herself at home (followed by her little shadow).

While she was at school, Anika and I got to spend the morning together with a friend of ours. It was so nice to have one on one time with Anika, and for Anika to have one on one time with her buddy. She as at such a fun (yet painful) age. She's talking clearer and loves to explore.

When we got to Caylin's school to pick her up, it was hot and I could tell she was pooped. She confidently ran up to us for a hug, then quickly grabbed her backpack and went outside to sit on the bench and put on lip gloss. She said she had a great day and that her teachers are nice.

Today was also the first day of soccer practice. Caylin has grown up watching Aiana play soccer and has also anxiously been awaiting her turn to play. Although she was so tired, she was excited to get her soccer gear on and head to the field. Anika wanted to do everything sister was doing. She was a little shy when the first drill began, but her confidence slowly perked up. When the hour was up, Caylin looked bummed and I thought maybe she wasn't going to want to do this anymore, but, really she was upset because practice was over. She wasn't ready to leave.