Night Time Routine

Our bedtime routine is always the same, we like it that way.  If something is out of order or missing, it seems harder for Lilly to get to sleep.  Each night, we read the Bible or a family devotional book together.  Next, we pray as a family - even our dear dog Lucy bows her head some nights. haha If Daddy is home with us, the Daddy/Daughter squeeze comes next.  Then, I get to snuggle up to my sweet girl in her bed and read her 1 or 2 books and sing her a few songs.  It is one of my favorite times of the day - usually full of giggles or telling about the best and worst part of our day. 

At the end, when I get up to leave her room she has started telling me, "Don't have scary dreams. If the bed bugs bite, take a shoe and beat them 'til their black and blue. I love you! Good Night!"

It is a sweet thing to hear before I head off to bed and it reminds me of what an awesome gift God gave my husband and I and it also reminds me to cherish these moments.

A Little Funny

A few days ago, my husband and I were talking with Lilly about us coming to live with her when we got old.  We said that when she was grown and married and we were old and couldn't care for ourselves very well that we would come and stay with her. I mentioned some of the ways she might have to care for us - feeding us and wiping us when we went to the bathroom.  She stopped me after the wiping comment and said, "I think I will just leave that to my husband." 

Mark and I laughed so hard, but she didn't seem to get why that was so funny. 

So - to the man out there who is going to marry my daughter one day - be ready to care for her parents one day.

Prince Caspian

My daughter loves fantasy, imagination and anything along those lines.  When she walks into a room she doesn't see a couch and a chair she sees a boat and millions of bad guys coming after her.  A while back, we rented The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe because I thought she would really enjoy the movie.  Before watching it, I did tell her about the white witch and I told her that the good guys win in the movie so not to be scared if it looked like they were going to get hurt.  She loved the movie! 

We owned the second movie in the series - Prince Caspian, so we watched that one next.  She liked this one even more!  She started talking about Prince Caspian every where we went.  When we went to the pool, she gave the lifeguard googly eyes and told me he looked like Prince Caspian.  Oh brother! To be like Lucy, she wanted to make a dagger, so we did.

 

Last, we watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  This one she likes the most.  She has watched it 3 times now, I believe.  While at my mom's house, she checked it out from the library and sat by her Papaw during the movie telling him everything that was about to happen.  Lilly is obsessed with these movies. Thankfully, through each of the movies I am able to show her the correlation between Aslan and Jesus and Lilly gets it.  What a blessing!

Zip Line

My mom purchased a groupon for us to a place called 7 Acre Woods.  We had been before, but were excited to experience it again, this time my husband joined us on the adventure.  One of Lilly's friends also joined us. 

The girls had lots of fun feeding the animals and they were highly amused when the llama spit on my husband and I.  The smell was horrific just to let you know. Gross!

They rode on scooters.

Both girls were super excited about experiencing the zip line again because last time they were a little afraid.  This time, neither had any fear about zipping through the air.

Playing with puzzles in the cool lounge was nice while we waited for our food to be prepared.

Climbing the rock wall was also a huge hit for Lilly.

Thanks, Mom, for the opportunity to enjoy some fun out in God's creation!

Minty Fresh Leaves

We are members of a local home schooling group called HEART.  They organize lots of events for various age groups and chances for parents to get together. 

The most recent outing was to the Mercer Arboretum in Spring, TX.  We had been there many times, but we had never been on a tour.  It was exciting to see all the different kinds of flowers and plants there with a guide pointing them out. 

One of the first areas we explored was the herb garden. The children (and adults) were able to rub their fingers on the leaves and then smell them.  There were pepper mint leaves, thyme, cilantro, and even a choco-mint leaf that smelled just like a girl scout cookie.

 

 

All of the kids really enjoyed Storey Lake (which I did not know was there) - they were able to see the turtles and even spotted a snake on the walk back.

The weather was nice and just a great day to enjoy God's craftsmanship.

Family Retreat

Our church had a family retreat.  It was a great time to fellowship and the video series we watched was pretty much in line with a lot of other things I have been reading/studying lately which was cool!

Lilly was super excited that she was going to get to sleep on the top of a bunk bed.  Mommy was a little nervous about how she would do.  First night, she slept great, but I did not because I was worried about her waking up others or falling off of the bed.

 Second night, Lilly woke up because of  a scary dream and wanted to sleep in the bed with me.  I don't normally let her do that, but since we were in a strange place and I didn't want her waking up the whole room of ladies, I allowed it.  Wasn't that fun, sharing a twin bed with a 5 year old. haha

Another part of the retreat that was super exciting for Lilly was getting to play with friends - on the bunk beds, on the playground, wherever!  She enjoyed being around so many people all weekend long (another reason that I believe she would love to have siblings).

My favorite part of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon when Lilly and I grabbed a little snack and took a walk to the water's edge. It was such a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy God's creation and have a wonderful peaceful moment.

Breaking Tradition, but Keeping it the Same?

The passed several years, it has been our tradition to drive out to Brenham, Texas and stop off on the side of the road for some pictures in the blue bonnets and then head over to the Blue Bell factory for some yummy ice cream.

2009

 

 

 

 

2010

 

2011 - We missed the blue bonnets, but we still made it to Blue Bell for a tour and some yummy ice cream.



2012

 

 

 Well, this year our friends who normally go with us were not able to drive with us, so we opted to do something different.

We found a place 5 minutes from our house that had some blue bonnets, so we drove over there and took some pictures.

Then, instead of Blue Bell, we headed over to Tutti Frutti for some frozen yogurt.

It wasn't exactly the same, but it was a memorable moment and we still got blue bonnet pictures. :)

You Didn't Come Give Me a Hug

A few months back, I went out with a friend for the evening and my husband put Lilly to bed.  She was asleep when I got home; however, I did go up and give her a kiss and hug when I returned.  I got ready for bed and was just about asleep when she woke up crying.  I went up to see what the problem was, thinking it was just a bad dream or something...but no.  She was upset because she thought I had forgotten to give her a hug and kiss when I got home.  I told her I had come up there, but that she was asleep and didn't notice me.  This made her very upset. 

When I put her to bed at night, I usually leave our dog Lucy in the bed with Lilly until I am ready to go to sleep.  So, I tell Lilly that I will give her a hug and kiss when I come up to get the dog.  She always insists that I wake her up so that she'll know I was there.  I tell her that I won't do that because then she might not be able to get back to sleep.

Our solution to this problem:

I put a stuffed animal on the floor beside her bed and I tell her that when I come up to give her a hug I will put the stuffed "friend" in the bed with her.  This way when she wakes up and wonders if I have been up to hug her all she has to do is look for the stuffed "friend" in the bed.

So far it has worked out great and honestly I hope I have many more years of putting a stuffed "friend" in her bed so that she will know I was up to check on her while she was sleeping.

She is Reading

We have been doing schoolwork off and on since Lilly was about 3.  This year we were pretty consistent with doing our preschool work until I received her kindergarten curriculum in the mail.  I began to look at it and realized that she knew a lot of the beginning stuff.  I knew I had two choices: a) I could go ahead and plunge forward with the kindergarten curriculum early and she'd be ahead or b) We could take a break from school work for a while and start as planned in August/September.  With all the uncertainties of the adoption process, I opted for choice b.  So, as it is, we are still learning every day, but just not sitting down to do actual school work. 

Here are some videos of her reading books we checked out at the library:

 

Houdini

Lately, Lilly has turned into a hider.  She wants to hide everywhere we go.  It started in the store - what a scary time for a Mommy when you look around and can't find your child anywhere.  Then, what a frustrating time when you realize they are hiding in the middle of the clothes rack.  I remember my brother doing this when we were little, but I can't remember how my mom handled the situation.  I didn't do much at the time, except to say no more hiding.

Then, there was the incident at church when I was working in a Sunday School classroom and turned around to realize she was gone.  I called for her, I looked for her and then it dawned on me that she was probably hiding, so I started looking behind things.  I found her, hiding behind the little kitchen in the classroom.  Again, I didn't do much about the situation, just said, "No more hiding."

Next, it was the car.  We drove to the store.  I got out of the car and went to open her door to let her out - no Lilly!  What?!  I look around to make sure she didn't get out and then I hear her hiding in the trunk of the car.  She had hopped out and jumped back there before I could open her door.

At the house, she hides and then when I call for her she doesn't come out.  I can usually find her but I do not like to play hide and seek all the time.

So, we finally had a talk about when and where it was ok to hide.  I explained that hiding is only good at home or when you are playing hide and seek with friends and that when I say come out, she has to come out.  After our talk, we played hide and seek.  It would have been more fun for both of us had Lucy not given away all our hiding spots.

Mystery Powder

We were doing an experiment where Lilly had to predict what would happen when we added the "mystery powder" to the water.  The "mystery powder" was actually gelatin and was labeled gelatin on the package.  So, I asked her what her prediction was and then proceeded to open the package of gelatin to pour it in the water. 
Lilly stops me and says, "That isn't the mystery powder!"

I responded, "Yes, it is."

To which she grabs the package from me and studies it then says, "It doesn't say mystery powder.  It says g-g-g-el-a-tin (and she sounds out the word)."

I look at her for a minute and then she continues, "Oh it is gelatin, like jello!"

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that?" I say.

Now, my husband and I know we need to be extra careful about what we are writing or reading because this girl will try and figure it out - no hiding things from her anymore. :)

2 X 5 = 10

She was asking me if she could have some jelly beans and I told her yes.  Then, she asked, "How many can I have?"

I said, "You can have 2 X5 - how many is that?"
I didn't think she would know the answer, but...

She responds with, "10!"
My husband and I both look at each other and say, "Was that a lucky guess? Did she really figure that out?"

So we ask, "How did you figure that out?"

Lilly says, "Well, I have two hands and they both have 5 fingers so that makes 10!"

Amazing!  What a smarty God has blessed us with!

Science Experiments

This girl loves to do science experiments and she is great at explaining what is happening, so this week I gave her the opportunity to do both.

She got a Polly pocket set up for her birthday and then she got a gift card.  She used the gift card to buy a Polly Pocket pool.  After we set it all up, I told her that the direction sheet said Polly would change colors depending on the temperature of the water.  So, we got out our hot and cold water and did the experiment.  Lilly discovered that just one little streak on her hair changes color in the water.

I let her do a video to demonstrate and explain what was happening.

This Girl Cracks Me Up

I have a couple of stories to share from the passed week or so:

1)  We have decided to do foster to adopt in emergency situations with DePelchin.  So, to prepare Lilly for what might be in store for us, I got a book from the library on fostering.  I explained what it means and the possibility that whoever comes to live with us may end up going back to live with their mommy and daddy and that we would be the foster parents...Then, Lilly responds with, "If you are the foster parents, then that would make me the foster kid."  haha  I can just imagine her going around telling people she is a foster kid, so I told her that she wouldn't be the foster kid, she would be the big sister.  I think she likes that much more.  She can't wait to have a sibling.

2)  I was tickling/wrestling with my husband one morning, and since he is much stronger than I am, he had me in a position where I could not move.  Lilly came over to help me and eventually I get released, but I start to "mess" with him again.  She says, "The Bible says to do unto others what you want them to do to you.  Do you want him to mess with you?  Well, then you need to stop messing with Daddy."

Lilly Day

Honestly, my daughter has everything she wants.  When it started to get closer to her birthday, I would ask her, "What do you want for your birthday?"  To which she would respond with the most random thing like, "I want a remote control anything, you pick" or "I want a toy airplane." 

Ummm..what?!  So, after talking with my husband we decided to just spend a day doing things she liked to do rather than to buy her some toy that she would play with for a day and then forget about. 

This led to "Lilly Day" which I think will become a tradition because it was so much fun for all of us. We started the day off with breakfast at Cinnabon in the mall because she wanted cinnamon buns for breakfast.

Next, we headed off to a trampoline place in Houston called Cosmic Jump.  Lilly was so excited because my husband taught her to do a forward roll with no hands which basically led to a flip. 

After all the jumping, we were hungry so we went and chowed down on some crab legs at Joe's Crab Shack.  This little girl loves crab legs - just like her Mommmy!

 

The last part of Lilly day was going to Target to buy a new booster seat for the car and a Doc McStuffins movie.  I am not sure which she was more excited about - the movie or the seat, but I am glad she enjoyed them and the day.

She Is 5!

Lilly really enjoys the show Doc McStuffins, so for her birthday party this year we went with that as our theme.  The children came in and were offered "doctor coats" and "masks" to wear. 

Then, we had patients and doctor tools set up around the living room so the "doctors" could get to work.

 

 

There were Doc McStuffins coloring sheets.

Outside, we had games like musical hula hoops and a race while balancing a cotton ball on a tongue depressor.

 

For food, we had bagel pizza bites because Lilly loves pizza, as well as cups of "medicine" (jelly beans) and bags of "lambie tails" (marshmallows).  And, of course, we had cupcakes decorated by Lilly herself. :)

I was amazed (and a little overwhelmed) by all the guests who showed up, but I know that it is a blessing to have so many people who love and care for my little girl!

Although there wasn't officially a 29th of February this year, we had Lilly Day, we had the birthday party, so now my little girl is officially 5!  I am truly blessed to have her as a daughter and I can't wait to see how God uses her gifts and talents.