Sister Update

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a sister update, so I thought I would shed a little light on what the girls are up to.  Nina is in second grade this year and having a great time so far.  She really likes her teacher and classmates and seems to have made some really nice friends (from what I can tell).  When she’s not a school, she can be found cartwheeling around the world.  Seriously.  The girl cartwheels everywhere she goes.  While it was cute at first, we have had to have some discussions about appropriate and inappropriate places to cartwheel, i.e. the church lobby, the kitchen, a parking lot with lots of cars backing out, a restaurant, etc.  She still loves to dance, and as you can see from the picture above, she just lost her first top front tooth.  She’s a little excited! 

Lyla is in Kindergarten this year, and much to our surprise, she loves it!  She started the year thinking it was “ok” and, while she went without much fuss, I really didn’t think she loved it.  Now she loves it!  We’re so happy.  She’s having a great time in her class, and her teachers are such a sweet pair.  She only goes half a day, so she spends less than three hours there, but I’m really happy for her that she’s really enjoying her time now.  Lyla also loves Legos.  She is a Lego Friends fanatic, and while she can follow the directions well to build a specific design, she’s also very creative in coming up with her own designs.  Keeping her Legos somewhat cleaned up is NOT something she is a fanatic about however. 

The other sister in the house is also doing well.  She’s been with us now for over two months, and we all love her so much.  She is so affectionate, very smart, and a lot of fun.  She’s also settled into a good daily routine.  Mark and I get up early to have some quiet time before the kids wake up, and Cayenne is with us for that, then as soon as she hears Nina’s alarm going off at 6:45, she jumps up, looks at us, and runs for the stairs.  Then we go upstairs to wake Nina up for school.  Cayenne loves to jump in bed with Nina, try to dig her out from under the covers, then burrow under the covers with her.  It’s so cute.  They both love it!  She always comes with us to the bus stop in the morning to see Nina off to school, then one of us takes her on her morning walk from the bus stop.  We see some of the same dogs every day on our morning walk, and she’s already made “friends” with some of them and gets so excited to see them on her walk each morning.  She loves to play at the dog park, and she loves the autumn leaves.  Something about running through the dry leaves seems to make her even more frisky!  She also loves going to the bus stop in the afternoon.  I ask her if she’s ready to pick up the girls, and she jumps right up and goes to the door.  As soon as the bus pulls up to the stop, she starts wagging her tail, sniffing, and checking for Nina and Lyla.  She’s so excited to see them each afternoon, and they love having her there to wait for them.

So, the girls are doing great, and seem to be growing up so fast.  They love their family, they love each other, and they both have kind little hearts.  I know in years down the road the days will arrive when they won’t like me taking their picture, and they probably won’t be sharing that much about what they’re doing and what their friends are like, so I’m logging these things on the blog as much for me and my memory as much as for sharing them with you.  With these updates, and much of the blog, they’re snapshots of our life.  I don’t normally pick up my camera when everyone’s cranky, and when I’m feeling grouchy (although they would probably make for some great “moments”), and when everyone is having a bad day.  I don’t want to give the impression that our life is perfect, always photo-ready.

But, something this blog has helped me do for the past seven years is appreciate the little things in the lives of the kids and our family.  When we sit down with the girls and look at pictures or videos I posted of them when they were little, they LOVE it.  When I want to remember how the girls looked at a particular time in their lives, I jog my memory with this blog.  So, I find that it helps me see their lives more in the moment because it’s so easy to forget the little things that make you happy or make you smile once some time has passed away from that moment.

So, while our life in the day-to-day isn’t always roses, we do feel very blessed for what the Lord has given us, the health of our family, and the little things in our lives that are worth remembering.  I saw a quote the other day that resonated with me – not for the ability to be thankful during just this Thanksgiving month, but grateful for the long term, and I feel like I have much to be grateful for.