I can tell dinner was so scrumptious when Summer licks the sauce dribbles off of her shirt. Every. Last. Bit. That one's a keeper recipe!
Silver: Mom, I can tell you are getting Old!
Mom: How's that?
Silver: Your face is bumpy and my face is smooth.
Silver: There is a Whole World out there, waiting for us!
Summer: Me want to get BIG!
Silver: I want to stay small. Then I can play on the zip line longer and go father :) Mom, do you like being BIG?
Rain: "Aunt Karin, I like your rules"
Me: trying to keep the shock out of my face: Which rules do you like?
Rain: I like that we can't take blankets outside, that's a good rule!
Me: What other rules do you like?
Rain: That we always need to clean up a room before we watch a movie.
Me: Why do you like that rule?
Rain: Because it teaches good manners! My mom has good rules too - I like that we need to eat dinner at the table and when we're done we get to get down.
I realized through this that kids love structure and rules. If my kids understand why we make the rules, they accept it and follow it much better. The reason we don't take blankets outside is that they get dirty and then we need to wash them. I let them take towels outside, but not blankets, as they are easier to wash. "Oh, Okay!"
I love hearing "Ok Mom!" We've worked on our response to things Mommy asks. I was at the store the other day and it was time to go. Okay Mom! Aahhhh, music to a mom's ears :)
Mesa: "Aunt Karin, I'm gonna miss you"
Oh, Mesa, I will miss you too!
River enjoys asking questions to learn about her world and the people in it. She started asking Colt and I about stories from our lives. Every meal the girls have started to ask for mission stories, childhood stories, dating, college, etc. Summer will ask: "Yous tell me stories is yous lifes?" It's been fun to relate things that have happened to us and to hear stories from Colt's past. She has started to ask grandparents and aunts about their stories. It has been fun to hear stories that I've never heard before. The power of a question!
River enjoys relating things in her everyday life to the gospel: She will tell me and her sisters lessons that she learns. She took Silver outside and had Sugar and Flour in bowls. She taught Silver about choosing the sweeter path. She will talk a lot about how beautiful our world is and that man could "never in a thousand years" ever make something alive or as beautiful as a flower or a tree. "ONLY Heavenly Father could do that!" This is like the gospel she'll say and relate what principle it is like.
Silver was the first to notice that Tanzi was awake! Silver's excited gasp! "She's awake!" Summer then comes running over too: "Awwww! Her SO cutes!"
We set up a serve-yourself lemonade-stand by the side of the road for the girls. It has a sign that explains this is an early start for their mission fund and that they can help themselves and donate what they would like to. The girls think it's great fun to walk down to check their "money box". We swap out the ice daily and re-stock the waters and pop when they are taken out. It has been really fun to take inventory and do it together.
We had a fun family night scavenger hunt. We talked about treasure! And how special it is. Then we talked about gospel treasures and how precious it is. We then went on a treasure hunt to find different gospel treasures around the yard. They would run to find the next treasure from the clues that they were given about the hiding place. Then we would discuss the treasure on their card: Temples, Book of Mormon, Living Prophet, Gospel Truths, Baptism and Confirmation, Sacrament, etc. The very last clue led to a picture of the Savior, with his arm around a blonde girl. We talked of how the Savior is the greatest Treasure - his atonement and example to us.
The girls have enjoyed sitting with Tanzi on the bean bag. It gives them a place to sit next to her while she can be propped up a bit. They read stories to her and play musical instruments.
