A Friend Called Melissa (and Her Gum)

There's nothing quite like when your kids start getting friends, as in, they start looking forward to seeing certain people and run to say hi to them arms open wide.

Melissa is one of those people for Caitlin.

It might help that she usually offers Caitlin a piece of gum, but we'll leave that up to speculation.

Caitlin's Top Ten Latest

10. Your flawless ability to refuse any and all requests made by me lately astonishes me.  If you could only "mess up" just once and accidentely comply I don't know what I would do with myself!
9. You keep me on your toes with your stories and imagination.  At any moment you could ask me to participate and I have thoroughly enjoyed every role asked of me.
8. You are AWESOME at repeating back "the usual" instructions.  Like at quiet time: I'll say, "Ok, so you have your books to read, but what do you do after you're finished?" And everytime, almost word for word, you say, "If you have to go potty, you come and find Mama, if you feel tired you lay down and sleep, or if you don't feel tired then you just lay down and look around and wait until Mama comes and gets you."  You're pretty good at following these instructions, although last week there were a few days where you came upstairs from your room prematurely and said with a smile, "I had a goooood quiet time!  Now can I play?"
7. Keeping your brother in line is one of your hobbies.  A favorite "exhortation" from you lately is, "We don't touch your hair!" (said while eating. I used to have to tell him that since he's still primarily a "hands" eater.)  I try to remind you who's in charge of whom.
6. You love unbuckling your seatbelt when we arrive at our destination.
5. Cuddletime just about fixes anything in your book.
4. You are getting really good at helping Connor choose the option that you don't want (so the alternative automatically becomes yours).  Sneaky...
3. All things considered, you really are SO sweet to your brother and me heart melts when I see the special camaraderie between you two.
2. You are such a good nurturer-- today your Thomas was sad (you said) and he needed to "watch a show to help him feel better."  Thankfully I was able to convince you to just give him a good cuddle instead, since it was lunchtime.
1. I am so grateful for who you are and especially that although you are in the "I'm three-and-a-half and going to dig in my heels about everything" stage, you are still open to alternatives and able to change your mind when necessary.  I am so glad to be your Mama!

Craft Time

A Three Year Old in the House

Sweet girl, you are three!

We can hardly believe it.  You are such a joy to us and we love who God has made you to be!

Monkey Songs

BIG Owie

Caitlin leaned over a little too far one day and fell out of her booster seat up on a counter-height stool...right on her head! Poor girl!

This was a swollen as it got, it went down right after this picture.

She even helped hold the "medicine" (frozen peas) on it!

Giggles, Squeals and Squawks

During our trip to MT last month!

"A-B-C-D...."

Wednesday night as we were driving home from our small group Bible study Caitlin started singing her ABCs in the back seat. We have sung them here and there, but never "worked" on them with her, so we were pretty impressed (and shocked!).

Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for additional recent videos of the kids!