1. Kitchen Help: not only do they like to wear aprons, they love to help and are actually getting pretty good. Maddie can make cookies, brownies, mac & cheese, and apparently, omelets. Eloise and Sarah Jane are good measurers, mixers, kneaders, and scrapers. They all help load and unload the dishwasher, sweep, and keep Bea safe in the kitchen.
2. Crafts Galore: Admittedly, the crafts can get out of control and messy, but it's usually fun and they have amazing concentration and talent. They are appreciative fans of all my Calicobirdie projects
and always cheer (and never roll their eyes, like Rob) when I say we have to stop in at the craft store for something. Recent projects include tie-dyeing pumpkin shirts and making garden stepping stones.
One day I was cleaning up and found this container. I was about to throw it away, when I heard something inside. Here's what I found and it made me smile and fall in love with my crafty girls.
3. Dance and Musical Performances: I love the spontaneous dancing and music that happens around our house. While we haven't spent much time with formal lessons, I love it when they all come down dressed in leotards, turn on some classical music, and proceed to spin around the room. Even Bea joins in until she gets too dizzy. And one of my favorite times of being a mother is when Rob sits down to play the piano and one of the girls (usually SJ) will go in and start to sing with him. Sweet music for my ears.
4. Dress Ups: I love that we have a huge bin of dressups--scarves, belts, capes, shoes, jewelry and clothes that is the envy of all the neighborhood friends. I love that I can shamelessly pick up awesome finds like these at GoodWill and know that they will be loved and cherished by some princess. I thought the girls would start to outgrow dressups, but they're still going strong. I have to say that it encourages a lot of imaginative play too, which is fun and funny in its own right. My favorite was when Maddie said, "Let's pretend we're poor orphans..." and an exasperated Sarah Jane replied, "Again?! Why can't we just be RICH orphans for once?!"
5. Hurt Feeling Therapy: Sometimes after a particularly bad day or week, we have to sit down to regroup and address all the hurt feelings that have been happening. Occasionally it turns into a real therapy session, with tears, cries of forgiveness, and elaborate plans for new behavior charts/rewards systems/points tracking, etc. It is both tender and extremely funny to listen to the girls sort through their feelings and at last come to the conclusion that sisters are the best!
8 comments:
flori, flori, I loved this post. You are such an awesome, cool and fun mom. I loved the part about "therapy" at the end too. It made me laugh out loud. I miss you all reading this post. Can we please make crafts together? :)
ps I'm really sorry about the prego comment. If it makes you feel any better I am asked a lot too. I guess that having two children close together makes people ask a lot too. And, no, I'm not pregnant either.
C's, We love you guys. Sad story about the shameless pregnant comment. I loved the hubba-bubba ipod. I would buy one. Anyhow, we miss you all and we're glad to see the drama never stops. After all that's what keeps things interesting.
love it! I have felt great satisfaction working with the YW in the ward because they love doing crafts, too. And, you know my tills.....we ONLY have dress ups and I love it! nice and girly, if I say so myself! Is it bad that I secretly hope my next baby is another girl...(no, i'm NOT pregnant either...)
cute post. girls really are so much fun. the hurt feelings and emotions I could do without, but all the other stuff I cherish as well. You really are a cool, fun mom. I'm luck to know you. Just wish you were still in my ward so I could see you more. :(
Oh the joys of girls! As much as sisters can hurt each others feelings, I hope so much that Cares will have at least one--I love mine beyond any close friendship and as adults that bond is priceless to me. I am so happy you are finding the wonderful joys of raising your 4 daughters even among the craziness. I am loving your girls' creativity and their love of cooking--I would be in heaven to wake up to omelets in bed! Miss you guys and your darling daughters!!
Love it, Christensens! I was hoping for some good girl comebacks! I'm so jealous of the breakfast in bed! Someday, I'm sure. (Park definitely shows signs of possibility).
You do have amazing dress ups. And as always, SJ never ceases to make me laugh! I love her rich orphans comment. Your girls are lucky to be learning from you--omelets--that's so cool!
I love having girls! Don't get me wrong - I love Clayton and all the fun boy stuff we get to do - but having girls is great. They are so nurturing and helpful and tender. We have a lot of emotional times at our house but the closeness that triggers those emotions is wonderful. Thanks for posting all the wonderful things moms get to enjoy with their girls, especially the tribute to dress-ups!
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