Adeline

Adeline's  teacher pulled me aside and told me she needed to tell me a funny story.  There were too many scenarios running through my head to even count.  My other two children are predictable.  Adeline isn't.  By the way, of all the scenarios running through my head, telling her class about her personal savior - Jesus Christ - wasn't one of them.  It went like this. . .

One of the girls in her class brought up her baby doll named Jesus.  At that moment, Adeline tuned in and became part of the conversation.  "Mia, you know Jesus!  I know him.  Yes, I know Jesus.  Jesus has a cross.  Did you know Jesus died on the cross for your sins.  He died on the cross for my sins too.  He died for everybody's sins."  The poor little girl came back to Adeline with, "I don't want to talk about death."

That's my Adeline.  You never know what you are going to get.  She looks small, dainty and almost fragile but this girl is strong, confident and full of stories.

Adeline goes against the grain of being a girl.  Other girls do NOT like this.  They even tell on her when she won't be the Mommy and  insists on being the Daddy.  Adeline will NOT be the Mommy or the Sister.

Adeline likes to play with trains, cars, and Legos.  The only way she will pick up a baby doll is if it is our baby doll that is dressed in blue.  It's a boy of course.

She doesn't like pink. . . and HATES bows ( she even complains that there are 1/2 inch bows on the back of her Gymboree socks every time she puts them on.  I never noticed the socks had bows until she pointed them out.)  I put bows in her hair anyway.  Does that make me a bad mommy?

Her favorite colors are dark blue and green.

She loves to wear jeans and t-shirt.  I showed her a dark blue dress in the store, a few days back.  I thought I had a chance of her liking it.  I was wrong.  "Mom, you know I just like jeans.  Look at these jeans.  These jeans are nice."

Adeline HATES having her hair done.  She often tells me, "I want to look crazy today." Meaning, she doesn't want me to comb her hair.  When done combing her hair, she requests one ponytail in back.

Adeline's best friend is Anthony.  She couldn't care less about the other two girls in her class.  Adeline adores Anthony and Anthony adores Adeline.  He will even sneak her name on her paper for her because he has noticed writing is one of Adeline's challenges.  Everyone says they are two peas in pod.  It's cute. Just not typical.

My point here is that Adeline has yet to embrace her feminine side.  She gravitates to all things boy.  However, when you take a good look at her, there is a beautiful, feminine girl trying to crack out of a very boyish shell. While most days she is sporting crazy hair and the jeans/t-shirt looks (if not an astronaut or fireman suit), every now and again, I get a glimpse of my beautiful girl - looking girly.
 

 If she were choosing pictures to post, she would most definitely choose this over the above!  I love that she doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks!

Go Duke

It was spirit day last Friday. The girls were supposed to wear their favorite team. We aren't a real sporty family but were able to come up with some Duke attire.

A shirt that was much too big and a cheer leading dress turned shirt!

Three years ago. . . Why must they grow?

Adeline's Mornings

Adeline has given up going to the babysitting room while I work out.  We play together or do school work for the first hour or so of our morning and then I head out for my much needed workout.  Adeline doesn't accompany me anymore.  It makes my heart a little heavy.  I let her have her way since she finds toys to play with and leaves Alex alone - I mean totally alone for the most part.  She gets lost in her make believe world and is flying around the playroom, pretending to be astronaut Jet.  She will sit and play for a good hour with Littlest Petshop, Legos or just about anything that lends itself to imaginary play.

However, there are those days. . . those special days. . . when Daddy has to talk to important people.  He can't risk an interruption, no matter how unlikely they seem.  He can't fix a toy or kiss a boo boo.  These are the days when Adeline gets the iPad.  Lately, she finds a little snack to put on her nightstand and settles into her bed with Max and Ruby or Curious George.

After returning home the other day, I searched the house for Adeline and this is what I found.  Somehow I could fast forward into the future and my five year old seemed fifteen.  So capable, independent and technologically competent.  I can't quite put my finger on why, but the entire scene seemed way too old. 

Backstroke with a Smile

Lila and Adeline continue to make progress in the pool.  Last week, I was able to take a video of Lila doing her backstroke.  Once she saw me hanging over her, she couldn't stop laughing.  In fact, if you watch closely, there is a little wave in between strokes.  I was trying to get her refocused but it was useless.  Brushing the bugs off her ears, which is keeping the arm close to the head and something that she can do well when concentrating, wasn't in the cards.  I am kind of glad she lost concentration.  Her smile is so sweet and her laughs were so funny.  So Lila!

Our First Nature Hike

About a month ago, our family headed outdoors for no other reason than to take in nature.  It was cold but it was sunny.  That was enough for us to put on our exploring gear and head out.  We haven't done a lot of this in the past because none of the girls hang extremely well with natural elements - namely bugs.  We decided that winter is the ideal time to fall in love with nature.  There are no bugs and there is less moving vegetation that easily spooks Adeline.

Our idea worked and the girls had a great time.  They found acorns, secret squirrel holes and many walking sticks.  Sticks are so simple yet so fascinating to my children.  I suppose that is because sticks are only welcome when walking through the woods.  By the looks of things, Adeline is offsetting her small size with her new found treasure!

 

During our walk, the girls found a last patch of snow.  All of the snow had been melted for days but this random patch was still holding strong.  Quickly, the girls helped me make a miniature snowman.  Lila used her mitten for the hat.  Tears were shed when we had to leave him behind.  He looked so cute sitting on the 

beach.  (We still have a snowball that Lila wouldn't part with.  It sits idle in the freezer.)

We hope to get out a few more times before the bug hatch.  There is no doubt the bugs will make walking through the woods a little more challenging.  Hopefully, the girls will be so interested in the change of seasons and the beauty that spring offers us that they will stoically shoo the bugs away and keep on hiking!

Can You Guess. . .

While waiting TWO hours to see the doctor, Adeline and I had some quality time together. Can you guess what she is doing?

She is demonstrating how Jet flies through space with his oxygen tanks! Never a dull moment.

Did I mention how patient she is? After two hours, she was still all smiles when the doctor walked in.

Penguin Day

Have you ever seen a cuter penguin. . .

Happy Valentine's Day and a Little Vegas Love

Today was crazy.  The twins attended Lila's party in the morning and Adeline's in the afternoon.  After a full day of partying, they took a dip in the pool for their weekly swim lesson.  This is no joke kind of lesson where I often hear, "Lila, you can't play under the water until the end of the lesson."  They swim without stopping for 30 minutes.  Needless to say, I brought home two very tired girls. 

Not to worry, they weren't too tired for their Valentine's Day mailboxes.  Here they are waiting for Alex and I to bring in the mailboxes while trying to keep their eyes shut. 

Feeling the love for. . . 

Astronauts (We still wear bibs at dinner time.  They will hold this against me.  Therapy awaits us all.)

Chocolate hidden deep in the mailboxes.

 and Ducks.

Since they were all so pooped, I didn't dare ask for a group photo.  I'm kind of glad I didn't.  It gave me time to zoom in on this beautiful Valentine.   She makes my heart HAPPY!

And to top off a great night of chocolate and lounging in jammies while reading tons of stories, the girls were showered in love. . . Vegas style.  Thanks Parker and Paige!  Miss Adeline loves her firefighter suit.  xoxo

Space travel may just have to wait while Adeline works to extinguish fires. 

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

I spend hours worrying and fretting over the twins and their academic success. Because of this, I feel that Savannah doesn't get the credit she deserves. I am too busy agonizing over word rings and reading levels.

I just assume Savannah is at the top of her class. When she brings home evidence to support my assumptions, I'm pleased but not through the roof excited. These achievements have become expectations. Do I dare say that I take them for granted. Ugh... I think I do. Put that on the list for things to change in 2012.

I will say that having a bright child whose behavior is just as superior is my saving grace. What's that saying? "God only gives you that which you can handle.".

In effort to remind myself how lucky I am, here is a little shout out to my amazing daughter. While most of her class is working diligently to meet the benchmark requirements for addition and subtraction facts, my daughter had met the end of the year benchmarks by September! Here is the latest report. Not much has changed. Not much needs to change. Thank goodness we never had to cut her flash cards apart and make addition and subtraction rings! (double click the picture).

When I Grow Up

Adeline has come a long ways in the pool department. The anti-back girl is now floating on her back for a good five seconds. This is huge progress. Lots of kids hate floating on their backs. In fact, it may be genetic because all three of my girls have been beasts about it when learning to swim. Can I just say that Savannah was kicked out of swim lessons at three due to this very issue.

Miss Adeline is no exception and takes this fear/beastlyness to the next level. We all know it is from her sensory issues and her not quite having a handle on where she is in space. She always struggles with unstable ground which naturally makes floating unthinkable. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel (no pun intended) Adeline learned to float. She is quite proud of this.

As we were driving in the car, Adeline told us all how her swim teacher let go and she floated all by herself. I suggested she tell her other swim teacher (she swims twice a week at two different pools) to let go as well. I got push back.

Adeline: Mom, Miss Nancy wants me to get bigger first. I need to get bigger like Lila.

Me: Adeline, you are just as big as Lila.

Adeline: No. No I'm not. Lila is just a little bit bigger.

She has a point. Trying to explain they are the same age wasn't doing the trick. Bigger is always better when you are a kid. We shall see how this dynamic plays out in the future. I hope Adeline isn't in therapy when she is an adult because she is viewed as our youngest child. Technically, she is older than Lila by four hours! Too bad she is two inches shorter.

Mommy and Daddy Centers

I had light bulb moment a couple weeks back.  It occurred to me that all three of my girls work in centers during their school day.  Since they all obviously understand the concept, I figured there must be a good way to use a center format on the home front.  And it was in that moment that Mommy and Daddy Centers were born.

Each weekend, Alex and I have a 30 minute center which each of our three girls.  We meet with the girls individually; without phones, sisters, or any other distraction that has helped to develop the great multi-taskers that we are. 

It works like this - one girl is with Mommy while one girl is with Daddy.  The third girl is in the alone time center.  In one and a half hours, each child gets a solid 30 uninterrupted minutes of uninterrupted with each parent as well as quiet play time.

They LOVE it.  When we tell them to start thinking about what they want to do for their center, their eyes widen, smiles brighten and often we see some jumping up and down with the clapping of hands.  These centers could possibly be the most productive 1.5 hours in my week.  There is no stress, no confrontation, and no rush.  Just pure one on one enjoyment.  There is no doubt in my mind that my girls walk away from the centers with full buckets - tanked up with love!  It also is a time that fosters great conversations.  Whether we talk about Adeline's make believe world of Play-Doh sandwiches that talk (that was today for me) or I am encouraging Lila to try and create something that she is afraid will not turn out right, we are talking!  Please God, let the talking continue for years to come.

Today's centers looked like this. 


Savannah and I painted silhouette trees and she and Daddy enjoyed some Lego time.

Lila Grace and I played with Play-Doh (clearly, having your hair done before you start centers in not a requirement.) and after, Lila made Rice Crispy Treats with Daddy.

Finally, Adeline and I played Play-Doh (originally, it was going to be drawing together but after seeing Lila's creations spread across the table, Play-Doh became much more enticing.)  During her time with Daddy, she worked on perfecting her miles of track she laid in the basement during last week's Daddy Center.

After completing our centers, Alex and I are always in awe of how simple and EASY  it is to fill our kids with love and make them feel important.   In the past we have always hired a babysitter and taken a child out for some one on one time.  This involves money and a time window.  After doing centers at home, it is more than clear that the girls prefer one on one time in our house.  How often have I promised 30 minutes of uninterrupted play time with Barbies?  Uh, never - until last weekend rolled around.  These centers take 30 minutes a child, cost nothing and are so rewarding.

I hope that I don't look back on this post and ask myself, "Whatever happened to Mommy and Daddy Centers?"  I hope that my kids look back on their childhood and remember these times together.

Money for Hawa

We sponsor three children in Senegal.  Each child was born during the same month and year as our three girls.  The child we sponsor under Savannah's name is Hawa.

Hawa is an eight year old girl living with her mother, father, and younger brother.  She doesn't get to go to school.  We sent her markers, she sent us back and tiny round dot that she drew on the page, smaller than a dime.  Clearly, she never draws or colors.  Hawa doesn't own any shoes.  She sweeps, helps her mother cook or carries water.  These chores fill up a typical day.  We hope that our sponsorship affords her the opportunity to attend school in the near future.

Savannah thinks about Hawa often.  Recently, she wrote a very long letter explaining Christmas.  She tried to help Hawa make sense of bringing trees in houses and putting lights on them.  Savannah shared the birth of Christ and drew a detailed nativity scene.   She made sure to think of appropriate questions to ask Hawa that would give her meaningful insight to her life.  This is hard when you are second grader living a life where all needs are met.

Savannah's bank account totaled just over $100 dollars before Christmas.  She kept nagging me about giving her money to Africa.  I kept stalling because I didn't want to send her money to an organization and not be able to tell Savannah the specific outcome of her donation.  I didn't want to just send a $100 check to a charity.  I wanted Savannah to see the fruit of her donation.  World Vision gave us me this opportunity in late November.  When I was racking my brain for a way to make Savannah's donation real and tangible, I got an email asking if I wanted to donate to our "family" in Africa.  The money would go directly toward their greatest need.  In fact, World Vision sent a worker out to see Hawa and her family in order to personally assess their greatest needs.  This donation was specific to Hawa, not Africa.  Savannah was thrilled.

Savannah, gladly drained her bank account and eagerly waited to hear what $100 buys a little girl in Senegal.  We finally heard back. We were given a detailed list and a couple photographs of the family with their donated goods.  Savannah's money provided simple items like tooth brushes.  It also is giving the family an opportunity to create income.  They are proud owners of goat which they hope to breed.  If this is successful, Savannah's money will continue to multiply.

I am very proud of my girl.  She is amazing, absolutely amazing.  She is selfless and joyful.  If we all had her compassion, imagine what this world would be like.