I sometimes think that time passes so quickly and yet slowly at the same time. Andrew and I marvel that we are parents to a four year old. Really is she 4? She is starting to look like a little lady and has these very mature moments when we can glimpse the character that she will have someday. Then she'll bounce back into her little kid mode of running through the house and making faces in the mirror.
Preschool has been good for her and she is learning to open up a little bit more to others. Daraby still needs me but has unfurled her wings just a little. Dakota is our independent little girl. She is going to be left handed and is writing and drawing all the time. She just started to paint too. It is fun to watch your children start to bud. By that I mean- it is neat to see glimpses of their passions and interests. For so long they are needy and dependent and then wham off they go with ideas and plans. "Mom we are going to do this---- today." I'm really enjoying the personalities of our children.
Here are the cousins together. These girls really like to spend time together. They plan out what they are going to do and then inform us parents. "We are going to the Y today?" hahah
After church the cousins like to get out the scooters, pillows and the "tug of war" rope. They take turns pulling each other around the gym and dirty up their dresses. There are lots of screams and laughter in the process. Meanwhile we as parents get some much needed adult conversation time so we let them have at it and soak the dresses later.
Andrew has been desperately trying to get our lawn to grow. We tore out 5 lilac bushes last spring and we have a large bare spot in our yard that Andrew has been babying to no avail. No sprout - no. nothing. green. but scraggly weeds. He has planted it at least twice. Andrew likes to involve the girls in his endeavors. In this photo they are raking the dirt yet again. The girls love the skid steer and tractor. I often drive the skid steer and Andrew has the tractor.
Dakota will be driving soon. No joke. She's almost figured out how to start the car and put it in gear. She just watches me and does what I do. I am amazed at her natural mechanical skills.
Daraby loves being pretty. If you tell her that she is pretty it will make her day.
The girls only wear dresses. Seriously. I do declare some days to be pants and shirt days- usually Mondays. There are big tears on those mornings.
On this Sunday we took a beautiful walk through the woods that are down by the river. There are not many trees in SD but this area made Andrew feel like he was in MI. That is very hard to do. To bad this area it is only about 20 acres or so. Last year this whole area was flooded so we are glad to enjoy it this year.
This is our fall foliage.
Since we don't have a lot of trees the grass does most of the color changing. I do love the fall colors here and the sound of dried grass sounds like the waves on Lake MI or the ocean. The sounds of the dried corn cobs has a very soothing sound too.
What an exciting few days we had with Little Bear. Daraby was able to bring him home from preschool. We did many fun things with him and wrote all about it in his diary. I am glad he came and I'm glad he went back for some other kid to love on. The girls were so worried about him. "Did we brush his teeth? Did he get enough to eat? Is he cold? He needs a nap Mom. You need to be quiet Mom." So long Little Bear! Travel on, Travel on!
I love and hate department stores. Let me explain: We had to run to the store for a few items the other day and as we walked in the double doors there were lots of Christmas trees and decor. "MOM! It is Christmas!" Try to explain that it isn't to a 4 year old. Adding to her excitement were the glimmering pink Christmas trees. The girls saw lots of pictures of baby Jesus through the Christmas section. If you need to see Jesus in Christmas you just need to borrow my kids for a day. It is like the Jesus version of "Where is Waldo?" Jesus may only be an inch big in some small snow globe and they are bound to find him and cause me to have some small heart attack as they wave the glass globes around.
"Girls, that is pretty and I'm glad you found Jesus but no touching. Put it back it is $20 a piece and I don't have 40 bucks for baby Jesus. You already got Him in your heart." I think I'm becoming cheap because I hear my kids say things like, "Hey Mom, is this cereal on sale? Can we buy this when it is on sale? Don't worry Kota, when it goes on sale Mom will buy it for us." Bahhahahhahah!
Anyway since we saw "Christmas" at the department store our home has become Christmas central. Don't you know Christmas is coming tomorrow? In Daraby's mind it is. We've built barns, stables, caves and towns with Jesus and all the animals etc... I admit it is really cute.
Daraby is so proud of her manger scene.
The little black birds are traveling in mass hoards lately and frequently darken the sky. I think it is beautiful. With all the driving I do, I am constantly seeing them cluster up and fly in these amazing swoops and dives. They'll settle in the corn cobs where I can't see them and then all of a sudden they fly straight up and glide over us. It is spectacular!
From far away they look like smoke.
Dakota is very mechanical and likes to build and build and build. This is her town -with baby Jesus. Dakota is always busy doing something like: coloring the leather seating in our car, scribbling all over the things in my purse, coloring books which are not actual coloring books, tearing apart pop-up books, sticking stickers to the floor in the kitchen or to any other hard surface, along with cutting or gluing anything that might be valuable. At least she is busy and keeps herself occupied. She is never in want of things to do since she has a "to do" list that I can't keep up with. Although it drives me nuts, I know that her mind is sharp and I want to grow that. She is a do-er. She is a get it done girl.
So life has been busy but very good! By taking a minute to look back at photos I am able to connect and relive those precious moments. It is going so fast and yet so slow. We are anxious for another child to come into our family through adoption. We did have a birth family seriously consider us last week and in the end they chose another family instead. What a roller coaster! I'm so glad for them to choose adoption but I wish it was with us. This waiting is so incredibly hard and I naively thought I/we would be fine with waiting. Pray that we wouldn't doubt God's goodness and perfect will. We are so hoping for another one in time for Christmas. Time will tell! Until then we will be praying for the life that will join our family and we'll be listening to Christmas music! "Away in a manger...." xoxo
