Packed Full of Walmart Bags

Towards the end of the summer, I asked Maggie and Gracie to clean their room.

When Aaron does this, they're all like, "Yeah!  Dad!  I love to clean my room!  WHOOP! there it is!"  And things like that.

When I ask them to clean their room, they're all like, "Mom.  I don't know hoooooooow to clean my room.  Can you tell me what to do?  It's sooooooo much.  I caaaaaaaan't do it."

Yeah, I don't know why that is, but it's just one of those weird, oddly frustrating things.

Anyway, so when I asked them to clean their room, they got right to it.

This was a pleasant surprise, until I realized just what they were doing.

They filled Walmart bags with their stuff, and packed the Walmart bags into their closet. 

Maggie and Gracie were so proud of themselves (and the stuff was off the floor) that I didn't have the heart to tell them that wasn't really what I had in mind.

I finally decided to have the girls buckle down and clean out their closet.

I mean, look at it!

And, then the bags...

I am by no means a neat-nik or clean freak or whatever, but that seriously made me want to hyperventilate.  To be fair, those bags were stashed in the closet until we started cleaning.

We found some fun things, like Swiper.

He looks creepy and guilty all at the same time.

I also found a stack of cash.

And, like all cleaning things, it got worse before it got better.

Maggie was a happy, little cleaning machine!

It looks so awesome!

Then, after they cleaned and organized, Maggie sorted her dresses according to color :)

She is her father's daughter :)

Oh, do you see how freaking yellow their closet is?  That's what color their room was.  Yikes!

I'm glad to say, that while all this cleaning occurred about 10 days ago, and it's still looking pretty good!

It's probably some sort of miracle :)

Have a happy week!

Zoo Time!

Maggie and I got to head to the Zoo for the annual Pre-K field trip!

I think she was most excited about riding the bus!

We started off on the back of the bus (where all the cool kids sit, naturally...that was a joke :)), but then I started to get car bus sick, so we had to move up front.

We walked through a really cool park-like area on our way into the zoo.  One of Maggie's classmates was with us.

We saw a mama duck with her ducklings even before we entered the zoo!

We went to the primate building first, and Maggie got to see how she measured up to the monkeys!

We got to watch the striped tail monkey-esque creatures for a while...

Then, we moseyed over to the large cat area.

The lion was being kind of reclusive, but the tiger was another story!  It was pacing back and forth right in front of the window...totally showing off!

What the rhino lacks in excitement, he makes up for in the ease of finding department.

No offense to the rhino, but he was kind of el boring-o.

We watched the giraffes for a bit...

and then Maggie got to make her best chicken face :)

We rode the carousel,

and the train.

I tried to get a picture of us, but she was nervous that she wasn't supposed to be on my lap or something :)

We had lunch and then came back in for some fun playground playing which included being the cutest little joey ever.

We made it home in one piece and quite happy about our whole day!

I was so happy to spend the whole day with my Mags <3

10 Dimes

I think I just paid Maggie a dollar to stop sucking her fingers!

I mean, she's been sucking her swear finger tall man and ring finger on her right hand for literally her entire life!

I haven't made the hugest deal out of it.  Last summer we made a lot of good progress.  I was thinking about how when people quit smoking, I've heard that they are more successful when the replace the smoking with chewing gum or something else. 

I got Maggie a cool Minnie Mouse water bottle to carry around so that if she wanted to do something with her mouth, instead of using it to suck her fingers, she could use it to drink some water out of her water bottle.

It worked for a while, but stopped for some reason.

Maggie's teacher says that she (Maggie, not her teacher, although she doesn't either :)) doesn't suck her fingers at school, so I know she can do it!

I gave Maggie 10 dimes the other morning. 

I told her that she could keep however many dimes are left at the end of the day, but I would take one each time I had to remind her not to suck her fingers.  

I thought for sure she'd end the day with like 4 dimes.

Nope!

Maggie sucked her fingers one time!  

I was making lunch and she was in the living room.  Leah came out to tattle inform me.  I went out to the living room to ask Maggie if she had sucked her fingers.  She gave me a dime right away and admitted it.  I was so proud of her for telling the truth and I wanted to reinforce the honesty, so I gave her the dime right back.

She hasn't sucked her fingers since!

I thought I explained to her that she'd get 10 dimes each morning, but she carried around the same ones the next morning (in a miniature plastic dog kennel obviously) and seemed happy with that.  I intended to do dimes for like 4 days and then switch to 4 quarters for 3 days, essentially only giving her 4 chances to keep any money.

I'm so happy with how this is going so far, and Maggie seems really proud of herself.

I don't think she's sucking them at night, but honestly, I don't really care.  

Our dentist said that Maggie sucking her fingers isn't messing up the alignment of her teeth, plus I can't do anything with the dimes while we're sleeping.  

But, so far so good!

My little sweetie is growing up!  

I'll let you know if this round of operation stop sucking your fingers sticks!

Something I Don't Want to Forget: Maggie

Our girls do the cutest things, and I'm afraid if I don't write it down, I'll forget!

Well, Little Maggie Joy is stinkin' adorable when she plays with her little dolls.

She narrates everything the whole thing!

Maggie says, "'Hello Stuffy!" exclaims Doc McStuffins. 'What seems to be the problem today?'  'I feel miserable,' Stuffy moaned, starting to cry.  'Don't worry, Stuffy.  I'll take good care of you,' Doc assured her."

She uses really great vocabulary and varies her talking verbs (what are those called?); nobody just says things when Maggie plays...they exclaim, cry, wonder, and shout.

She even does it with the Lalaloopsy clothes magnets we have!

It's so sweet to hear her making her little dollies be so kind to each other, and I especially like that I know what she's thinking.  I feel like a lot of the time I want to know what's going on in the brains of the girls, and this gives me a little peek!

On a ridiculous note, we were driving to church on Sunday morning, and Maggie looked out the minivan window and noticed our neighbor's dog, Romo, pooping in their front yard.  

"There goes Romo...pooping away!"  she said gleefully.

Oh, this silly girl of mine!

She's a keeper!

Maggie's Birthday Week!

It was a good week to be Maggie; she got to celebrate her birthday 3 times!

Her actual birthday was last Monday which is actually a school day for her.  It was another friend's birthday on Sunday, so he celebrated on Monday and Maggie got to celebrate on Thursday!

Anyway, Maggie got to open up her presents before school!

The great irony in the life of my daughters is that they are terrified of real dogs, but they love stuffed puppies!

She got a super cute outfit

and loved playing with some new Lalaloopsy girls.

I ran out and got doughnuts for breakfast...with sprinkles, of course!

On a side note, nothing says Happy Birthday to your sister quite like wearing a box and becoming Robot Head!

I got cupcakes at the store for Maggie's actual birthday!

They gave me some Lalaloopsy ring toppers instead of the candy can ones which was quite nice.  They would have replaced all of the candy canes, but I figured we didn't need a million (ok, 12) Lalaloopsy rings to keep track of.  They also picked out the same Lalaloopsy ring so we didn't have drama over who got which girl on their ring.

Walmart bakery customer service for the win!

Then, on Thursday, Aaron, Gracie, and I joined Maggie at school for lunch!

Her teacher does such a good job making the kids feel special on their birthday!  

On Saturday, the grandparents came which was a celebration in and of itself!

Maggie got lots of fun gifts!

Among other things, she got kitty bank from Auntie Mindy,

an adorable Minnie Mouse sweatshirt from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Chuck,

and a plush Lalaloopsy pet from Nana and Papa!

Leah happily read Maggie her cards

and was in on much of the gift opening.

We had a really yummy supper of pork tenderloin, rice, green beans, and apple nachos.

Maggie wanted a Lalaloopsy cake and even picked some girls and pets to put on it!

We had a great time celebrating an even greater girl <3

Maggie Turns 5

My girl is 5 today!

I just cannot believe it!  I looked through a bunch of pictures from her first year today, and I'll be sharing some of my favorites throughout her birthday letter!

Try not to tear up when you see how adorable, tiny, and chubby she was!

Dear Maggie,

Oh, Mags, you are growing up so fast!

You have been such a sweetheart from the very beginning!

You were such a chilled out baby,

and absolutely a gift to us.

We didn't know what your middle name was going to be until I was literally giving birth to you!

And even though the following picture of your enormous cheeks doesn't capture it,

Joy is the perfect middle name for you!

You bring joy with you wherever you go!

You have been well loved by your daddy and me from the very beginning, and certainly by Leah, too!

I've always thought that, for a baby, having an older sibling must be like living with a cartoon character.  I thought that you would be so relaxed, happy to just sit back and watch what was going on around you.

Let's just say that I was wrong about that!  

You are seriously so, SO funny!  Whether it's saying "apple goose" instead of "apple juice" or making funny faces or saying silly things on purpose, you sure keep us laughing.

You certainly don't sit back and watch!  You join in on all the fun!

And, even though you are funny, you are emotional, too.  You can be kind of sensitive and sometimes cry easily.

But, Daddy and I have seen that your sensitivity has extended to being sensitive towards the things of Jesus.  You pray for people and are happy to talk about Jesus!

Maggie on her 1st birthday!

We've loved seeing you do so well at school!  You are a good friend to your classmates and are so eager to help your teacher!

You are cheerful and happy, and I love to watch people observe you and see what joy you bring to them...just by being yourself.

I know that God has designed you so perfectly!  

I can't wait to see how God continues to grow your sensitive heart to be more and more in tune to Him.

I can't wait to see you grow in your sensitivity to those around you, because you are already concerned about the people in your life.

Maggie on her 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th birthdays!

I love that you could cuddle all day long.

I love that you want to play games with me.

I love that you include your sisters in your play.

I love that you somehow know when you need a little time to yourself.

I love that you like being the middle daughter, because that means you are right in the middle of my heart...and that being the middle one is like you are in a hug all the time!

I love that draw pictures for us.

I love that you can spell your name and all of our names, too!

I love reading to you before your nap.  It is always one of my favorite parts of the day!

I love that you have your own little set of quirks that somehow makes you even more endearing to us...as if that was even possible!

I love that you show me everything in your backpack after school before I even buckle your seat belt!

I love that I get to be by your side as you draw closer to Jesus and see how God will use you to point people to Him.

Maggie's last picture as a 4 year old!

Thank you for being my sweet, little heart.  There's always been something about you that makes me want to fight like crazy to protect you and keep you from being hurt.

But, at the same time, I love watching God make you brave and confident.

I think there will always be some sort of conflict in my heart...knowing that I need to trust God with you and wanting to hold you so tightly at the same time.  It's a good thing that God is in control and not me!

I love you so much, Maggie Joy, and I'm beyond grateful that God made me your mommy!

Love, 

Mommy

one of my very favorite pictures of Maggie.  So, so sweet!