As a matter of fact, I do have a problem with that

Rachel was whining to try to get me to do something that I did not want to do. I said no, but she kept asking and whining. Finally I looked her straight in the eyes and sternly enunciated, "I said 'no.' Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes," she said.

A bit flustered I said, "Oh. Um, what's your problem?"

"I don't know?" she said while trying to suppress a smile, and she dropped the subject.

Sweet brothers

We were all getting back into the van to head home from the park. Makayla ran towards the van in the parking lot and tripped, scraping a hand and both knees. I decided to just go home, because there wasn't much I could do for her at the park. She cried and bled the whole way. Once home (just five minutes later) I tried cleaning the scrapes. She kept pulling away and crying more. We needed help.

I called in the cavalry, a.k.a. Benjamin and Samuel. Makayla sat on Samuel's lap while he held her tightly. Benjamin held her hand and kept up a steady stream of comforting words. She quickly stopped crying. I was able to clean and bandage the scraped knees and hand without interruption. The boys were so sweet and duly sympathetic. Makayla was actually in a good mood at the end of the ordeal and happily showed off her new band-aids.

Matching Outfit

My girls are already concerned about looking pretty because of their hair or clothes. I try to balance that attitude by telling them they are beautiful because of their sweet personality and their hair looks nice, too.

This morning Lisy asked if she was beautiful in her dress. I said, "You are beautiful because you are always happy, and everyone can see it when you smile."

She smiled really big and said, "I matched my dress to my smile!"

I did not pose her. This is all Lisy.