What makes me smile...

.... watching my three little girls lined up right next to me at the computer while watching this Taylor Swift music video, and all the while totally enthralled and dancing. These girls absolutely adore miss T. Swift;) What's funny is that Abrie dances EXACTLY like I've seen myself dance when I was her age. I remember watching old videos of us (the old film ones that you project on the wall) and there's one in particular where I remember Aunt Lisi and I dancing together in the playpen while Nene played a plastic saxophone, and it was as though I was watching myself.

It's surreal sometimes to sit back and watch these three beautiful ladies of mine. How did I ever get so lucky?!

"Bird's nest" to help my week

Excited that I have some of my first "photo shoots" scheduled for October. Here's hoping that I can somehow launch a successful photography gig, so that then I can do what I love along with my loves.

This week has been horrible work-wise, so I'm putting more of an effort into trying to make this photography thing somehow come to fruition. Ordered my back-up battery today from amazon.com (never used that website before) so hopefully I don't lose my focus as easily with this new battery.

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Totally unrelated note, but I have completely forgotten to mention what we call Abrielle's hair these days. I am so proud that she seems to have the waviest hair out of all three of my girlies. Faith's hair does get curls when it's wet or humid, but Abrie's hair definitely seems to have some natural curl of its own. I am so excited. Now granted, I use the term "curly" quite loosely; she does have little ringlets that form in the back, but it's definitely not textbook "curly." But, anyway... I digress!... Her hair gets so matted in the night when she goes to bed that she wakes up with this ENORMOUS mound of knots and puffiness in the back of her head. We lovingly refer to this hair-do as "Abrie's bird's nest." Not to mention, some days she wakes up with that matted look in the back PLUS some of the pokiest/spikiest hairs on the top-- awesome combination. The 'bird's nest' lingo though is quite popular around here, and apparently Maddie was talking about it in school today! Hahaha. I can just imagine how puzzled the kids must have been when she told them about her sister's bird's nest!

Aside from the bird's nest hair, Abrie is just a fabulous little girl. I could just squeeze her. She's so much fun! She definitely is a Dr.Jekyll/Mr. Hyde though. The girl can change moods at the flip of a coin; I mean this quite literally! She also is a cupboard thief who loves to snag snacks (open boxes of cereal are a favorite) and then runs as fast as she can to a corner of the living room where you just hear her saying "mmmmmm.... mmmmm" as she sits there happily snacking to her heart's delight. She also LOVES to "be cool." She has an obsession with putting as many ponytail holders/silly bands on her wrist as possible, and then walks over to show her sisters. It's so funny!

Week in review

Boy, how I cherish the moments of relaxing at home with my precious family so much. My day off never comes fast enough it seems.

I've decided to try to not feel so guilty or be too hard on myself about the messes that are a constant theme around here. I'll have plenty of time to be OCD about these things later on in life, but for now I want to learn to relax about that all and focus on what is most important.

Maddie had her first day this week where she did NOT want to go to school. It was brutal. That is the only way I can describe it. She was begging for "just one day off, please Momma. Please Daddy! I promise I will go to school the next day; I just want one day off." It took everything in me to tell her to give it a try and see how the day went. I had to mouth (through my tears) to the school secretary to please take her hand and help her since she was so upset. I was so anxious for my report after Dan picked me up from work, and was so relieved to know that she had had a great day. I truly think that she was just burnt out. I hope to never have to go through that again. Ironically, Faith had her first day (the day prior to Maddie's meltdown) where she burst out crying in the middle of the day saying she missed her Maddie.

Faith is totally into Ariel these days. This is her new favorite princess (the girl has been a steadfast Snow White admirer since she was 2) and she wants to watch the Ariel movies all the time. Her "husband" though continues to be John Smith of 'Pocahontas' fame.

Went to the Carsonia carnival on Friday night, Captain's Cove with friends last night, and had our dear cousins here today to play. Fun, fun, and more fun.

Artiste Cran

This was a picture that Maddie made the other day in art class at school. It is her at Weaver's orchard picking apples from an apple tree. There are two jugs of apple cider, a cow, and bunnies. I absolutely love this picture, and Maddie told us that her art teacher loved it too.


This was a picture Maddie made tonight. It is supposed to be her and Donovan on a date, and the chef serving them. I had to try my hardest not to laugh about the "date" part when she explained it to me, but I thought it was so cute too.

I just don't remember ever having this much of a knack for drawing when I was Maddie's age.

Bake sale

A first for my girlies: their first ever BAKE SALE!

Maddie and Faith have been wanting to sell "drinks and sweets" for the longest time now. The other day they saw a cute gray and white cat outside, and got the idea of having a bake sale to raise money to feed the cat. The seed was planted in their mind about having a bake sale a long time ago, and the cat gave them that little bit of motivation to go ahead and make it happen. I couldn't say 'no' to the idea after they spent that night making 22 posters (literally) that said there would be a bake sale on Saturday.

Well, Saturday wouldn't work because I had to work. But, I told them we could do it Sunday. So, they posted a few signs on the way to Maddie's school last Thursday, and of course our neighbors knew about it. Sharon was so sweet and made orange rice krispie treats, and Rhonda made cookies. My big helpers and I stayed up until 10pm last night making cheesecake brownies (out of a box- we cheated, but they are Madison's favorite), strawberry cream cheese cupcakes, and fancy pretzel rods (dipped in melted chocolate-- Maddie did white, and Faith did chocolate-- and then dipped in sprinkles). They also wanted to make the cups fancy and put colored sugar crystals on the rims of all of them (the glasses for the lemonade were quite a hit!). Needless to say, we were all wiped out after all that baking last night, and yet they were ready to go by 8:45am!!

They started at 9am this morning, and went until 11:30am. It was a wonderful day. They had so much fun. All of their customers were either Dan or our neighbors, but we did have two little boys come up on their scooters asking "is this where the bake sale is?" It was precious! Maddie was so excited that someone had seen their signs! They handed out stickers to every customer and free bookmarks.

During their break from all the buying action, they were busy painting nails and toenails (even Dave!) in their self-appointed "salon."

They made a respectable $28.10 and are now torn between Maddie still wanting to find the stray cat and buy it a collar, bowl, and cat food and Faith wanting to donate to the library to help them buy more books! They're too funny.

Today was a day that made me smile the whole day. My girls are blessed with wonderful childhood memories that I hope they'll be able to reflect upon later on down the road.

Ugh.

I hate that I only ever get to walk to pick up Maddie from school on my day off from work. Granted I get to walk her to school every morning, but I miss out on the afternoon "report" when she answers our gazillion questions about what she did that given day. Needless to say, I hate that I miss it, but I get my school report on the drive home from work (and, I try to not get the abbreviated version either!).

Maddie told us today that the girl that she has taken to since the very first day of school told her that she didn't want to be Maddie's friend anymore.

I have to wonder-- what in the world would prompt a 6-year old (Maddie is actually one of the younger ones in her class, most of the kids are already 6) to be so cruel already? I don't even have the words to express how hurt I felt that a kid Maddie's own age could be so cruel to my sweet and loving girl. I will leave it at that, because I know if I dwell on it, I will just want to find this girl's mother and give her a little lesson on how to properly raise your daughter to respect someone's feelings.

The "good" that came out of this? After Maddie told us all of this, Faith tells Maddie (in her froggy/sick/scratchy throat voice) from a car seat's length away: "Maddie... you my best sistah. I tell someone if they say this to my sistah.. hey! leave my sistah alone. She is my best friend."

How do you ever say thank you

Went to Captain's Cove last night for dinner, and were accompanied by our lovely next door neighbors and our beloved Joie.

Joie was back from Millersville for a week (my first college that I hold near and dear to my heart!), so we celebrated her 20th birthday early. Though the circumstances for her homecoming weren't the best--food poisoning that turned into sepsis-- we enjoyed the time we had together this week.

I don't know how I can ever express in words what our neighbors mean to us... to my girls. They are some of these girls' best friends. Needless to say, we spent an evening laughing, dancing, being serenaded by Maddie and Faith, being entertained by Abrie (who is typically hostile towards anyone other than her immediate family, and yet waves, hugs, and plays with everyone on this block-- she spent almost the whole night flirting with Rhonda to chase her!), and just enjoying the company.

Joie was so sweet and invited my big girls over for a movie night. They happily walked over with their "choices" (a Barbie movie and "Mary Poppins") and stayed until 10pm watching "Mary Poppins." Faith ended up passing out on their living room floor, and Sharon and Joie walked them back at 10pm carrying Faith all bundled up with her blankie.

<3

"Team"

I love when my girlies do their "team cheer." They all put their little hands, one on top of the other (Abrie included of course), and yell "team."

They are definitely a team.

No matter which two pair up, or if they're all together, or by themselves they are always so fun.

Faith lately loves calling herself "the babysitter." She reminded me the other day as we were walking home that she was the one that would often times be the successful one at soothing Abrie back to sleep on our car ride to/from Maine in July. It was always funny to hear the 4 of us singing Ernie's "Imagination Song" or Taylor Swift songs to Abrie in unison to try and calm her down, but Faith always had the magic touch out of all of us. She is always full of energy, and yet she can be so calming. She still remembers that I called her "the best babysitter" when she would get Abrie to go to sleep in the car, and she was telling me about that on our walk home from dropping Maddie off at school. We like to take the long way home, and Faith insists on pushing Abrie in the stroller after Abrie is done walking. She's "the best babysitter" after all. ;)

Took the girlies up to the little daycare tonight after their baths, and Maddie and Faith were playing that they were going to a Beatles concert by Dawson's Creek (quite the combination, I know!) and they had to stop at Abrie's restaurant. Abrie is hilarious because she LOVES pretending to serve food and drinks to us, and she always gives us wood chips or mulch as these snacks.

Cousins Labor Day

Labor Day this year was spent with the girlies' favorite cousins. I think they've grown on Donovan too with the notion of princesses and princes, and they love so much that he now pretends to be a knight saving them, etc. It's adorable.

We had a nice little outdoor picnic with our neighborhood on Sunday too, the day before Labor Day. We all made a dish, and enjoy each other's company immensely. More memories!

Artwork x2

Faith-- a horse

Maddie-- mermaids, a princess, and the fairies with Rapunzel

I've spent most of my night re-organizing our hutch that is the girls' spot for all of their crafting material, coloring books, workbooks, etc. I got them each a folder back in the beginning of the summer, and it was fun to look through all of their projects and drawings that they have made.

I don't know if it is Maddie that rubs off on Faith, or if it is just in their genetic make-up, but Faith just loves drawing and coloring. They both will sit forever at the dining room table with their crayons and paper, or outside with their chalks (and Abrielle too.. she is a budding artiste as well; she is always begging for chalks and she squats down to draw pictures and lines). Many mornings they bring up their materials to the playroom and lay on their stomachs and draw, and draw, and draw. They have such a passion for creating.

Maddie tells us all the time that her favorite part about school is art class. I figured that would definitely be her favorite.

When Dan and I decided to go ahead and enroll Maddie in the kindergarten here, I was adamant that I would continue to keep up with everything that the girls do here at home with me. I have to admit that I find myself feeling envious that Maddie will be learning new things from someone other than me this year, and yet I am so proud that she knows what she does because of the work that we have done at home together. Faith and Abrie included.

Faith continues to be as eager of a learner as Maddie has always been, if not moreso. She's really perfecting her writing these days, and her drawings are becoming more and more recognizable and intricately detailed.

This one's for my Flop

(In honor of the classic Martina McBride song that my girlies love!)

Faith has been doing so well with this transition of having her beloved big sissy in school now.

She really is the perfect 'medium' sister (I still refuse to use the term "middle;) ). She is forever loyal to her Maddie, and wants to do everything that Maddie does. She's been drawing pictures everyday for Maddie, and she always wants to make a new chalk drawing out in the back for Maddie to see when she gets home.

She calls herself "the big sister" now, and I think she takes pride in being the oldest one at home. I can tell she thinks it's neat that she is now taking on the responsibilities of being Abrielle's best bud/mentor. She is so awesome with Abrie.

Yep, she's mine!

Little quirks and new dining spot

Forgot to mention some funny things about Maddie and school:

On her first day of school she insisted on wearing a very fancy navy shirt with a white skirt. She explained to us that "well, I need to find a boyfriend or a husband since I can't marry Donovan in real life. I'm just going to go up to a boy at recess and ask him if he'll marry me. That's my plan." She did not waiver from this plan, and told all of our neighbors. I asked her what happened that afternoon, and she told us "well, this is nuts. I'm going to marry Donovan because I love him. So, I am just going to find friends and not worry about a new boyfriend." Hahaha. Mind you, Donovan is Maddie's cousin! She adores him, as do Faith and Abrie.

I write her notes in her lunch box with the symbols for an eye, a heart, and a U and then sign it with all of our names. She loves it, and tells me "Momma, thank you for my letter." I came home the other day from work and she had chalked outside, an eye, a heart, and a U and then Momma. It was cute.

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Our sweet neighbors (who are such wonderful friends) told us the other week about a cool restaurant at the top of Mt. Penn called "Captain's Cove." We decided to try it last night, and asked them to come with us. It was awesome. It basically felt like we were on an island resort vacation, only in the middle of PA deciduous forests! There is an indoor half to the restaurant, but we ate outdoors. There is pirate paraphernalia everywhere (Maddie and Faith were of course saying that John Smith had been captured by these pirates), tiki torches, palm trees, hammocks, and little lizards everywhere. We walked around while we waited for our food, and my three girls just loved the hammocks. We all had such a blast.

Baby steps at this thing called 'letting go'

First day of kindergarten has come and gone. First week actually.

Maddie absolutely loves school, just as I figured she would. She calls the whole class her friend, and picks wildflowers for her teacher every morning on our walk to school. She talks non-stop about everything they did that day on the walk home from school, and really couldn't be any happier.

I could not be more proud of my big girl.

And yet, I am left feeling the sting of this first baby step that is known as the "letting go" process. It hurts down to my core. I couldn't even keep my composure on Maddie's 1st day, and just lost it as we started to walk her in and she lined up with her teacher and classmates. Maddie is just like me in that she tries her hardest to stay composed, and puts her head down if she feels as though she might cry. She held tightly to Dan's hand as we all walked in to say 'goodbye' to her, and she started to get tears in her eyes. But, her eyes stayed focused towards the ground. My sweet girl. I knew she was trying so hard to not lose it for my sake, and I love her so much for that.

Walking away felt like closing the first chapter of our Cran's life. It was definitely one of the toughest things I've had to do. I felt the implications of this day since we first decided to go ahead and try the public school route, and yet I had no real warnings about the emptiness that I would feel the second I turned around and had to walk home with 2 sweet girls, instead of 3. It is extremely bittersweet; it is exciting to know that she is starting all new things in her life and that we can share these memories with her, and yet I feel as though I am not at all ready to embark on this new chapter of her life as a school student. This is a full day kindergarten, so it seems even harder. Faith and Abrie are without their mentor, idol.. their best friend.

I am grateful that Dan had this week off (though unscheduled as it may have been due to other circumstances-- the monkey wrench that is our life!), and I know he is too. He is always my rock, and he was so incredibly supportive this week. I don't think he truly was prepared for how difficult it would be to drop off Maddie at school, and walk away with the notion that now our beloved daughter is in someone else's hands. He packed her lunch every day this week, and tucked pictures of us into a plastic bag so that Maddie would see us when she opened her lunch box. She had a special request to have a picture of Faith on top. Dan was a very shy little boy when he was Maddie's age, so I think when he noticed that she was starting to get teary-eyed, he got very upset.

Faith and Abrie play very, very well together and I can tell they are going to be a "team" with Maddie being gone throughout the day. We keep Faith distracted throughout the day because otherwise, she'll start saying "I miss Maddie.. when is Maddie coming home?" It is the strangest feeling to be at home with two now instead of three; it is too quiet.

I know we will get used to this. I will get used to this somehow. It's thrown me for a loop within these past 6 months-- first with the job, and now with my girl being away from me. It's hard for me to get used to new things, especially those that I didn't quite anticipate, but I know I will. And, I am so, so proud of our Maddie. I already know that she is going to shine. Her teachers and classmates are so lucky to have our Maddie with them.