Want to go swimming with me?

Boo!

Resilient

"Another, picture, Mom?" says Allison. When is it enough? Never!

Mostly, I like to think of my role as a Mother as channeling positive energy and filtering the negative into the garbage. However, the role of these children have been to teach me to be resilent!

Abby has poison ivy and has had it for over two weeks...bouts with steriods have not helped too much. She has a topical med now that you cannot get near your eyes. You should read the horrifying side effects and I am putting this on my 6 year old's face. Sometimes I wish I could not read and just live in oblivion. At least, besides the itching she is fairly well-tempered. Kids are more resilent than us adults at times! At Vacation Bible School... she was worried that they were going to identify her as the "leper" as they were recounting the story of Jesus healing the leper.

On the way to the doc again for the poison ivy...Libby got overheated in the car and threw up Cheetos puke everywhere. That was one way to keep me from eating Cheetos for a very, very long time. After a roadside change, odd looks from passerbyers, and such...we were on our way back home to try for the appt. at a later TBD time. Libby was finishing her Happy Meal on the way home...resilent.

Teddy has been dealing with life outside the womb. I have one word for that: resilent. Can you imagine three doting sisters? The women in the nursery realized nothing can get passed this Y Mom. The Y workers said that Abby was documenting their every move with him while I was working out today. Allison was sneaking around and making sure that they were nice to him. Lib kept telling everyone that is,"My Teddy and calling him "sweet boy". He is very loved.

Allison continues to amaze me with her ability to stay patient and learn things be oral instruction. At four, she repairs toys and adds new batteries using a screwdriver, cleans DVDs and handles most technical difficulties, signs on to her web-kin web sire by herself, and finds inventive ways of getting the job done. She is a lot of fun to watch her mind work: independent and resourceful. She is resilent.

OK, We finally got the painting done and then I had to add a little Uppercase Living to the kitchen and hallway. I am not sure about the "brown", but we did it in the living room as well. We replaced all the light fixtures pretty much in the house. We also got new doors in front and back. Lots of stuff going on here with the house!

I just have the bathroom downstairs to paint for the third time since removing the wallpaper three years ago. I am also working on curtains-making them with the help of my Mom...OK, she is making them! I am trying, but I stink!

Luckily, I have a friend, Steph, that helps me make better paint choices and the bathroom might be painted for the last time! Then more painting upstairs bathroom, girls bedrooms once again, and our room and bathroom.

Why is always the last room to be finished is our own room...our retreat? Some things are going to change now that I realize the good things in life are not a new bedroom set, but a fresh coat of paint and making it feel like ours. We will make a house a home with color and a place of love, comfort, and relaxation. I am working on it...nesting is always happening here.

The Girls

The girls have been busy this summer already with wanting "PLAYDATES". Abby is already missing her friends in one week of being out of school. She is adjusting to being at home. I have provided some fun things to do, but man....I just want to rest sometimes and chill out. She is so scheduled at school that as she is relaxing she seems even more tired than when she was moving at 100%!

Allison did beautifully in the wedding of Ted's cousin, Jim. They were married this past weekend. She walked down the aisle with another little flower girl and was not scared at all. This was a huge step for Ally. She is a bit shy at times and doing things to help her bust out is already in the works. However, she does not like soccer right now. Ted has coached her team for the last several weeks and she is yet to get out on the field. A flat out NO!

Ms. Lib...all I can say is there has to be a place in heaven for me with this child. It is all I do not to but heads with my Leo. She is high spirited and quite the party girl. At our last get together, she went in to try to potty and came out naked. She stood at the glass door and said, "Naked, Naked, Naked" then she shook her bottom. This one likes shock value and also she enjoys being the center on the universe. She still has not decided whether or not she is going to go on the potty 100% of the time. I never thought I would have had to wait until almost 3 to potty train her. She has to decide it is what she wants to do. She is a lot of fun!

Teddy...just precious, well-tempered, and loves us all so much. He was 11 pounds 13 oz. at his 4 week visit and not that I give much heed to the "charts". He is in the 95 percentile right now, but my kids seem to start large and then taper off. He is very aware with his smiling and cooing to all of us. He has the saddest hurt cry ever. I hate hearing that one. I have enjoyed dressing a little boy and him being different, too. He is sweet and we adore him.