fhe

We decided to take the girls to the driving range for FHE. It was warm and a little buggy, but we were all having a nice time. While one girl had her turn at the tee with dad, two others sat on overturned buckets and watched or played games on Kim's phone, and Kate sat happily in her stroller enjoying a cool bottle of diluted Gatorade.

As we reached the bottom of our bucket of balls, a gray-haired gentleman poked his head into our stall. "I just have to tell you, from where I was standing over there," he pointed over his shoulder to a nearby window," this is a beautiful, little scene." As I thanked him, he rapped his knuckles twice on the doorway, nodded and walked away. 

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded.

BFFs

Lauren are Olivia are such sweet friends with so many adorable qualities in common. They're both thoughtful; they write each other sweet notes with detailed illustrations that usually feature cute little girls labeled "you" and "me" surrounded by lots of hearts. They're loving; even if they haven't seen each other for just a few hours, they give each other a huge hug like it's been years. They adore animals and collect stuffed animals; they give them funny names, treat them like they're real, and take them everywhere possible. They're funny; hearing these two laugh is contagious. And they even look alike! Every little girl should have a BFF, and I'm happy these two have each other. 

well i never

From upstairs I could hear Audrey in the basement shouting, "Oh my G-d! Oh my G-d!" repeatedly. It was an obvious cry for attention, and she was going to get it. I called to her, "Audrey. Come up here." As she reached the top of the stairs, her big brown eyes looked up at me, appearing bigger than normal.
"Why were you saying that?"
"You mean what I was saying on the stairs?"
"Yes."
"I don't know."
"Well, we don't say it. Do you know why?"
"Because it's rude?"
"Yes. And because Heavenly Father is special to us and we don't say his name unless we're talking about him reverently."
"Okay."
"And," I warned her gently, "If you say that again, next time I have to wash out your mouth with soap." She pondered that for a moment and then said, quite matter-of-factly,
"Mom, do you know that Heavenly Father doesn't like for you to wash out my mouth with soap?"
"Really?" I tried to keep a straight face. "Why is that?"
"It's rude."

choir of angel

Audrey was singing in the back seat. Loudly. And she wouldn't stop. "Please," I begged her. "Please stop the singing, Audrey."
"I'm not singing!" she protested. "That's my spirit."
Fair enough.

christmas poem

I found this in Lauren's school portfolio: 

swim team

Ella and Lauren had a great first season on our local swim team as members of the Thunderbolts and Thunder Squad, respectively. They both strengthened their swimming dramatically, improved their personal best times consistently, and enjoyed being part of a team. I think they liked having matching suits, too.

Way to go, girls!

heart to heart

Well, here we go.

When we got home from church on Sunday, Ella came into our bedroom and handed me a heart-shaped paper with the word "Love" scrawled on it.

"That's nice," I told her. "Who gave it to you?"
"Alex Clark," she said soberly. "With a box of raisinettes and a white chocolate granola bar. What am I supposed to do?"
"You don't have to do anything," I told her. "He just wanted a little extra attention from you, that's all."
"What?" She was confused. "He always tries to annoy me!"
I explained, "He gets a little extra attention from you that way, too."

Just then Kim walked in, loosening his tie.
"What's that?" he asked.
"A heart," Ella explained again. "It came with a box of raisinettes and a white chocolate granola bar."
"From whom?" He was serious.
"Alex Clark."
And then, to no one in particular Kim said, "Well. That's pretty silly, Alex Clark."

He stooped down to be eye-level with the Ella and Lauren. "Is there any guy out there better than me? NO. Do we date before we're 16? NO. Do we single-date before we're 18? NO. High fives." They slapped hands and he stood up, slid off his tie and turned toward the closet. The girls glanced at me with raised eyebrows and ran out of the room.

Somehow, I have a feeling we may see that scene play out again. And again. And again.

have a nice day

Kim said goodbye to Audrey and me as he walked out the door and blew us kisses on the way down the stairs to his cab. It's "Casual Thursday" for some reason, so he was wearing his jeans and a button down-shirt. I thought to myself that he looked nice, and just as we turned to go inside Audrey said, "Dada looks very handsome today, don't you think so?"

Yes, I do.