The house is silent, I have a cup of tea next to me and nothing on the agenda today except a trip to the gym and to be home with the little ones. Lilly's last day of school was Friday, so we're looking forward to 2 weeks of lazy mornings and lounging by the fire. There's something special about having Lilly, Jack and Hannah all home during Lilly's normal school time. Yes, we always get our late afternoons together but in our house, mornings are the best part of the day. Everyone is well rested and happy. Their little faces light up when they ask if they can play in the basement before breakfast and I don't have to hurry them along to eat and get dressed and get in the car for school.
More and more, I am able to step back and watch the three little ones playing together. Yes, they ask me to help them with dress ups or run to me when a toy has been taken or someone isn't playing nicely, but as they get bigger, their favorite times are spent playing with each other, and that makes me smile. I love overhearing little snippets of conversations; like last night, when Lilly put on her night gown (which was a gift from Gigi and Papa and is an all time favorite) and was so excited to be wearing it to bed after a few weeks hiatus. She was twirling around in her bedroom and Jack said to her, "ooooh Lilly, you look like a princess!" So genuine and so sweet. Lilly's face lit up and she laughed. "Jack, I'm not a princess, I'm just wearing a dress to bed!"
The three of them love playing pretend games. There are lots of house and school games that go on. Lilly is usually Mom, Jack is Dad, and Hannah is the baby. When they play these games, they take them seriously. I heard Jack trying to get Lilly to listen to him yesterday while they were playing, and when she wasn't responding to "Mom," he quickly switched to, "Amelia!" To which Lilly responded, "Yes, Jim?" And then they'll tell Hannah it's time to lie down and take a nap, at which point Hannah throws herself on the ground, head on a pillow as fast as she can and pretends to snore (with her eyes wide open). They have a basement full of toys and games, and nine times out of ten, you will find them down there playing dress ups or house or setting up an elaborate tea party, complete with stuffed animals, dolls and trucks, so that all participating members are happy.
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| a very fierce dragon |
The swing set, even in the middle of winter, is also a favorite. Even if they can be out the back for half an hour, their days are better--as are mine after they they have played outside in the fresh air, running and jumping and singing and screaming to their little hearts' content. Lilly keeps an eye on Hannah, helping her onto the swing, pushing her while reminding her to hold on, making sure that Hannah makes it up to the top of their lookout tower when the bus drops children home from school. Jack loves pretending that he's Jim, so his favorite game at the moment is to carry firewood up to the top of the playground to "build a fire." He gets Lilly to help, and Lilly includes Hannah, letting her carry wood over to the swing set but taking it from her before she tries to climb up the rope ladder with it. I have a few mini heart attacks each day watching these three while trying to let them play by themselves.
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| Hannah's favorite dress up: goggles. |
Lilly has been coughing a lot the past few days, so we brought our friend The Nebby back out to help loosen up that cough. This has quickly turned into a team activity. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Let our two week Christmas vacation begin!!
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| Good thing we have an extra nebby mask. It's a dragon. |
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| While Lilly is using the nebby, Hannah asks for her "goggles" so she can use the nebby too! |
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