A Moment in Time

I wish sometimes I could freeze a day in time and re-open it whenever I'd like. I would love to go back and relive some of our best day and remember exactly what my girls were like and different ages. They grow and change so much so quickly! So here's my snippet of time right now...

Hazel:
I cannot believe Hazel is almost done with Kindergarten. "There's only 23 days left mom" she could tell me should I ask her. She becomes more independent and opinionated every day. In some areas I'm so glad to see her mind so set. Her testimony is strong and she eagerly shares the gospel. She even gave a Book of Mormon to one of her friends at school! In other areas I wish she'd slow down the independence a bit - like in the kitchen. On Easter she burned her chin trying to smell a pan of freshly baked rolls and then cut herself with a knife while trying to slice bread the very next day!

Burnt chin and a cut finger!

Hazel still LOVES reading. She started listening to the Junie B. Jones books at school and is now hooked on them. We've read the first 15 books in the series since February! In school they're doing an ABC count down to the end of the year. She's been so excited about each day. Here she is with her "bubble gum pants" and "bubble gum hair" on bubble gum day.

Hazel and Kiara have recently become better friends. Kiara likes to play with Hazel and will sometimes choose her over Michael or I to cuddle up next to. Hazel was also very proud of herself for helping me walk Kiara the other day.

Of course, as the oldest Hazel continues to be the ring leader of crazy shenanigans around our house. Like showing Eliza that an umbrella make a better bucket than a shield in the pouring rain. But she also had moments where she is genuinely helpful. Today she saw a stack of diapers sitting in Lenora's room that I'd set out to take downstairs. Without being asked she picked them all up and put them away in their place downstairs!

Eliza:
Sweet Eliza has done a lot of growing recently. She's growing taller and bigger! But she's also really coming out of her shell. She used to be very timid around other kids and would mostly just watch them. Since I've been working at the YMCA she's been learning to play more and more without Hazel around. She has a best friend named Grace and they are so cute together. Eliza is still completely obsessed with the color yellow. Right now, she is loving all the "yellow flowers" (aka dandelions) she keeps seeing. I always have a few dandelion bouquets hanging around the house and I love it!

Eliza also says the funniest things sometimes. Just now she told me, "I made up a song about not sleeping on the ceiling. Because it's dangerous. You will fall and bonk your head." Eliza loves being in Primary. She's in the only girl in a class full of rowdy boys. Her teacher's say she's also so good and answers their questions. She is always able to tell us what she learned that day. She also sang the whole time when the kids sang for Easter. I'm so proud of how well she is learning the gospel!

One day I found Eliza "studying her scriptures"

Last week Eliza found a dime and two pennies that she carried around most of the week. Friday morning I was busy taking care of a sick Lenora and helping Hazel get ready for school when I looked over to see Eliza with the most sad expression on her face. "I swallowed my dime!" she told me. She was super distraught over swallowing it. But after a while she was telling me, "It's okay. A dime is the smallest one!"

Just eating our snack mom!

Lenora:
My little baby is growing up! Lenora is now 15 months old, 22 pounds, and 30 inches tall. For months and months we thought she would start walking any day. She could stand, and take a few steps, but she just didn't want to walk! She loved pushing this bike around the house like a walker. Finally, just last week she started actually walking around.

Just walking with a puzzle piece in my mouth!

Lenora is such a silly girl. She LOVES to wrestle with her big sisters. She loves making silly faces at people and will laugh out loud at herself. Other other day she found my goggles and wore them for over 5 minutes with a cute smirk on her face.

Lenora loves reading books just like her big sisters. "Old McDonald had a Farm" is her favorite and she always says "baa" when we get to the sheep page. She's starting to say more and more words and pick up more signs. The other day Hazel said grandma for some reason and all the sudden Lenora perked up. She signed "Gram" then looked over to where we always keep the laptop and pointed and pointed. Then she signed, "please". She wanted to Skype with my mom! I love that she can communicate such complex ideas with us already! 

Lenora still loves to eat. String cheese is one of her favorites and she literally eats a string cheese for snack every morning. Lenora also loves to do anything her big sisters are doing. She puts headbands in her hair, slings purses over her arms, and generally follows their every move. I love to see how much they adore her. Hazel always gets Lenora out of her crib every morning and usually will read her a few books before they come downstairs. Eliza is always helping her get in to mischief  reach things and watching out for her.

We're so blessed to have these sweet girls! I wish I could freeze time