blossoming smiles

I'm the kind of mom who, on days I do make myself do the girls' hair, it still looks like they slept in the hairdo made the day before. I also let them dress themselves a lot of the time, and you know this means mismatched socks and odd ensembles of shirts and pants. That's why this photo shoot with the girls is so wonderful to me - it shows them off at their best. I can look at these photos for hours! When I do study these pictures, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have a house full of girls, which means (if I focus on the positive stuff) there is a lot of giggling, picture-drawing, and dressing up. Currently, every day, the girls draw me and Mac a picture, decorated with multiple stickers. The drawings for Mac usually end up by the front door, waiting for him to walk in and see the nice surprises the girls have left for him. Mine are often handed straight to me, and then I put them on the fridge after effusive thanks and praise. Sometimes, like when I've gone for a run in the morning, I'll come back and the girls will have drawn me a picture and put it by the door, like they do for dad. And other times, they'll draw pictures for their friends across the street or at church and save the precious drawings until they see this friend. These are good times, when our young daughters are so enthusiastic about sharing their love and talents with as many people as they can. I get a kick out of how Kate draws her pictures and how she loves to sign them "Love ?" so we have to wonder who drew us the beautiful picture. It's so fun to see Avery's drawing develop - just recently, her scribbles have turned into people with actual bodies and looooooong legs.

Yes, despite the whining and the occasional tantrums, mothering these three girls is pretty awesome. I'm really glad I have these beautiful pictures to remind me of that.