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.

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

With all the worry and work that goes with trying to sell your house in a slow house buying market, I'm finding it difficult to make time for blogging. But I can quickly pass on the tidbits of entertainment that help take my mind away from my stress. Mac and I thought this was hilarity perfected. Just copy and paste into your browser - you'll be glad you did.

http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/clips/birdwatching-21709/1022961/

My Radio Prize

I received my prize for being the eighth caller on KBYI a couple days ago: The new Mormon Tab CD, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The songs are lovely. Some are lively and energetic, and others are soothing and peaceful. I love it.

My New Favorite Thing

One of my new favorite things right now is the radio station KBYI (100.5 FM, I think). I discovered it by accident one day, but I paused long enough on the classical music it was playing to think, gee that's nice - the kind of music I can have on in the background even with the loud noise from little children and not feel like pulling out my hair or grinding my teeth. So the dial on the radio stayed put, and now it's been weeks and that dial still hasn't moved. The music is simply fantastic. I swear I can feel my blood pressure lowering immediately upon listening to it, and for some odd reason, I feel smarter when I listen to it too. And if that's not enough to convince you to give it a try, today they played the the entire soundtrack from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers!

So it's mostly classical music, but sometimes they'll play broadway hits and such. Today, I really enjoyed what they played, but on Saturday I tuned in to show Mac what a great station KBYI was, but unfortunately something kind of wierd was playing, and Mac declared it was over, saying he couldn't stay married to someone who liked listening to that kind of music. (It really was a bad selection of music at the time, but I think Mac was overreacting just a bit, wouldn't you say?) On Sunday, however, Mac gave KBYI props by saying it was way better than KLCE for Sabbath-appropriate music.

So, if you live in the vicinity of Rexburg and Idaho Falls, I urge you to give KBYI 100.5 FM a try. Let me know what you think! (As a side note, I was the 8th caller this morning and won something, but I didn't quite catch what it was I won, and I was too embarrassed to ask, so when it arrives in the mail, I'll be sure to update the blog and let everyone know what I won, since I'm sure you'll be just DYING to know. It was still exciting to win something, even if I don't know what it is yet.)

Mother's Day

Mother's day was great. After breakfast in bed, the girls insisted I open my presents. So after much enthusiasm on their part, I opened them and thanked everyone profusely for spoiling me. At this point, Kate sighs, "I wish it was Children's day. When is it going to be Children's day, Mom?" I told her that everyday is children's day, but she didn't believe me. She will when she's a mom, though.

My Angel Babe Turns Three

It's fun for me to reflect on the last few years I've known Avery. When I was pregnant with her, I got an inkling of the kind of person she'd be by how she was in my womb, and by that I mean that she never moved. Sure enough, when she was born, she never moved either! She slept all the time, rarely cried, and was a complete joy! She rolled when she was 9 months old, crawled when she was 12 months old, and walked just before she was 16 months old. Despite these late milestones, I think she's pretty smart. Plus, she was the easiest baby ever! A great sleeper, eater, smiler, sitter, and non-complainer - what more could a mom want! I could have nine kids if I knew they were all going to be like Avery as a baby. She was completely enjoyable. I can't say that about my other two babies, as much as I love them. As Avery's grown, she's gotten a lot more sassy and defiant, but I guess that happens with most kids. Maybe because she was so easy going for so long, and we never felt the need to discipline her, she grew to think she could do whatever she wanted. She's still a lot of fun, though. Some of my favorite things about her: No one is sillier and can make us laugh as easily as she can. She's a great little mother to her dolls. She loves Beyonce's All the Single Ladies and always asks for me to turn it on. As much as she loves her daddy, she still prefers me to sing to her at night. When she's excited, her whole body lights up. Her speech is still very much that "baby" talk, which makes it very cute but very difficult at times to understand. Happy birthday to my beautiful three-year-old!

To be small again . . .

Sometimes I wish I was small enough to crawl under my sink, shut the door, and hide there. If I were Kate and Avery, it would be the perfect place to break out my new flashlight, the all-time best ever toy, if you didn't already know. If I were Lilly, it would just be for trying out a new place and experience. But as mom, I might use it to shut the door on the constant house cleaning that faces me now that my house is for sale, or the constant nagging from three daughters who won't even let me shower or go to the bathroom alone. I remember being small enough to crawl in a place this size, but I don't remember when I grew too big for it, only that it was a LONG time ago.