Graceful Landing: daughters

Showing posts with label daughters. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Little Messes

My girls are wonderful. They really are.

However, they are hands-down the messiest people in our home.

As they grow and mature, the messes change; from dress-up clothes, dolls and toys, to papers, drawings, glue, stickers and glitter. Then on to teenage 'dress-up' clothes along with shoes and purses, make up and nail polish.
Girls simply have lots of STUFF.

Take my littlest girl for example- I began to notice the other day the small piles of things in each room of the house. I noticed that each and every pile belonged to the same person. A little blonde-haired, green-eyed girl.

A little girl who, at that very moment, was working on another project. She was using cardboard, scissors, glue, markers and glitter to create 'I love you' signs for her dad and I. Signs that she then propped up on our nightstands in order to remind us of her love every day.

How can you not simply adore a child like that?

So I try to ignore her things strewn about the house....until they begin to take over or we have to show our home, whichever comes first.

In the meantime, this is how the conversations go:

G: "Momma, have you seen my boots?" Me: 'Which boots, honey?" G: "My cowboy boots."
Me: "Look in my bedroom- and your hat's in there, too, by the way."

Me: "Also, you left your Ugg boots and sweatshirt in the office, under the piano."

"And your socks are on my bathroom floor."

G: < laughing > "Thanks!"

Later the same day....

G: "Momma, are you still watching my lizards and frogs for me? Where'd you put 'em? "

Me: " Sorry- I couldn't keep watching them for you- I had to make dinner. I set them in the basket of your stuff that needs to be put away downstairs."

" And would you please grab your baseball mitt and other things off the chair in the office and put them away, too?"

"And while you're at it, could you gather the things you left on my bathroom counter?"

G: "What things? I don't remember putting anything in there. It's not my stuff."

Me: " Well, I'm pretty sure they're yours. I saw your silly bands, your dragon hourglass you got at the yard sale, your pink tin of jewelry and your horse book."

G: "Yep, those are mine!"

I know that someday I will no longer have these little 'messes' throughout my house.
Someday, this little girl will be grown....all too soon.

So I really don't mind telling her, when she asks if I've seen her pink bag, that if it's the one with the Junie B. Jones sticker on it, it's downstairs in the school room.

And when I go to bed at night, I'm reminded of the truly pure love of an eight year old girl.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Baking in Boots

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to bake in hot pink boots.
Snow boots at that.

This is my little girl- enjoying her own sense of fashion, as usual.
Polo shirt- check.
Shorts- check.
Apron- check.
Hot pink snow boots begged for and bought for $1.50 on clearance at Walmart- check.

Chocolate Chip Cookies fresh from the oven and served by an adorable little daughter:
Priceless.

Gotta love her reflection while she's waiting.

(Completely ignore the dirty oven window. It's what happens in a home where children bake. And it's been cleaned since then.)

And this:
This little girl, with her unique sense of self.

She's mine. All mine. And you can't have her. : )

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Birthdays

                                  Our Kit Kat Extravaganza
                                  birthday cake we created.

Around here, we have birthdays quite frequently.
Each child looks forward to their next number in life, hoping the current year will pass quickly.

I remind them that childhood goes by way too fast, that they should enjoy the age they are.

I remember my grandmother telling me the same thing when I was eight or nine and couldn't wait to be twelve. Twelve was grown up to me.

I was just as impatient to reach each new milestone as my children are.

So I try to soak up and enjoy the fleeting time of each new age.

My little girl just turned eleven. I was finally getting used to her being ten!
Here she is, now on the brink of young womanhood.

Ladies (and Gentlemen), if you have little ones at home, drop what you are doing and go kiss and play with them.
Let them show you rocks and bugs and ask all the questions they want.
Ooh and aah over every drawing, let them help you cook in the kitchen, let them help you clean and don't redo their work afterward.
Look into their eyes, breathe them in, hold their little bodies and feel the soft skin and hair.

Because babies don't last. And neither do toddlers or preschoolers or children in general.

Here are pictures from my daughter's day:

Thursday, January 14, 2010

My Daughter's Wedding

I guess I'm finally ready to post about my daughter's wedding.
There was so much work involved this past Fall to create a beautiful, special day for her and her fiancee.
Not only that, but my emotions were so mixed!
It's a strange thing to watch your daughter get married. You see her at all stages of her childhood, with this new, grown up image layered over the top.
I cried a lot that October.
Mainly because my child was grown and I wasn't quite sure how to let go.
They don't call them growing pains for nothin'.
And I think the parents feel them more than the children!

For Fall in Colorado, we were extremely blessed with a beautiful day (it had snowed the day before) and the wedding was perfect. Perfect!

But let me show you what I saw on her wedding day:
And please bear with me. I saw SO many more images than this- but you'll have an idea.

I saw her as my baby daughter....

With her chubby cheeks and bright eyes...

And as my little girl....

The day she fell into a mud puddle...

Out in the Wyoming snow....

At Devil's Tower in Wyoming...

Playing dress up...

and playing dress up with me, her only other girl figure in the house back then.

At the ocean. Always ready for adventure!

All the fishing she did with her dad...

and with her brother and grandpa...

Her many birthday parties....

Her homemade swing she was so proud of...

Spending time with her great-grandparents...

Her years spent volunteering for the Historical Museum

So many Christmases spent together...

Outdoor fun..

Fun with her sisters...

And then....my girl growing up and up and up!

Too fast!

But still always my fun-loving girl...

And then. Before I had enough time to breathe, to accept the fact that she was grown up, to even begin to see and accept any of that...

She fell in love.

So very in love!

And, this daughter of mine; who has always known what she wants and can be very stubborn about that, wanted to be married.

Really, really wanted to be married.

To her handsome guy.

So, after much discussion and planning, my little girl got married.

And I got some single-girl pictures with her before she became a Mrs.

Here, we are oh-so-proud....and wondering at the same time how we got here, to this point in time.

How it could even be possible!

How could my baby girl be this grown up?

All the years of home education- her stubborn will against mine much of the time. Her dislike of English rules and math texts and history dates.

Her amazing skills at crafts and creating things.

Her smiling eyes and huge dimples that had graced my home for all of these years.

Her beauty and zest for life.

Could I live in my home without these things?

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure of anything. Anything at all....except that she was sure. She was sure of him. And she was happy. And she was radiant.

And so they were married.

And it was a blessed day!

Just look at that joy.

They requested an unusual cake topper.

It turned out beautifully.

The day was filled with family and friends

And it was truly beautiful.

And me? Well, I'm learning to adjust. Raising children means a whole lot of adjusting. If you're not flexible enough, it can break you.

I figure by the time my other children are grown, I will have gained a lot knowledge and insight. And I'll be ready to use it for grandchildren! : )