The Collection

Found while cleaning the girls' room while they are at Nana Camp. 

My favorite excerpt:  "Do you know how you start collecting stuff? I do!  You start with one thing for a collection then you do that for one or two weeks and then you have a collection."

Well now you know. 

Dear Sara,

You are napping on the couch.  You are so stinking cute, and I could watch you sleep all day.

Except that I just went into your room, where I found a cup of milk.  A cup of milk that had been sitting on your dresser for quite a while.  A solid cup of milk.

Sweet girl, I hope that God makes you a mommy one day.  I hope that because you will be a great one.  You are my Nurturer, the one who takes care of dolls.  You love babies.  And you often ask me questions like, "Do you just love being a mommy?"  At which point I look up from whatever exciting chore I am doing, see your little face, and always reply, "Yes, baby."

And I hope that God gives you a middle child.  I hope that middle child has almond-shaped blue eyes and kissable chubby cheeks.  I hope she is a Giggler.  And I hope she will snuggle with you anytime of any day for no reason at all.

And I hope, sweet girl, that when you ask that child who holds your very heart in her hand to clean her room, she falls into a helpless catatonic state.  She moans that she doesn't want to, that she just can't, that she doesn't know how.  I hope that when you go to help her you realize that the clothes you've lovingly washed, dried, folded, and given her to put away over the past couple of weeks have been shoved hastily into random drawers so that the mystery of the overflowing dresser is solved.  I hope that she leaves you little cups of solid milk.

But mainly I hope that by then you won't just lie in the floor with her and stare at the volcano of mess surrounding you.  Because if so, I may have to make a hotel reservation when I visit.

XOXO,

Mommy

First Swim Meet

Hallie Bug had her first meet today!  Here she is ready for action. 

With some of her teammates. 

Her cheering section. 

And her ribbons!  She got 1st place in backstroke, 2nd in kick board, and 4th in freestyle. We are so proud of her!

A Little Bit of Catch-Up

I have accepted my new place in the world as a Sporadic Blogger.  With this new position comes the realization that absolutely no one reads this blog anymore because it remains unchanged for weeks on end.  That's ok--I really just do it so I can preserve my own memories--I can't trust my mind to do that anymore!  But, if you happen to be checking in on us, here are a few totally random pictures I uploaded from my phone this morning.  Happy Summer!

We went to the Dawson Easter Egg Hunt at Gigi's church as usual.  Uncle Ted got to go with us this year too!

We've made a couple of trips to Steel City Pops since we got out of school.  This is always a (very melty, messy) hit.

This big girl completed her first year of gymnastics this spring, and we enjoyed her recital.

The most important event of the spring was the birth of Addie Lynn Bonds on May 4th!  Yay!

We have a new art table, where we are creating masterpieces at any given moment.

And we spend most of our time at the pool.

Last night we helped Daddy make some ice cream for the Father's Day/Bday shindig we are hosting this weekend!  Hope our family is hungry!

Hallie had her first day of Swim Team today!  She's a fish.  :)