in fifteen minutes...

a few weeks ago, the brothers were at camp and it was sister and my turn to pick them up.  i happened to have my camera in the car that day, and sister happened to be real cute that day...the rest, is history.
















and then the brothers camp bussed rolled in and our car party was over.
boys!

my little tattletale.

every morning when i get to work, i do my rounds. i am a little bit (hush, brad!) OCD and have my routine. i go from room to room and make sure they are all tidy, and if not tidy them up before i really do anything. everyday. i usually land in the kitchen, every morning i say to lil bit who often is hand in hand with me on this adventure, "lil bit, go check your brothers room. see if they made their beds." in a voice that says we know they in fact did not.  when in all honestly, 9 times out of 10 they do make their beds.  but since she is three she looks for every opportunity for the brudders to disappoint.

and if they did [in fact, forget to make their beds] she comes back to the stair landing overlooking the kitchen and throws those hands on her hips and says, "caca!  dey did NOT make deer beds! can you believe dat?"

and then i say, "whhhaaaaat?" for the dramatic effect, of course.

then she grabs my hand and we have to run to their room only to witness the disappointment of the brudders.

she lives for these moments.

so what are you doing at 8 am every morning?

tiny dancer.

sisters dance recital was this weekend, girlfriend finally got to dance again on da big stage.  of course, she was perfect and we all grinned ear to ear as we watched the cutest little dancer take the stage in all her glitter for her one minute of fame.

i had to work friday night and when i put her in the bed, she said, "caca, is mister brad coming to see me dance tomorrow?" as i was shutting the door.  "yes, honey.  he'll be there."

i thought about joining them on stage since i knew all the moves, but i didn't want to steal the show [in the worst possible way] so i stayed in my seat.

you can breathe now.
maybe next year i'll be a ballerina.

sidewalk chalk, bubbles and earth day.

we celebrated earth day on monday by shaking off the the monday blues early and making it a wonderful day.  the weather was a crisp seventy five degrees and perfect if you are three and...a nanny.

we headed to target and stocked up on bubbles and side walk chalk.  dora bubbles, smelly bubbles...you name it, we are now armed.

last year girlfriend could barely blow a bubble.
this year.
sister has a whole new skill.

in the midst of our happy outside day, brad and i got some family sad news.  news that makes you appreciate the sunny days just a little more, love one another just a little better and just be that much more kinder.  we can all work on that.
saving that extra close parking place for someone that might need it more.
returning that cart for that mom who has her hands full.
smile at someone at the grocery store.
say hi and nodding at someone.

every day i try my best to teach lil bit and her brothers to be kind.
and every day i hope they see that same kindness in me.

(all pictures were taken with the iphone)

little key.

most of the week last week, she requested that i call her little key.  and she in turn call me big key.  

my mother in law brought me back a beautiful keychain from europe and she [little key] is obsessed with it.  wants to carry my keys around for me [which is not always helpful...] and admires the little key all the while.


we often take a stroll to the mailbox during the day, to either mail some letters or check the mail---she likes to carry all the mail back to the house.  this take for.e.ver.  because she insists on carrying it all.  and she drops it letter by letter, magazine my magazine, junk mail by junk mail...and then squeals when i offer to help her because...she can do it herself.

some day i'll get that. and quit offering to help.

life gets so so fast and with sister i want her to know that i have time for her.  that she sees me and knows that i have all the time in the world for her.  that my phone is not important, whatever i have to do in the house is not as important as her...she is my priority when i am with her.

the time we have together i want to spend loving her, teaching her and nurturing in a way that she knows there is no other place in the world i would rather be than moving at a snail pace up and down the driveway smiling, laughing and making some pretty sweet memories.


and after all, ole little key.  she is pretty easy to love.



and you will never guess what we did once we got the the end of the driveway...
kick ball, anyone?

three.

i think i have put off acknowledging this publicly on the blog because if i do that makes it fact.  and i may not be okay with that.

in fact.

so sister is three now.  it happened last month.  both her mother and myself are in denial.

like swimming in da river of de nial.  not believing it.


she can swing now in a big girl swing with no help and as long as the constant hum of my voice in the "up down up down up down" to remind her how to pump her legs, she can almost swing independently.

she's mastered the art of living in nashville:

skinny jeans and cowboy boots.  throw in a little gingham.

"hey girl, are you from nashvilleeee, tennessee???"

rinsing her hair?  that is so 2012.  she's mastered that too with the constant reminder of  "my do it."  i don't correct her, just because well, it reminds me of when she was two.

and she's finally contacted ashton for her own three year old punk'd.  everytime i squat to take her picture
no. matter. what.
she is doing...she sees me go down and there she goes too.

i can't tell you how many more of this same shot we have in her third year.  and it's only been two weeks.

jumping in puddles before ballet.  whatever.  we've go that too.

on her big day, she had a princess party and wore her tiara all day long for two minutes.


just the other day we were in tj maxx and after non stop talking by said subject.  i looked at her and said, 
"lil bit?  can you be quiet just for a little while or use your quiet voice?"  she looked and me offended and said as it progressively got louder, 
"why caca"  doesn't everyone want to hear MY BIG GIRL VOICE?"

i just kept the cart rolling along with my eyes as i looked away and didn't say a word.

as big as she is and as big as she thinks she is...she is still little.
little enough to cry for no reason at all.
little enough to want to wear house shoes to school and think it's okay.
and little enough to look me dead in the eye several times a day and say, "caca, i love you."

and i am big enough to grab that three year old girl right were she is and say,
"you know what lil bit? i love you too."

you know you have big brothers when...

...you pick yoda to buy out of all the dolls and sweet girl toys at target.
...you get said yoda a drink with your dora the explorer cup.
...you have story time with him.  and you are the mom, and yoda is well...the yoda.

oh yoda.  the places you will go.

five minutes of happy.

yesterday i snapped these pictures of us walking up and down the driveway and back again.

times ten.  maybe one hundred.

sister thinks a good walk for peggy is walking up and down the driveway as many times as possible.

bonus:  if it has rained lately and she accidentally lands in a puddle.






i love these pictures.

one.  because they truly capture her constant joy.  it's hard to be in a bad mood when you are with sister.

two.  because look at those teeth.  i mean, come on.

yesterday we were riding to ballet.  and i was looking in the rearview mirror and saying sweet nothings to her.  "i love you to the moon and back."  "i love you all the way to the sunshine."  "did you know that?"  and on and on...  she would smile and giggle shyly and say, "yes, caca!"

and after five minutes of...me being awesome.

she said, "well, i love mom."