Last Days of Summer Snapshots

Ella has been an unstoppable force in the kitchen. The moment she hears anyone cooking or baking (even washing dishes) she runs into the room wearing an apron afraid to miss a moment of the action. When we are not cooking, she sneaks s a bunch of my cooking utensils out of the kitchen and we find her cooking a soup filled with her favorite carebears and my little ponies. :)

We are making the most of these last summer days. It's too easy to forget the simple things that magical mornings are made of. Messy hair and messy hands = very happy little girls!

While the girls were playing in the yard, I sat on the deck and read a bit. Oliver played in the grass with the girls for a while. It wasn't long before he came up and whined at my feet until I held him. Then, he wrapped his little paw around me and went to sleep like a baby. This guy makes it known when he needs some extra loving. 

This quote pierced my heart this week and I continue to think about it. Oh how I pray God would continue to make this distinction clear in my heart and mind.

When you are nesting like crazy (cleaning out the coat closet) and a cookie recipe that you have no memory of mysteriously falls from the shelf, clearly it needs to be baked! Not only did the girls and I have a lot of fun baking, but the Brickle Drop Cookies were worth every minute of the hard work.

On this night, Ella just needed to fall asleep near her baby sister. Moments like these seriously take my breath away. I love thinking about what it will be like when they meet face to face...SO soon.

Meanwhile, across the room...

Abby called me downstairs to show me how she built a pickup truck like Uncle Cory's out of her blocks. She was really proud of it and even made a cardboard steering wheel complete with a Honda logo.

I took Abby for a haircut this afternoon and she is so excited about her new hairdo that she keeps running to her room to look in the mirror (and pose). And just like that my baby is ready for her first day of Kindergarten in just five days.

Abby informed us that she knows what she wants to name her children when she grow up. If she has  girls, she is going to name them Lily and Aqua.

Both girls are gearing up for their first day of school and their first day of dance. They miss their dance teachers. Ella is especially excited that she gets to tap this year. While we were talking about it the other day, she found a pair of black dress shoes and started performing her sister's dance from last year. Here she comes Ms. Rebecca!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOazqsw4RwA