Our usual bedtime prayer is, “Thank you, Jesus, for our family. Thank you for providing everything we need. Help us to love you and love each other. Amen.” At mealtimes, we do the same, but start with, “Thank you for this food.”

The other night at dinner Erica prayed, “Thank you for this food. Thank you for Emily’s food. Thank you for baby Luke’s house and New York City and the Lincoln Tunnel.”

Emily and Erica are three years old today. It’s crazy how quick they are growing up. The girls wore their princess costumes on the ride to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa, who will be staying with us for about a week. Grandma brought them special “Happy Birthday” hats, which they put on right away, and wore for the car ride home. It was late enough by the time we got home that we are saving most of the celebration for tomorrow. We did let them each open one present tonight. They were just too tired to enjoy it fully. Plus, Uncle Geoff, Aunt Sarah and baby Luke will be joining us tomorrow. It should be a good time. . . chocolate cake, birthday presents, lots of family, and two very excited little girls.

Emily and Erica were flower girls for our friends who got married yesterday, Andrea and Dan. The girls were so excited to finally be allowed to wear the wedding dresses and the wedding shoes (for longer than just a try-on). The wedding dresses were handmade by Grandma, with very twirly skirts. The girls had special bobby pins to hold back their hair, and white baskets filled with autumn leaves. There were secret extra bobby pins tucked into the baskets, under the leaves, because the girls kept pulling them out of their hair.

Emily and Erica did so well. They were so beautiful. They did not walk down the aisle by themselves. They both refused to let go of my hand at that moment, so I walked down the aisle with them. This is what happened at the rehearsal, too, so we were pretty much planning on doing it this way, unless Emily and Erica suddenly had some extra courage.

So we made it down the aisle and to our seats in the front row. The next challenge was making it through the ceremony quietly. During the rehearsal, Emily, especially had a hard time keeping quiet. She didn’t really have anything specific to say, but every time I asked her to whisper, she said things like, “I just want to talk a little bit,” and “I just want to talk louder.” Cute.

Before the ceremony started, we planted some sippy cups and Cheerios on our seats. So as soon as we got to them, I let the girls start eating Cheerios, thinking that it would them from talking. They must have been really hungry at that moment, because they started shoving the Cheerios into their mouths by the handful. I was so worried that we were making way too much noise crunching Cheerios. I tried to get them to slow down. . . to make the crunching a little quieter, and because I wasn’t sure that we had enough Cheerios to make it through the whole ceremony at the rate in which they were being consumed. In fact, a few minutes before the end, Emily ran out. And she started to ask, out loud, “More Cheerios, Mommy.” Then she noticed that a few Cheerios had fallen onto the floor, and she climbed down to eat them. I ignored that mom-instinct to not let your kids eat food off the floor, because those off-the-floor Cheerios bought me the extra minute of quiet we needed, before it was time to follow the newly-married Andrea and Dan back down the aisle.

Emily

Erica

I cleaned out my closet the other day, and Emily found my briefcase-type bag that I used to take to work. She put it on her shoulder and said, “It’s my briefcase. I’m going to work. Then she asked me for her keys. Then she asked me for the red car (a ride-on toy). She said, “I’m going to work.” She drove down the hallway, into the bedroom, and went to work in my closet. Erica put on a backpack. Over and over, they drove down the hallway and went to work in the closet. 

“I’m going to work!”

Erica: “I did the buttons.”

Me: “You did, didn’t you.”

Erica: “I did, didn’t me.”

Sometime this summer Erica taught herself to do somersaults. The first time, I think, it happened by accident. But now she really likes to do somersaults. Tonight she asked me to do somersaults, too.

Emily and Erica have been singing lots of little songs lately. Bits of songs they know and ones they make up. Sometimes they start singing and dancing at the same time, often using something like a flashlight or toy maracas as microphones.

I just want to remember these moments.

Lately Emily and Erica have been saying “a lot” a lot.
“I want a lot of books.”
“I want a lot of Chex.” (the cereal)
“I want a lot of credit cards.” (I save the fake ones that come in junk mail to play with).
“I want a lot of diapers.” (to put on baby doll)
“I want a lot. . .”

The hard part is convincing them that what they have is a lot when we don’t have any more of whatever it is that they want a lot of .

The best “a lot” ever came from Erica tonight at bedtime. “I want a lot of hugs.”

Emily and Erica did this thing tonight. One of those things where you almost want to laugh on the inside, but you definitely have to be “Mom” on the outside. I mean, this stuff should not be encouraged. It went like this. . .

Emily looks at Erica and says, “Do it.” Erica puffs out her tummy and says, “Do it.” Emily pushes Erica. Erica puffs out her tummy again and says, “Do it.” Emily pushes Erica again. Emily turns to look at me and says, “I get a time out.”

They both know that pushing will get you a time out. So Emily got a time out. At the time, I felt that I ought to follow through on this. But now? I’m still thinking about it. Maybe Erica should have had a time out too, because, clearly, they were in this together. Do they like time out, or something?

This is why I am asking God for wisdom every day. At least I try to remember to ask every day, because I sure do need it. More than I know. I just want my kids to turn out right. And sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I am doing.