Day's Eye and Industrious

It never ceases to amaze me how well my children's names fit their personalities.  Daisy and Amelia have birthdays in June so I've been thinking a lot about what makes each of them special.

Daisy is our sunshine girl.  When I think of "day's eye" (the meaning of her name) I think of sunshine.  It was no coincidence that she was born on the summer solstice.  She has the natural ability to brighten the room when she walks in.  Daisy also has the baby-of-the-family goofiness.  When I looked up celebrities who are also babies of their families I found every name listed was a comedian.  No surprise there!  She makes us laugh and smile every day with her antics.  Whether making a "wormstache" or simply choosing her own wardrobe, life with Daisy is certainly a lot of fun. 

 

Amelia means "industrious" which certainly fits her perfectly. She received the "leader" award for her kindergarten graduation this year.  When I need help around the house she is the first to offer her assistance.  Often if I simply suggest "We should clean our rooms today" a little while later she will come get me to see what she's done.  While the rest of the kids were procrastinating or complaining, she was hard at work cleaning her bedroom.  Amelia is wonderful with kids.  I will be shocked if she doesn't go into a field where she works with children.  She is also an excellent artist and very creative. Her self-portrait of what she wants to be when she grows up was by far the most detailed and colorful of her class.  She has a kind and caring heart and is constantly bringing me the sweetest notes with drawings of herself and me saying "I love you Mome." While Daisy may be the sunshine of our family, Amelia is the rainbow.

The girls in 2009 

At their dance program Spring 2012

As they celebrate their birthdays this year, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have two amazing daughters in my life.  Each brings her own unique personality to our family and it is so fun to see them grow into such wonderful little people.

Baby Be Blessed Dolls

Today the dolls I ordered from Baby Be Blessed arrived. I ordered them back in February after we got our tax return.  They take about 12-14 weeks to complete the dolls and ship them out. I had intended to save them for the kids' birthdays, but after peeking at them to see how they turned out I just couldn't wait.  I gave each of them their doll still wrapped in tissue and then counted to three before I let them rip into them. They were very excited to open them. The kids were thrilled to see that the dolls looked like them and that they even had their names on the tummies.

I love that you get to choose your own scripture verse for the dolls. I was originally going to choose Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go" for Caleb's doll. I changed my mind when I found this verse because I love that it has a similar message, but adds the reminder to "do everything in love."

Choosing the verse for this doll was very easy. When Brady was born 8 weeks early this verse kept running through my head. I wrote it out on a piece of paper and taped it to his isolette. I knew that I couldn't be strong for my baby, but our Savior could be and this verse was a daily reminder of that fact.

Amelia tends to be a worrier. She is the first to be afraid at bedtime and I thought she could use a gentle reminder of what to do when she feels the need to worry or be afraid. It was very cute when Caleb read Amelia's verse. He said "That's a good one, mom, because she's scared all the time." I like that he figured out my reason for choosing that verse.

Daisy has a very joyful nature so I did a search for the word "joy" on BibleGateway.com. This verse has so many wonderful qualities listed in addition to joy that I thought it would be the perfect verse for her doll. Caleb's reaction to this verse was a little different than his reaction to Amelia's. "Mom, Daisy is only some of those things. She is really not good at self-control."  Oh, the truth behind life with an almost three-year-old.

So there they are. My family of dolls. Each one unique in its own way just like the children they belong to.

Tuesday Morning Dance Class

Today is Tuesday. Laundry, housework, meal planning... the list goes on. Despite all the chores designated for my one day off, there is something I love about Tuesdays. This is the day I get to spend with my girls.


Today started with a snugglefest in my bed after Mike and the boys left for the day. Soon the girls got bored and moved on to a dance party.  Amelia was obviously the teacher and Daisy was more than willing to participate with the rest of the students in the class (including Gus the girl, Scarlett, and Baroness to name a few). She used the foam squares we sometime use for crafts as dance mats and directed each student as to where to stand. She then started singing a song she made up about hopping bunnies and led the group in a dance number to go with it.


It was fun to see her creativity shine through in their play. Daisy lost interest sometime during "The Flower Song" but Amelia kept going with the rest of her students. It was a good way to start my Tuesday.