Things That Make Me Smile
(Sometimes because they're delightful, sometimes because there's nothing else you can do!)

~Promising the girls for days they can play in the sprinkler, only to actually make it happen just as the sky clouds over for what looks like will be the first rain in over a week! Why is this always the way?

~Turning on the brand-new sprinkler and not realizing it's the rotating kind until suddenly we're all soaked! That is: me, my cell-phone, and poor little Bekah in her baby seat (but she was quite unharmed and the look on her face as the water droplets sprinkled her tiny head was priceless!).

~Sitting just inside the front door, feeding a chubby pink baby her bottle while four little girls shriek with delight as they dart back and forth through the plumes of water.

~Listening to Marianne talk to herself on the porch in her soft little voice about how brave she is, and how she's going to run back off the porch and right through that sprinkler, followed by her happy little giggle as she shivers from the cool water and excitement.

~Knowing there's pizza in the oven and coke in the fridge when we're done!

~Trying to get four wet, wiggly, shivering little girls back into dry clothes in a rather small bathroom all at one.

~Realizing that Marianne is helping Ashlynne get dressed and talking to her just like a little mommy ("now, just pull it over your head like this, if you hold still I can help you!").

~Lying around in the living room together after supper while the girls play. Holding Rebekah in the crook of my arm while she alternately sucks on the tip of my finger and babbles at me (that milky "beard" on her chin is too cute to wipe off!)

~Making popcorn for fun even though we're not really hungry.

~Covering the popcorn-bowl with my arms and telling the girls they can't have a piece unless they sing me a song.

~Hearing Kate sing a made-up song about a river while she twirls one ringlet around her finger and gazes at the ceiling for inspiration.

~Ashlynne marching back and forth singing her own song about "praising God."

~Marianne wandering around the living room singing about being lost in the woods. It was a rather long song and when I finally told her she could have her popcorn, she refused it and said she'd rather just sing. She kept it up for quite some time.

~ A little blond, curly haired imp with big blue eyes who murmurs in a high pitched voice while she bobs her head back and forth (that's how she "sings"). Then she stops, cover her mouth with both hands while she laughs at herself and plunges nearly headfirst into the popcorn bowl to claim her "reward."

~Three worn out girls sleeping soundly and peacefully in their bed upstairs.

~One little pink-cheeked rascal sound asleep in the nursery with her stuffed horse tucked snugly under her arm.

~One tiny chubby baby with fuzzy, chocolate-brown hair asleep in the cradle with her head to the side, little nose pointed in the air and dimpled thumb poked in her mouth.

~Hot toast with honey and butter and a quiet, dark house and a movie to watch all by myself with possibly not as many interruptions as during the day!