Winter Olympics

People will often ask me how I like homeschooling. My response is always the same, "I have a love/hate relationship with homeschooling. I love it because I am with my kids 100% of the time, and I hate it because I am with my kids 100% of the time."

So you'll understand why one of my favorite times of the homeschooling year comes during the winter when our family participates in homeschool ski day's at Badger Pass in Yosemite.

Michael takes ski days off from work. The kids enjoy the physical education portion of their schooling with their substitute teacher and daddy.
$14 each covers the expense of ski rentals and skiing, and it buys me a DAY OFF!

After 5 months of sitting at the table surrounded by books, papers, lesson plans, and pencil sharpeners, this homeschool mom/teacher gets a few much needed personal days.

On my personal days I take in a movie, linger at a book store, sip coffee and people watch, enjoy a quiet meal, window shop, and breath... all by myself.
I have 9 hours to cram quiet goodness into. I aim to metal in gold in my personal day sport!

Emilie, sporting the Hannah Kearney look.

Josie wearing my child hood beanie.

Josie asked Michael to take pictures of her "high off the ground to show mommy."

Enjoy this short video of mostly Josie; narrating, skiing, crashing,
and speaking with a southern accent.
(where could she get her in front of the camera goofiness from?)

Thank you Spinner for joining Michael and the kids for this ski day.
Next time grab the camera and get me some pix of you with the kids too!

Reflections & Deep Love

Since we're still on the subject of LOVE...
I had a bit of fun taking some Valentines Day pix
(love my little cannon).
Tucked between my pix is my favorite hymn.



O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
’Tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
’Tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee!

Get Your on Pleated Poppy here.
The necklace was a gift from my sweet blog friend Kristen!

to find the Place

'It was when I was happiest that I longed most...

The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...
to find the place where all the beauty came from.'
Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis



Father, you are the Place where ALL the beauty comes from.

Because your Love is better than life,
My lips will glorify you,
I will praise you as long as I live.
Psalm 63:3

CrAzY 8!

Comedic- you have the funniest sense of humor (you get it from your daddy). You say the wittiest things!

Radiant- you illuminate every room with your Sunshiney personality

Ambitious - you live expectantly, work hard at school, hope for your future (I can't wait to go to your restaurant, "Josefini Tortellini's"), and embrace adventure with bounce in your step!

Zealous- you embrace life, friendship, and worship (I love that you always have a praise song on your lips) with passion!

Yacking- Me: Josie why do you talk so much? Josie: talking is my favorite thing to do. And when your not yacking you delight us with your constant SINGING!

It is CrAzY that you are already 8!

When you were 3 I asked you not to grow anymore.
You told me you "had to grow to be 5"
(Emilie was 5 at the time. You have always looked up to your big sister).
When you were six you "promised you'd stop growing at 7."
But today,
TODAY YOU ARE 8!
Kids are 8!
How can you, my baby, be 8?

"They" said (who are "they" anyway), "it goes by fast."
"They" were right.
(I wish "they" were wrong)

"They" said, "enjoy them while they're young" and
"those are the best days of your life."

BUT I say
EVERYDAY has been better than the one before!

I've had 8 years of better than the day before with you!

If February 10, 2002 was the best day,
then today is the
Bestestestestestestestestestestestestestestest..............
DAY!

I am CrAzY in LOVE with you, and who you are!
(And don't even get me started on how I feel about your brother and sister!)

I'm SO GLAD GOD "added" YOU
to our lives
Josefine!

HaPpY bIrThDaY!

HaPpY fEbRuArY!

plain white t's from old navy- $5
1 yard of valentine's material from jo-ann's fabric- $3
1 yard of iron-on backing for applique- $3
knee high socks (for sleeves), 40% off at jo-ann's fabric- $ 2.50 each pair
How stinkin' aDoRaBlE my girls look in their Valentines Shirts- PRICELESS!

learn how to make your own here!

A few of my favorite things- Part 1

Growing up my least favorite thing about returning to school after Christmas break was the dreaded question, "what did you get for Christmas?" It wasn't because I received bad gifts (except for Purple Christmas 1992, when I received purple pants, purple boots, a purple purse, and other hideous purple items), it was just because up to that point I really liked my gifts (even the Pumpkin Patch doll I received when all the other girls were gifted the popular Cabbage Patch doll). I didn't like comparing gifts with the others. I didn't want to compare mine, I wanted to continue enjoying them.
Even then as a little girl on the school playground I wanted us to celebrate with each other the gifts big and small we'd each been given.

As I've grown I've aimed to become very intentional in the gifts I give. I have truly experienced, "that it is greater to give than to receive." I LOVE to give.
I am blessed from start to finish! Beginning with the "aha" moment the gift comes to mind, the process of creating, the moments of anticipation as the receiver opens the gift, and finally that moment when they discover they are known and deeply loved! Even now I tear up just at the thought of how WONDER-FULL that is!

Sarah Markley, from the blog Best Days of My Life explains it like this:
"In my own personal love-economy, gifts are important. I like to give them, I like to receive them. But it has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with knowing."

Over the next few days I will share with you gifts that share how we knew loved ones, and gifts that showed we were known.

Here are two ways I "knew" loved ones this Christmas.

I COULD NOT wait to give my sister her gifts! My sister and bro-in-law are in the process of adopting two darling little boys. She has had her eye on my Lisa Leonard mommy necklace that I wear, proudly displaying the names of my 3 loves- Noah, Emilie, & Josefine.
Look at her happy face below when she received her own mommy necklace!
In addition I took all of the photos taken of the boys since they received them and surprised her with a BLURB book.
I can't wait till they are officially ours, so I can finally share with you how stink'n ADORABLE they are.

I have scripture that God placed on my heart to pray for each of my children when they were babies.
Emilie's scripture comes from Ephesians 3:17-19

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

This scripture speaks of God's immeasurable love. I want my sweet girl to live in that. She will be reminded to do so as she wears her own Lisa Leonard necklace with her word "immeasurable" on it.

Did you give or receive a gift this Holiday Season that expressed "knowing?"

AND for the chance to win your own Lisa Leonard necklace, visit here to enter a GIVE AWAY!

Some 2009 Favorites

2009 Favorite Pix
(This is just a few. Really. It took a lot of self-control not to load my entire i -photo library).

More 2009 favorite pix below

2009 Favorite Posts

Punching Bags
my mom got a punching bag for Christmas. it is hanging in her garage, where she does her punching thing. in my opinion it was an odd gift to request. i would never ask for a punching bag, i wouldn't want to waste my time beating and pounding at something.
or would i?

Birth Story
my friend said to me that our stories, when we came into a relationship with Christ, are our birth stories. she commented on how we mommies love to get together and recount all the details of the birth's of our children. she said that God loves to tell the story of how we were born, again and again, but the only way He can do this is through us. isn't that a sweet thought.

You Are My I Love You

I am your parent; you are my child.

I am your quiet place; you are my wild.

Driving Under the Influence of a Dunkin Donut
This is probably my favorite video blog (vlog) of the year. My husband Michael (who is typically my victim when I vlog), turned the tables on me, and with full control of the camera, captured me dunking and driving (btw- wouldn't that be a great advertisement slogan for Dunkin Donuts).

Seat 12A

I can't recall most of what Bob said, but I remember his face, and the Spirit alive in him. My Spirit was hungry for his Spirit. The Jesus in me had to sit with, meet with, cry with, rejoice with, the Jesus in him.

catching up

Advent day 7- Paint clothespin ornaments
Psalm 150

Advent day 8- bop it!
Zechariah 2:10-11

Advent day 9- Make marshmallow men and drink hot cocoa.
Isaiah 52:7-12

Advent day 10- Write letters to our Compassion child. Learn about and give to World Vision.
(The kids wanted to help a family by purchasing chickens).
Sing Christmas carols at a woman's luncheon.
Mark 16:15

Advent day 11- Dinner out and a stroll down Christmas Tree Lane.
1 John 1:4-7–

Advent day 12- Wrap gifts, make Christmas cookie dough, and watch the " The Santa Clause."
John 13:34-35

Advent day 13- Christmas Cantata in the a.m.. Bonfire, caroling, and hot cocoa in the evening.
John 8:12/ Ecc 3:3:13

Advent day 14- Christmas Piano Recital, and enjoy a new movie "The Tale of Despereaux."
(If you haven't watched this movie I highly recommend it. It is a beautiful story about courage and forgiveness).
Matthew 5:14-16

30 Days of Thanks!

Nov 1. - thankful for God's grace. i need it.
Nov.2 - my girls playing together so sweetly.
Nov. 3 - noah's good hugs, and thinking the same thing.

Nov. 4- sleep

Nov. 5- portland, or. beautiful fall colors, and time with kristen (idaho mom)

Nov. 6- God, and that he made us each unique and wonder-full (the german and mexican couch surfers, glen, the batoligists, a witty arizonian man named corvin, and his sweet/tolerant wife).
Nov.7 -kristen, wading through portland, gondola ride, and Disneyland in my mouth (the melting pot).
Nov. 8- my hungry Spirit and Bob.
Nov. 9- my awesome family, i LOVE coming home to them!!
Nov 10- Chocolate Milk Tuesday and Spinner's spin on it.
Nov 11- being plugged in with my guitar at praise team practice! ahhhhh!!
Nov 12- that God loves my neighbors.
Nov 13- cherry pajamas, "color me mine," and memories made with sylvia, maddie, emilie, and josie.
Nov 14 -quiet
Nov 15 - i "threw up" and now i feel better. and i hugged a falcon (a ford falcon) a perfect way to finish my 35th year!
Nov. 16- Birthday breakfast for dinner! Discovering that i'm the whole package (of candles that is).
Nov. 17- surprise packages in the mail, and overcoming my fear of changing the guitar strings.
Nov. 18- coffee and reading thomas merton with michael.
Nov. 19- it's a GIRL, i'm going to be an auntie!
Nov. 20-good food, good worship, good people.
Nov. 21- Fall colors
Nov. 22- singing with Sylvia. that God changes the score to- Life 1, Death 0.
Nov 23- my funny gangsta rapping kids.
Nov 24- kristen's cookies for lunch (sshhh! don't tell anyone).
Nov 25- property taxes are payed
Nov 26- good stuffing. vava crocheting emilie's table cloth.
Nov 27- aunt vicki's strength and grace
Nov 28- a christmas tree, plus a fridge and cupboards full of groceries.
Nov 29- Psalm 23- he provides, leads,breathes into me, is with me, tells me who i am, protects, gives freedom, chases me with his love, is my home.
Nov 30- my home that is filled with laughter, giggles, peace, kindness, and love. i am BLESSED!

Homes Cool in the Mommyhood

Yo Dawg!
Yo,Yo, Yippity, Yo!

Watch this sick video of the
Gangsta Science Rappers-
(Noah, Emilie, & Josie)

N Hood a.k.a. Busta Beatbox, Lil' Emilie J, and J.J. Nugget



Video by "D Chill" (Mommy)
It's COOLAWESOME!
("coolawesome" word rights belong to Busta Beatbox)

Want to Create your own rap name? Go here.

i ate a booger

you read that right, i ate a booger.

don't tell me you have never eaten a booger. i would guess 99.9% of the world has sampled their boogers. i recall a boy in my 4th grade class who really enjoyed his boogers. now he is 36, balding, drives a fancy car, and has a fancy job (i wonder if hair loss is a result of excessive booger consumption).

as you see from the video above we visited the jelly belly factory. if you live in cali. i recommend you take a detour and head over to the jelly belly factory and go on their 40 min. tour! it was Su.Weeeet.! literally.at the end of the tour there was a sample bar, with unlimited j.b. samples (you should have seen my kids eyes when they were told unlimited amounts of candy was available... you should have seen the "no it's not" look i gave them in return).
j.b. has some delicious flavors, but they also have some new flavors, "beanboozled." these flavors involve trickery- discovering your chocolate was replaced by dog food, your coconut for baby wipe, your peach for vomit, and your pear for booger. and that, that is how i ate a booger (yesterday anyway).with us on our tour my grandmother "vava," and my aunt vera.

as well as visiting the jelly belly factory we visited my dad. my dad lives in a state hospital. he is paranoid schizophrenic. you'd think that going to a state hospital would be the polar opposite of going to a candy factory. it could be. you'd expect it to be. but it wasn't it. it too was filled with sweetness.
sweetness as i watched my g-ma feed her son all his favorite portuguese foods. the way to his heart is though his mother's cooking, and she needed to love him that way. he needed to be loved that way.
sweetness was having his sister, my aunt, see him again for the first time in 12 years. my family tends to ignore his existence (i know it's not intentional, it hurts too much, the loss of their only brother, first to drugs, and now to mental illness). but it meant a lot to me, and i know it meant a lot to him.
sweetness came in conversations between him and his grandchildren. in talking about favorite colors, favorite foods, go-cart crashes, and how tall the grand-kids have gotten.
sweetness overwhelmed not just my taste-buds, but my other senses as my dad hugged each of his grandchildren and said to each of them, "i love you emilie, i love you noah, i love you josefine." i want that. i want them to be loved by my dad. i want him to be loved by my children, his grandchildren.
sweetness came in my own embrace, nestling for a moment into him, my dad.
and finally sweetness came as we left. he went through the doors of confinement,where he was searched by the guards, and we walked out the other door into freedom. there we waited, waited for him to turn around to see us not wanting to leave, wanting to wave goodbye one last time, wanting to take every moment given to us to soak him up. to us he isn't a patient or a criminal- he is a son, a brother, a grandpa...my dad.
he saw us waiting, waved goodbye, and looked at me, and said "i love you." (tears)

in many ways i have been "beanboozled," i received booger, vomit, dog food... instead of the sweetness i should have had in a dad. and it hurts. it hurts everyday.
i mourn and miss the dad i should have had (tears).
i mourn the life he should have had.

and i hate satan.

but i love God.
i love God because through His grace alone i have mercy for my dad (for a man who has been awful, hurtful, abandoning me, denying me as his daughter, torturing me with lies) but i really LOVE him. and i see him. who he is, under the illness. and i long for him.

and because of this, i see how God loves us, sees who we really are under our brokenness, and longs for us.

fall colors

the kids have been out of school this week for fall break. i had comedown with the october homeschooling blues, and fall break was the perfect remedy to cure this illness. i needed to be mommy again, and give the teacher a rest. i needed them to be MY kids again, and not my students. so we decorated the house for fall, went to a movie, made tasty treats, played in the sunshine, turned the music up REALLY LOUD (sorry neighbors), and we DANCED!

fall back

i miss when they were little. when time was concentrated on play, naps, graham crackers n' milk, giggles, slobbery kisses, and silliness.

i miss when fall invited us to tackle a fresh pile of autumn colored leaves
to go "on bear hunts"
to take wagon rides bundled up in our vava made scarves n' hats
to curl up on mommy's lap next to the first fire with our "kiki, tiggy, or dee dee"
(the names of their blankets)
to race laps around the sofas, burning tracks in the carpet
to engage in nightly wrestling matches and acrobats with daddy as they prepared for
cirque du soleil
i miss starting again the next morning with snuggles in our bed, tiny fingers wrapped around my neck.

i miss them, my little people.

it's disneyland for mommies

this is the last video blog from video blogging week!
i'm taking you to ikea, in-n-out, and finally home.
want to see my cranky side, want to see my messy car, want to see my kids annoy me!
it's all packed into this video.




and wednesday (today) while your watching this we'll be loading a plane in l.a., and on our way to the other side of the u.s. to washington d.c.!
so pray for me! pray for sanity!! pray that i don't lose it!!! cause it'll be me, 3 kids, and a husband in wheelchair, all on our way to the coolest (possibly the craziest) school field trip ever!

video blogging week airs now!

okay so here you go! video blogging week airing not the next week (as mentioned in this video) but the next next week... "many are the plans of a man's heart, but the Lord determines his steps." so my plans changed, all i can do is roll with it! hahahaha...ROLL WITH IT! get it? michael is in a wheel chair...it's so much funnier in my head than it is here on blog post.

so here's what you do-
start uploading the video (it will take a while).
go pop yourself some popcorn.
pull up a cozy chair.
and then enjoy this clip (okay mini-movie) from the monday and tuesday of video blogging week.

heading for shore!

it was 113 degrees at my house earlier this week. the kids and i had been cooped up indoors for 5 days, and were on each others last heat-induced-cranky-nerve when the local weatherman spoke of cooling temperatures over the next few days. he promised "that the weather would drop, and instead of 113, temps would be down to 106."

Dear Mr. Weatherman, 106 is NOT COOLER WEATHER!

we all know that as mommies we wear many hats. we are the resident cook, nurse, taxi, maid, teacher, seamstress, personal shopper, referee, etc.... well somehow i have also become the resident cruise director. i know my kids would be very happy if i began posting a weekly activities calendar. it's too bad for them (yet good for me) that i only post a weekly chore chart!

so monday, after 5 blazing HOT days cooped up inside with ms." i'm bored," ms. "i have nothing to do," and "mr. can i play wii" (for the 500,000 time), i was turning into,well, mrs. "don't mess with me." at some point mid afternoon i disappeared to mr. computer for a little company from the outside world. here i read my old friend jeff's facebook profile update stating that that he and his family were at sunset beach camping. i f.b. commented that i was "sorry to not be there" (they had invited us to join them sometime ago). at that moment good friends, 70 degree temps, and the beach sounded very appealing.

i returned to the real world, and to my job as cruise director, where i persuaded (forced) my unhappy kids to join me in a game of scrabble. somewhere between the words "felt" and "star," between the arguing and tears (5 days cooped up is not a good thing people), the phone rang... it was jeff, with the most beautiful words ever spoken to a mommy nearing insanity, "it's not too late for you to come and join us."

the questions of "could we go" and "should we go" quickly turned into "we have to go!"
so this cruise director instructed her cabin mates to pack up because we were
heading for shore!!
we enjoyed 24+ hours at Sunset Beach, 70 degree temps, and gracious friends. we topped it off with an evening at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!what a treat it was to discover that on mon. and tues. evenings santa cruz beach boardwalk returns to 1907 by cutting the cost of treats such as soda, hot dogs, and cotton candy to just 75 cents. to top it off each ride is the cost of one 1.00 ticket! noah and emilie were THRILLED to discover our spontaneous adventure to the beach included a ride on the 6th oldest roller coaster in the u.s., the 85 year old giant dipper!thank you "jeff n' kelly hayes" (f.b. name) for rescuing us from the pit of heat despair!
we are BLESSED to have you as friends.

How are you staying cool and sane this summer?

you can pre-order the book The Church of Facebook ,written by Jesse Rice (another old friend) here.

Emilie is 10!

My Sweet Emilie,
I cannot believe it has been 10 years already! 10 years since you surprised us with your arrival. 10 years since you took hold of our hearts. 10 years since we were taken by your beauty, and by God's overwhelming goodness in giving you to us. It goes too fast.
Emilie you are a delight. I admire you my sweet girl. I admire the person you are; you are tender, compassionate, kind, and generous. You are outgoing, engaging, and ready for adventure.
I love that you are a girl who can play dress up one moment, and help lay a brick patio the next!
You impress me.
You see people with the eyes of God, always seeing beauty in others. Oh how I love your gift of hospitality, and the way you love people out loud!
I admire how you choose to be gracious. I am in awe at the way you seek truth and understanding.
Thank you for the ways you are intentional as a sister, daughter, and friend.
I learn so much from you Emilie.
When I grow up I want to be like you.
"I can see the fingerprints of God when I look at you.
I can see the fingerprints of God, and I know it's true,
Your a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds,
And your covered with the fingerprints of God. "
Steven Curtis Chapman

Surviving 10, again

Emilie will be 10 tomorrow (it goes to fast)! I will be surviving 10 again.

"Surviving 10," originally posted May 5th 2008

Here I am 10 years into this parenting gig- part of me wanting it all back, part of me just glad to have survived.

Before we were married Michael and I went to premarital counseling. On one visit the counselor asked us to write a 5 and 10yr goal for our marriage. We wrote the American dream; work, save, buy house, baby on the way at the end of 5 years, work, save, another baby, more savings by 10yrs. We also wrote of our spiritual ambitions for ourselves as a couple, our desire for growth, and our hope to do ministry together.
Our lives have never looked anything like our 5 or 10yr plan.

"Many are the plans of a man's heart,
but it is God who determines his steps."

Noah joined Michael and I 19 months after we married. I wasn't one of those new moms that enjoyed every minuet. Becoming a mother changed everything before I was ready for change. I was 24, admiring the independence of my single friends. I was not ready to wear maternity clothes, to gain 63lbs, for stretch marks, to drive a station wagon, to give myself up (literally) for another person. When Emilie came along 14 months later (and 7 weeks early) I wasn't ready. When I was pregnant less than a year later I wasn't ready, but I was moving into accepting God's plan because I had seen how He had been faithful regardless of my readiness. When we celebrated our 5th anniversary and our 4th pregnancy (with Josie), I had finally given in, and I began giving up the idea that life would look as I wanted it to.

I recall one afternoon in those first years- Michael had come home from work, I was still in my p.j's, toys were everywhere, the kids were running in happy circles around daddy, dinner was no where near being started, there were endless piles of laundry, doctors bills sitting on the counter, credit card bills lingering over us like a dark cloud, and a check book that had been in the red for too long. I looked at him and said, "would you have run the other way, if you had known it would be like this?" Michael said, "No, never."

If I were sitting in that counselors office, and I had our 5 and 10 yr plan to write over again I would write just 3 words- REMAIN IN CHRIST!

Jesus is the only constant, the only hope, the only future, the only one who can determine our steps. And I am counting on Him for the shaping, molding, and growing of our hearts, minds, and souls. I am counting on Him to take care of the ministry he has given us in raising these people for His kingdom. I am counting on Him to know their future. I am counting on Him to know my future without them safe in our home.

letters

i haven't spoken to or seen noah and emilie in nearly 2 weeks.

i have received a postcard from each of their counselors, fill-in-the-blank form letters from both kids, a couple of facebook updates from spies (hehe), and this sweet letter from emilie. but tomorrow they'll be mine again!

tomorrow we pick them up from camp, and i will embrace them and hold them tight.

then i will watch as they say their goodbyes. i will ache with them, because i know leaving camp, community, and all the people you have come to love is hard. i understand that part of them will long to stay there forever. it is normal to feel this way for those of us who have unity in the body of Christ, we are after all created to be one body.

and i will in some small way be invited into the community they have had, through the stories, adventures, songs... that they will share with me.

and there will be secrets. things that were written in the stories of their lives at camp that are between them and God...beautiful, mysterious secrets, of the ways outside my womb (referring to psalm 139), outside of our home, where God continues to create their inmost being, and knit them together to Him.

yes, tomorrow they'll be mine again for a little while, but i know that really they are becoming more and more His.

and that is the way it should be.

me for you, you for me!

with big brother and big sister away at camp, josie has had the opportunity to have her mommy and daddy all to herself.

some of the perks of being an only child for 2weeks in the jones household include;

never sleeping in your own bed. josie made a fort in her room, and has slept in it every night (for those of you who know about my o.c.d. tendencies, the answer is yes, i have let her keep the fort up in her room the whole time).

inviting friends last minuet to lunch and swimming!

sleepovers.

having full control of the t.v and wii remotes (though you don't know how to use them).

beating mommy and daddy at boardgames (except for hi-ho cherrio, sorry!)

walking hand in hand between mommy and daddy.

a manicure and pedicure from your personal cosmetologist. you give great tips!

eating out too many times, not having to share, picking your own meals.

barnes & nobles, and coldstone creamery at 9:30 p.m.

4th of july cuddling with mommy on the boat as we watched fireworks, and sleeping outside on the deck with daddy.

licking the spoon without any helpers.

our undivided attention when you share your silly stories and 7 yr old thoughts.

tea with mommy.

josie, you are a delight. i am thankful to have this time to really absorb you; to take in your words, your toothless grin, your songs, your hugs, your personality, your tenderness, and curiosities.
i am thankful that though you enjoy your time having us all to yourself, you too are grateful that this time is temporary. i am thankful that you really love your brother and sister, that you want them home.
i love who you are as a little person, it makes me excited for the big person you will be.