Things that have made me smile lately

There have been a lot of challenges lately in my little family, but at the same time there are so many precious moments and I want to think about those as opposed to the rough patches. So here are a few things that my kids do that make me happy lately.

A friend gave us all their old playdough toys right before Christmas. I hadn't brought them out yet because I didn't want the kids to be overwhelmed with new things at Christmas and I was waiting for the right time. They asked me to make new play dough today and I figured now was a great time to get the new toys down too. No joke, Spencer played with the little form making snakes and dinosaurs and whatever else he could imagine for two hours. He has never, ever, ever in his entire life played with a toy that long. He took a break in the middle to vacuum up all the dropped pieces, then decided he wanted to play some more and played for another few minutes.

Speaking of vacuuming, we bought a shop vac when we moved into this house two months ago. Spencer refers to it as Daddy's vacuum and repeatedly tells me my vacuum is up in the attic and he likes the shop vac better so don't bring the other one down. He can operate it on his own and he will of his own initiative pull it out and vacuum the house. It's amazing.

Since I'm talking about cleaning, he has also started helping me clean the bathroom. He asks me several times a week if he can clean it. I stick to once a week, but he actually does a pretty good job helping. He'll clean the toilet and hop up and clean the mirror and the bathtub too. This kid is doing all sorts of things to bring smiles to my face these days. :)

Genevieve has started calling me Mama instead of Mommy lately. I don't know where she picked that up, but it's precious.

Aaron freaks out every time I leave his line of sight. While I wish he wouldn't do that, it's rather endearing to be missed so vehemently.

Aaron will be eight months old in a few days and he has never experienced a moment of stranger danger. Maybe he will in coming months but for now he will go to anyone and just figures they're all his friends. He flirts with anyone who will make eye contact with him. He ducks his head against my shoulder and bats his long eyelashes. What a card!

Aaron has a special love for me. He is happy to see anyone, but when he sees me his face lights up to a whole new level. I swear the Lord knew what he was doing sending Aaron along third in line. He is like balm to my soul when the other kids are throwing challenges at me right and left. I hope he forever keeps his sunshiny outlook on life. It really is wonderful to experience.

Genevieve is a classic second child, knowing all the ways to drive Spencer crazy without seeming to even try. It just comes natural. However, she is also the most giving little girl. She's so willing to share toys to make others feel better and she is forever trying to help out to make someone feel good. It's really sweet to watch, and utterly hilarious when she does things like whack one of her brothers with some item and then hurry over to give them a kiss to make it "all better".

Aaron is officially moving these days. He does this worm crawl thing that looks like it takes so much energy, but he's getting pretty fast at it. I'm sure he'll quickly progress to easier methods of motion, but for now he's getting around pretty well. It's adorable to watch him make his way laboriously toward whatever he wants and then his look of victory when he arrives.