Things I hope I never forget

With the girls changing so rapidly and with my inability to keep up with all their funny habits that also seem to change frequently, I hope I never forget a few things that are my current reality with a 7 year old, 4.5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old.

• The way Elle says, "Them do play outside." "Them do eat all my cookies." "Them are watching a show." 
• The way Genevieve laughs when you tickle her belly. She runs and hides and thinks I can't see her, but I always find her, and my reward is always tickling her belly. She laughs so hard and throws her head back like her daddy that I feel so much happiness with her in the moment. 
• The way Mya talks to our neighbor friend, Liam. Everyday she asks, "Mom, can I go see if he wants to play with me? Or make Christmas decorations?" (Because what 7-year-old boy wouldn't want to make Christmas decorations instead of playing outside with the rest of the gang?!! But he does it.) And I often walk into the room and find them giggling about magic tricks or fart jokes. 
• Birdie's smile that consists of 5 teeth. I believe she may never get another bottom tooth, and I'm okay with that. 
• Finding Mya reading at random moments of the day. She reads instead of watching tv now. Last week she was asked to fill out a form of her favorite foods, tv shows, princesses, hobbies, etc. I smiled when she triple underlined reading as her favorite hobby. 
• Watching the kids play with the neighborhood gang after school each day. Today I nearly froze watching them, but they didn't seem to care that the wind was howling. They just ran races down the street and rode their scooters up and down the driveways until the cars started filing in from work. 
• Elle's constant polite attitude: "Thank you mommy for giving me water." "Thank you Ms. Cami for that sandwich." All day long it's thank you, thank you, thank you with a few scattered you're welcomes. It's the best. 
• Seeing the girls for the first time as they hop down the stairs after getting dressed for the day. Mya is very conscious of herself these days, and I find myself envious of her outfits and comfy sweaters from time to time. Genevieve generally puts herself in charge of dressing Elle and Birdie; she even changes Birdie's diapers, if they're not poopy. If she smells a hint of poop, she instantly yells, "Mom, it's your turn. I just can't." And I laugh as I run up the stairs to scoop a very stinky baby into my arms. Today, Genevieve dressed Elle in an elaborate gray Christmas dress with green polka-dotted pants and multi-colored tennis shoes. I know not to audibly laugh when I see the outfits, but sometimes I can't help myself. I am careful not to correct or change them, but man, if I could, I would. 
• The girls are constantly playing soccer in the house. I thought playing sports indoors would drive me crazy, but I'm oddly okay with soccer. The front and back doors are the goals and the girls race back and forth to score goals. 
• The way the craft table looks each night. It's like a bomb goes off between the hours of 9-4, and only by the craft area. The craft table makes it possible for the girls to have easy access to scissors, glue, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, stickers, paint, googly eyes, chalk, crayons, markers, rulers, a stapler, and yarn. Really the creative world is always available at their fingertips, and they explore that world 100 hundred times a day for a minute here and a minute there. I organize it each night, knowing I'll find the same result after loading the dinner dishes the next night.