The Sweetest Things, 2014, Q3

The mornings are cool, the leaves are changing, and the fall routine is in full swing. I've cleared my morning of meetings and appointments, settled in to a cozy armchair at a new favorite local cafe,  and am excited to reflect on the last three months of life with our bunch.
Here are The Sweetest Things of 2014, Q3,

1. Itty Bitty Coming into Her Own...these three months have shown a real personality burst in our tiny one. Though we all still call her the baby and treat her as such, she certainly is becoming a girl of her own (W)right. In a word, she is GOOFY.
   
   Goofy.
   
   Goofier.
   
   Goofiest.
   Though she has begun joining her sisters for playtime with dolls, chalk, bubbles, and crayons, she continues to enjoy playing with non-toy-toys as well.
   
   Just feeding her kitty... a bowl full of pantyliners.
   In early July, she began telling us 'secrets' which simply meant she'd get super close to one of our ears and make cute little whispering sounds and then giggle and walk away. She loves to dance and will begin to shake her booty at the slightest sound of a beat. She seems to have concluded that as long as her eyes are closed when she's in 'trouble', it doesn't count. {HA!} So, she'll close her eyes suuuuuuuper tightly and hang her head down when she's being corrected.
   
   "Hiding."
   
   Sitting and thinking.
   Looking pretty pitiful after clocking big sis in the head.
   She's still not putting words together too much, but she's saying tons of individual words. Her favorite phrase is certainly, 'No way!', which she screams at the top of of her lungs many, many, many times throughout the day.  She continues to fight diaper changes with the fury of a well trained warrior (at least when Mommy is the changer; she's far more agreeable for Daddy), and I wish I could say I always win the battle. More than once, though, I've given in, and diaperless she has gone. A favorite hiding spot for evading the change, is under Daddy's desk.
   
   Keep your meowing to a minimum, Kitty. She'll never spot us.
   
   Hard to be too upset with her fleeing 
   when I caught her surrounded by her beloved books.
   In early September, she strapped on a backpack that's just about as big as she is and headed off to her first day of preschool.
   
   The Baby. 
   The Baby going to school.
   School has been a wonderful experience for both of us. She absolutely LOVES it - runs in the classroom every morning and is in no hurry to leave a the end of the day. On the contrary, mealtimes, particularly at restaurants can be challenging with Wrighty around. She's likely to only eat the fruit portion of the meal and spend most of her time under, rather than in, the chair.
   
   Under a highchair. On the floor. Of a restaurant.
   (Wish I could say this was a rare occurrence.) 
   
   But? A cuter prayer-time-peeker I have never seen!
   I can barely believe that this little munchkin is weeks away from turning two. The baby who never cried has become the toddler who's tiny yet oh-so-fiesty, and watching her become her is just the best. 
2. Great Girlfriends...on a rainy Monday morning in July, I loaded up the girlies and hit the Krispy Kreme drive-thru. The dreary day brightened a teeny bit when I realized that the Hot Now sign was lit.
   
   I posted this picture on my InstaGram along with a caption reading. 'Got some bummer news. #eatingmyemotionsaway,' along with a silly teary-eyed emoticon. I began stuffing my face with the warm glazed goodness and didn't think much about my post. The next thing I knew, I began getting texts, FaceBooks messages, and phone calls from sweet girlfriends who just wanted to make sure everything was ok. I felt so loved! This was such a wonderful reminder that in the big and in the small, girlfriends are there! The 'bummer news', by the way, was that my most favorite preschool mom, my drive-thru soda soulmate, and her precious family of three girls -the last of whom is Wright's birthday twin! - would be moving to Dallas in less than two weeks. This was definitely a case of not knowing how much you love something - or someone, or someoneS, until it's gone.
   
   Our goodbye breakfast.
   Miss them beyond words.
   The past few months presented many opportunities for text-level bonding (what a hilarious phrase. Gotta love modern day communication!) with non-local friends. As those August days began to drag on and on and on, I loved being able to spend time texting with a friend and remembering that we are all in this together! Whether it's sharing dinner ideas, discipline suggestions, or silly celerity gossip those conversations are so meaningful. Also? Girlfriends are great at sending little surprises in the mailbox.
   
   Truth. Truth in a tea towel.
   A just because gift from a bestie in Oklahoma.
   Then, when I had a particularly rough couple of weeks in late September and had been especially, how did my friend put it? emotional,  I found a box on my front porch just before bedtime one evening.
   
   She listened. She heard me. I felt loved.
   {The card also mentioned the healing power of vodka. I felt both loved and known.}
   With little ones underfoot and schedules to keep, I've found it's difficult to get much actual face time in with girlfriends. Though social media and modern technology can at times feel burdensome, I love the way in which it allows me to maintain such strong connections to girlfriends. 
3. Squeezing in the Fun...the time between the big girls returning from Camp Tulsa and Carter starting first grade was about six weeks, but when I factored in our family beach trip and two weeks of drama camp for the biggest girl, there really wasn't a whole lot of time remaining. But, what time there was, we filled, and we filled it well! As long as the skies were clear, we could be found at the pool between 5:00-7:00 most every day.
   
   Swoosh. 
   Murphy: the fishiest of all fish. Rocked the diving board like a champ by summer's end.
   
   Seasoned vet.
   Carter: especially loved weekends or evenings when Daddy could join us.
   
   A tad water resistant.
   Wright: Mostly happy meandering around the poolside.
   We took time for playdates and special days with those who we don't get to see quite as often as we'd like. 
   
   We heart Maddex.
   {How could we not, really?! Look at those dimples!}
   
   Dress-up fun with our Lilly before she headed off for her summer of adventure.
   
   Cousins Carson and Kennedy paid us a visit on their way back home to DC.
   
   Up close and personal at Krispy Kreme on the morning after our sleepover.
   
   Murphy and Zachary. She calls him her boyfriend and adores him.
   Also? She bowled the highest score in her group. She still talks about her win!
   
   Meeting their newest cousin, Mason.
   He and big sis, Parker, came for a mid-week sleepover.
   
   Life Group Pool party. 
   Kids out the wazoo.
   
   One particular playdate was extra special: it included a wedding ceremony.
   They honeymooned in the creek behind our house. {No joke.}
   After a week that was filled with rain, we spent an unusually cool and sunny Friday at Romare Bearden park with Aunt Lala and her crew. 
   
   Stoked to see Homer make an appearance.
   
   Scrumptious.
   
   Typical.
   
   And, typical, as well.
   After all of our fun uptown that day, we headed back to our house for an afternoon filled with water balloons, mini-Mini Cooper rides, and general shenanigans. So. Much. Lemly Fun. 
   
   A mid-week trip to Great Wolf Lodge for more cousin fun!
   
   Murphy had the magic touch in the arcade.
   In addition to squeezing every last drop out of the summer time fun, we also tried to add a few new regular activities to our schedule. 
   
   Taco Tuesdays. Yum.
   Yielded my favorite mealtime prayer of the summer:
   'Dear Jesus, Thank you for mommy making this beautiful Taco Tuesday.' - Murphy
   
   Flying High at Food Truck Fridays.
   {We still go as often as we can.}
   My attempt at listing out our family's weekly dinner menu as well as a memory verse for the week, lasted, well, a week.
   
   A soft answer turns away wrath...
   I did love that Murphy ran to get the board, quoted the verse to me, and reminded me of its meaning when she caught me losing my temper with Wright who was losing her temper at me. 
   We paid Grandma Margie a visit for her 86th birthday. As always, the girlies both loved visiting with her as well as meeting some of her neighbors and friends.
   
   Precious snuggles.
   I was afraid I may have let the summer slip me by, squandered the time away; but as I look back, I don't think so at all. When I wasn't counting down the days till the school bell would ring, I was wishing time would slow down so it wouldn't.
4. All By Myself...Labor Day weekend brought me not only one of my favorite things of the quarter, but one of my favorite things in LIFE: time alone. As much as I adore my children and spending time as a family, and as much as I love one on one time with my sweet husband, sometimes I just need - long for, even- time all by myself. So while the big girls enjoyed a weekend at the beach with Pa and Nanny and Bitty Boo and Lindsay headed to Tulsa for some Pops, Misha, and Aunt Kiki bonding, I relished in the silence of an empty house. My weekend would likely be considered boring by most standards, but it was perfection to me. I was pretty much in organizational heaven. I got nearly 1500 photos put into albums - I'm still a year behind 'real time' on printing, but it felt like a huge accomplishment nonetheless!
   
   Finished six new albums over the weekend! 
   I also finished a project I'd started about a year ago of uploading all of my CDs onto my laptop. While working through all of these projects, I watched fun 'grown up' shows like The 80's: The Decade that Made Us and Oprah's Master Class interviews. Just watching what I wanted to watch - and eating what I wanted to eat - was a real treat! I cleaned out and filed away all of last year's school work.
   
   I heart neat and tidy. 
   [Still need labels.]
   I stayed up late, slept in, and binge watched Orange is the New Black all the way through. I did venture out one evening for a light dinner and wine with a friend, but beyond that, I was pretty much the homebody I hoped to be. I'll take a weekend home, alone, in my own house over a spa getaway any day! 
5. Appreciating the Quirks...I've been described as quirky more than a time or two, and I'd venture to say that the hubby has quite a few quirks of his own. So it really comes as no surprise that these little offspring of ours come with their fair-share of quirks. It is funny, though, to see the ways in which each girl's uniqueness begins to display itself. Others can see it, too. Carter's teacher got such kick out of Carter using her inside recess time to go around the room surveying the other students and tallying each's behavioral points! You know, just for a point of reference. {She. Is. Her. Mother's. Daughter.} 
   
   Forward fashion choices.
   
   Restroom reader.
   
   Makeup master. She kills the smoky eye.
   {Just to clarify, yes, she applies her own makeup. No, I never assist her.}
   
   After drama camp, excessive pout session.
   
   Thought Murphy would never be interested in learning to write...
   
   until the second she was motivated with a ruby red ring.
   Murphy's prayers lately have provided such a fun glimpse into her personality. Here are two of my favorites: 'Pray that Daddy gives us a lot of money.' (Rubies don't come cheap...) And, 'Thank you for Jesus dying on the cross. I hope He doesn't have to do that again.' (So she's got part of the story down...) Her use of adjectives like diamondish and grandish also provide color to her personality. 
   
   A single toy store trip yielded perfect example of the big girls' uniqueness.
   
   Looking darn cute as she was figuring out how to use her bow and arrow.
   
   If you'd told me two years ago that the first word I would write 
   on this prompt would be 'diamonds', I would have thought my child 
   was interested in shapes or geometry.
   So, while Murphy's quirks weave together to create the girliest girl imaginable, Carter continues her love of the outdoors, nature, and science. She has added fairies to her repertoire of obsessions, though, and I'll just say that keeping up with the fairies' role in our home is quite intensive.
   
   Handmade fairy house. Fairy treats. Fairy flowers.
   Carter's fairy, Flitter, often visits during the night leaving little notes behind.
   
   Carter's panties and Mommy's hat.
   Mini-Quirky in training.
   
   Sometimes, she asks to have her picture taken before school.
   And, when she does, she's sure to pose.
   
   A family nap. Not quirky, per se, but unique? Oh yes.
   The first time Carter napped in the past 3+ years. Snogging* away.
   {*Snogging: what Murphy calls snoring. Hilariously perfect descriptor.}
   I remember in my twenties I'd feel awkward when someone would call me quirky: not quite sure whether or not to take it as a compliment. But, one thing's for sure, these Lewellen ladies do not do boring. They do not do typical. They do not do same ole, same ole. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
   
   
   What a fun period of life that was to revisit! Our girls sure do make life sweet, and I'm grateful for who each of them is and who they are teaching me to be. I am so in love with my husband and can't imagine sharing this journey with any other human. 
   Life. Is. Sweet.