I was busy having a pity party so nothing funny or embarrassing happened to me so this week’s seven quick takes are all about the kids. … Enjoy.
1
Now that the girls are in school, I make it a point to sit down and eat dinner with them every week night. One of our rituals is to talk about our favorite thing from that day. It is so cute. Especially when Henry gets home before the girls get in bed and Ainsley asks, “What is your favorite thing, daddy?”
So today we were out doing errands. Before heading into Costco for a shopping excursion I needed to pump. I let the girls hang out the window to look at a dog in the car beside us. Natalie begged to be allowed out to pet the dog. I refused to budge on my earlier answer of no. She pleaded, “You have to let me pet the dog. It will be my favorite part of today. “
Fast forward two hours to dinner. I asked Natalie what her favorite part of today was. Her answer, “Nothing because you didn’t let me pet the dog and that was going to be my favorite part.”
That child! Here they are looking at the dog.
2
Another of our meal time rituals is saying grace. Tonight Ainsley volunteered to do the honors. Her prayer, “Thank you for this wonderful day. Amen.” Mommy added, “And thank you for this food. Touch Ryan’s body tonight and bring daddy home safely. Amen.” As I grabbed my fork to dig in I heard Ainsley’s little voice, “And thank you for ballet class.”
3
This is Natalie’s email to her friend Kaden. They’ve had playdates almost every week of their lives. I’m not sure when it started, but they often talk of getting married. When they get mad at one another they have been known to say, “I’m not gonna marry you anymore.” When they make up the one will say, “Are we still getting married now?” The answer is always yes. Incidentally, his mom just taught Natalie to ride a bike without training wheels yesterday. Without further ado:
“Dear Kaden,
I love to have you as my friend, but there’s one problem. I won’t be a Marquiss anymore if I marry you, but I can’t marry any of the Marquisses. But the important thing is that I love a friend of mine named Sam, but I think I love you more than my friend Sam. Because I think I met you first and you went to my preschool.
Love, Natalie
I love to have you as my friend, but there’s one problem. I won’t be a Marquiss anymore if I marry you, but I can’t marry any of the Marquisses. But the important thing is that I love a friend of mine named Sam, but I think I love you more than my friend Sam. Because I think I met you first and you went to my preschool.
Love, Natalie
Dear Miss Katie,
I will let you come to this fine place that I went with Hailey and Carlie. We, with Ainsley and me, I went to a magical place. I got to go on the biggest roller coaster in the whole entire place. I was just crying some parts when it went so high into Jesus’ house. That was the funniest part. I have an aunt Katie and an aunt Chrissy and an uncle Buck.
And Mr. Kevin, I hope you have fun visiting that place. It’s in Florida. Thank you everyone for inviting me to your house. I have my strawberry shortcake bike. Miss Katie, thank you for helping me learn it. Have fun with your family in Florida.
Your friend,
Natalie, Ainsley and Ryan and Leighann and Henry
That’s all I say. Bye everyone.”
The place she is talking about is Hershey Park. She rode the Super Duper Looper and cried after the first big hill until the end. Henry held her the entire ride and said her eyes were as big as saucers. He tried to tell her it was a big ride, but she begged him to ride. She talks about it a lot.
4
Today while we were shopping at a family bookstore Ainsley looked at me and said, “I will be right over here if you need me.” She was pointing to the next aisle over and I said, “You’re not going to touch anything are you?” She started to shake her head, but then stopped and very seriously nodded yes. “You are? You’re going to touch something?” I said incredulously. She nodded again. “Ok, you can touch, but don’t take anything off the shelves.” Several minutes later she appeared at my side, “Did you need me mama?” I was distracted and said, “No, sweetie. I don’t need you.” That wasn’t the answer she was looking for so she repeated her question, “Did you need me, mama?” Catching on I said, “Nope. I didn’t call for you, but I know you are just over there if I need you.” She took off again, but not before saying, “Okay, mama.”
5
I often tune out the girls talking amongst themselves in the backseat of the car. Today Natalie yelled to the front: “Mommy, Ainsley made a rhyme. Poop and Soup!!”
6
7
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (19)
I can’t get over that baby boy of yours…he is just too cute! I am so thankful for technology that lets us stay in touch so well…to think we would all miss out on all of this cuteness! The girls are so funny too…I love the emails…she will really appreciate them at her wedding. 😉 Still praying for you all! Love ya!
Richelle
wow how smart your kids are!
Hi girl,
so great to watch the video! He is so cute! we too always talk about the our favorite part of the day during dinner or when I bring the kids to bed. Such a great conversation topic!
Happy birthday to Henry!
Love from Holland
I love you family and your in my prayers!!
The super duper looper is the BEST. As a PA girl it was a requirement every summer. All of those new rides can’t shake a stick the old school looper.
Have a great weekend.
Kirsten
Cute quick takes! Soo watching the video.. I had a totally random BUT do you get to “wash” Ryan at all? Do the nurses have to do that? Do you get to put baby lotion on him? How is PT going??
Hi Leighann,
We are continually praying for your family. I am glad to read you are taking some time for yourself to just “be” this weekend.
Love, Melissa & Marshall
i loved this! your girls are so great. and ryan is so cute.
and bailey thanks God for ballet too 🙂
I love these! Kids are so priceless. I especially love the clip of Ryan, thank you!
That is so cute of Ryan “finding” his hand!! Your girls are too funny! I also ask my 5 yo Rachael what her fave part of the day was.
Hey Leighann- Do you roll your eyes every time you read one of my comments? I am the world’s worst speller (like I needed to tell you that) … and I also have grammar issues like run on sentences… I also leave words out of my thoughts… so sorry thanks for putting up with me ….
What I meant to say is totally random thought….
Loved the video!! Maybe if your head grew 5 fingers that wiggled, ryan would look at you. I love when babies find their hands, it is SOOO cute. thanks for the video.
As always, your girls are so cute and funny.
love you all.
Ok, the dog story cracked me UP!
And I laughed out loud when Ryan’s hand caught his eye! LOL
k-tribe: I do not roll my eyes when I read your comments. I do notice the spelling errors and missing words, but only because it’s my background. But, you’ve been here long enough to know I make the same mistakes. 🙂 And, honestly, I’m just happy to get comments!
To answer your question, I do not wash Ryan. He gets a sponge bath nightly, but if he’s stinky when I see him, I sometimes give him one when I’m there. I don’t think they use lotion. I’ve never seen it there.
His PT is going well. He was having some problems with his neck muscle and he is able to turn both ways now. 🙂 this is a good thing.
Oh, and Abi, if you read this, the girls are allowed to come to the hospital this Thursday. YEAH!
Happy Birthday to Henry!
ADORABLE video of Ryan’s fascinating hand. You can totally see the wheels turning as he’s checking out his hand and flexing it. He has gotten so big! And your girls continue to crack me up.
The videos are priceless since we cannot see the Prince right now due to the flu. Love, Marmi
That video was too cute! My 20 month old cried when it stopped and I had to play it again!
Oh that video just melts my heart! I was going to say that #1 was my favorite part of the post, but then I watched that video 🙂