My Quiet Time of the Day. .

The girls are in bed, and Courtney is out of town for the week. I have to admit- I love this rare time of night, when all is quiet and the dishes are actually done! Ussually I try to curl up with a good book. However, I just finished a good book, and with Court gone, I've no one to chat with. (Most nights, Emmy is still up talking a million miles a minute while I try to remind her that this is "Mommy's time"!)

Anyway, I've been thinking how I've been a little bit hit and miss recording all the everyday moments & funny comments that come with the girls- I usually record those in my journal, but haven't done that much lately. When I do, it helps me remember how fun life really can be!

Emmy makes me laugh. Lately I have been enjoying the time we have together so much. I love to watch her. She is such a fun gal. I love to watch her face while she's playing. She is very animated and when I watch her in action, it just makes me feel warm and happy inside. She gets this look of pure joy that, to me, seems to capture all the best things about childhood.

Not that I do anything really spectacular with her while the girls are in school. In fact, I really don't do anything spectacular with her at all. I guess I should work on that. (When I picked her up from Joy School today at her friend Wyatt's house, she didn't want to go home. I told her we needed to because I had some jobs I needed to get done. She told me "I wish I had a nice mom. I think one like Wyatt's would be good.")

Emmy has been quite busy as of late, and is actually away on vacation and is staying at her Grandma's house. "Kalli" is staying with us while she is gone. Kalli's (who bears a striking resemblance to Emmy) parents are on vacation to St. Lucia & St. Vincent. Most of the time this trade pays off rather well, because Kalli will do all of the jobs Emmy doesn't enjoy doing. Most mornings, she comes out of her room, smiling at how she cleaned up Emmy's room. "Emmy is pretty messy," she says. She calls us Kelly & Courtney and has very nice manners. The other day, however, it got a little bit complicated because Emmy came back for a visit. I had to put Kalli's shoes on, and then Emmy's. The other night we were driving home from Grandma & Grandpa Jones' house. Grandma had given "Kalli" her old cell phone. We were driving along when she asked, "Courtney, does Emmy have a barbie phone?" Courtney answered "Why yes, I think she does." She quickly replied, "Good. Then I don't have to share with her".

(The girls made an impromptu "bakery" in the family room. I find this comes in very handy when I have a sweet tooth. The sign on the chair says "Cake & Pie for sale." Very handy, indeed.)

Kate is just Kate. What I love about Kate is that she is so content to just be herself. With Kate, there's no worries about being anything different than who she is. I hope she always feels that way. She is determined as ever, and is loving everything she is learning at school. She loves to stay busy reading and working on math facts, spelling words, or anything else we'll give her to learn. For fun, she likes us to make sheets of math facts that she can work on. She loves when we correct them and write her score on the top. Then she goes through and fixes all her mistakes. Don't know where she gets it, but I hope it holds!

Kate's latest infatuation is texting. (I don't know where she gets that either!) Grandpa Jones watched the girls for us last week while we were at a funeral. When we returned, he'd given her his old cell phone and taught her how to text message. She can't send them, but she keeps the phone charged and has it all figured out. She has her contact list and a bank of messages. She knows how to change her screen saver and choose a ring tone. (I don't know how to do any of these things!) Should we be worried?

Ryenne will turn 8 next week. I guess she's growing up. I have to admit, it breaks my heart. There has always been something so innocent and childlike about Ryenne, and I hope she can hang on to that. She is happiest doing the things that a child should love. All kids love being outside, Ryenne loves being outside. I love to steal glimpses of her when she outside, because she is never happier than when she is outside exploring. She can spend hours outside alone, looking at the sky, listening to the birds, and doing all those things that adults don't take the time to do anymore.

Most nights at dinner, we take turns thinking of a question. Once the questions is asked, everyone takes a turn answering. Tonight Ryenne immediately announced that she had a question to ask. Her question was, "If you were to build any house, what would it be like?" After each of us had answered, she took a turn. She explained that she would build a house on a road where there were no cars so they could ride their bikes without worrying. (This was on every one's list.) Next, she said it would have an upstairs. (Our house is one level, which I love, but Ryenne feels like she is the only one in the world who doesn't have stairs.) She said her house would have a big kitchen and a garage that was like ours but was clean and didn't have all of Dad's work stuff in it. Her house would have a separate shop that Dad could keep his wood working things in so our garage didn't get dusty. In addition, it would have a playhouse, but one that was finished, not "raggedy" like ours. We would have green grass, and a garden. In the garden she would grow peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes (not to eat but to give away-she hates tomatoes). And flowers. Lots and lots of flowers, including some sunflowers that would grow very tall. We would have a pasture with horses, and a barn with one cow, a pen with puppies, and some kittens. Doesn't this sound wonderful? It is my dream list too (Okay. Maybe not the kittens). . . Perhaps someday when all of our to do projects are finished. I just smiled to myself while she was going through her list, because I could tell she'd really put some thought into it. Little does she know I've had her on my mind too. She was one of my main arguments in trying to convince Courtney that it was time to hire someone to help us finish our yard. Ryenne just needs flowers, green grass, and a garden! That's all there is to it.

Last but not least, when all is quiet and I'm up alone, this time of the day makes me think of Courtney. When he's out of town, I just plain miss him! Tomorrow is our 10th anniversary, and we won't be together. What a bummer. Ryenne & Kate decided at dinner that since he won't be here, they would throw me a party tomorrow, with invitations, decorations, and the works. So I guess not all is lost. Anyway, I sure appreciate him and how hard he tries at being a good dad and husband. He has been very patient with my mile long list of honey-do's for him to work on. (I always get this way when I'm pregnant.) I appreciate that after the initial look of "are you kidding me?"- he usually rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He's even realized that our messy, unfinished yard is bringing me to the brink of insanity, and has finally consented to letting me find someone to come in and finish it. I know how hard this is for him to hire out jobs that he could do himself. He must really love me (and after 10 years, has found he prefers me happy)! I guess that's what I appreciate about him. My happiness matters to him. Even when it's over seemingly silly things.

It's getting late, and I should get to bed. But I was right-I do feel better. It's good for me to use this quiet time to think about all the things I love about the people I love most. It makes me see just how much there is to love! Thank goodness for my quiet, "mommy time" of the day.