The Lovely Life of Londie Lu Lu Lane

On managing the men in her life:
"Today Beckett told me he wanted to marry me."
"That's sweet! Beckett is a very nice boy. I wouldn't mind you marrying him but Knox is going to be so upset."
"It's okay Momma, I'm going to marry Knox after him.... But I'm going to marry my daddy too."
"Goodness, baby. That's a lot of men in your life. How are you going to keep track of them all?"
"I'll make a chart."
:)

We found some 'old possums' at the library and she wanted to take a picture to send to her andaddy! (This is a misuse of Opossums, which her grandaddy tried teaching her about.)

We were laying in the bed reading one night and she was curled into my nook. She paused the story, looked up sweetly, and said, "I love your fluffy ninnies, momma. They're so big and fat." :)
(If you're reading and we're not real life friends, then you'll miss the humor of this... my ninnies are no where near big and fluffy, but there's just something comfortable about laying against your momma's chest! I was cracking up!)

Getting into every pot of make up on display at Sephora. We leave looking like she ran face first into a rainbow. 

This morning London came into the kitchen shooting ice out of her wrists like Elsa on Frozen. A bit later she walked into the kitchen, looked at the blue veins on the inside of my wrist, and in total amazement, looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you have Elsa power too!"

She found some Elsa power on her chest this week and is still trying to figure out how she's supposed to shoot it out.

A giggly pile of cousin friends!

Last night we got home too late to read a book before bedtime so we shot a flashlight on the wall and I told her a story while making shadow hands on the walls. It was a story about a floppy-eared rabbit. After I finished, she said she wanted to tell a story too so she told a floppy-eared rabbit story also. In her shadow, you could still make out her plump, chubby little baby fingers. Watching her portly little fingers on the wall made me take inventory of the 'baby' that's still in her. Sadly, there's not much left. I wanted to slow the night down to a snails pace and tell stories all night just so I could still have time with this stage of life. These little years go by at a cruel pace... So much happy that seems to sprint by. I wish I could take the last 4 years and stretch them over 20....maybe then I'd be  satisfied and ready to move on and let her grow into this big, long kid that she is now. :( All the teary eyed FEELINGS!!!

Catching a ride on her momma's foot

We are finally night time potty training and STICKING WITH IT! I've attempted this a half dozen times but talk myself out of it every time because I don't have the energy to do laundry every day! However, we had a sick day this week so had a 'long weekend' and we went for it! We've gone the last 4 out of 5 nights with no accidents! Her prize is that she gets to sleep with a glow bracelet if she can wake up dry. I've loved walking past her dark room at night and seeing this electric glow of victory shining bright in her bed! She's doing great and I'm so proud of her!

Last week I picked her up from school and one of her teachers stopped me and wanted to tell me that London had come up to her that afternoon and told the teacher she was very beautiful. This sweet teacher probably wouldn't fit the conventional, outward definition of 'beautiful' so I was very proud of Lu for saying something kind and loving to her. I leaned down to scoop up Lu and when I lifted my  head, the teacher was looking at me with crocodile tears in her eyes.
She whispered, 'I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear that today.' It was a beautiful lesson for all of us on the importance of letting loving words pour forth. There's nothing better than watching a girl get washed over with love. It sure does make them beautiful!
.......
This was also the week she got strep throat and had a super annoying runny nose. She wasn't worried about strep because they gave her 'pink medicine' like Andaddy gives her and she loves it, but she did diagnose herself with 'a nose issue' and told everyone who would listen about her "awful nose issue".

Bless it. In the waiting room at the doctor's office. So pitiful. :(

We've never had strep so our Doc said I'd be amazed at how quickly the antibiotics stop the symptoms. This is 3 hours later in a dressing room mirror in the mall.... 

I'm not sure how we have made it our 'thing' to go ride the carousel on sick days, but it's a fun treat for her and I love watching her smile big on days when she's a bit non-smiley. Goodness, i love her. 

She's joined her school's extra curricular 'Chest Club' (chess club)! Knox and Lucas joined and she's been BEGGING to join the chess club too! I countered with dance classes or tennis lessons but she was dead set on "CHEST." We're one class in and she is loving it! They let the kids be the human chess pieces and she was the Rook last week! It's awesome watching them get excited over new interests and it's hilarious that hot thing of the minute is chess! :)

Speaking of tennis....

This makes my heart laugh out loud.  So much fun practicing with her!

She went to the Mississippi State Fair with her Dad a few weeks ago. She loved the fair but did NOT care for the roller coaster that she went on! When she got in the car I asked her what her favorite part of the fair was and she immediately answered, 'Not going on the roller coasters.' Ha!

They announced this week that Malala Yousafzai won the Noble Peace Prize and twitter started a hashtag chain of #AGirlWithABook as a way to honor Malala. I stuck this picture on there to play along. I told London Malala's story. Not an easy one to tell a 4 year old, but an important one, I thought. We talked for a long while on being brave and loving on people by fighting for them to have a good, happy life too. She understood that it's not easy for all little girls to go to school and to get to read books like she does. I fully believe this passionate little sweetheart has a good dose of world change in her. I know if God has written her story as an ambassador, I might not always be thrilled with what she will face... but Lulu has a wild fire spirit in her and I feel it's important to speak a message over her life of courage, love, and the power of the Good God inside of her... even a young life can be fed big truth. 

And just to end on a light note, one of my favorite pictures I've taken recently! Super hero Lucas, flying.... and highly edited so he stands out like the remarkable little dude that he is! 

Star Wars Night with the Birmingham Barons

I know this post isn't clever or creative, but work and life are too busy for me to have any left over creative juices for the blog today! However, I feel guilty if I slack off, so I'm just posting what I'm posting and counting it a minor victory! 

A few months ago, the Birmingham Baron's held a "Star Wars Night" during the weekend baseball game. We had been planning on going for weeks because the Thomas boys are NUTS about all things Star Wars! It did not disappoint! This was pretty much a dream come true for Knox and Lucas!

This guy (storm trooper maybe??) said hello to Lucas then went about his way. Lucas reached up and grabbed his hand and walked the length of the field with his costumed hero! Lucas' was LOCKED IN on him the whole time! It was the cutest thing!

London wasn't so sure about all the characters at first but she got into it after a while!

Getting handcuffed

A real life light saber!

Lucas being adorable!

She was really excited about "Dart Vader"!

Lucas and his Storm Trooper buddy! I don't know why I don't have any pictures of Knox! 

Eating ice cream and dancing! This was such a fun night! It's all coming back to me now! 

Watching the post game fireworks... (and being stunningly beautiful)

They played famous star wars music during the show and Knox would immediately 'name that tune' based on which movie it was in!  #1 Fan!

I love this picture! My favorite people ever watching a grand fireworks show! I love the look in all of their eyes! Fireworks are magical! 

Springville Splash Pad

I'm trying to do a better job at loading pictures from my phone onto the blog before I get too far removed from the day.... obviously I'm killing it because today we're recapping the last day of summer break... which was over a month ago. 

Life. 

Am I right?!

I took our next to kin to a splash pad north of Birmingham for a day of wet.... that didn't involve me solo parenting 3 kids in a swimming pool. We've put off trying out this particular splash pad for a while because it looked too far away on a map. It took no time at all to get there, and was a STELLAR facility! It was $1 per person to play, which would've been worth the price if we would've only stayed for 30 minutes. Instead we spent a good 4+ hours wearing 3 kids slap out and it cost a whopping $4. That's my kind of fun.

Not to mention we had the place to ourselves for the first hour! Score!

Knox Thomas

Lucas Thomas being his incredibly awesome self!

The Springville splash pad has a huge play ground right next to the splash pad and a man made stream that runs beside it. I'm curious where the water source originates from because it was FREEZING and was probably 101 degrees outside this day. The kids liked it but all of them complained that they couldn't feel their feet after a few minutes of wading around in it!

They're my favorite little adventurers! Always up for a good time! 

A little vaca

My teensy best buddy and I played hooky for a day and headed down to Booper's Beach this past weekend for a little fun in the sun. This was the by far the coolest beach trip we've ever been on! Our first day down was magical. I know that's corny, but there's no other way to put it! I'm not sure what was happening, but the ocean was ALIVE on Friday and we spent the day marveling at all she had to offer! 

We had the great pleasure of sitting beside two gals... one who was an elementary school teacher. She reminded me of Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus because she spent the day spotting these amazing things in the ocean then pointing them out for London to go hunt down and explore. She said her years of teaching taught her that kids learn better when they can touch, feel, and experience things rather than just read in books. London and I spent the weekend happily under her tutelage and I'm so thankful for all that she shared with us! 

On Friday, the beach was totally covered over in seashells. The water was crystal clear so London and I goggled up and spent the entire day underwater. We found bags full of beautiful shells and "Professor Marine Biologist'" (our friend) even gave us this super cool star fish that she found that was black and white striped like a zebra! While we were hunting, London dove down to grab this beautiful shell. She pulled it up and immediately started screaming like a banshee and said IT'S LEGS ARE GETTING ME! I dove down to see what was going on and she had picked up a hermit crab! We kept him as a pet for a few hours then sent him back home! (I could've picked a better picture but let's just be thankful I've got a minute to write... so no additional hermit pics! :0) We found a few sand dollars too! 

A bit later, our friend rushed into the surf and started calling for us to get out and look. She spotted a sea turtle lazily swimming right in the shallows! London was SO PUMPED and kept screaming at me to catch it so we watched it for a few minutes then ran up ahead to see if we could head it off and get a good look. We chased him down for a bit but eventually got within 3 or 4 feet of him and just watched him swim all around us! It was INCREDIBLE!! He wasn't very big... about the size of a basketball, but he was beautiful! Here's a picture of his head... not a good shot but I was trying to actually SEE him, not miss the experience because I was fooling with my phone! 

Shortly thereafter, our friend pointed out a group of dolphins swimming by. There was a baby dolphin swimming with the group that was putting on a 'sea world' worthy flips show right in front of us! Back flips, spin flips, high jumps, the whole shebang! It was awesome! We probably saw 20-25 dolphins over the course of the day! 

The rest of the day, London and I snorkeled a bit further out because there were a bunch of tropical looking fish swimming around. You see a lot of fish normally, but they are just white colored and not much to look at. (Bad grammar alert) Whatever we saw had clear bodies and neon yellow tail and under the belly fins. They would swim all around you and right into your face and body! It was SO COOL to be in that beautiful water, floating with my girl. It was incredibly special to be searching, see an amazing fish then look over and make eye contact with Lu right as she would see it too... both of our faces totally lit up with the excitement of it all! I don't think I'll ever forget the look on her face and the sparkle of her eyes. It was a thrilling day... one of the best of my life! 

The next two days were breathtakingly beautiful, but I joked that it was like Jesus Fish had come and raptured all the wild life! The shells were mostly gone and we didn't see a single dolphin or any other wild animal out in the sea. It was beautiful but quiet as a mouse! No complaints from us though! We still soaked up every second of this view!

Performing for Professor Marine Biologist

(No, sadly, we didn't paddle board, but we pretended to!)

Most of the time, her courage scares me to death, but I was super proud of how well London did in the ocean. She figured out that if you would dive into a wave, it wouldn't flip you and she would sink down under the big waves while snorkeling. As she bemoaned our vacation ending, she kept saying, "I'm just a beach girl, momma." And I agree. Clearly, she is. She'll be surfing in no time!

Best picture so far! I now have an Assistant Crap Carrier! YESSSSSSSSSS! You pay to play, princess.... You pay to play. 

Serenity was in town with her mom and some friends and she texted asking if we could see each other! We LOVED that idea so her mom brought her by for a visit! It's been a long time since Renny's been on the blog, but let me assure you, she is still the tender hearted, sweetest chid that she always was. Renny is a pearl of a girl and I was ecstatic to squeeze her big and tell her we love her so much! Also, she's GORGEOUS!

My friend asked if London and I wanted some pictures together so I let her grab a few of us. None of them particularly cute because I've forgotten how to take pretty pictures. Seriously- you know how to take great pictures in college then somewhere along the line you get out of practice and they all turn out horrible! So, i opted for action shots! London's got enough pretty for both of us!

These made me laugh. We were going for the impressive jump shot. 

Biiiiiig build up.....

(sad trombone sound....)

And victory!!! At 2 inches off the ground and total crazy face! Oh well, we tried! :)

Her ritual of Little Mermaid Tail (the goggles doubled as sun glasses. I could not get her to take them off!)

Then her first full body burial in which she was dying laughing the whole time so her sand encasement kept cracking open! :) 

I guess this is a bit of a mom brag, but my favorite part of the whole trip.. I was out in the waves and London ran up to the shore, stopped my girlfriend and said, "MY momma swims with me!" I was so proud of us in that moment. I adore her. We have a great life. I hope I always remember that I might look like a train wreck at the end of our days together, but man, was it worth it! We rolled in every evening with hair matted down with sand and salt water. Bathing suits filled with ocean debris and hidden sea shells. No make up... and I'm not one of those girls that can pull that off. But, my baby was proud that I was her momma this weekend because we were in it together. Right in that moment, I've never been more proud. Let's live a big life, baby. You're the most awesome thrill I've ever known!

Light 'em up.

One of my new favorite authors is Glennon Melton. She's smart, frank, funny, and totally refreshing. She posted this on instagram the other day and I just loved every word of it...

"What every child wants to know is, "do your eyes light up when i walk in the room?"- Toni Morrison. Today is Amma's first day of first grade. When she finished getting dressed this morning, I brought her over to the mirror and stood behind her while she took in her first grade self. She kept her eyes fixed on herself and said: "Mama, when Dada sees me, his hawt (heart) is going to explode." Well then, I thought. I married well. 

Moms and Dads- I don't think it matters whether you are rich or poor or healthy or struggling or divorced or nuclear or gay or straight or working or home. I think all that matters is that when your kid sees herself through your eyes- she feels worthy of a heart explosion. 

Your kid doesn't need you to be 'better'. She just needs to know that you are DELIGHTED by her. At least once a day. That's it. That's the whole she-bang. 

Doesn't matter if yesterday was a bad one at home. Doesn't matter if money's tight or if stress is high or if the whole damn world is falling apart. All that matters is: Do your eyes light up when you see your baby? 

Light 'em up, today. 

Love, G"

(Thank you, gorgeous Jill, for this incredible heart exploding picture! It makes me experience every single happy feeling!)