Every child is different...

Maggie has been getting into our cupboards for the last three months.  She goes through them a few times when I am in the kitchen and sometimes completely on her own.  My biggest fear is that I would step on one of the plastic containers unexpectedly and sprain an ankle.   I don't remember Esther being so eager to open those doors and getting through the contents over, and over, and over...  She might have opened the doors once or twice, but never come back for more.  Samuel on the other hand was more like Maggie.  He was IN the cupboards.  He would empty them, climb in, and then close the door behind him.  Climbing stairs is another place where they differ.  Maggie loves to climb them, and I am already trying to teach her how to get down from them.  With Esther I did not have to do that until she learned how to walk, which was at 18 months.  Esther, however, was a talker.  I remember her saying words when she was one.  It is so interesting to see them all develop at different rates.   Love it!

Do you know who you are?

There's never been a better time to be a woman.  Today women are present in all walks of life, and the world can truly appreciate and benefit from the power of a woman's determination.  Still, the most important roles that we have are the ones in our own homes, within the families we create.  Which on the other hand should not be the limit of our contributions to the world.  

 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Sharing the piano

As soon as Samuel or Esther start practicing the piano, Maggie stops whatever she is doing and crawls over to the study.  She also wants to practice:).  Both older kids have been so good about letting her press on the keys.  Samuel actually closes the door to make sure that she stays there even if it means that he can hardly hear what he is playing.  This is a tender moment for a me.  There is nothing like seeing my children loving each other in little ways.

Early voting for me...

This is what Samuel wrote last year while in first grade. 

This great country of ours needs another chance at being great again!  We have been given many freedoms, protections, and opportunities which can be found only in the USA. They make this country exceptional, and therefore it cannot mimic any other country's social, political, or military road. I hope we all exercise our great right, even privilege, to vote!

Thomas Peterffy - Freedom To Succeed

A friend forwarded this to me.  It is an ad by a private citizen, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who has been able to succeed in this great country by nothing else but his hard work and persistence.  His message rang so true to me that I could not hold back and not share it.