{daily delaney} where's waldo edition

delaney got to sing in her christmas program this weekend at church.

let me tell you.  this was her shining moment.  she was looking forward to this for {weeks}.

can you find delaney in the photo below?

in case you are having trouble finding her...

let me help you out.

she is {such} a tiny little thing

and the sweet muffin girl standing in front of her was just happy to stay in front

thankyouverymuch

despite a teacher asking her to step behind.

{ha!}

it's just such irony.

laney looking so forward to wearing her red christmas dress and red bow headband

 and being on stage singing

and then not even being able to be seen.

pride comes before the fall, right?

or before the getting placed behind the tall kid i guess.

pardon the red-eye...i'm not photo keen enough to fix it...

here is a shot of her before the bigger girl came onto stage.  you can see how serious she was about singing.

hands folded neatly together, ready to perform.

oh.  i love this girl.

{daily delaney}

so yesterday i told delaney that we were going to poop scoop in the back yard.

little known to me, this would be a thrill unlike one she had never known before.

seriously, she was so {excited} to go on a poop hunt.

like, she was so excited to do it, that at nap time yesterday we had this conversation:

"ok lane.  if you do not ignore amelia (millie can be a bit of a pest during sleep times) and go to sleep right away, you will not get to help me poop scoop the yard."

lane: "but MOM! i  WANT to scoop poop."

me: "ok, then you need to obey my instruction and go right to sleep."
lane: "ok!"

and she did.  man, she's never taken such a great nap before!  all at the prospect of getting to pick up dog turds.  {weirdo!}

so this morning we headed out on our poop adventure in the giant back yard.

as we were walking searching for poop, lane says:

"mom, i think i saw something black.  must have been poop.  or a butterfly."

WHAT?  a butterfly?!?!  how do you mistake a butterfly for turds!?!?  or vice versa? 

oh, that kid. she blows me away.  i have so much fun hanging out with her.

the next time you see something that resembles poop, take a close look, it just might be a butterfly.

{for aunt radene}

aunt radene,

in anticipation of getting to see you after nearly a year

(and in remi's case, ever)

we dedicate this blog post to you.

much love,

laney and millie

{doing the "aunt radene"}

and remi is so excited to meet you, he wanted to pass on a little hello as well....

never mind that mild {self-inflicted} chocking in the end of the video.....he was perfectly fine!

 we {love} you aunt radene!

and are {so} excited to see/meet you!

{daily delaney}

as our kids get older, we slowly add responsibilities for them.

lane's first was to help unload and re-load the dishwasher.

since her sister has graduated into that role, her new {responsibility} is to get herself and her sister dressed in the mornings.

now let me share a little about myself.

i'm prideful.

i'm a people pleaser.

i like for my kids to be well dressed, fashionable, and put together.

i know, it's ridiculous.

well, let me tell you.

allowing delaney to {select} her own outfit is some days a great challenge for me.

days like this day.

yep.  it's true.

that is a long sleeve shirt (cuz it was cold).

a shorts jump suit.

leggings.

cowboy boots.

this ain't no {april fools} joke.

and she was {so} proud of herself.

i like that she's defining her own style.

i like that she is creative.

i like that she is getting herself dressed so that i don't have to.

it's just a good lesson in pride for me.

i love this girl.

{daily delaney}

yesterday, we were driving over to a friends house and delaney asked which direction we were going.

i told her, "we're heading north."

"then what way will we turn?"  she asked.

"then we will turn left, and go west." i said.

quickly, she responded, "but i want to go towards easter!"

at first i had to giggle at her miscommunication.  

obviously, she meant that she wanted to go east...

though i'm not sure why.

but the more i thought about it, the more i realized how profound her words were to me.

  i want to go towards Easter {too}.

the direction i want to face in my life is alway towards Easter, towards the Cross.

over these last few weeks, i've realized that the direction i set myself towards in life

is not always going to be in the direction that God wants for me.

i've made plans to move to KS.

plans to parent my children better.

plans to be a better wife.

plans to never own a minivan.

plans to be physically thin and spiritually fat.

and i'm realizing, thanks to my sweet daughter, that unless i'm facing {Easter}...

i will always be going the wrong direction.