LILY-ISMS: August 2021 edition

Erin: Would you round up the girls, please?
Lily: (sees girls) You're supposed to be rounded up!

Donna: Do you know who Bill is? He's my brother.
Lily: So is Grandpa.
Grandpa = Bill

I like this music. It makes my bottom dance.

I set a watch-keeper over the animals. You know, to make sure nobody breaks a bone.
Her stuffies, not real animals

Rabbit and Tigger are right: this is fraught with danger!

This is a Tokyo, Japan movie!
Toy Story 2, after we had done a school study unit on Japan. There's a flight to Japan in Toy Story 2.

Watching equestrian competitions during the Olympics. 
Erin Good jump, horsey!
Lily: Just horse. It's a racing horse, Mommy.

I play rocket with Goldfish because the bottom of Goldfish looks kinda like the bottom of a rocket.

But I'm playing Horses and Cats!

This box would make a good feasting table!

I keep on getting myself distracted.

Claire was graphing family birthdays for a math assignment.
There's one April-er! It's me!

Opens scissors
It looks like I'm pulling out two knives!

Golf table : table tennis

So when can we get an RV?

Referring to Erin's loss of smell during my breakthrough case
She might lose her hearing next!

Watching Abominable
He's a good leaper! Like Trumpkin.

The step-teacher : room parent in our homeschool co-op

Text to my mom about oral presentation at our homeschool co-op:
Lily's is about the safari park. And our new school room. In Jesus' name, amen

Trumpkin was jumping and I presently caught her.

Precisely, I gathered the dark colors.

I knew since you were very sad that I should give a hug.

When I tilt too far when I'm running, I just hold myself together! 
Regains balance

One time, a balloon popped near my ear, and I went completely blind in that ear!

Always my bottom is checking if it's too hot or perfectly my way. Oops. My bottom is detecting that it's too hot.
Shower temperature

LILY-ISMS: July 2021 edition

Apropos of nothing:
What is a Renaissance woman?

Good thing Claire is a big-year-old!

I'm Edmund. I have the pants.
They were divvying up roles from Narnia for pretend play.

Wearing a blue dress
This is a sky color, and I'm close to the sky!

Even though I do elbow grease, there's still a spot in the sink.
Explaining why the bathroom sink she was cleaning wasn't fully clean.

Miss Maggie had us over for a tea party so we can be fancy like grown ups.

Claire! It's pouring outside. It used to be wet. Now it's drenched!

The dog was bounding over!

Text I sent to my mom while on the way to the beach with the Boswells:
We stopped for gas, so Barbara and I took the girls in to potty. Single seater bathrooms, so Lily and I ended up using the men's room. There were no men around. We finished, met up with Barbara and Claire, and Lily YELLS, "WE HAD TO USE THE BOYS' BATHROOM," so that, literally, the entire station heard and were so tickled. A man walked into the store as she was yelling, headed to the bathroom, and just doubled over cackling.

Did you know that in Penderwick-land...
Talking about a storyline from The Penderwicks

This is not on my list of foods that I like...

The sunscreen spiced us!
Sharp, cold spray of spray sunscreen

Wait... But where's my system?
At the beach house, I had a setup of towels right inside the door to dry everyone off before they tracked water all through the house. They came in once and the towels weren't laid out for them.

The ocean tries to be my snot, and I have to get it out.
Saltwater up the nose

These aren't white spots... They're TOOTHPASTE TRACKS!

Claire: Lily, do you want to learn Spanish?
Lily: No...I want to learn Australian.

Isn't Daddy a sweetie?

There are still cleans in the dishwasher.
Cleans : clean dishes

Claire called for me to help her, so I did by calling for you!

I'm retired from that job. 
I finished that job.

This is what I retrieved from under the bed.

She loves love. 
Hallie being loved on by everyone

Thank you for providing our daily sandwich bread.
Asking the blessing

Is the mountain just for show and not to climb?
Passing a mountain while driving to Alabama

We're having a laughing way to Nana and Poppy's!
Laughing in the car with Hallie

She wanted to protect her for her badness.
Referring to Mother Gothel on Tangled

Was the car tooting?
The noise made when the car tires cross onto the shoulder

I'm honest!!
Meaning: I'm not kidding!

Lily: Did you KNOW that Mrs. Romine is MARRIED?? That Mrs. Romine in there!
Claire: I know. She told me in her letter. His name is MISTER Romine.

Can I go show the crowd?
Wanting to show something to the four of us in the next room

I just took a drive.
In the Little Tikes car at my parents'

Introducing herself, after introducing all of her sisters
This is me, I'm Lily

The stream was burbling.

Her new charm for her charm bracelet said "amazing."
Yep, that's me. Amazing!

Remember when we went to that loose animal place?
See also: Fierce animal place. Both refer to the drive-thru safari park in Huntsville.

Claire: Why is Nana running?
Lily: That's not running. That's prancing.

LILY-ISMS: June 2021 edition

My horses' names are Lucky, Spot, and Scott Joplin.
I have no idea. It must be from one of our audiobooks.

I couldn't find Trumpkin and then she came to me in my sleep!
She couldn't find Trumpkin when she went to bed, but I found her and put her in the bed after Lily fell asleep.

Mommy, did you know Ms. Kendall's house is A FOREST HOUSE??
Our friend, Kendall, lives in a very wooded area. Lily was pretty convinced it's a treehouse.

My feet are so hot. Hot. Terrible. Dreadful. BAD.

When that kid pushed me down, it terrified me, scared me, SHOCKED ME.

You don't need to check, Mommy. You have A Remember Lily.

I kept my eyes fix-ticated on the tv.

Blue car is supposed to live in my bed. He loves it there!

The shoot hoop : basketball hoop

Learns about an endangered animal
We must help these creatures!!

When I try to go to sleep, my eyes just flutter open

Mommy, did you put one sprout of piggy in my hair?
Pulling back just a little bit of hair into a ponytail

Look, it's a pasture full of nothing!

There's the French Fry M!
McDonald's. We clearly don't go very often...

I packed everything I need: a flashlight and lots of stuffed animals.

Good ol' Peter.
A friend from church who gave us a hiking baby carrier

Erin: Why are you upset with her?
Lily: Because the horse's name isn't Bullseye!
Erin: What is the horse's name?
Lily: The horse's name is Salvita. It's Lily Language.

Hallie said "yes" with her smile.

Bath tub toys
I'm like a boat conductor!

Brynnie made a pain in my arm right here.

Putting away her dishes from the dishwasher
I'm a hero of silverware.

Awww... It's their first love hug!
Rapunzel and Flinn Rider on Tangled

Lily: What's the cat's name? Side side?
Erin: Um...Tippy.

Invisalign trays : teeth lids

Barbara: I got it at the Dollar Store.
Lily: The bank?
The "store" with dollars

Sings a made-up song
That's how much I've memorized of the song Trumpkin is going to do at her concert.

After a picture
I always look good.

To Helen, our neighbor who knows Barbara quite well
Erin: Gran is visiting this week.
Lily: You know, BARBARA!
Helen: Barbara?
Lily: That's her name!
Helen: I know... Just never heard YOU call her that...

The enchilada spiced my whole mouth!

Erin: Brynn, do you want to sit on the potty?
Brynn: I'll do it tomorrow!
Lily: I think that means she won't do it.
For the record: Lily was quite accurate.

Lily's 5th birthday!

My Lily-baby turned five this year! (Back in April, as I am still not caught up to real time...)

I very much canNOT believe that she is old enough to be 5. How did that happen? (In case you want to travel down Memory Lane, here are several posts from when she was born, including her birth story, which is far less dramatic than Claire's.)

Back in April, things in the Triangle were still pretty pandemic-y, as far as what we could do/who we could do it with, but I came up with a great (if I do say so myself) plan for Lily's birthday. I had been reading The Vanderbeekers through the winter (loved them!), and it gave me the idea of finding a cat cafe to visit. Luckily, there's one in Chapel Hill! I reserved us an hour of kitty happiness for our kitty-loving girl. 

She dressed the part in her new kitty dress from Nana and Poppy (spoiler: she wore this dress to the cat cafe on the day before her birthday, on her actual birthday, and to the last day of homeschool co-op the day after that. I did wash it, though.)

I happened to have a cat dress for Brynna to wear, too. It's a hand-me-down of Lily's, because Lily has ALWAYS loved cats.

SO EXCITED

Lily had the BEST time!

Lily in the cat bed...cat on the floor...

This kitten was brand new to the cat cafe, and it would only let Lily near it. Lily was thrilled to her toes over that.

Bill and Barbara came over for the festivities, and on the way out of the cat cafe, Bill bought the girls some cat ear headbands to commemorate the visit.

They picked up business cards on the way out and decided that they, too, would need to open a cat cafe one day. They have been planning accordingly.

On her actual birthday, we played at the playground with friends who were in town for the day, celebrated with our neighbor-friend, and did all of the cake and presents.

First thing, Claire gave her a handmade gift.

Lily already knew what it was but acted *surprised* really well.

I had gotten The Complete Works of Beatrix Potter on Audible a few months before her birthday for Lily to listen to during rest time. She LOVED it! We got her the book so she could follow along with the pictures.

Reading a few favorites

Helen brought over birthday gifts for all the girls: Claire's a little belated, Brynnie's a little early, and Lily's on the actual day.

Helen is very beloved over here.

It was the sweetest.

Helen also drew these birthday cards for the girls! She is so talented.

Wore her new scarf (Claire's gift) to the playground

Some of our dearly beloveds

Katie was one of the first non-family members to hold Hallie.

She wished for a cat and THREE DRAGONS!

Cats were the unofficial theme of the birthday; everyone knows of her deep affinity. Lily got so many cat-related paraphernalia that she absolutely loved:

A calendar

A cat pillowcase

A cat backpack

A cool NatGeo cat book

Cat sunnies and cat blanket

And Otis and the Kittens

Lily had a pretty fantastic birthday WEEK, full of friends and family and lots of activity (the day after her birthday was the last day of homeschool co-op, and there were festivities, as well as pizza. It wasn't for her birthday, but it was, obviously, loads of fun and perfect timing.).

Lily is such a delight. She's hilarious and sweet and smart and oh so spunky. I was terrified and miserable throughout my pregnancy with her, but her actual birth and newborn days were so incredibly redemptive for me. They are some of my happiest and most meaningful memories. She is an absolute joy, and we are SO THANKFUL for her!