Life continues to whiz by. We had a jam-packed October full of family fun and, yes, lots of sweet treats. The girls had much fun celebrating the arrival of Fall: painting pumpkins with Stacey, carving jack-o-lanterns at Aunt Cari's; riding rides, indulging on cotton candy, candy apples, french fries and fudge at the fair; and dressing up as a butterfly, a snow fairy princess and a lil' pumpkin for the annual trick-or-treat trek around the neighborhood. We are enjoying life (all the crazy, sweet and rambunctious moments) with our three girls. Juggling has a new meaning in the Johnson house!
Alivia is doing great in school. She loves her class and teachers. She excelled on her "report card" and teacher conference last week. It brought tears to my eyes to hear the praises sung for our Alivia. She is growing up so quickly. I look at Aleah and remember how it seems like just yesterday that Alivia was our sweet little baby. Alivia's favorite ride at the fair was the swings. She rode alone, since Avery was not tall enough to ride, and smiled as brightly as the lights every time she spotted us waving from below. She is a great big sister and tries to keep everyone on track -- even Mommy and Daddy. She is very helpful, loving and tender-hearted. She loves to color, paint and do crafts of any kind.
Avery is FULL of life. Her eyes sparkle with anticipation of what she is going to get into next. Her conference with her teacher noted that she knows her letters, numbers and academically is advanced. And socially she is sweet, caring, helpful, can get bossy, likes things her way and is a born leader. That's our Avery! She is starting to write her name, is great at coloring and tracing letters and has learned her phone number (all things that have been homework assignments for Alivia). Avery's favorite ride at the fair was the Merry Go Round she rode with Daddy.
Aleah is so precious (as Avery calls her). She was two months on Sunday, November 1 (Grandma Beverly's Birthday.) She is getting big and loves to smile and "talk" to her sisters. She seems to change every day. We can see characteristics of both Alivia and Avery in her appearance and spirit. She still has blue eyes and her hair has both red and blond highlights -- depending on the light -- and her hair is very curly when wet. Aleah enjoyed a day of attention from Meme and Christa while the 'big girls' were enjoying the fair!
And our
niece Christa is growing up, too. I see glimpses of her often when I look at
Alivia. She is in the seventh grade and loves to dance. I have watched her dance since she was a tiny little girl and now have the honor of teaching her ballet en
pointe. She is a great baby sitter and our girls just love spending time with her.
What a blessing to have three daughters who adore one another! I can't think of anything sweeter. Alivia's class made Thanksgiving turkeys from their hand prints and listed what they were most thankful for. While many of her friends were thankful for favorite toys, treats or other things, Alivia was thankful for Avery. It brought tears to our eyes to be reminded how much our girls love each other. I commented to Mark recently that my hope is that our girls will always be as close as they are now. They do everything together. Yes, they do have sibling moments of disagreement, but they are always short lived, and sooner than you can blink the girls are back giggling and playing with no cares in the world. You can feel the joys of childhood just looking in their bright eyes. We are so very thankful for our blessings but more than anything we are thankful for our three, happy, healthy little girls!
