Sophie Turns Nine

Personality: Sophie likes to be organized and take charge. She loves to have a plan, and she likes to do her best and succeed. She loves books though still prefers audiobooks and being read to reading a book herself. Sophie loves animals and has a sensitive heart, especially toward animals. She has a heart for justice. She hates having to do her hair and prefers to wear comfortable dresses.

School: Sophie loves school, especially when it involves books. She could sit and be read to all day long... books on every subject. She doesn't love math as much, though she does well at it. She likes to write stories though usually loses stamina before finishing them. She loves singing and has really improved with recitations this year. 

Birthday: For her birthday this year, she had planned to have a more laid-back birthday with just family and to go to Build-A-Bear. Who would have thought that those plans would be impossible? With Covid-19, all stores closed a couple weeks before her birthday, and we were unable to go to Build-A-Bear or do anything else for that matter. We did have a nice day though. We ordered take-out from her favorite local restaurant, I blew up a bunch of balloons for her to wake up to in her bedroom, and we had a nice day together as a family.

Loves: Animals, My Little Pony, Hatchimals, little collectible toys, books, audiobooks, blankets

Sophie's Interview:
What's your favorite food? Banana and pizza
What's your favorite thing to play with? My little hatchimal
What's your favorite movie or show? White Fang
What's your favorite song? "Silence" by Naomi Scott
What's your favorite book? Barry the Bravest Saint Bernard
What's your favorite color? Blue and pink
What's your favorite Bible story? Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego
What do you like to with Brielle? Jump on the trampoline
What do you like to do with Lyla? Jump on the trampoline
What's your favorite thing to with Violet? Jumping on the trampoline
What do you want to do when you get older? Like a farm petting zoo type thing
What's your favorite animal? All animals
Who are your best friends? Khloe
What makes you happy? When I get to see friends that I don't get to see very often
What makes you sad? When we're going somewhere and I have to wait like two more hours and it feels like two more years
What are you really good at? Talking

Brielle Turns Seven

Personality: Brielle has a sweet and motherly personality. She always wants to help and runs to care for her sisters when they get hurt or need help. She loves adults and often chooses to be with them over other kids when in group settings. She doesn't have a lot of toy interests and prefers to just be in the presence of people and to do what they like to do. She is brave and often is up for trying new and scary things.

School: She learned how to read this year. She prefers math, and she also enjoys copywork. She really love fairy tales and fables.

Birthday: For her birthday this year, Brielle wanted to have a little party. 

Loves: People, people, people. Literally, what Brielle loves is people. Oh, and she loves makeup and doing hair.

Brielle's Interview:

What's your favorite food? Pizza and watermelon

What's your favorite thing to play with? Bella, my goat

What's your favorite movie or show? My favorite movie is Equestria Girls and my favorite show is Polly Pocket

What's your favorite song? My favorite song is Nothing can Separate Me (Lullaby Hymns)

What's your favorite book? My favorite book is Ballet Shoes

What's your favorite color? My favorite color is blue, pink, and purple

What's your favorite Bible story? The fish and bread one

What do you like to do with Sophie? My favorite thing to do with Sophie is play games

What do you like to do with Lyla? My favorite thing to do with Lyla is play house

What do you like to do with Violet? I like to go down the slides with her

What do you want to do when you get older? Be a police

What's your favorite animal? Horse

Who are your best friends? Sophie, Lyla, Violet, and Mommy and Daddy

What makes you happy? Playing house with Lyla and Violet

What makes you sad? When people don't want to play with me

What are you really good at? Making friends

Violet turns Three

Violet turned 3 last August, and I never got a post up- so getting this done before she has another birthday ;)

Personality: Violet is fun. She loves to be silly, to play make-believe with her sisters, and to laugh. She plays often with Lyla and Brielle. She loves to be held by mommy, still, and she often sits with me while I make dinner. 

Birthday: Her birthday fell on our first day of school, but it was a fun, special, laid-back day. She was obsessed with her sister's picture books from their first year of life, and so that encouraged me to finally make her one (poor fourth child). She loved it!

Transitions: She became completely potty trained within a couple of months after turning 2. 

Loves: Baby dolls, blanky, pancakes, raisins and peanuts, wagon rides

Things She Said:

"I don't want these actually"

"I put my finger in my mouth and my tongue said, 'Yuck!'"

To me: "You're my favorite girl!"

"I am idiot!"

"The door's an idiot!"

"You a cutie pie!"

Violet's Interview:

What's your favorite food? Banana and cereal

What's your favorite thing to play with? Snakes (toy, not real)

What's your favorite movie or show? I think my favorite movie is ... it's super hard, this one. I don't know.

What's your favorite song? This super hard now too. Elena of Avalor songs.

What's your favorite book? I think ... I have to go get it. Billy Whiskers' Twins

What's your favorite color? Purple and blue

What's your favorite Bible story? I don't know, it's too hard.

What do you like to with Sophie? Play with calico critters

What do you like to with Brielle? Jump on the trampoline

What do you like to do with Lyla? Playing house

What do you want to do when you get older? Be a policeman

What's your favorite animal? Bucky (our goat)

Who are your best friends? This is super hard now. Lucy.

What makes you happy? To play with calico critters

What makes you sad? When we have to leave the campground

What are you really good at? Drawing pictures

Lyla Turns Five

Lyla is truly one of a kind. I always like to tell people she marches to her own drumbeat, and she truly does. She is a challenging personality for me at times because she feels her feelings so fiercely, but I love learning her and finding ways to lean in and love her. She has learned to play so well with Violet as Brielle has joined us in school, and she and Violet have a really sweet friendship now. Her feelings get hurt easily when others disregard her, but she's fiercely loyal herself. She plays well on her own but enjoys playing with others as well- as long as she doesn't get bossed around too much. ;) She loves to sing and be silly.

For her birthday this year, it was again during VBS week. I had to fly out to Virginia Beach the morning of her birthday to meet up with my boss and co-workers for Wild + Free. I was bummed to miss a lot of her birthday, but we celebrated during the week by going to the zoo and having a tea party at Grandma's. Then on the morning of her birthday, before she left for VBS, we did a donut cake and birthday gifts. She's so sweet and laid back.

Loves: baby dolls, Calico Critters, painting, drawing, singing

Lyla's Interview

What's your favorite food? Ice cream
What's your favorite thing to play with? Brain blocks and that ball and the dollhouse people and Calico Critters
What's your favorite movie or show? Peppa Pig and Frozen
What's your favorite song? All Around the World
What's your favorite book? Dinosaur books and elephant books and bird books
What's your favorite color? Purple, orange, red, and pink
What's your favorite Bible story? My favorite Bible story is Daniel and the lion's den
What do you like to do with Sophie? Play stuffed animals
What do you like to do with Brielle? Play house
What do you like to do with Violet? Play house and then sometimes Violet quits. I like playing dollhouse people and stuffed animals with Violet too.
What do you want to do when you get older? Be a firetruck person and a vet person and a carwasher person.
What's your favorite animal? Unicorns and alicorns and pegasus
Who are your best friends? Layla and Lexi and Sadie and Braxton
What makes you happy? What makes me happy is when I play outside in the snow and sled outside in the snow.
What makes you sad? What makes me sad is when Violet quit playing house.
What are you really good at? I'm really good at not falling off the sled when I'm sledding.

Sophie turns Eight

Sophie turned 8 back in March, and I never got a blog post up! Better late than never, eh'?

Sophie continues to be a great student! She loves being read to and she will literally sit and listen to any book. She is able to read herself as well but is still not a fast reader, and often the books and ideas she is really interested in are beyond her reading level. So we read together often. She has a huge imagination. Her personality is interested because on one end, she is very practical, has high expectations, and she loves to be studious and learn. On the other end of her personality, she is creative and imaginative and loves make believing. I love that she can embody both. She also continues to love animals and spends a lot of time outside with our animals.

This year for her birthday, she had her first sleepover. She is my social bug, and she loves being with friends her age. She planned most of her birthday party on her own, and it was so sweet to have her little girlfriends here.

Activities: Sophie joined dance this year and really loved it. She took piano lessons for half a year. She did AWANA at church, and she participated in Mini 4H again. We also did Natural History Club with our local Charlotte Mason homeschool group.

Likes: animals, dance, books, stuffed animals, unicorns, movies and shows, sewing and other handcrafts, being with friends her age

Sophie Sayings:
- Sophie got really into making jokes this year: "Brielle, where did the pencil go on vacation? Pennsylvania!" "Where did the apple go to eat dinner? Applebees!" "How did the dog hear the bus? Because it was busted"
Other things she said this year...
- "Mom, how come all the chickens try to put their sperm in the white hen?" 
- "I can't wait until fall. It's like a medium between summer and winter!"
- (While reading Swiss Family Robinson to  Sophie, the word "booty" was used as in "the booty arrived home safely") Sophie: There are a lot of different things booty can mean. It can mean like the little baby shoes, it can mean treasure, or I can mean this (points to bottom). Me: Yup, you're right. Sophie: I know in this case it can't be talking about this one (points to bottom) because that would be silly for the booty to arrive home without the rest of the body.
- "If you read about it, then you'll be interested in it, and if you're interested, then you'll want to go there, and if you want to go there, you'll have to find a way to go someday!"
- "Sometimes if I close my eyes, I can imagine being there like I'm really there! If you have a big imagination, you can do that."
- "One of my favorite things about having a birthday party inviting all my friends and then they get to know each other and play with one another!" 

Sophie's Interview:
What's your favorite food? Bananas
What's your favorite thing to play with? Animal Surprises
What's your favorite movie and show? The real Dumbo and My Little Pony
What's your favorite song? The Other Side (from The Greatest Showman)
What's your favorite book? All the books you've read to me... especially Swift Family Robinson
What's your favorite color? All light colors, especially light pink and blue
What's your favorite Bible story? Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego
What do you like to do with Brielle? Play with dollhouse people and stuffed animals
What do you like to do with Lyla? Play Slap Jack
What do you like to do with Violet? Tell her the Boogeyman's going to get her and chase her
What do you want to do when you get older? Be a vet... that's the same thing I'm going to say every year
What's your favorite animal? All animals, especially ponies
Who are your best friends? Calvin, Daisy, Khloe, Wes, Addison, Addie
What makes you happy? When Brielle plays with me
What makes you sad? When Brielle says she'll play with me and then doesn't 
What are you really good at? Climbing up things