Photo Shoot?

We are entering a new stage that I think I am going to like. I was able to bribe Chelsea into a photo shoot. As most of you know we have gone through quite a time where she wasn't having anything to do with me taking her picture, so you can imagine my surprise when she said we could go outside and take some pictures.
Here she is sitting on one the chairs that Papa just made, she loves this chair and thinks it is hers. I certainly am not going to tell her any different. Especially if she will sit in it while I take pictures.

Some days it is hard to believe she is only 4 years old, she looks so much older. And other times I wonder where the time has gone, wasn't it just yesterday I was watching her make her entrance into this world?

Notice we have several different poses in our photo shoot. I got kisses, smiles, and cheesey grins.

I even got her to wear a new outfit I bought for her. It is nearly impossible to get her to wear anything but her dresses so to see her in shorts is rare. Isn't it the cutest outfit? She especially loved the diamondy sparkly buttons, I think they sealed the deal.

Precious Moments

"Papa, will you read to me?" Chelsea half asked and half assumed the answer before it was given, as she jumped up on the bed with a pile of her books.
Papa looks to Grandma for help which gets him no where since she is running for camera. So Papa sets his own book aside, scoots over making room for the Princess to climb up and says to her, "Okay, get up here and lets read a story."

Together they set out on an adventure, Chelsea listens so intently but loves to help Papa narrate the story. It doesn't matter to her that Grandma had just read her the same story a few minutes earlier. That fact just makes it easier for her to help Papa out while he is reading.

Time stands still for no one. One day we won't be able to get her to stop long enough to read to her. I pray these moments kindle in her a love of books, of reading, of exploring new places.

Thank you Lord, for moments like this.

Jungle Gym

Which battles should I choose?
Which ones really matter?
It is very apparent I will answer these questions differently now than I would of when my children were growing up.
Some days it is just easier to enjoy the moment and write it on my heart than it is to battle it.
I don't know what I would of done with my own children if they had decided to turn my bed into their own personal jungle gym. I am sure they would all like to answer that question, but I am not asking them.

We have had this bed set for a few years now, and from the day we got it Chelsea has loved it. I don't know what made her think she could climb on it, swing from it, jump from it, bounce on it..I think you get the picture, but she loves it. She is fearless.

For some reason, it has just never bothered Mark or I when she begins her play time, which I might add is usually at bed time or when I am trying to make the bed. I have been given the opportunity to re-make my bed on more than one occasion. Oh well, in the big picture of this life we live, I don't mind.

It dawned on me that I hadn't really captured this in pictures yet. I almost need to get it on video as you wouldn't believe how fast she gets around, the sound effects that come with the playing, the body slams on the bed...it cracks me up. I can't even get mad at her, she is having so much fun.

She insisted she needed my pink cowboy had for her acrobatic routine and was happy to have Papa wear it for awhile too. He is a good sport. I am not sure how much he really got out of the book he was reading, but hey, he can read it another time.
I wasted a lot of precious moments when my children were growing up by stressing out over moments just like this. When they all have kids of their own I think they will forgive me but in the mean time, I am just going to capture as many moments as I can.
By the way, NO! she isn't spoiled...she is just loved beyond measure. I want to be as big of a blessing to her life as she is to mine. I want to teach her boundaries, while at the same time encourage her to sparkle, to dream, to make life an adventure.