Puddles and Prayers

This week the weather has not been that great; pretty indicative of the whole summer, actually. A couple days ago Vivi and I went to check the mail when there was a light rain and I could barely get that girl back inside! There weren't any big puddles, but whereever there was any amount of water gather she'd run over and stick her hands, feet, and sometimes her ponytails in it! She loved running around and stomping in the water so she could her the 'smack, smack, smack' of her shoes (ok, sandals because I didn't think we'd be out there that long, but at least it was pretty warm) on wet pavement. She had a blast! When we got inside her pants were soaked up to her ankles, but it was so much fun. I'm lucky to have a girl that doesn't mind getting dirty...even if it bugs her mom.

Last night the we had the sweetest experience as a family. At dinner time, Doug and I each took one of Vivi's hands to say the prayer before dinner. And she actually held our hands (before she just ripped them away). Progress! Then before bed we all sat down in our big leather chair for stories and afterward I said 'Time for prayer.' Right away, she reached for Doug's hand and then turned around and reached for my hand so we could hold hands again! Progress progress! I couldn't believe it. I actually got a little choked up and had trouble starting the prayer.

After the prayer, it was time for bed. We've been working on our kisses (she doesn't really like to get or give kisses) so we took this as an opportunity to practice. At first she was a reluctant, but when I demonstrated on Doug, she leaned forward and let Doug kiss her lips. Then it was mommy's turn and she did the same. It easily turned into a game where she just went back and forth getting kisses from mommy and papa. At one point with me, she actually pursed her lips. So cute. I did have to play defense a couple times when she got too overzealous and started biting my lip, but mostly it was all love.

We need to have evenings like that more often...