Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice...

She was sitting on the porch waiting for us to arrive and as soon as she saw us she ran into the house to tell her mom. As we walked toward the house I saw traces of chalk on the sidewalk, just one of the signs indicating a child lives here! One would have thought we were someone special by the excitement on her face and the wiggling taking place! It was the first time we had visited her new house and she could barely contain herself! She was dressed in a new, long sleeved pink shirt with a caricature of a little girl applicayed on the front. From my experience I could spot a new, long sleeved shirt that had been purchased in the summer just waiting for the first cool morning so it could be worn! She had a pink with white polka dots bow in her hair and it was a bit lower on her head than it had started out to be in the morning I am certain. There were a few loose curls framing her sweet face, an indication of a day full of play activities and maybe even a few minutes "rest" on her pallet at preschool. After a tour of the house we decided to eat on the deck since the weather finally had cooled down bringing us a hint that fall was finally here! She wanted to help expedite the whole meal process of course and asked for our preference of drinks. She actually made it from the kitchen to the table outside placing each filled glass correctly and without spilling a drop. How that happened is short of a miracle! During dinner conversation she interacted like she was one of us, the four adults exchanging news from the day and even showed us a few tricks she knew about her mom's iPhone! She recalled names and places like she had lived here forever instead of the short two and a half month tenure. After dessert we went back inside and I requested that she share with me one of her favorite books. As we sat on the sofa side by side with my arm around her so as to scoop her as close to me as I could get her, in an instant that posture with her made my mind race with memories of the countless times, minutes, books I had shared with my own girls dressed in a pink long-sleeved shirt and a pink with white polka dots bow in their hair. It felt so natural to me and I knew just how to giggle at the right places in the story even though I was reminiscing as I listened. ( God made moms able to do that, you know! ). I can't begin to count the number of pink, girly items I have purchased or made during that time in my mom life! The hair bows to match a specific outfit or season of the year alone was monumental! From hair bows to smocked dresses, ballet shoes, tights and tutus, to back packs and lunch boxes our house was filled with pink indicators that girls were on the premices! I loved every minute of coordinating outfits with shoes and bows so that my girls looked like a doll come to life! I didn't spend a lot money for them to have the look but rather accepted the challenge of accomplishing that by shopping for sales, garage sales, passing around items with friends and family, and working at a local specialty fabric store as my mother's day out two days a week for fabric instead of money. Our house reeked of pink with three daughters to dress! I'm not sure who had more fun, the girls or me! I do know that I cherish the memories of all the challenges that accompanied that stage of my life. It doesn't require much for me to be back there in my mind. Just the appearance of a little girl sporting a little pink and I'm there!