Kassie

Recently I was enjoying my good friend Erin's blog, and loving the way she cherishes her children through words. I realized that my kids need to be able to look back and read about all their wonderful qualities that bring us so much joy. So today, I'm celebrating our only daughter: Kassie.  (The boys will follow in the days to come) I spent today thinking about just her and what I adore about her... the items flowed quite easily...here's a short list, in no particular order.

I LOVE how Kassie ~

1. has THE greatest, most contagious laugh in the whole world. It's like she's sucking helium and running 100 mph - just crazy, uncontrollable, and we all crack up laughing too when she does it.

2. enjoys her lego friends: here she is, giving me a tour of her VERY carefully-placed pieces:

3. dearly misses sprinkled and glazed donuts from America. We indulged her in the London airport where they had a Krispy Kreme - - she's still talking about the joy that brought her. (I echo her feelings on this one -- I could've eaten 2 dozen and still wanted more)

4. loves to read 'The Friend' magazine when it comes. She takes it to her bunkbed, puts her feet up on the wall, and just reads it.

5. is a creative artist: I scanned her recent, priceless work --

6. enjoys roller blading - she puts them on after lunch everyday and rides around at the bus-stop for 20 minutes before her bus picks her up.

7. loves watching Avatar cartoons and playing on Poptropica.com with Stephen.

8. is a FREE SPIRIT. One morning when I was watching her walk to the bus stop from our balcony, she started to soar like an airplane - not performing, just SAVORING her morning. When I told her how much I enjoyed it, she has made it a daily ritual:

9. let's everything roll off of her - she is a non-stresser... a wonderful example to all of us.

10. is goofy - here she is in our Zermatt hotel getting the static to hold the balloon to the side of her head. She did this for about 20 minutes straight without ever tiring...

11. delights in doing her art projects at school, then coming home to tell us about them, or bring them home. She's so proud.

12. loves to chase and scare the boys on her bus. (We probably only have a small window of time where she'll be enjoying that particular activity... I just laugh when I watch the boys scream when she comes up behind them)

13. can't wait to hear me read bedtime stories to them all.

14. is fair and just. She always wants her brothers to get the same treatment as she does - whether it's merits or demerits, or privileges or consequences.

15. tried (and completed) a 1-hour Zumba class, even though 15 minutes into it, she came out to me in tears and said 'mom, this is NOT for me', then went right back in and continued doing it:

16. lives for all animals: dogs, cats, and parrots especially. She and her brothers are over-the-top excited about their Pomeranian puppy they'll be getting upon our return to the states.

17. savors her new favorite Swiss meal: Spaghetti Carbonara (it comes in easy-to-fix bags... great table gifts...)  8-)

18. will sleep only on her mid-level bunk bed. Stephen's top bunk is too frightfully high for her, and Kenny's lower bunk mortifies her because she's afraid Stephen's bunk is going to fall on her. So she loves hers off to the side.

19. learns and remembers moral lessons. She came home from school one day and talked about how a girl was being mean to some other girls, and she explained the Golden Rule to her, about doing to others as you would have others do to you. So cute.
20. loves to have me put lotion on the 3 kids' hands after they fall asleep, then write down the funny things they say in their sleep. That's always entertaining.
21. sings: both publicly, and even more, at home. Her little French songs she learns at school are priceless and melt my heart.
22. is so easy-going. She often likes to sleep in her daytime clothes so she can get up the next morning and be dressed.
23. engages in Spy Training with Kenny. It's one of the funniest things EVER - I'll find them crouched in a corner coloring spy nametags or practicing their covert moves. And Kenny follows her every instruction.

The list goes on and on. I feel so blessed and privileged that God sent her to me. I've told my kids that I bet in heaven I had to fight other parents off so I could get them as my kids -- I bet others wanted them too... they're just GOOD.