5 things I love about living with a 5 year old

Lucy is so fun. It would be easy to make a list 100 items long of things I love. But I am limiting myself to just 5. Number one, gathering around the island for an afternoon snack. Friends are always welcome and she's always bringing them home. (this is Ryder from down the street)

She's built a little reading nest. It's on the bridge to no where, actually one of my favorite spots in the house. From there you have the perfect vantage point, you can see anyone coming in or out, up or down. You can hear what grown ups are talking about downstairs, and it's cozy and small. It reminds me of my own childhood and the summers and holidays we spent at Baba Olya's house. The adults always sat around the table talking talking talking. The kids would be sent to bed, but often we would sneak out and lay on the landing listening. I loved falling asleep to the sounds of chatter and laughter downstairs.

She has a little herd of elephants. They are so cute. Do you see the Queen? She gets to wear a crown :)

Another little herd gathering at the watering hole (my bathroom sink). Littlest pet shop animals are adorable.

Last on today's list: every morning she wakes up at 6 and we read together after Hannah leaves for the bus. It's quiet and we snuggle on the couch for our own little time.

edited for Anna,

A few more

• she wears goggles in the shower to keep the shampoo out of her eyes
• she loves animals and every morning picks up this mangy cat by the bus stop and slings it over her shoulder and walks around with it like a mink stoll
• when she gets on the bus she gives me a wave good-bye with the "I love you" sign
• she can scooter around really fast
• she is fearless
• she dives off the diving board
• and does cannonballs
• she says oatmeal "oit-meal" and it's so cute
• she loves bologna sandwiches
• she loves to help bake and cook
• she sorts socks and folds towels
• when Tatum would cry she would spontaneous break out in song, always singing "all kinds of animals", conditioned like one of Pavlovs dogs
• she loves to scan her own books at the library
• she loves to play playhouse Disney
• she's a fast runner
• a fun photographer
• a jokester
• she wants to be the first person in the family to play lacrosse
• she wants to go to Disney (and so do I!)
• she picks stuff out of the garden with delight
• last night she sat still for scriptures on her dads lap
• when it's time to kneel for prayer she does a running dive and lands on her knees with a thud that makes her laugh and us grimace every time
• she loves to paint
• she's "lergic to shrimp" and is glad because she thinks they are disgusting
• she is tyring to be the first kid in the school to earn a golden apple
• she loves to earn pebbles for being obedient
• she loves the ferris wheel
• she agreed to be a jelly fish for Halloween and I am excited to make the costume
• she has cute little buns and runs around nak*d, which we discourage but secretly think is cute
• when she said the prayer this morning she asked for Sierra to feel better, and more days off of school so E could sleep in (she's very thoughtful)
• when we read the manatee book she uses a cute little accent and says I am a manatee from my face down to my fan-a-tee and wiggles her buns and cups her cheeks in a most amusing way
• she is sassy and spirited
• she smells good and cuddles
• she loves umbrellas and gloves and hats
• she is a fish in the water and a monkey on the playground
• she wants to be like the big girls and copies all they do, including getting a pink stripe in her hair this summer and parading around in heels