What is not to love about these beautiful peonies?

More things I am loving this gorgeous Friday…

* My garden buddy. Specifically hearing “let’s grow these kind of flowers in our yard, Mommy,” (the peonies from above) from the appropriately named Addie Rose.  Or better yet, hearing her plan to sell Daddy on “getting rid of all the grass in the backyard and just making ONE.BIG.GARDEN!” I can’t wait to hear how that little plan plays out. And in a close third place, hearing the girls discuss the properties of an eggplant. “Do you think eggplant is a root plant, Mama?” Em asked me at lunch today. I told her it wasn’t and Addie chimed in with “but it is PURPLE, Emma! Mama! We should grow an eggplant, too, don’t you think?”

* Swim team for everyone. Although it has meant two hours on the bleachers at the pool each afternoon this week, we have had some happy, healthy little girls who have slept like logs.

* Girly girls. I love that my sweet girls not only notice, but stop to admire, my freshly-painted toes.

* Two ballerinas. We have not one, but TWO, ballerinas in the end-of-year recital this weekend, so you can imagine that the excitement level is pretty high around here.

* A Blossoming friendship. They are not perfect and we have had our share of bickering this week, but those two girly, ballerina girls of ours are becoming very sweet friends. I walked them into tennis camp on Monday and after I signed them in and gave last minute goodbyes, I watched them turn around and you could almost see the panic when the both realized they were faced with a whole group of kids they did not know. Almost at the same exact moment. they both reached out and grabbed the others’ hand and walked on the court together. That, my friends, was one of my proudest moments as a mom. If I can continue to cultivate that friendship and help them to see that as long as they have their sister, they always have a best friend, then I think I will have succeeded as a parent of two girls.

* The weekend. It is Friday – the start of a (hopefully) long and fun-filled few days where we get to honor and show our favorite guys how much they mean to us. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads in our life! We love you all.