This week’s list of things my daughters did that made me smile.

M.: Her class has been busy sending Flat Stanleys all over the place this year. Among other places, they exchanged them with children at a school in Derby, UK. Her friend there returned a package last week that was loaded with cool stuff. British coins, postcards from the Derby area, a sticker of the local soccer team, some Royal Wedding stickers, a British flag, and some plain, universal, girlie stickers.

The best part, though, was that M.’s friend in the UK sent her home address and said she wanted to be pen pals. M. doesn’t really know what a pen pal is, but was excited at the chance to keep sending letters to her friend. On the ride home that day, she planned out all the things she could send back in her next reply. She claimed, in wonder, that she was the only one in her class whose UK friend wanted to be pen pals. And she realized that one day she might go to England and meet her friend! She was giddy. It was quite cute to watch.

C.: The five-year-old is beginning to put all the pieces from her first year of kindergarten together. She’s sounding out unfamiliar words. She’s working through books. And she’s writing down whatever is on her mind. Every couple of days we’ll find a pile of papers with drawings and notes on them. Last week I found a stack that listed her favorite things of the moment.

I luv skul.
I luv ester.
I luv my famile.

I love how these little notes reveal a kid’s character. Way back on President’s Day, her class had to write down what they would do if they were president. Her response was Help people who aren’t as lucky as me. Seriously, from a five-year-old!

L: L. was the best two-year-old ever. She was pleasant, rarely talked back or threw tantrums, and just wanted to snuggle. She’s been developing a bit of an attitude lately, which is disappointing.

On the fun side, she’s also in the ‘repeating things she’s heard’ phase. The other night S. got home from running some errands and when she opened the door, L. was there to greet her by saying, Why do I have to deal with this? Not sure what she was so exasperated about.

One evening the girls came running up from the basement with the news our decorative tree thing had a bent limb. L. marched to the middle of the room, put her finger in the air, and said, I know who da cuwpwit is!

Those are just two that I remember. She busts out about two or three of them a day that break us up.