A Little Different

Recently several people have commented to me on what a big height difference there is between Keagan and Riley. They are both growing in so many ways but yes more then ever they do not look like twins. Like they have for years, strangers argue with me that they are not really twins. And the comments from those we know have been how sad the difference is. But I don’t look at it that way. Keagan and Riley are very different little people and that’s a beautiful thing. They have different personalities, strengths, gifts, ways they love, ways the learn, and things to teach me as their mom. I wouldn’t want them to be the same, how boring. They both bring very different things to this world and the world definitely needs them both!

My Riley bug is one strong chicka who constantly teaches me with her silent example! Seriously that smile is unmatched! So why not celebrate it? You know your kid has FANTASTIC teachers when you get texts like these in the middle of the day celebrating that smile and more! 

That was a different day from when Riley dressed up as Christopher Columbus looking for land and when she was excited for her root beer float in her states of matter lesson. I mean could it get any better? But it would DEFINITELY be better if she would wear something besides her baseball shirt everyday!! Oh the tantrums when that shirt has to be washed!! She has more tantrums over what she wants to wear then any kid on earth! I could definitely do without those. But man her hugs and cuddles lately make me forget all about that! 

Fortunately, those weren’t pictures of the day that Riley was VERY naughty at school. She refused to do her work or get in her desk and then almost knocked a computer off the desk in protest! Then Miss independent wouldn’t apologize to all of her teachers when I asked her to at the end of the day! Momma was NOT happy and Riley had quite the lecture, a time out, lost her iPad time and had to write an apology note. That face! I wonder where she gets that stubbornness from. The thing is it has served her well in the past.

Keagan is just as stubborn (seriously I wonder where they get that) but there are definitely no bad day reports from her teachers. She is rocking those spelling test with perfect scores and trying to start tackling the dreaded times tables! We are working hard on reading every night and her dyslexia training is going great! She had one hard day when she forgot to get her reading log signed and didn’t get to go to the Friday dance party. But she sure learned her lesson after that! 

She is SO happy that tennis started back up! This year it is a team of 8 of them and she is very excited for Saturday matches coming up. She is such a rockstar and I absolutely love getting to see her do her thing! Recently there was some recess drama and Keagan was not at all interested in being in a cool kids club and just wanted to play and have fun. This made me SO happy to see her strength and man I pray daily that she knows her divine worth! She is so ready to grow up, unfortunately as I want her to stay little as long as possible! She even wants to pump gas for our new car, which she loves almost as much as I do. I do love when the children earn their keep! But later I found out it was illegal. Oops. 

The Keags cracks me up so often with her witty nature! We had a little issue this past weekend when I actually had Nana babysit (first babysitter since July) and went out with friends for Taryn’s birthday. She really missed me and texted me 37 times to let me know! As a consequence to that and some other things she had to clean out the fridge on Sunday. It really wasn’t that bad but she was terribly afraid of the smell. Once she duct taped her shirt over her nose she did it willingly! Hilarious! 

I got another break Friday night when the girls were thrilled to go to rEcess at Faithbridge which is kind of a 2 hour VBS for special needs kids and their siblings. They had an absolute blast with Mrs Missy! 

Although so different, the three Kikuchi girls are united in so many ways. We are united in our faith, our strength, our laughter and the crazy of life. And man is it crazy! 

So far though I feel like I have done much better to not over schedule as much as I did last year! But of course the girls insist on doing Friday morning running club. And we also had a really great experience at the See You at the Pole event to pray for our school and community. PS it was also hat day which will explain the picture. 

Listen, all that crazy can sure wear us out! Riley even fell asleep during a relaxing occupational  therapy visit with Mrs Wiltse last week! And despite arguments that she is not tired, Keagan sometimes falls asleep while I am trying to get Riley in bed. I’m crazy enough to have given in to quite a routine to get both girls to sleep. After scriptures and prayer I lay down with Riley in Nanas bed when she asks me to watch one video on my phone but she means more like five. Then I have to give her kisses and play with her ears before she will doze off. Keagan is much more simple needing her back scratched but still. Sometimes I wonder if we will still be doing this crazy when they are 17!

With all that being said, it was REALLY great to have a break from that crazy at General Conference last weekend to hear the word of God! Besides their regular General Conference packets this time I set up a store the girls could earn money for by listening and repeating something they learned to buy things. It worked great! Miss Keagan even took great notes! 

As I’ve stated 734 million times on this blog, what an incredible blessing it is to be these amazing little people’s Mom!! And thank heavens they are just a little different.