Ashlie

Ashlie is taking swimming lessons again. She is so close to swimming on her own. It's exciting. She wasn't too sure about her swim teacher being a boy, but she has decided that it's okay.
Ashlie loves to draw. I remember when she was little and just learning how to color, she would spend time coloring every square inch of the paper with crayons. She still spends a lot of time detailing her pictures now that she is older. She often draws pictures with patterns that require a lot of drawing time, like spots on a horse - not just big patches of color but teeny tiny spots - or sometimes she draws a road leading to a castle or something that is made out of tiny little pebbles that she draws individually circle after circle. Sometimes she gets tired halfway through and asks me to help her finish, but most of the time she does it all on her own. Her favorite thing to draw is birds.

Ashlie has a great sense of humor and a laugh that is very contagious. Sometimes she laughs so hard that her face turns red and she is hardly breathing.

Ashlie has an incredible imagination. She loves to pretend she is a horse or a dog. The other day she came out of the bathroom and guess what she was? No, not a Tuareg like I guessed, but a Ninja.
Ashlie is a great big sister to Matthew. She loves taking care of him. One of her favorite things to do is to set up a "Baby Paradise" with blankets, pillows and toys. She even stayed with Matthew while he took a nap in "Baby Paradise".
I love you Ashlie! I love how you make me smile with your jokes and observations of things you think are funny. I love it when you tell me all about the interesting things you read. You love reading about animals. You recently got an animal encyclopedia from the library that you will come and show me different animals that you found interesting. You even like showing me the creepy bug pictures. You and Madelyn will sit and test your bravery by turning a page over to show a tarantula or some creepy looking bug and then scream and turn the page. Then do it again and again. Sometimes you go and get mittens on so you don't have to "touch" the page.
You are someone that loves the outdoors and picking flowers. Every year when the lavender is in bloom in our backyard you frequently pick a bouquet and smell it with deep refreshing breaths. You gather bouquets of flowers all summer long and love to come and tell me when you've spotted a new flower has bloomed in the spring.
I think it is so cool that you sprouted your own apple tree that is growing so well.
You are someone who likes to play with other people, but you value your alone time too. You don't want anybody else but mom when you get hurt. If you get hurt you cry from the depths of your soul and most of the time I don't know if you have a tiny scrape or a broken leg until I see it.
I love getting your frequent notes or drawings with an "I love you Mom" on them. You love to give kisses.

You are such an intelligent, beautiful, amazing daughter! I'm so glad you came to our family.