what they're doing

At this point I have more picture to share than I could shake the proverbial stick at. So what you see is shots taken from over the last month, during which time we had Easter, Eggstravaganza (Andy in the dunk tank), Caroline's birthday, a visit from Ya Ya (Andy's mom), a visit from Grampa (my dad), an unexpected visit from the Olliffs, a visit to SunSplash (a local waterpark), and a visit to the beach. Plus MOPS, homeschooling, and whatever else it is that we do around here! Yesterday was kind of a funny day here and I thought I'd give you a snapshot of each child:



Elanor: She has learned to climb the rope ladder into the treehouse and does not wait for an adult to spot her. I was taking out the trash and looked in the backyard from by the driveway, only to discover her up on the platform. As I ran through the house to get out there, Caroline intercepted me to warn me of impending doom. I got to the platform just in time to catch the leaping not quite two year old.


Caroline: Her hair has finally reached the point where it's mostly all one length. She and I have had to learn about ponytail holders and things like that to keep the hair out of her face, but nothing stays for long. Caroline's new thing has been chewing on her hair. It's been driving me crazy, so as of last night, she has bangs.


Michael: He is really reading, but he hates to admit that he can read to himself. If the adults present are all otherwise occupied, he generally finds a book and sits on the couch, looking through it (often with his mouth moving). I gave him a diagnostic spelling test this week and he tested at a mid-second grade level. I don't think standards are all that high, but I will say that he is doing really well with his spelling. And the mistakes he made were smart mistakes. At lunch yesterday, he popped out with the following comment (which is only moderately paraphrased due to memory; he was actually even more eloquent than this): "Mommy, I don't want to be cast into the darkness forever on the last day. I want to be in the light, with God. So I'm going to live my life so that I won't be in the darkness." Bless the child--we are not even sure where he may have picked that up.

In other news, I'll invite you to visit my friend Phoebe, who is currently in Uganda working on a really exciting project. The link is for her blog.