And they're off!!

We drove out to our lot to see if they had started digging yet, or how big the hole was, and were met with a most lovely surprise!!



Needless to say, everyone was very excited. Seems pretty real now. And somehow quite surreal at the same time.


Everyone got their fill of tractors and dirt hills. The boys wanted to pose everywhere for pictures. :)


In other news, John and Jonathan finished building their erector set motorized car this week and it turned out awesome! We're just all about building lately, it seems. :)

It Starts

Luke is amazing.


He knows all his letters and knows what they say.


When we read books together he points to the words and asks us what it says. He’s almost more interested in the words than in the pictures. Lately he follows along with his finger as we read. He starts at the upper left and goes from left to right, and then back to the left when we start a new line. ... He turned 3 last week.

(I love finding the two of them like this. And I love Ellen's studious look...)


And tonight he really blew me away. We were reading a board book about colors. There was one page with a baby wearing a bow, with two words on the page. He was thinking the word was going to be “bow.” He started with the first letter, “starts with a ‘r’, mom,” and said rrr, then moved his finger along to the e, said “ehhhh,” then moved his finger to the d and finished with the d sound. Then he put it all together (unprompted) and realized it what it said! “It says red!”

But he was upset, because he was expecting to read “bow,” which was the next word. I pointed that out to him, and he was relieved and satisfied. But he had sounded out and read and understood “red” without knowing beforehand what the word would be! He followed along with his little left hand pointer finger for the rest of the book too, pointing to the letters as we got to them in the words.



This is what comes of having an older brother in kindergarten. Letters and reading are all the rage, and Luke can’t help but pick up on some of it. Amazing.


Right before hair cuts, clearly. But as a side note, it's a cryin' shame that the girl has the shortest hair of the whole bunch. She could take a lesson or two herself from her older brothers. :)

Kid Compliments

Today at lunch Ellen was being darling as usual, and Seth said, "Ellen is the coolest girl in the whole world..." Then he looked at me, and smiling added with special emphasis, "Including You, mom."


...I'm assuming he meant to say, "except for you" and I'm taking it as a compliment. I love when kids' compliments get turned around like this. You just have to smile and say thanks, and try not to laugh. :) Like when our boys have said, "Mom, this dinner is actually really good!" And you just have to realize that they're still figuring out the details of this language of ours, (specifically, when and when not to use the word "actually.") It's charming, really.


Seth on a day at school where he got to be "King" and lead the class. He's eating up kindergarten. Elementary school rocked, didn't it! :)

And PS, yes, that first picture is proof of why you all get so many prank calls from our house... You'd think I'd have snatched it away instead of standing there taking a picture, but with Seth being so sweet with her like that, I couldn't resist.

The Power of Perspective and Attitude :)

As I was buckling Luke into the van today he said happily, “Thanks Mom, thanks for getting me stuck.”

We love that boy. :)

Two's company

I put Luke in the bath, and came back a second later to see this:


I laughed and laughed. Luke was distressed - not that she had joined him, but that her clothes were all wet.


But Ellen was thoroughly pleased. :)

The latest

Now that all the house plans are final and I have free time again, I've pulled out the ol' oil paints again. Tonight I worked on something I started a few months ago. It's coming along.



The smell of the paint is heaven. :)