A Summer Update

I told myself that I was going to do better blogging, but it hasn't happened yet. So, here is a rundown of where we are right now. Starting with Rachel-

Rachel is growing oh-so-fast. She can really get around when she wants to. Her legs may be little, but she has got this walking thing down pretty good. She loves being outside and anytime anyone goes outside she thinks she should be with them. She is also getting quite a vocabulary. Lately her favorite words are "no", "mine", and "food". She tells us she wants "food" when she is hungry. I think she must be going through a growth spurt because it seems like she is always hungry. Next comes Michael-

Michael has finally decided to be potty trained!!! Yeah!!! I'm really happy about this, can you tell. He has told me for the longest time that he did not want to wear big boy underwear, he wanted diapers. Well, this summer we have had some friends come over to play with us and one of them is a slightly older boy and Michael just adores playing with is friend. Well, his friend wears underwear and has helped Michael learn to pee like a big boy. He is so independent about it all, too. The first couple of days when he would have an accident he would go into his room and change himself. The only reason I'd know he had an accident is because he would be wearing different pants. He still takes care of it all himself. On the one hand, it's really nice to have him so independent, but on the other hand, since he doesn't tell me it's hard to get him in the habit of things like wiping and hand washing. We are working on it, though. After Michael is Lindsey-

Lindsey will tell you she is now a Kindergartner. She went to Pre-Kindergarten days in May and now she is all ready for school. It has been fun seeing her grow up and get her own identity. She is so stinking smart. When we read together we will point out words and have her learn them. Right now she says "I" and "a" and "the". Next will probably be "and". She is also already doing all kinds of math problems. Taylor brought her math book home and so Lindsey wants to do math also. "Mom, what is 3+5?" "Well, here are 3 fingers and here are 5, so how many do you have?" "Eight!" So now, on to Taylor-

Taylor finished first grade and her teacher decided to advance her to second, so she is now a second grader. Seriously, who told these kids they could grow up? Taylor loves reading and when she has nothing else to do, or nothing that she wants to do, we often find her curled up with a book. We had to make a rule that there were to be no books read at the dinner table while we were eating. She won't go to bed until it is dark because even though we send her to bed, she has a book in her room and often is reading it instead of sleeping. I remember getting grounded from books as a child because I wouldn't do my chores, I can see something similar happening with Taylor. I guess we need to work on there is a time for reading and a time for working.

The three older kids have loved the few nicer days that we have had. They have built themselves "houses" in Terabithia. They've used old tarps, scrap wood, and pieces of styrofoam and actually, it looks pretty good. They will go out there and play for hours. Their friends have also helped out and I love that they are out in the sunshine having a good time and using up lots of energy. It is wonderful to live out here with all of this to help foster their imaginations.