2 Years 1 Month Home!

Ok, 2 Years, 1 Month. *deep breath*

Adam. Doing great with school. Is always the first one done, and with a super attitude. "Pleasure to have in class." Helpful, kind, etc., just as always.

He's been playing in the water again. This boy sure likes his water! lol! This last month he's trashed not only his church shoes, but also his play shoes because of running through giant mud puddles. Adam needs to remember to take those shoesies OFF! lol! Ok, the mud puddles are rather normal for a boy to play in. He's also been playing in the shower though. The other day the water was running in the bathtub *forever*, and I had assumed he was going to take a bath instead of a shower. Ok, no biggie. Until I heard the shower start to run too. And it ran, and ran, and ran. I had to wake up John to go investigate. All that time the water had been running, Adam had been playing a game. "Let's see if I can take a shower only on the BACK side of myself without getting the FRONT side of myself wet." Who knows why he had needed water in the tub for that, but evidently that was part of the fun. So, after all that time in the water, he STILL needed to go back in to get himself clean!

This month we've had the chance to visit two different homes for family gatherings. Lotsa food laying around, etc. He's a food stalker. Even though there was food *everywhere* he still had to find candy that was tucked away. The first home was my brother's, and I didn't blink because the candy dish was set out on the diningroom table and it was "expected" that the kids would have some. But the second place we went, Adam scoped through the kitchen and other parts of the house looking for candy. He found gum and asked for it, but I happened to catch him stuffing suckers in his pocket that had been "put away" and not out for public consumption. He doesn't get to stuff his pockets with candy here at home, and while he pretty much left the actual FOOD alone and didn't gorge himself, etc., the candy was a different story. That was snuck. I suppose I should be relieved that he's no longer sneaking "regular" food and eating too much of that. He knows he can get "food, food" at home, so didn't worry about that. But candy we're not so big on over here, so he was in line for a second icecream cone, handfuls of m&m's, sneaking suckers, etc. I'm certainly not going to START being big on candy at home just so he'll leave the neighbor's alone. I had really thought this wasn't "that big of a deal" to him any more until this last visit with family. Obviously it still is. Whenever he finds treats from others, they are instantly better providers than we are and they've won him with one little piece of gum. Unfortunately at the same time, we've slipped a few pegs. It's hard.

We also found an electronic "noise-making" piece of a toy in his pocket on the way out. He doesn't have a lot of noise-making toys. (A baby lives at this house, so there were bajillions there). So, he not only broke it, but he extracted the part he liked and stole it.

Kinda reminds me of the dolls the girls had when they first came home. They had voice-boxes inside of them so that when you squeezed them, they said, "Mama! Papa!" Adam stole those too, and one of them he took with us to a concert and OF COURSE the thing had to malfunction and not stop saying, "Mama! Papa!" during the quietest part of the concert. I wound up sitting on it trying to shut it up. (Anyone remember that story?)

Well, anyway, it's been a one step forward, two steps back kind of a month for him. Those hands are impulsive, and they get him in trouble. Unfortunately, they often get him in Big trouble.

Liana is reading better and better all the time. She is weeks ahead in our curriculum for reading. She's in Week 26, for her readers. She has to read out loud though, as do the other two. Silent reading turns into a day-dreaming session where she/they think about what everyone else is doing, what the pictures look like, etc. She's been reading to the little neighbor girl that often comes over during the week. She LOVES playing mom, you know! She used to read to Leks, but now that she's reading on her own, Leks doesn't have patience for it and wants to read on her own. I've been meaning to go shopping for a children's cookbook for Liana. She's been really showing an interest in cooking/baking, and I *KNOW* she's get a giant kick out of having her own recipe book, especially now that she's reading so well. I used to have a Betty Crocker recipe book for kids; I don't know if they sell it anymore, but I'd sure love to get my hands on one like it! (Anyone know what I'm talking about that might know the answer to that?)

Liana just got her hair cut. It's a short bob now, and I LOVE it, even though it aged her a few years. I've been wanting her to let me lop it off that short for a long time now, and when she finally said, "OK," I got the scissors out the same day before she could change her mind.

Aleksa has just been herself. I honestly can't think of anything "new" this month for her, except she got a haircut like her sister's. Not sure if I like hers as well as I like her Liana's, but she likes it though, and that's what counts. We've been working really hard at teaching her diligence. She tends to take the easy way out of things. Like instead of putting a pile of books back on the bookshelf, she'll just flop them on the floor next to it. The daily routine has helped her a lot... I've been trying to think up other ways to teach her that it is important to take care of her stuff, and the house in general, but well, she's six. ;O) Those things just ain't important yet! Speaking of the word "ain't!" I have an Aleksa story... We were reading "Ginger Pye" the other day and she stopped me and said, "Mama, what does 'ain't' mean?" I told her it meant "isn't." She laughed and said that was a funny word. I was amazed that she didn't know it! (And I secretly was very relieved that she didn't know it what it was; I must be speaking right at least some of the time!) *whew*

Speaking of books; we have a new all-time favorite around here. We finished "Red Sails to Capri" a few weeks ago. Absolutely the best read-aloud we've ever done. Plus, I got to practice an Italian accent. It was so good that even John sat in for it, and when we finally finished the last page, John and I made a mad dash for the computer to do a Google search about what the big mystery was at the end. Talk about COOL. Capri is now on my list of places to visit before I die. We all are dying to go there after reading that book. If anyone out there likes to read to their 6-12yo kids, this is one to snag from the library.

Other than the above, the month has been busy and fun. Fall is definitely here, and it's starting to be the type of weather that makes me Love to be in the kitchen. From now til the end of the year, I love to be baking and cooking. Summertime isn't my favorite time to be in the kitchen, but I do love a cool autumn day with bread or pie in the oven or a hot soup on the stove. Fun days ahead!