Group Hug

Our Lincoln is very social and affectionate!  Every night before bed he walks around with his Father and says g'night to everyone.  He waves bye bye and heads up the stairs.  Lately he's been shaking up his routine and throwing in some great Lincoln hugs.  So, naturally, I insist that his siblings indulge him and give extra bear hugs... because I say you can never have too many hugs... and, of course, because I wanted to grab my camera!  :)

Review: Song School Spanish

I keep meaning to introduce some foreign language studies into our curriculum, and this past month I finally had the chance to get serious about that goal!  The kids and I have been trying  out Song School Spanish, by Classical Academic Press.

Song School Spanish is a very gentle introduction to the Spanish language, designed for the K-2 grade age range.  As implied in the title, there is a musical component to the program to make it more fun, and hopefully memorable, for the tikes  There is both a student and teacher's manual available as well as an additional card game you can purchase for more practice and reinforcement of the words learned.

How does the program work?  The book is divided out into 30 chapters and they are intended to be completed weekly.  On the first day of the week we pull out our book and look at the new vocabulary words of the week, and read the short lesson of the week.  We also listen to the new songs of the week while we follow along in the book to learn the words!  On Wednesday we pull our book back out and do a work page while we listen to the songs, and sometimes an activity too (there are puppet shows, stories, connect the dots, flash cards, and more).  Lastly, on Friday, we listen to our songs again (sometimes with crazy dancing from at least one or two of the children) and we fill out the "Show What You Know" quiz at the back of the chapter.

What I Like:

• The program is designed specifically for young children!  It is hard to find good language programs aimed at this particular crowd.  I know because I'm always looking, and I find it odd since research has shown, time and time again, that foreign languages introduced at a young age do marvelous things for young brains.  Song School Spanish strikes a nice balance with their tone - it's not too cutesy, but it's still fun enough to easily interest the five year olds.
• The songs!  Once in a while I catch my oldest humming them which must mean some of the material is really being internalized, right?!  :)
• The additional mp3 pronunciation guide available.  Learning how to pronounce the letters of a new language correctly is tricky stuff, and I need all the help I can get.
• The worksheets!  They are just the right length, and a mixture of fun (draw a picture of your teacher, for example) paired with practice.

Other Thoughts:

• I think this program would be slightly harder to implement if I only had one child using it.  Many of the activities call for interaction involving multiple kids.  Not an issue for me, but it might be for others.
• The scope of this program is rather limited - 100 words.  Along the way you do learn quite a bit about the Spanish language though - so if you keep in mind that this program is intended as a fun introduction to the language and not so much a serious study of it?  You will be happy with it!

In summary - we liked it!  I never had to cajole TOO much to get the kids to the table for Spanish time, and that is a strong point in favor of the curriculum.  I am looking forward to continuing with the program, and to also trying out Classical Academic Press's Song School Latin!  This program is a great first introduction to a language and is an "open and go" type of curriculum which I love.

Interested?  The student's textbook is $24.95, and the teacher's edition is the same price.  The teacher's edition is basically the same as the textbook with one exception.  The front of the book is the same as the student's textbook but with the answers to the questions from the worksheets filled out.  However, in the back of the book there are a number of great supplemental worksheets (40) and resources.  Can you do the program without it?  Yes, it's pretty basic and I don't think you need the answer key to grade your child's worksheets.  But if you're an overachiever (just kidding!) you will probably really enjoy the extra resources in the back of the teacher's edition.  The Spanish Amigo Match card game is $26.95, it's a fun supplement you can use to play Memory/Go Fish/Old Maid and practice your Spanish words from the textbook.  I'm considering purchasing it because I can't resist supplements.  You can get a bundle with all three products for $66.95.

Want to see what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought about the product?


**** I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Jake and Baby Brother

Jake has a very affectionate soul.  Very affectionate and passionate... (Which is great when it's good, but bad when it's horrid... !!) One of the things Jake is passionate about is his baby brother Evan.  He thinks Evan is just the greatest little guy around.  I like his devotion, although I to try to remind him it shouldn't be TOO single minded!  :)  

Sunday Snapshots

Today, while sitting at church, I noticed that Bentley's hair was getting awfully long.  And then I remembered that a few weeks ago he requested a haircut, and specifically told me that he wanted the hair on the side of his face (sideburns?! LOL) GONE, as he told me "it does not look good."  I,  of course, promptly forgot his request.  Until today.  So after getting home from church (and making stew, brownies, and bread)... we got to work.

Lincoln hopped right up onto the chair and wanted to go first.  Who I am to say no to that type of eagerness, even in the face of my semi-competance?!  So here are 5 children and 5 pictures from our Sunday afternoon.

Viva, no hair cut, but she needs one.

Bentley in shorts because he forgot to do his laundry before Sunday... :)

Jake working hard on some type of Star Wars Lego ship.

Happy baby!  He did not get a haircut.

Napping Lincoln.  He consented to taking a nap in Grandma's bed.  In the war on naps he is definitely still winning.

Saturday Lego Session

Jake, Bentley and I (Mark) took time to build some Lego kits that have been sitting in the closet inventory for the past several months. We all picked a different type of vehicle. Bentley chose the motorcycle, Jake picked an airplane and I got the four-wheeler. Partway through the construction it became a contest to see who would finish first, but I attempted to discourage this as not everyone builds at the same speed and we all had different numbers and types of pieces. I also felt at a disadvantage as I was asked to help Jake find small parts or to help Bentley rearrange some of the pieces that were a little tricky going together. I had my own challenges and had to rebuild some stages but I didn't get any assistance from the boys, they were too busy trying to beat me. In the end we all had a great time creating our orange themed vehicles!

No More Naps!

Last week Lincoln launched a no more naps campaign. He's only nineteen months old today, so this campaign did not go over well with his mother or me. We were both surprised that he wanted to give up his naptime. Until the day he refused to nap, he loved his naps. When we asked if he wanted a naptime bottle, he raced over to get it and he was then eager to hit the stairs and find his bed. Then last Tuesday he decided he wouldn't nap any more. He refused to go down for his nap. We left him in the his room shrieking. He did a repeat on Wednesday. Kara and I were out of town the next three days and the men folk only got him to take one nap. Monday and Tuesday of this week he stayed his course of disobedience. Wednesday I brought him into my room and let him nap on my bed with me. That's not really a good solution, so yesterday we were back to being hard-nosed. He howled for a while, he held his breath, he protested some more, and then suddenly it was quiet on the monitor. He conked out! Have we cracked him? I sure hope so. Neither Kara or I am ready for him to give up naps. We need that down time in the afternoon. We've been looking forward to the time when we can perfectly coordinate Lincoln and Evan's naptimes. Bentley took naps until he was four and was willing to have a quiet time until he was five. Viva wasn't a great napper, but she was willing to stay in her bed and entertain herself. Lincoln's problem is that he's pretty sure some fun activities go on while he's napping. His older siblings are having fun while he naps. That's just the way it is. Go to sleep Lincoln!

Valentine's Day

I am not entirely on top of things in a "we're ready BEFOREhand kind of way," but... nonetheless, we did our best to add some Valentine's Day cheer into our day!  Despite the fact the Genevieve kept insisting, all day, that Valentine's Day is soon... not today, but some time else, some time else soon.  She wouldn't hear otherwise from us.

We started the day with cake.

Wait, back up.  I actually started my day with this cutie at 1 am:

He watches TV with Grandma in the evenings and then on her way to bed she leaves him on the couch for me.  He's SO cute! 

 Bake to the cake we had for breakfast.  It was a bundt cake.  Shaped like a heart, of course:

Pound cake was the flavor the day and it was a hit with all.  It was a particularly huge hit with Lincoln and I found that quite gratifying - he's not much for brownies and cookies and most of what I normally bake, which I find slightly odd and disturbing.  

Next we got busy and did some schoolwork.  No rest for young children, that's my motto!

After not too long it was lunch time.  In keeping with the sugary theme of this holiday we made some heart shaped cookies.

Evan wasn't quite sure what to do with his...

I helped him eat it.  Since his lack of teeth present difficulty for him.  Bentley, Jake, and Viva ate their cookies.  And some apples and snap peas, since I had to pretend we were having a healthy lunch!  Lincoln, as mentioned, is not a huge fan of cookies.  He declined his treat.

Next up we got to work on a Valentine's Day craft:

No picture of Lincoln cutting, but he certainly did offer.

I saw a fabric garland made out of cute little hearts on Pinterest.  Grandma obligingly picked us up some cute fabrics and interfacing, to make them stiffer, at the store today.  So I told my little workers to get busy.  And it was amazing!  They cut so fast!  It was like having my own little shop of elves to work for me... I had visions (brief) of being able to open an Etsy shop and use the children as free manual labor.  But, alas, they wanted to quit eventually.  So I had to let them.  To be fair, we did cut out 135 hearts!  Genevieve is the speediest with the scissors, but her brothers aren't bad either.  :)  Now I just have to go sew all the hearts together into our 20 foot garland... and figure out where to put it.  I told the kids the entire month of February can be the month of love, why limit ourselves to just one day.

Right?!

Off I go to sew.  We hope you had a great Valentine's Day too!

P.S. One other Valentine activity that the children did was they worked on some Magic Scratch valentines that Grandma Vicki sent. Lincoln totally enjoyed this activity. (I'm sure we should not have given a pointed wooden stick to a nineteen month old, but we did.)

Review: Flowering Baby

Last month I was given access to a product, entitled Flowering Baby, to review.  Flowering Baby is a "curriculum" in the form of a book for babies on up to 5 year old children.  It covers physical/motor development, music, math, art, science, reading, and more.  It is a great whole child program!  I spent most of my time with the product using the Flowering Baby One to Two Years book.  According to the authors, one of the main "things" children this age are engaged in is voraciously picking up new words and expanding their vocabulary - so a lot of the focus for the year is on words, and how to label and identify everything around us.

The curriculum was put together by a mother and her mother, and does a great job of showing how you can easily provide a "preschool" experience for your little ones with materials and supplies you have around the house.  What is the goal of this preschool experience?  To develop your child, and help them "flower" and grow (thus the name).

What does the program look like?  At the front of the book is a list of supplies (most of which you probably have), and then a list of books and CDs that you will need.  Books can be substituted if you can't find these particular ones at your library, and I believe the same is true for the CDs - you can substitute for something similar if you want to!  I was pleasantly surprised that I already had many of the suggested books and most of the music.  :)

For my 18 month old the curriculum involved a short (~10 minute) activity daily.  One day we sorted laundry together, listened to music, and read a short book.  Another day we practiced standing on one foot, and then sang a song and read a book!  For older children (ages 3+) it includes 10-15 activities you do in a month on the curriculum side (these take 30-45 minutes), and then also a selection of themes that you select every month to learn more about - (pets, flowers, space...).

What I Enjoyed:

• How extremely easy this is to implement.  It does not require great amounts of prep time, and the daily "lessons" use items that are already around the house.
• The extra "kick" of encouragement to spend some time with my little one that the Flowering Baby program provides.
• All the little tips and tidbits in the books that I think will help me be a better teacher.  For example - did you know that some research suggests that some time windows are better for learning during the day than others? 
• The engaging and approachable tone in which the material is written.  

This would be particularly great for you if you are unsure of what to do with your little one, and want to be sure that you are at least doing something.  The something that it will provide you to do is put together in a well ordered plan and will help you feel comfortable you're covering all your bases with your baby/toddlers development!  

I myself (as a fifth time parent now!) am a little more laid back and I don't worry too much about curriculum for my little people.  I know that between the hustle and the bustle of the day and all the siblings and their activities my littlest are absorbing tons!  That being said, this is easy enough to implement (and fun!) that I will probably continue to refer to it for extra ideas and activities to engage my toddlers.    I know that this is not the main purpose it is intended for - which is as a sequential program which builds on itself - but it is probably how I will use it going forward.  I will try to use it daily, but it is a very gentle approach and I won't stress if I miss some days.  I think that the curriculum for the 3+ ages is more involved - it will be a fun resource when I have children that age again, and I look forward to trying those levels of the program.

Each of the age books range in cost from $30-$38 for a book sent on CD, or you can purchase all five of them at once for $132.  Flowering Baby is currently offering a 10% discount on products, you can use code Blog10 at checkout to receive it.

There are samples available, at the Flowering Baby website, which give a great little look into what the program is and how it is written up.  Click on the tab for the age range you are interested in, at the top, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the samples.  Click here to check out the samples for the 1-2 year curriculum.

Want to read more opinions, or learn more about some of the other levels available?  Check out the This Old Schoolhouse reviews of Flowering Baby.

**** I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Belated Birthday Fun

Bentley was an awfully good sport about the lack of festivities surrounding his birthday, due to all the flu bugs circulating in our home.  I promised him a make-up day and on Tuesday we got busy.

I offered him a choice - the bouncy house, ice skating, or bowling.  He picked the bouncy house but told me I should find time to pencil in bowling since we don't do that very often.  I'm pretty sure that means he picked two things?? :)

We headed off to the bouncy house at lunch time - all of us except for Evan, who can't even crawl.  Poor kid!

I didn't manage to snap a picture of him, but Daddy was there too.  The bouncy house is close to his work so he was able to come join us for about an hour.

After two hours Lincoln and I had reached our fun limit, although I'm sure the older kids would have been willing to stay for another two.  We headed home, and stopped for some super healthy McDonald's on the way.

Later in the evening we set up our fort in the family room, and settled in for a Stars Wars Episodes 4, 5 and 6 marathon.  We only made it through Episode 4 and 1/2 of 5 on Tuesday though - we're working on 5 and 6 and should have them done by Friday!  The movies were, of course, accompanied by popcorn with lots of butter and other yummy treats.

Here's a super attractive picture of the kids watching their movie:

We let Lincoln watch part of it, but then he was sent to bed.  Which he protested - it isn't easy being the younger sibling!

Bentley declared his birthday bash a success and Jake & Viva say they can't wait for him to turn 8.  :)

I Smile!

A smile, from Evan.  Eyes closed?  Still gorgeous!  I conjecture that he is saying... "that flash is bright!!!".  :)

Evan smiles all the time.  He smiles in the morning.  He smiles in the afternoon.  He smiles in the evening.  He smiles right after screaming, as soon as you pick him up.  He smiles when you talk to him, sit next to him, play with him... he even smiles at his toys once in a while!  When he's not angry (which does happen on occasion...) he is a very happy baby!

Quilting Fun

Upon returning home from my Thur-Sun quilt treat with Grandma, I was quite pleased to find I still had  five children!

Not that I was really worried about the level of care that would be provided, Matt is quite competent - and it certainly doesn't hurt, in the least, that he had Opa, Great-Grandma, and Grandma Karen to help too!  

We had a great time on our trip.  We were hanging out with 20 some other quilt minded women, in a great big lodge.  All our meals (and treats) were provided, and all we had to do was quilt quit quilt!

I finished Evan's baby quilt, finished the border on a huge quilt I started ages ago, and I got to play with my friend's serger and make some lovely skull fleece pajama pants for the boys.  My Mom worked on a quilt she's been wanting to get made for quite some time.  I'm so glad we went!  Despite the lack of rest at the retreat (we stayed up ALL night on Saturday), it was a wonderful time and I'm hoping that I might get to go back in the fall.  I'll have to start talking it up to the husband.  :)

Stuffed Animals

If you live with small children and do not take corrective measures, stuffed animals will take over your home. With five children in the house, the number of stuffed animals grows monthly. I haven't done a head count, but I would estimate that we have between sixty and eighty stuffed animals. Maybe more. Lots of them are small. We have two quite large ones: Tigger and a huge stuffed bear. We have many bears, monkeys, cats, dogs, and bunnies. We have a llama, an elephant, two storks, a giraffe, a dragon, a hippo, a mouse, three+ moose, a turtle, a lobster, a whale, a fox, a squirrel, a cow, a frog, and...lots more! 

The children like to sneak them into their beds, but ten animals lost in the bed sheets and blankets make it hard to make the bed in the morning, so Kara put a three animal limit per bed. We have to reiterate the rule every so often. I displayed some of the animals on a small book shelf in the library. Kara stuffed some in a tote in the closet. I piled a few on top of a bookshelf in the children's room. Still we had more. Then Kara found bean bags that you stuff with your stuffed animal collection. I think they are a little weird, but Kara and the kidlets like them.

Lincoln likes to zip and unzip the bag.

Bentley likes to use them to jump on. 

Gorgeous in Green

Daddy's in Charge

Starting at 1PM today Matt is taking over full responsibility for all five of the children. Kara and I are leaving town for a three day quilt retreat. Kara arranged this treat for me as a Christmas gift. We were both excited to go at first, but then we started having second thoughts as the retreat loomed nearer. The children have been sick and so they are a little short tempered when they get tired. The house is still not back together from the recent house projects. Evan is only four months old and Kara started panicking over leaving him. 

The problem is that there is never an ideal time for a mom to sneak away for three days. Our to do lists are so long we will never finish them. If we wait until everything is order, we will never attend a quilt retreat. So we decided that despite our anxiety, we would head out. We have lots of quilt projects to work on, that's for sure. Kara purchased fabric for Evan's quilt last summer, but did not get it made. Two years ago we purchased a quilt kit to make a green silk quilt to put in the foyer. I have enough fabric in my stash to make dozens of quilts. I want to put some of it to good use. It will be fun to spend time with other quilters and see what projects they are working on. Kara's friend Amrita is attending the retreat, also. She's a regular with this quilt retreat group.

It'll be a very busy three days for Matt. Opa will be helping in the evenings and on the weekend. Great-grandma will help out with Evan and Lincoln. We'll let you know how it goes when we get back to town. 

Blocks & Other Toys

Blocks have been a big hit this past month or longer. Lincoln loves to build with them and to thrown them. We are trying hard to discourage the latter. When Lincoln hauls the blocks out, his siblings soon join him to build their own structures. I don't have pictures of Lincoln building with the blocks, but he's really quite skilled for a toddler. 

Creating disorder is a big part of Lincoln's play routine. He likes to distribute balls, pegs, books, animal cards, puzzle pieces, etc. over a wide area.

Trying to stay safe from Lincoln is a big part of Evan's play routine.

Bentley decided to piece two dinosaur puzzles. I helped him with the 300 piece puzzle because it's more fun to work on larger piece count puzzles with a buddy.

Lincoln always wants to join us when we play games. After Viva, Jake, and I played Toy Story Yahtzee, I let Lincoln practice tossing the dice. He was pretty excited about gaining that privilege. 

Lincoln on Rody. (As usual there are more photos of Lincoln than of the other children. He's the most active!) 

Does a pacifier count as a toy?!

Girl Scout Event

Last Saturday Viva and I attended the Women of Science & Technology Day that is put together by the Girl Scouts of Alaska. It is their signature (!!) event: "Women who have fascinating careers in science and technology lead fun, hands-on workshops." Hundreds of girls K-12 attended this annual event. The workshops were done in small groups. Viva and I attended three half hour workshops with groups of twelve to twenty Brownies. We did not get to choose our workshops. She was the only Daisy in our groups. Viva's troop didn't attend the event; she and I went on our own.

Our first workshop was about geology. It was presented by two young women who work at Pebble Mine as a geologists. They had lots of visual aids and for the last half of the workshop they did two hands-on demonstrations of plate tectonics. Viva got to eat the demo materials (graham crackers and icing). She enjoyed this workshop. 

Our second workshop was on the many different types of engineering jobs available. The presenter used a slide show to help explain what civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical and other types of engineers do on the job. The topic wasn't really comprehensible to a five year old and the hands-on demonstration wasn't until the last few minutes when the presenter pulled out an antique sextant and the girls got to look through its scope. Viva thought that was cool, but it wasn't enough to redeem 25 minutes of lecture. I'm disappointed that the Girl Scout office assigned a first year Daisy to this workshop. 

Our third workshop was with a bird biologist. Her job is to fly around in an airplane and count birds. I didn't know such a job existed, so I found the topic interesting. Three girls in the group got to put on helmets and sit in a mock cockpit, but the other 17 just sat on their chairs for 40 minutes (the workshop ran over 10 minutes). Viva remembered a few things from this workshop, but it was much too long for her age group.

I was impressed how well Viva behaved during the three workshops. The event was not what we had promised her (fun science experiments!), but she maintained a good attitude nonetheless. The highlight of the morning for her was when we were walking between the second and third workshops and she found the tip of a pine branch on the walkway. Viva loves to collect leaves, rocks, and branches. She played with the pine branch during the last workshop and then she took it home to meet her acorn (!?!) and to poke her brother Bentley.

I asked her if she wanted to go again next year and she said "Yes!" Her answer surprised me. It wasn't a fun event and she had to get up early to attend it. I'll take her again to Women of Science, but probably not next year. 

4 Months Old!

Our beautiful baby Evan is 4 months old already!  4 months and 2 days to be completely accurate.  1/3 of the way to a year, and so much personality.  He rolls over, grabs and holds at everything you put in front of him, has the greatest smile he flashes whenever you give him one on one time, and babbles up a storm.  Lest you think it's all sunshine and smiles around here... I should note that Evan has quite the temper.  He has loud lungs and is quick to use them if he's in need of something!  I can't really blame him for that though, as being the youngest of 5 could mean that the care is not always as timely as a baby might want.  It's a rough life!

We think Evan looks like Bentley.  But he has Viva's eyes.  Sometimes he looks like Jake and except for the hair and eye color some of his baby pictures look an awful lot like Lincoln.  :)  What does it all mean?  I guess they're all related!

Lincoln is starting to find Evan more entertaining and I've assured him that it will just get better and better!  Viva thinks he's gorgeous.  I heard her tell Lincoln yesterday that she likes him, but that Evan is the cutest baby around.  I need to tell her she can assure Lincoln he's the best looking toddler in the house!!  Sheesh!  Bentley is still the most patient one with babies. He can coax some chatter and laughs out of his littlest brother.  Jake likes to play with Evan, but sometimes his volume or sudden movements make Evan shriek!

I can't believe Evan is already 4 months old, although it HAS been a rather long few months with a toddler, a newborn, house projects, and way too many germs around here.  Nonetheless - he's an awfully good snuggle-bug companion; my only wish is that we had more time to sit and do nothing together.

We love you, Evan!

Read, Read, Read

Our young readers are keeping us busy making more trips to the library. Two weeks ago I reported that I'd collected from the library the last eight books in the Dragon Slayers' Academy series and the first few books in the Secrets of Droon series. Bentley and Jake have finished the DSA books and Viva has read through book 13. The boys prefer to read one series at a time, but Viva is reading at least three different series. She likes variety. She's read at least the first four Droon books.

After finishing the DSA series Bentley started the Droon series. Like the DSA books, the Droon books are 100-130 pages of large font print. They are a nice length for young readers. B quickly powered through the first ten and opa had to stop at the library for another nine in the series. He gobbled those right down and we sent opa back for another fourteen. We currently have books 2 through 29 and Super Editions 1 through 4 in the Droon series on loan from the library.

Jake has just started the Droon series. I think he rated the first book 4 stars whereas the DSA books were 5 stars. It's hard to top a book with dragons in it. Bentley and Viva tend to give all their reads 5 stars. They don't like to discriminate. (B, J, & V keep a list of the books they've read at GoodReads.com.)

Being ill has given the trio some extra reading time. When you have sick, cranky children, it's nice to be able to send them to bed with a book.

Bentley Trivia 101

Bentley...

says his favorite candy is Reeses.

loves to eat pizza bread, spaghetti noodles, and steak.

is amazingly sweet and patient with Lincoln and Evan.

enjoys playing with (and teasing on occasion!) Jake and Viva.

loves to read and has now read more than 180 books.

is kind and helpful and obedient.

is a stickler for the rules and has a tendency to monitor his siblings adherence to them.

is lucky he's not allergic to peanut butter, as it's how I get a lot of protein into him!

is often self motivated and gets work done without being asked.

is very logical.

loves to help set the table. (He and Jake fight over the honor.)

guzzles milk like it's goin' out of style.

is strong and fast.

still enjoys Darth Vadar and eschews the light side of the force... :)

has his addition/subtraction tables down cold and is doing great with his multiplication one.

is a great vacuumer - when it's his turn to do that job I am thrilled, as I know no corner will be missed.

prefers his cookies with M&Ms and not chocolate chips (cute and quirky... ).

has a fun sense of humor.

has a delightful Klingon scowl when he's irritated.

is considerate of others.

still prefers all of his vegetables in their natural raw state - nothing cooked.

currently favors books that feature talking animals (cats, owls, mice... !).

reads the scriptures to Jake and Viva; I love seeing this.

is brilliant. :)

is still the favorite with Ramses, who can more often than not be found curled up in his bed at night.

has gorgeous handwriting - I think it's better lookin' than mine!

is a pretty good singer, although you have to sneak up on him in the shower to hear it.

a delightful child - I'm so glad he is mine!

is my very favorite SEVEN year old.