Everyday Joys

I've been experimenting with my new Nikon camera, so I was snapping pictures of the kids today. Here are some of my favorites. They give you a pretty good idea of our everyday life around here.

The trains are pushed aside, and the Hulk is battling some mean Star Wars guys. The rest of the Avengers are sleeping in the roundhouse. I keep wondering what happened to Thomas and Percy and all our train friends. But really I'm wondering what happened to my little Grant Boy. When did he get so big? It hurts my heart to think that my baby is really 4 years old.

Liza Lou. She's always writing and drawing and creating. She has learned to read this year in kindergarten, and she loves the new world of words and letters it has opened up to her. I love it too. Watching my 5-year-old learn to read and getting to be the recipient of countless notes and wonderful pictures of flowers and hearts and girls with beautiful dresses is a happy part of my life right now. 

Yes, Kimball has started to love reading, and it makes me so excited for him. When I was in 3rd grade I kept a list of all the books I read, and surprisingly, I can still remember some of the titles on that list. I happened to think of "The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle" while I was at the library this past week, so I picked it up for Kimball. He's been waking up early to read it every morning. Kimball also started learning the Star Wars theme on the piano recently, and he has done an awesome job with it. Having Mark gone so much leaves Kimball with a lot of responsibility at home. We have our battles here and there, but he is such a good kid.