Little Readers

A few weeks ago we rearranged our living room. Before moving a small bookcase, Brad removed all the children's books and stacked them on the floor. Who knew that is all it takes for books to be twice as interesting?

I couldn't believe how quiet things were around here.

Camille moved on to other things, but Kilian and Lucy stuck with it for at least 45 minutes. This second picture was taken about 30 minutes after the first one.


There are some parts of parenting that I guess I always dreamed about, but some other parts surprise me with how exciting they can be. Watching my kids read (or almost read in Lucy's case) fits into the second category, but wow - it really makes me swell with pride!

It's that boring

During church Camille had been nearly perfect for the first 30 minutes. She sat in my lap, calmly turned around and whispered, "I want you to take me outside for a spanking".

The answer is

that we are arranging the most elaborate play date ever! Oliver will get to go to London to "play" with his friend George, who was born in July. It will be a jolly good time!

Actually we are making the trip in November to baptize Oliver because his godparents now live "across the pond". Couldn't we just do it when they are back in Texas sometime? Well - we could - but that would mean Brad and I wouldn't get to bump into Prince William explore England. (Brad already had a passport).

I do feel guilty about not taking the other kids (and grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other friends) with us to witness the very special event. I guess I should have been buying lottery tickets or something. What a special opportunity, though! I am so excited I can barely contain myself :)

Any guesses?

Besides people that we've told...can anyone guess why Oliver and I needed to send in these items for passports?

A Whole Lotta Oliver

Not necessarily in chronological order

&

Not necessarily taken by people over the age of 6

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy

Lucy had a very challenging couple of days last weekend. She misbehaved in church, and as a result missed out on privileges that afternoon - no t.v. and no sweets. After more bad choices - and some time alone, she wound up calling 911. I am not kidding. It was not funny then and still isn't to me now. After I apologized to the dispatcher, I asked Lucy what in the world she was thinking. She thought her mom and dad were too mean and if we were arrested then she could get new parents. Oh my.

The next day (Monday) was great. The next day (Tuesday) was also great until she walked into Kilian's plastic baseball bat. Mid-swing. It has been exactly one week and her eye is only a little bit black/purple/green now. It is also not funny to me.

My mother-in-law pointed out the bright side. At least the black eye didn't happen first and the 911 call didn't lead to a visit by the police soon after.

Have I ever blogged about the 2 week period in 2006 when I though Lucy was going to do me in? At the age of 2 1/2 she managed to:

-randomly call 911, causing the sheriff to knock on our door before I even knew she touched the phone.

-pull the fire alarm at Krispy Kreme. It was located right by the door at her eye level.

-climb up, get kids' vitamins, and somehow open them, causing me to call poison control. I had to dump out and count the remaining ones in the bottle and wait for the lady on the other end of the line to calculate the maximum amount of iron my kids might have consumed. Everyone was fine.

Oh yeah. How about February, 2005 when we took her to the E.R. because she needed stitches in her tongue?