Catch-up

Still adjusting to the reality of a cell phone for me. That thing is really helpful and super distracting. Also, with free access to texting, I find myself sharing little bits of personal news and pictures with individuals. That's great for my relationship with those individuals, but terrible for my blogging presence.

So here I play catch-up a bit.

Matthew's cold turned into a double ear infection withOUT a fever. We were all amazed, even the doc, to discover his eardrums bulging with infection and yet his temperature remaining solidly normal. Half a day on antibiotics and we could see our sweet little baby coming back. The poor kid would play just a couple minutes before stopping to lay on the floor. His personality is peeking out more. He plays simple games (high five, gonna gitcha), grunts and points with focus, and has wailing tantrums on the floor when misunderstood. Yay! A real little kid in there!

We spent a blissful few days with friends for Thanksgiving. Our kids played with their kids just enough that neither one of us had to intervene that often. Everyone got a little break. A fantastic family that I've missed, a beautiful home with plenty of space, excellent weather, and oodles of quality time with people I love: perfect.

Matthew mastered the stairs!

These 3-year-olds didn't seem to mind the freezy cold rain.

My girly

It was a little hard to come home and get back into regular life again.

I continue to make progress in learning Spanish. It's too much fun. I don't remember being this motivated to learn French in high school. I find myself wanting worksheets and exams, though, to motivate me to study more diligently. Or maybe I could start a conversational Spanish club...

Robert and James in the same bedroom: I want to split them up. It's only been 2 months. I knew I would want to split them up about now...it's starting to get gritty. But I don't dare do it until we've had a chance to develop a few new social/communication/cooperative tools. Their relationship is something I work and pray and burn energy on every single day. We've tried all sorts of things. Today, I toyed with the idea of giving them candy every time they fight. Then maybe when the candy ran out, they wouldn't find it worthwhile to bother each other every. stinking. minute. I didn't do it, but I'm not completely throwing the idea away. Yet.

Can you find Robert at the top?

Robert and James displaying their recycle bin creatures.

James and another James in front of James' Hardware Store.

Alice's current big project is putting on a play with all her best friends. We found a kit at the library that was made for 8-year-olds to put on a play together...scripts, director's guide, costume and set suggestions, the works. They meet this Saturday to pick parts and begin rehearsing. Stay tuned.