The Kids - 2 Things

Andrew John 2 yrs 6 mos

1. We affectionately call Andrew our "little disaster". He basically spends every day all day making little disasters. If he can spill it, he will. If it can be climbed, then he climbs it. If it can be taken apart and spread around the house, he's your guy. If I've done it or fixed it or cleaned it, he will promptly undo it. Never have we had such a messy busy toddler! Or maybe we have but just blocked it out of our memory?

2. Andrew is such a carnivore! He loves all forms of protein: meat, chicken fish, sausage, bacon, beans, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, nuts....but give him a homemade donut and he won't even glance at it. Trust me, I know from recent experience!

Jenna Mae 4 yrs 10 mos

 1. Jenna is my go-with-the-flow child. Now that the boys are back in school I find myself dragging her around more, to run errands, go to preschool, gymnastics, and everything in between. Each morning when she wakes up we talk about what we are doing that day, and she is almost always excited!

 2. Jenna's favorite form of playing is imaginary play with little people/dolls/figurines. She could spend hours making her little toys talk to each other in tiny high-pitched voices. It's the cutest!


Lucas Reid 7 yrs 3 mos

 1. Lucas responds really well to positive reinforcement and rewards. We have a star system in our house where the kids can earn stars for good behavior, staying in their beds at night, etc.....and then cash them in for things like frozen yogurt, video game time, or little trips to fun places. Lucas is borderline obsessed with his star count, and at any moment he can tell you how many stars he and his siblings have.

2. Lucas has the best laugh! It just developed during the summer, and it is quite the laugh. It is a deep belly laugh and it's loud! I love that he is so uninhibited and doesn't care who hears him....and everyone can definitely hear him!

Ryan James 9 yrs 4 mos

1. Ryan has started doing all his homework during the lunch hour at school. It's awesome because he comes home with no homework. It's not so awesome because he also comes home with his uneaten lunch. He is at school for 7 hours, so you can imagine what kind of mood he is in after school.

2. Ryan is finally starting to fix some of his own food. He will grate cheese on top of chips and microwave himself a plate of nachos. He will pour his own cereal and milk. He even asked me recently if he could make mac n cheese from a box, and all I had to do was turn on and off the gas stove.