On The Bright Side

We're all sick.  Yuck.  I hate that Fall always brings us so much sickness.  Every year I think to myself, "Surely this year the kids won't be as sick as last year!" and every year we are sick from October to about May.  We get a few weeks off here and there but for the most part it is almost straight through.  I hate it!

Some things that are making me smile...

This morning, Hannah finished her toast and said, "More toast!" as clear as day.  It was awesome!  I love that she is already starting to put two words together.

The boys love love love Awana!  They go and sing songs, play games, learn Bible verses, and of course enjoy a snack :)  Last week Matthew said to me, "I can't wait to go to Awana with my Nathan!".  They are best buds and love doing things together.

The other day when I went into the kids' bedroom this is what I found:

Silly children!

Matthew is doing so well with his reading program!  It is just amazing seeing him learn to read.  I love the curriculum we chose (All About Reading) and it's a perfect fit for Matthew.  Every other lesson or so he has these fluency practice pages.  Sometimes we sit and do all of it at one time, sometimes it's more challenging for him and we do it in several sittings.  We only do 15-20 minutes a day (if that) and his reading abilities are growing by leaps and bounds!

So much cuteness...so much stubbornness!  This spunky little one has me taking a lot of deep breaths these days.  I love her so much but oh man can she try my patience!  She is in the "I don't know how to share" phase which they have all gone through and she's also in the "If I see a toy I want it right now even if it's in your hands!" phase and is constantly grabbing toys that are already in the hands of someone else.  Not surprisingly the boys are not a big fan of this!!  I know that it's a stage and with consistency and patience she'll come out the other side and be able to play well with her siblings...I just wish we were there already!  This is a tiring phase and I'm glad it's also full of "firsts" and learning and smiles and kisses and enough goodness that I know it's all worth it!