houseboat and Leo Carillo

Just wanted to take a minute to post a few vacation pictures. We went on our annual houseboat and camping trips over the summer. Yes, I let the boys dye their hair red and blue, that isn't just your eyes going crazy!

Some house pictures

Some updates on us

It's been so long since I've blogged that quite a few things have happened since I last wrote. The biggest thing is we finally bought a house! We've been here for about 3 months now and are just thrilled. After renting for 10 years, we are so happy to have a place to call our own. The kids are still able to go to the same school, which is nice.

Sam just turned 4, which brings me to our next big accomplishment in the last year- he finally peed on the potty! I have been working with him for over a year now to try to get him to do it and he finally decided tonight that he was ready. We made a big deal about it and wrapped up some bubbles and a ring pop since we've been telling him that if he did it he'd get a present. Woo hoo!

I just found out today that Sam has qualified for the special day preschool through the school district. This is a program for kids with mild to moderate delays. Sam has been in speech therapy since he was 2 and we don't think it's quite enough to give him the boost he needs. This program is 5 days a week, 5 hours a day, and is geared towards kids like Sam who need early intervention to get them off to a good start. I've heard great things and we're nervous and excited for him to start. What will I do with myself for 5 hours a day? I'm suddenly finding myself out of a job;).

Will is 8 and in 3rd grade. He's doing well and liking school and his teacher. He has two of his best friends in his class this year. His cousin Carson has also moved to Lake Forest and is also in 3rd grade at the same school, which has been really nice for both of them.

Will, Ben, and Carson are all in boy scouts this year. Will is in the same den as Carson- they are bears. Ben is a tiger. They both won 1st place in the Raingutter Regatta.

Ben is almost 7 and in 1st grade. The beginning of the school year was a bit of an adjustment to staying at school all day, but he has transitioned really well. His reading is really coming along. What a difference a few months can make! He was struggling a bit with his sight words in K, but is now sailing through the lists and reading the stories in his anthologies with no problem.

No Baby Sister

I was putting the kids to bed tonight and Will informed me that he wanted a baby sister. Some of you may remember that when I told him I was having a boy, when I was pregnant with Sam, he was furious with me that the baby was not a girl. Sam overheard what Will said and looked a little worried and said, "No baby". I said, "No we're not having anymore babies." He turned to Will and said, "No baby sister. Sorry!" This is the kid who we have trouble getting to string 3 words together and who is in speech therapy. It seems he becomes quite articulate when it comes to important matters, like talk of usurping his baby position in the family! Sam still insists that he is a baby, and when I turned away from him for a second to look at the other two, when I was singing his bedtime song, he turned my face to face him when I sang the word "baby" in the song and made me say it again.