Easing back . . .

I think things are returning to normal around here. Jonathan's eye is a lot better, thankfully. Luke (and Bob) are the only ones who resisted the pinkeye. I thought Luke might have been coming down with it as well Monday, but his irritation never turned into anything. The girls and I all got colds though, so we have been battling coughs, snottiness, and other assorted annoyances. But snotty noses are much better than snotty eyes!!

After a complete week off of school last week, we started back up Monday. Things were sssslllllloooooooowwwwwwwww. Even Luke took forever! Today was also very slow. This is why we never take vacations, grumble, grumble. Just kidding! We are getting everything done, though, so if they want to still be doing their stuff at 5:00, then hey, whatever. Just as long as my part is done way before then!

Last week it was fun to see what they came up with to amuse themselves, since we didn't have any new library books, and I wasn't feeling like providing anything creative to occupy their time. One thing they rediscovered was a book on making paper airplanes,which they recieved for Christmas a few years ago. They made all the paper airplanes in the book and had various trials to determine the best design. They also spent some time watching the military channel, and so a whole new interest in World War II has opened up. Since we are heading into that time period in Story of the World, that was timely. They also played some games like Yahtzee, which is great because Caleb and Jonathan can play too.

Grace has started just standing up by herself in the middle of the room. She must have super strong thighs, because she'll just be squatting there, and then she'll straighten all the way up! She will stand there a little bit, but so far she has not showed any inclination to move her feet.

Anna is finally saying more words (understandable ones, even!). I will have to say that none of my kids have been any sort of early talkers, although Anna did babble a lot more than the boys ever did. Right around 2 is when they finally start saying more words. I love to hear her say the boys' names. She calls Luke "Ducky". It's so cute! She's great with the "n" sound, so she says "Na-nan" and "Jon-na-nan" quite clearly. She has a harder time with Caleb's name. I can tell that's what she's saying, but it doesn't really sound like Caleb, LOL. And of course she's got "Dacie" down pat.

So that's a brief run-down on what we've been doing, non-sickness-wise. Tomorrow is that dreaded pilates class, unless someone else gets sick between now and then . . . could happen . . . .