Still busy busy busy!

Yay! We're finally moved back into our bathroom. Thank goodness. Not that it's the end of the world all of us having to share a small bathroom, but the disorganization was driving me crazy! And, despite having everything in our bedroom shrouded in plastic (which is pleasant in and of itself, may I say), there is drywall dust covering all of it. Ever try to clean that stuff up? Not easy.

Marshall started playing soccer this week, and after one practice has decided he likes it better than track & field. One of his teammates is our neighbor, who we've gotten together with a few times, so I'm sure having a friend there helped. He actually surprised me with how good he was for never having played before. The coach had them dribbling the ball across the field at one point, and he was the first kid across every time.

Public school started here this week, so I finally got my act together and ordered some curriculum for Marshall. Oops. I hadn't planned on starting until September, anyway, but ordering it ahead of time sure might be helpful, don't ya think? Both of us are pretty excited to start. I should say all three of us; Hunter likes sitting with us while we're doing lessons, so I got some curriculum for him, too. I think he'll enjoy having his very own lessons to do.

Speaking of Hunter, we had some fun last week. On Thursday he was having some fairly bad abdominal pains, so the doctor wanted to see him right away. Hunter is a tough guy, and only complains about something when it REALLY hurts. (Even his ear infections get really bad before he even says anything to me!) Luckily, some friends were in town visiting family, and said they'd watch the other two (thanks Kay and Jennifer!!), because I was afraid I'd end up spending the entire day running around getting x-rays and blood work. So, after all of this, the doctor says it's just constipation. Well, thank goodness, because you never know with abdominal pain, but I'm so glad we wasted an entire day for THAT! Not that I'd rather it be anything else, mind. He was fine, by the way, by the time we got back to pick up the other two. Joys of motherhood.

(Incidentally, I should never have said anything last week, because it came back to bite me: Hunter has now officially entered "The Phase." Arguing and telling us no for everything, throwing fits, mostly in public, of course. Man, that kid has some lungs! He screams at the top of them when he doesn't get his way. Kerry, no laughing! I know you're thinking of Marshall in "The Phase"! I'm not looking forward to this!)

Here's a little movie of Audra walking. She doesn't do it much anymore, but you can kinda see how she moves her arms like a locomotive when she's walking.

Ok, the next couple of weeks will be busy with Marshall's party coming up and starting school, so don't expect much from me until next month! Sorry!

Busy Busy Busy

We've been so busy lately I can hardly keep up with myself! Recently we started remodeling our bathroom, and what started out as a weeklong (max!) project has turned into THREE WEEKS! Millions of little problems and a few big ones contributed, but mostly it was little miss Audra, who couldn't stand not being back here with us while we were working and pretty much screamed the whole time! We were reduced to two hour workdays many times - naptime for Audra. So, we've been making do with some of our things in the hall bath, but with most of the power in there turned off because it was on the same breaker as the Master Bath! Anyhow, the power is back on, and I am hopeful that our bathroom will be in use again by the end of the weekend. Luckily, this is the biggest home improvement project we intend to tackle all by our lonesome.

And some big news: Audra is walking!! Not great at it yet, but she won't take long to master it. I can hardly believe my ten-month-old is walking. It's nice; all of my kids were so much happier once they started, but so early! Amazing baby girl!

This bathroom project has delayed me somewhat, but hopefully next week we can start gearing up to start homeschooling Marshall. He's very excited! So am I, if also a bit apprehensive. I'm not entirely sure how we'll find the time, but I'm sure once we get started everything will fall into place. Luckily he's a pretty smart boy and eager to learn. He also gets to start soccer next week, which will be good because he starts turning into a grump if we stick around the house too much.

Hunter is up to some cute things. I've been trying to get this on video, but can never manage it. He says the cutest prayers when he's in the mood. We came up with a prayer for the boys to say at dinner time: Dear God, Thank you for today. Thank you for our food. Thank you for Mommy, and Daddy, and Marshall, and Hunter, and Audra. In Jesus name, Amen. Here is what Hunter says: Dear God the food. Dear God the milk. Dear God the (specific food items on the plate). Dear God the plates. Dear God the forks. Dear God the trees. Dear God the... and he goes on naming anything he can see. Sometimes the content varies, but you get the idea. Bedtime is much the same, with different items, such as his bear, his bed, the books, the light, the walls (and he calls the ceiling the "sky wall"). I know that soon he will enter that phase that makes you wonder why anyone has children, ever (Oh man, Marshall had a complete personality change for, like, six months!), so I'm trying to store up the sweet and adorable stuff to get me through. He supplies so much, thankfully! For example: He won't touch red tomatoes; Marshall loves the cherry and grape varieties, so I'm growing several kinds this summer. Can't get Hunter to eat them. A green one fell off the other day, and he tried that. Loved it. What a kook! I'm afraid to let him eat them much, though, since I'll get to deal with any, um, fallout.

Here are some of what we call Hunterisms:
Buh-scuse me (Excuse me)
Buh-tach (Attach)
Buh-cross (Across)
Barella..actually pronounced bawewa (Umbrella)

And a couple of Marshallisms:
"I can't believe my mind!"
and
"That's amazing!" Everything is amazing to this kid.

Can't wait for some Aduraisms! She does say "Do'h", although she doesn't really know what it means. Still, Daddy is awfully proud. (And if I have to explain it, you probably won't think it's funny).