It seems the business of life has again taken over and left me far from blogger land. A lot has been going on with the kids, but I have had no time to update my memories.
I guess we'll first start with Ella. She seems to be the one changing most these days. These early years are the funnest to watch. Everyday they pick up something new, their world is truly remarkable. Exploration is everywhere, including the backyard garden. Ella has taken a strong liking to our tomato plants. As soon as you let her outside the makes a b-line for the garden, climbs through the mud and finds the greenest tomato she can, and shoves it in her mouth. Thats right, the greenest. I dont' know why, but she refuses to eat any red one; but she will just suck on the green ones all day. There is usally a trail of them behind her, because she won't swallow them, just chew for a while, let the seeds run onto her shirt and spit out the skin.
I must say, its much better than her eating dirt, which she also does quite often. I'm afraid she either has an iron defeciency and is actually craving the dirt, or she just really wants worms.
She has also been talking a lot more and using more and more signs for words. As of now, her new signs are for "milk, more, all done, help, " and we are working on eat. She has been so picky latley, I never know if she is still hungry because she eats so little. Her words as of today are "Dot (the little neighbor lady, she LOVES her), dog, Dad, and Jack. All of which sound like Da. She also has said apple, up.
The sweetest thing of late is her "nice touch". Every baby loves to poke eyes and pinch, so we would touch her gently and say "nice touch". The other day I was talking to Ella, and I said "nice girl", and she walked over to me and started gently petting my arm. This isn't a one time thing, its her new trick. And a nice one to have.
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Since Will's training wheels have been removed he has become much more daring on his bike. He jumps the ramps with enthusiasm, and will slide his tires and make skid marks at every opportunity. So much so that he actually wore a hole through his tire and tube. He wants nothing more than to be a BMX rider, like his big brother.
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Jack had his first sleepover with his buddy Dillon. I felt like I should give the boys this opportunity seeing that Dillon will be moving in a month and won't be in the same school anymore. They will still see eachother plenty at church, and we'll have play dates, but it was kind of a farewell buddy kind of thing. I remember as a kid the second day of a sleep over wasn't as much fun as the first. Spending too much time with a friend can begin to wear on you. These two were no different. Friday was fun! They played with their bikes all afternoon and watched a movie before bed, but when Saturday morning came, they were both a little grouchy with eathother. We took Dillon home by 9 and we enjoyed the rest of our weekend as a family.
For some reason, Jack is still rubbed the wrong way by him. I keep asking Jack why he is so irritated by Dillon. The story seems to change, "he calls me names at school, he's mad at me because I said I'm not his brother...." I had to remind Jack several times to "live by the spirit", and no matter how we "felt", we had to show the love of Jesus. It was a good exersize to stretch his compassion. On the way to school I had a little chat with the two of them, and I think things will be better today. Oh, the ups and downs of childhood friendships.
Lastly, Jack has joined cub scouts. This adventure was origanlly planned for daddy and son, but after the first meeting last week, Lewis was a little aprehensive about having to deal with the cult like following some cub scout parents bring to the organization. So I took Jack last night. They needed a leader for his age, the tigers. I gave 5 good reasons why I couldn't do it, then my last thought was "are these all just excuses?". I intended to just "help" with them, but before I knew it, I was signing all kinds of parent volunteer sheets. Sheesh! But thankfully another mom and I are doing it together, and there are only 5 boys. Thats managable, and I think we'll have fun, but I'm still not so sure about all the nature stuff. I'll leave the camping to dad.
Here is a shot of Will on his birthday. He recieved two automoblocks as his present from us. As you can tell, he was pretty happy, and very territorial over them. There were many fights over when he should start sharing them. That is the only reason I don't like birthdays. They always bring a storm.
Lewis has been busy working on his hot rod. The boys are getting really excited about it. Will loves helping daddy. Jack has even gotten in on the action but my camera wasn't around. 
