The Perks of Learning to Read

C earned his first "Book It" pizza coupon a few weeks ago.  Last night, he finally had the opportunity to redeem it.  Pizza and bread sticks were enjoyed by all :)

I'm really happy with how quickly C is learning to read!  He knows lots of sight words and is able to sound out quite a few other small words by himself.  

His current favorite books (that we read to him) are the Hardy Boys and Nate the Great. The most recent discovery he and J are really enjoying is Pilgrim's Progress (a pictorial version in current English) that I found a the thrift store for $0.50.

Let There Be Light - Phase One Complete!

Here's the recap on this weekend's work.

Here's what we started with...

Primer Coat

Firebox Painted

Larger Room View

Next Up:

• Replace broken baseboard quarter round
• Scrape off popcorn and paint ceiling [UGHHH...kinda dread this part but I know from the Newman Reno that it will make a HUGE difference in the brightness of the room.]
• Paint trim a nice crisp white (as opposed to the dingy white/gray that it is now...I guess whoever pained it before knew that an actual white would emphasize the grayish/discolored popcorn ceiling).
• Fresh coat of paint on the walls.  Right now I'm bouncing between a neutral similar to what it is now or lighter/brighter green.
• And last but not least :) a top coat to the fireplace.  The color will depend on the wall color I end up selecting.  

So that's our grand plan.  I'm going to try and pace myself.  It's pretty much the tradition around here to spend New Year's Day up to our elbows in some DIY reno project...we're just starting a little early this year :)

Some Things You Just Can't Take Back

My fireplace and I have had a very tense relationship.  And by "relationship" I'm referring to the cowboy-like showdown we've been involved in where [insert cowboy showdown whistle song here] I pace the room with my hands on my hips giving it the stink-eye and it just stands there in all its soot-stained, dark brown/red/black light-sucking badness mocking me.

So, after MUCH debate (mostly between me, myself, and I - J does not suffer from decorators paralysis like I do) , we took drastic measures knowing that once started, there is NO GOING BACK!!!!  I've never been so nervous....

HA!  Take That!

And That!

Final results of Primer Coat

I'm not gonna lie...I'm still a little nervous...but I'm hopeful that with the right color top coat, a new mantle and/or fireplace surround, and some decorations I will be victorious.  If all else fails there's always dynamite, right :)

A Few More Camping Pics

I just love it when my very talented, super awesome photographer cousin sends me pictures she took out of the blue.  It's such a treat!  The pictures are awesome AND they provide me with a rare photo of J (who is normally absent since he is usually the picture-taker :)

These are from the boys' camping trip a few weeks ago.

A Cowboy and A Butterfly/Fairy Princess

C and G have been talking about/debating/analyzing the pros and cons of what they wanted to be for Halloween for AT LEAST the last two months.  Initially, they were both on the Super Hero track...C was to be Iron Man, Wolverine, or Batman and G was to be The Incredible Hulk (aka in our house as Jammer Hulk since it looks to G like he is always wearing his pajamas :).  Then there was about a week where G wanted to be a Incredible Hulk Cheerleader (not one or the other - both).

Last week they settled on their final choices.  Lucky for me, they turned out to be VERY easy costumes. What we didn't already own, was found at our friendly neighborhood Dollar Store.

Meet G - the Butterfly/Fairy Princess!  She couldn't decide on an exact name, all she knew is that it afforded her the opportunity to wear all of her fancy dress up stuff, plus some pretty sparkling wings, and sparkly wip (lip) gloss ALL AT THE SAME TIME!  It was pretty much a dream come true :)

Thanks to Mrs. Delores for providing the pretty wings!

And here is C - the Cowboy!

Showing off  his 6-shooter, spinning skilz

We met up with some neighbors/close friends for some trick-or-treating action.  I swear we live in the best neighborhood.  It is nice to live among such nice folks and dear friends!

Speaking of neighbors...check out the loot this Cowboy and Butterfly/Fairly Princess scored...this is top shelf stuff!

Weekend Warriors

J and C had a weekend PACKED with fun!

My parents spent Friday night with us, and treated us to a yummy Saturday morning breakfast before they headed back home - YUM!

After breakfast, J and C got together their camping gear and a list of "necessities" from the grocery store and headed out to meet my cousin, his son (age 4), and my uncle for an overnight camping adventure :)

As I understand it C and his cousin thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  From what I gather they got in lots of exploring, running/racing up and down the hills, and campfire fare (to include hot dogs and smores for supper and oatmeal and sausage for breakfast).

J and C packed up camp on Sunday morning and headed back home, grabbed a quick shower, and then headed back out to catch their first ever professional football game (tickets courtesy of Jason's generous co-worker)!  They dragged back in late Sunday afternoon, happy and exhausted.

I'm thankful that they had so many neat opportunities over the weekend, but in my opinion that's not even the coolest part!  Despite their crazy ambitious schedule, J did NOT bomb my kitchen and laundry room with all of their camping paraphernalia!  What they were not able to put away or wash before they went to the game, they left on the front porch.  (The only exception was the bag of groceries on the counter containing chocolate bars and potato chips...which of course are welcome presents in my kitchen ANYTIME :)  When they returned home from the game, J took care of the loose ends while C told me all about what they'd been up to.  

That man knows me so well!  He knows that even though I fall short (more times than not) I try really hard to keep the kitchen counters cleaned off and it stresses me out when they are a mess.  I know it's weird, but that's just me...one of my many quirks. :)  Despite being busy and tired, he took time and energy to go that extra distance just because he knew I would appreciate it.  Very convicting and an example I would do well to follow more often!

How "I Love You" Used to Sound

Recently C's school offered a very reasonably priced speech/hearing/language screening performed at school by a local professional.  We decided to have C evaluated because he has not grown out of mispronouncing certain sounds (mainly /th/, /l/, & /r/).  We weren't particularly concerned since overall he has great verbal skills and is very easy to understand, but figured a professional assessment was probably a good idea.

The report from his screening indicated that his mispronunciation of /l/ (which he usually pronounces as /w/) is considered delayed since typically children master this particular sound at age 4.  The other sounds he mispronounces are age appropriate and should resolve themselves within the next year.

Interestingly enough, in the last few weeks (since his screening), he seems to be making some progress with all of these sounds - especially /l/.  He also seems really open to J and I correcting his mispronunciation of /l/ so much so that sometimes if he thinks a word has an /l/sound he'll ask us how it should be pronounced if we don't correct him.  All of this to say, in the last few days, we've been doing a lot of talking around our house about /l/ and words that have /l/ in them :)

But yesterday when I dropped him off at school, I realized there WAS one /l/ word that I had been missing (totally subconsciously). That word was "love."  As I dropped him off at school, he said "I wove you, too."  And for the first time it occurred to me...if we are successful in helping him pronounce /l/ correctly, he's going to trade his "I wove you" for "I love you."  Which, of course is a good thing...sort of...I guess :)  

It is just that I've been hearing "I wove you" since he could string 3 words together...it brings back sweet memories of bedtimes, nursery drop-offs, telephone calls, fixed boo-boos, and the list goes on.  So that's why I'm posting this here.  Lord willing - when he finally gets the hang of the real /l/ sound, I want to remember how "I love you" used to sound.