Let's Hear It for the Boys!

I thought I would take a minute to let you know how Clark and Lance are doing, since I am pretty sure that is the only reason some of you bother reading this blog. Both boys are doing wonderfully and have done such a great job settling into our new home, new church, and new city!

Clark's latest obsession is Power Rangers. It started out with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and has since moved on to Power Rangers Dino Charge. If you know my oldest at all then you know that this means he will tell you everything that there is to know about Power Rangers in great detail any time, day or night. He loves to pretend to be the Red Ranger and he has the most awesome imagination. For his birthday (which is still three months away) he has already decided that he wants the Megazord and we have made more than one visit to Toys R Us for him to show us said Megazord and then to visit (yes, visit) said Megazord.

Lance's big news is that he has started potty training. We held off on starting him with the move and all of the transitioning we had going on. He will be three next month and I think he is ready now. He has been doing a great job. He has a sticker chart and he is working on earning enough stickers to get a Power Ranger toy (can you see the influence there?) but I also remembered who I am dealing with so he has also started earning jelly beans. That has been an excellent incentive. He is not a baby anymore and there's no denying it, although he still snuggles up in my lap and sucks his thumb and twirls my hair. Someone else will have to make him give that up one day because I'm not doing it.

The boys are both signed up for the Summer Reading Program at our local library and we are enjoying going to the library every week for story time. We play in the kid's department, enjoy the stories and songs and crafts, and pick out lots of books and a couple of movies to bring home. It has been interesting to keep track of how much we actually read. They are also doing a program called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and we've already hit the 100 book goal in about one month. One of the things I enjoy is picking out a bunch of books and then seeing which ones they like most during the week. They tend to want to read their favorites again and again and it is fascinating to me which ones they like. Clark has an awesome memory and can quote lines from books once he has read them only once or twice. We need to start putting that mind to work memorizing Scripture.

We did buy an inflatable pool for our yard and so we have spent a lot of time beating the heat in our backyard. Our backyard is actually very shaded so even when it is incredibly hot outside (which it has been lately!) the pool can be quite cool. We decided we really love to hook up the sprinkler and run around in it... or stick our booties in it. You decide which one you think my boys like best. I must admit, I miss the beach. We never went a whole lot but just to be able to go... There's something about knowing you are miles and miles and miles from the coastline. Whenever we go back to visit I think I am going to have to go to the beach and just stand there for awhile soaking it all in.

Enjoy all of the cuteness!