Making Memories

Here are some pictures of our first spring time memories:

Elyssia in short sleeves and wearing crocks. A really hot day, but the mounds of snow are solid enough to walk on top.

He's playing a pirate game.  The deck is the ship.

Caleb is either a fellow pirate or the enemy depending on the mood of the day.

Kiersten watching the fun and waiting for the door to get left open so that she can escape outside.  She gets out a lot:).

The propane truck came today!  They overfilled it again:(...

Building lego in between trips outside.

School or snack?  Both!

My 4 big helpers have worked me out of a job:).

Yes, that's what you think it is.  A big spring memory is Caleb being potty trained. He received a sucker as a reward and had to document it with a picture because Daddy was at work.  Sorry if it grosses anyone out.  I promise not to post any more:)  We're very thankful that it only took a week.  He doesn't have to be reminded all the time now and wakes up from naps and bedtime dry, so I "think" it's safe to declare him potty trained.  Next task=Kiersten.

I was checking to see if we're on schedule for Elyssia to finish grade 1 in June and I'm excited to say that we are!  We might even finish a bit before then if we keep up this steady pace.  She's been doing times math drills and actually seems to do even better under pressure than when she's left to do it at her leisure.  Her last drill was 35 addition problems and she did it in 1 minute.  I remember doing those when I was her age and I always got quite nervous. 
  Garrison is going through his school books at a 1 pace a day.  That means he would finish 1 years work in 12 days!  I think I'll probably have to give him some more challenging work. We have plenty to work on with reading though and his brain seems to have made the connection.  If I put him on the same schedule I did with Elyssia we should be able to get through about 4 books a day.  It may seem to be a bit much, but their ability and confidence grows much faster when we do it like that. 
  Caleb has many other accomplishments other than the one pictured above.  He's loves to get the clothes out of the dryer and haul them up the stairs.  He's the milk man, making sure that the milk is on the table for every meal.  He's also the master puzzle man.  He's quicker than his siblings and even his parents sometimes. He's quick to say, "no, that doesn't go there", then proceeds to take the piece from you and put it in.  I'm not talking about 24 pcs anymore.  I think he's up to 100 and he's mastering ones that have been given to his siblings.  His uncle sent him a puzzle postcard and he can put it together not even having a picture to go off of.  Such a smart little guy.  Too smart for his own good sometimes:).
  Kiersten is quite a busy girl now.  She's adjusted to sleeping with Elyssia in the big bed and seems to have picked 6 as her wake up time.  It's okay with me now that she's sleeping through the night all the time.  Her last molar has been very stubborn, which I think was waking her up for awhile.  She seems to have moved on.  She loves the cats and this afternoon I heard her in the back bedroom.  I came there to find her talking to one of the cats, who just happened to have made itself comfortable on our bed!  That cat didn't realize what a huge mistake that was.  I would've taken a picture, but I didn't want the cat to think that it had any place in the house, let alone in our bed.  I asked Kiersten if she told the kitty to go on the bed. She just smiled. Her favorite book right now is "Biscuit makes a friend".  She's quicker to climb up into our laps to read now and gets offended if one of the other ones won't let her up.  Fun times.  WELCOME SPRING!