Update on us

It's been a while since I did a real post so I thought I'd do a "Christmas letter" type update on our family.

From 2011-05-14

Gordon is doing great at his job. His former CEO recently retired so there has been so adjustment for the company as they get to know their new CEO. But Gordon is excited to work with him and is feeling like the changes are positive. Gordon continues to be a great handy-man around the house. He recently finished installing wainscoting in the little girl's room, at my request. Gordon is working in the young men's organization at church. He loves that this calling takes him on fun outings. My only problem is trying to get him to not volunteer for every one! He went water skiing earlier this month and is preparing to go on a 50 mile backpacking trip next month!

I am taking the summer off of school. During the last school year I was forced to take another lab science class for my business major. Because of that I found a love for chemistry! I have taken two chemistry classes now and will take another in the fall. I'm planning on majoring in Chemistry now. I am going to school part time, and I don't know when I will graduate. (Everyone asks that.) I often feel divided between school and home, so I try to not take too many credits at a time. At home I am quite the painter. I've painted almost every room in our house. We've lived here just over a year now. I only have the laundry room, one bathroom and a hallway left to paint. I'm trying out gardening this year and planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. Gordon installed soaker hoses so I hope with just weeding left, we'll get some yummy fresh food this summer. And just as a little fun trivia, I was able to cut 17 inches of hair off and sell it about a month ago.

Lily just finished the 4th grade. She loved her teacher and has promised her that she'll visit her often next school year. Lily participated in Book club at her school and Battle of the Books this year. For that she had to read assigned books then be quizzed on trivia from the book. She really enjoyed being part of those groups. Now Lily is enjoying the summer with a stay with some friends (without parents!) and biking, rollerblading and swimming as often as she can. Lily is very helpful around the house (when she's in the mood.) She will often take care of Grant for me, or take it upon herself to make breakfast or lunch. She has gotten really good at making pancakes and quesadillas.

Eve graduated from Kindergarten. She is still singing the songs she learned for her graduation. She did really well in school and made a lot of friends. Eve is doing well reading beginning level books. Eve jumped right into swimming this summer doing really well at swimming farther and deeper than she ever has. Eve is still very girlie-girl and loves to dress-up and play Barbies and ponies. Eve has gotten a lot better at working around the house in the last little while. For a period there both Gordon and I were frustrated because we couldn't figure out how to motivate Eve to follow directions. But as Eve has matured, she has become more willing to do what is asked of her.

Abigail is four. She just finished up her first year of preschool. We did a Mom co-op preschool with some friends. She loved preschool and still asks when it will be another preschool day. Abigail made some tight friendships in preschool and loves to see those friends as often as she can. Abigail is doing great on emerging reading and writing. She can write all of the names in our family plus several other words. She is a great little artist too. I think having two older sisters who love to color and write and really helped push Abigail along in this.

Grant is one and a half. He is learning to talk and is mimicking lots of words until we try to get him to do it for a performance! His favorite word on those occasions is "Mo" (no). He calls both Gordon and me "Mom" even though he can say "Daddy". It's really funny to watch Grant when Gordon drives home from work. Grant recognizes the sound of Daddy's truck and will start dancing and calling "Mom!" so excited to see his daddy again. Grant is, of course, walking and running well now. He also recently learned how to push chairs around in the kitchen to be able to climb and reach the sink. He loves to play in the water. He is voicing his opinion often, saying "Mo" when he doesn't want something. He has learned a little sign and it's really helpful for us to know what he does want. He can sign "drink", "more", "down", "ice cream", "book", and "food".

As a family we're planning on several camping trips this summer and looking forward to a family reunion next month. We are excited to have been so blessed with such a great home and love to have others come to eat and play with us in our yard. We have three fish and two turtles as pets.

That's it for our update!