Treehouse News

No, we are not building a treehouse. As much as we all would love that, it is not in the plan, yet. So, let me explain a little. I wanted to have a design for my blog that would be a little more permanent. In thinking about that, I have gone back to the verse that helped me name this blog, "A longing fulfilled is a tree of life." I am hoping to design something using a tree type theme (more on that another time...) I was also looking for some way to name our updates about the kids so that it was always the same. I figured I would go with the tree theme. I hope that I get around to designing the new look so it will make more sense, but I am going to start naming our posts about the kids stories and quotes as "Treehouse news." Hopefully, this will help the grandparents find their favorite stories. =0) I am also hoping it will help me write them more often.

For now, I will start with our most recent "news". It has been a while, so I will just give some highlights.

Princess

Princess Enjoying TWO books

I have been watching this little lady, of late, and I am amazed at her firstborn tendencies. As a second born child, this is killing me! I have been getting some insight from some of the other firstborn's I know (thanks, Dad!) so, I am learning to see her differently.

Here are some other things she has been up to:
- If I find Princess quiet somewhere, she is either reading or coloring. Her creativity with color is so much fun to watch.
- She loves to wear MY sweater when she is cold. The other day, my DH said, "Don't worry, someday she wont fit into your clothes anymore." Funny...she is only five and I already have to share my clothes with her!
- Everyone she meets is her best friend - From the child who would not LOOK at anyone as a baby, this is a real turn around. She talks to everyone. The other day, we spent an extra five minutes at the checkout so she could finish her story to the cashier.
- Just so you know, her vocabulary is also expanding...I am not even sure where she got this one:

P - "We used to have fires all the time." (In the fireplace.)
Me - "We will again."
P - "When? When winter sets in?" (For the rest of the day, both Princess and Little Man were looking forward to that time when "winter sets in")

- We have been getting books from the "Teach me how to be Good" series. We read the book on being rude, and I often remind the kids that they should not be rude to each other. Here is the response I got one day from Princess: ""That wasn't rude. I read the whole book, and that wasn't in there." Yep...love that comprehension!
- "Mom, you're so sweet, I'm never gonna leave...not even when I am grown up and supposed to."

Little Man

Cooling off by the air conditioner

I have been at a loss with Little Man for the summer. He needs structure and he needs to run around...he hasn't had much of either. Things have been changing around so much that our structured days took a backseat to opportunities for fun. When we have been home, we haven't had much time out because of the heat - and Little Man has a difficult time with the heat. Even when we have gotten out, he is the first one ready to go in.

Here are a few examples of what he likes right now, and a few quotes:
- Solving mysteries - We have been reading some mystery style books lately, and he has really gotten into it. One night, after Pookie's birthday party, I left a cupcake wrapper and candy bar wrapper downstairs. The next morning, he came up to tell DH, "I have a CLUE! Two Clues! A cupcake wrapper...and a candy bar wrapper!" After doing some sleuth work, he discovered who left them. =0)
- Rain Boots - I got rain boots for the kids so they could go out in the rain, and they have REALLY enjoyed jumping in the puddles with them. Little Man, however, does not like getting rained on. So, he is generally in a jacket with his hood on!
- Love for Pookie - He has been writing notes and drawings to tell Pookie that he loves her. It is so sweet!
- This summer dressing up has exploded as an activity in our house. Little Man likes dressing up, but has informed Princess he does NOT want to be the prince! I guess that story line has gone on long enough for him!
- Starting to love books - I love that I am finding him more and more often with an open book quietly looking through it. It is going to be interesting teaching him to read because he guesses correctly so often!
- This is a conversation we had in the car on a day when the kids had been in front of the TV ALL DAY (Confession time for me, I guess...)

LM - Can we watch a show?
DH - No you already had enough shows today from the sound of it.
LM - No, we didn't have that many.
Me - Yes you did. You watched...(I started listing off the titles)
LM - That's only 4.
Me - Oh, then you watched...(I listed two more)
LM - That's only 6. That's not a big number. I want like 10.
DH - Do you know how many shows I watched today?
LM - No.
DH - None.
LM - Oh, well when we get home we can watch a show and then...

I didn't hear the rest of what he said...I was laughing too hard.

Pookie

Pookie after her first bath with "Baby"

This little firecracker has had a wonderful time the last few weeks. She got to celebrate her birthday 4 times the week of her birthday, and now "Happy Birthday" is her favorite song. (It has nothing to do with the singing Pooh Bear balloon I bought her for her party...guaranteed to play at least 50 times! I thought DH was going to lose it!) The picture, above, is her with her new bath time baby doll - she loves it!

- Potty training - I can't believe how well Pookie is potty training. She has had two or three accidents all week. We did go out a few times with pull-ups on, and she did need them. At home, though, she has done wonderful. Today, in the car, she told us she needed to go. We were a few minutes from home, but when we arrived she was still dry and went on the potty. You go girl!!! We had an awful time finding panties that would fit her, though. Size 18m just doesn't seem to exist. Luckily, we found some really narrow 2t/3t. They seem to fit her okay. We will be trying them out this week.
- Singing, dancing, dressing up - I can tell how much she adores her brother and sister because she wants to be where they are and doing what they are doing. She is ALWAYS singing, and if she has a dress on there is dancing to go along with it.
- Quotes -

- I dropped a towel going from the washer to the dryer. I said, "Whoops." She responded by picking it up and saying, "Tain choo, wackum". (thank you, you're welcome) and then throwing it in the dryer for me.
- I asked, "Do you want me to carry you?" "Umm-hmm, carry me." I find it interesting that she used the correct "me" instead of "you."
- "Watch me mom!"
- Dictionary of terms: Cuckoos=Blues Clues
Tepup=ketchup
Fa-fish=goldfish
Yam=lamb

I hope you enjoyed our long update here. Hopefully, I can keep up with their news a little better so I don't feel like I need to tell you everything that they have been doing. I am so proud of them, and how they are growing. I hope you have enjoyed some of their stories, too.