I'm tellin' ya, this summertime business is tough. It's been so hot lately. We haven't been outside nearly as much as I would like. And to keep the kids from wanting the tv on all day long, I've been busy trying to keep them busy. Which means less time on the computer for me. Ah, well, it's definitely a good thing.

This morning Maggie cracked me up. Evie was the last one in bed. I made pancakes for breakfast, and Maggie & Oliver were already eating. I said something about getting Evie up out of bed and started down the hall. Maggie had a little bit of advice on what I should do. "Just sit on her." Oh the love...

Evie has been reading lately. I have worked with her here and there, but not much. And of course she was learning a little at pre-k. Sometime last month a lightbulb just lit up in her head. It clicked! She read little bits of some of the books we have. Two weeks ago I checked out some "beginning reader" books from the library and had Evie read them to us. She was a little nervous since she didn't know the stories already, but she breezed through them like it was nothing. I'm so excited for her. She has always loved books, and I hope this is just the beginning of a long love affair with reading!!

Oliver's vocabulary has also exploded in the last two or three weeks. Up until then he hardly talked at all. Now he will try to repeat almost everything we say. He can say all our names, some body parts, and a bunch of other stuff. I always look forward to when they can communicate things to me, and all I can say in this case is "FINALLY!"

I need to record Evie reading and Oliver talking. That's a project I can work on in the next couple of days.