Snaggletooth rides again

This post will be light on pictures, though I have a bunch of them to post from the past 2 1/2 weeks.

Friday night just before bedtime Amelia came upstairs with this.

It had been loose for days so James finished it off for her. I remember pullling all of my own teeth, probably before they were really ready because they didn't come in right away. Every tooth Amelia has lost has had the next one already visible and ready to take its place.

This is also the face of a rising second grader, as we finished school for the year last Monday. I will be changing jobs too in the fall, as a second grade AND kindergarten teacher. Possibly also a pre-k teacher, if I can work up the motivation to sit Avery down to learn some stuff. I started the other two on the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book when they were four, which he will be in September...but we'll just have to see how that goes. Maybe we can make some macaroni letter art or something. That may be all he gets!

I just finished a horseback riding certification clinic where I certified seven riding instructors from our camp and three other camps to teach riding this summer. That was Wednesday through Friday, then we had a relatively quiet weekend. Amelia's choir did a musical Sunday which was really cute. (Pictures to come.) Summer is really cranking up now, with a lifeguarding and archery clinic this week, then the entire staff comes in Friday to start a week of staff training. It's funny that most people are winding down their year into summer, we're just getting started with our busy time. Except for the part where we don't get to see James nearly enough I could live camp year 'round and be extremely happy.

I thought I'd use this nearly pictureless blog post to chronicle some of the funny and interesting stuff I've heard around here lately.

First of all is Avery's speech in general. He has spoken extremely clearly for his age since he was 15 months old, but there are still a few words he hasn't quite got right at 3 1/2+. For example, "You're not posed to do that," "I hope we don't have a ballcano like the people in Iceland," "I want a churkey sandwich," "I put rocks in the don't truck (dump truck)," "Me and Shannon have been building chrain chracks for the chrains and chrolleys," and "Are we going to see Mr. Becca? (Ms. Rebecca)?" One of his favorite songs is, "All the Bridges Falling Down." (Sing it to the tune of "London Bridge" and you'll get the idea.)

At Easter we dyed eggs and put them in the refrigerator to eat. One day Avery asked, "Can I have a dydegg?" He said it three times before I finally figured out what he wanted. This week he was eating a Dum Dum lollipop and I asked what flavor it was. It was one of those ones with the question mark on the wrapper and he said, "It's a surprise." Then matter of factly, "Tastes like toothpaste," and calmly kept eating it. I know I sure wanted one after he said that. He and Shannon were what-ffing the other day at the table and he wondered out loud, "What if our house was as high as the ceiling?" Uh...

Elizabeth will be two June 5th (unbelievable!), and has a lot to say these days as well. She uses a lot of words and most of them are pretty clear. We came out of gymnastics last week and heard a dog. Instead of talking about it barking she said, "What's that doggie noise?"

Amelia cracks me up sometimes with the words she uses during pretend play. There's always some saga going on at our house between the kids. I truly don't miss TV, the kids are a great deal more entertaining. One day she and Shannon were married with Avery and Elizabeth as kids. Apparently the mother had died-(I will always wonder why they constantly incorporate that into story lines- maybe I don't want to know!)- and she was the new wife and stepmother. I heard her say to the "kids," "Hurry and get to the table! Your father is almost home and I'll be fired!"

Shannon's sense of humor is starting to appear as well. Up until recently he's been pretty literal, and found humor mostly in slapstick-style comedy (Three Stooges style stuff), and of course, potty talk. It's fun to see him getting the hang of plays on words and finding humor in homophones. (Google it if you're not up on your grade school grammar- it may not be what you're thinking. :) )

He does still get things wrong sometimes, for instance thinking the book I've been reading aloud to them for several weeks is called, "Wheel House on the Prarie." When I told him it was "Little House" he asked, "Why?" Cause...it's...a...little...house, maybe? "Yes, but why isn't it a wheel house?" Because they didn't build a wheel house, they built a little house. Shannon, what is a wheel house? "I dunno."

Last week he was rhyming words just for the fun of it and I told them I was going to the basement to put in a load of laundry. He rhymed "laundry" with "bondry," and I realized he had just coined a new word for one of my jobs around here. "Bondry" is what happens when you're in bondage to the laundry.

This is the best thing I've heard in weeks though. My folks brought the boys a digging machine of sorts with a seat and levers and a bucket, and a great big pile of pea gravel to go with it. For a reason only Avery knows, he decided it would be a good idea to use the gravel pile as a toilet. (My friend Alison walked out the front door just in time to witness this.) She said, "Avery, I'm pretty sure your mom wouldn't want you doing that." Just then Shannon walked out, took one look, and said, "Avery, they just CALL it pea gravel."

Awesome!!

I'll try to get around to posting the rest of the pictures from our gallavating the past few weeks soon. I've got a list of things I'm trying to accomplish before staff week starts on Friday, so hopefully this one won't get kicked to the bottom too many times. Happy summer, everyone!