Story Time

We have stayed busy this month. We have even had a few days off of school - which usually means down time, however, the older our boys get, the busier we seem to get!

Colin has been reading so much lately. Today, he took his 20th test in AR and earned is way to Level 10 (our school reading incentive program). At each level, they get a little prize - such as a new pencil or eraser...each level is assigned a specific prize. Level 10 is a t-shirt! Most kindergartners do not reach this level...he is so proud of himself! I have been g

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ting him books that are pretty easy so he feels successful. After reaching this level, I decided he could have a chapter book. He's been asking for one for a while! Yesterday, he came downstairs during naptime and said..."Mom, great news...I just read chapter 1 of this book!" I said..what was it about? His reply? "I don't know....but I read it!!" It was a Babysitters Club book I had when I was little! It was a 4th grade reading level...he really could read most of the words...

I bought a bunch of new books from a cheap book company through school...this picture is of the boys reading I Spy books with daddy! Even Cameron seemed to enjoy it.

We took the boys swimming at the YMCA on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun, but made us realize more and more that our boys NEED swimming lessons! We've got to schedule those

first this summer...we forgot the camera at the pool...like it would have worked in the water - well, I guess it might have - we did buy a waterproof one.

We're getting ready for all of our winter youth retreats. I'm cooking at both the Junior high and high school ones - both will be at Shilo Bible Camp in Donally Idaho. The boys are looking forward to the trips - they get a lot of attention from the teenagers and get to play in the snow. Brian is not going on the JH one - he is speaking at another youth group retreat (he and his accountability partner have decided to speak at each other's camp to save money on guest speakers). For spring break, the boys and I (Maureen) will be traveling to Yakima. Brian needs to stay here for church events - being as it's the week before Easter. We'll return home Thursday so we can have Easter here...:)

Curtis is turning 4 very soon (March 8th to be exact). He has asked for a kid dirt bike without an engine...we're not sure what he's talking about... :)

Okay...well, I need to go get on the treadmill - I've been back doing an informal weight watchers - so far, I've lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks!! I feel really good!!

This is Cameron wearing my ski boots - he thought he was hilarious...although he couldn't move!

I LOVE this picture of Cameron - his true smile!!