Reading...

I stayed up late last night...til almost 2 a.m. Why? We were in desperate need of clean clothes and because I loath the laundry so much, it had been more than a week since I had done it. I started at about 9:30 p.m. and by 2 a.m. all of the laundry was washed, dried, folded, and put away! The really great thing isn't that we now have empty clothes baskets in each of our closets, it's that I got to watch the first 6 episodes of Drop Dead Diva on Netflix! Thank you, Amy, for suggesting that I watch it. It made 4 hours of laundry go by pretty quickly!

Before going to bed, I always check on each of the kids (I'm not sure why I do this...it's just a ritual). I wonder sometimes what I think I'm going to find, other than sleeping kids, but I still can't close my eyes until I've had one last peek at the little chickadees! Last night, I peeked into Nate's bedroom and found this...

He fell asleep reading Nate the Great.

He was also still in his swim trunks from swimming practice!

What's awesome about this picture is that about 2 years ago I had to beg Nate to read. Although he loved being read to, he wasn't fond of sitting and reading a book alone. From the time he was about 2 years old, we'd sit and read Magic Tree House and Nate the Great Books from cover to cover, in usually 2 or 3 sittings (they're chapter books for those of you who don't know, and sitting still for an entire chapter book is difficult for my almost 5 year old son, Gabe). We'd lay down in his bed or on the couch and I'd read to him while he closed his eyes and "magined what the movie would be wike," were his words. I go back to those nights when I was so tired, I paused between every sentence to yawn! I'd read page after page, being sure not to forget that Jack and Annie had different voices. We'd put the book away and he'd head to bed, still talking about what was going to happen next and begging me to read just one more chapter. I always thought it was a way to stay up later, because reading was about the only thing that I wouldn't say no to.

I'm glad that all of that reading paid off...he's now a REALLY GREAT reader and now choses to read for fun! I'm so in love with my kids and there isn't anything better than watching them make good choices!

Last week, Matt and Nate spent everyday at Camp Belzer at Boy Scout Camp and they had a great time. The two younger kids and I joined them on Friday for family day. It was a memorable (and hot) experience for us all. I really enjoyed seeing what Nate had been learning all week. For those of you with boys, please look into your local Boy Scouts...it's an awesome program that teaches the kids so many things...manners, respect, listening and obeying, camping skills, other outdoor stuff, community jobs, etc. I asked him what his favorite part of the week was, and he informed me that it was learning to shoot BB guns and also, "that Daddy took the whole week off work to spend with me." Priceless! Not only are my kids the most wonderful things, but they're Daddy is pretty awesome, too! I know that it was hard for him to miss an entire week of work, during a really busy time, but he did it, and Nate was so appreciative!

This was the only picture I got because I forgot my camera and used my phone.

Nate is the one in the middle.

Gabe, Adri and I spent the week just hanging out at home and playing outside. We finally got our glider hung up on a tree near the house. The kids love it! Adri spent most mornings on it and Gabe rode his bike pretty much nonstop every morning from breakfast til lunch...which meant good naps for them both and quiet time for Mommy!

We had no 'big' plans for Father's Day and Matt's birthday weekend, other than spending time with our family. A few cookouts, family movies on the couch and working in the yard was how we spent our weekend...and of course, I didn't take 1 picture!

Happy Wednesday!