Words

* Ellis was really proud of himself for being able to spell this word, all by himself!  "Boston," of course -- but it's spelled exactly how Ellis pronounces it!  He has recently caught on to the excitement of putting sounds together to make words.  Maybe it's the English teacher in me, but I think the two most thrilling parts of parenting (so far) are watching your kids learn to 1) talk and 2) read.  Ellis can hardly contain his excitement when he reads a string of words - it's like he has figured out a secret code!  And Sam seems to feel the same way about speaking words!  How exciting when he can say "cheese" or "drink" and we understand him and give him what he wants!  Another secret code!  I can't think of anything more fascinating than watching these little people figure these things out and be SO EXCITED about them.

[*Wow, I just got a close look at that fridge picture.  It almost looks like I intentionally set up our fridge magnets to create an artistic representation of my life in its current state.  Nope, nothing is intentional about it.  This is my reality, complete with chaos, madness, worn out letters, and drips of who-knows-what running down my refrigerator.]