Monthly Archives: March 2013

Words of Warning and a Love of Literacy

We’ve been on a reading and writing frenzy in our house lately.

Thanks to Pre-K, Samuel has discovered a new passion with writing and our evenings are often spent spelling out words so he can write us a love note or two (or five). He loves periods (puts them between every word) and his favorite words to write are like and love.

For Thomas, the second half of first grade has seen an amazing improvement in his reading ability. Now, anytime we leave the house, we have someone who reads every single sign, headline or menu out loud. It truly feels like he was struggling with his reading one day and the next day he suddenly just got it. I’m sure Pokemon has a lot to do with this improvement, as much as I hate to admit it. (Ever read one of those books as a bedtime story? Painful.) The Pokemon character names are often spelled phonetically and Thomas has spent months learning the details of every single one. I’m so excited that he has this new skill. I just know Thomas will love reading and this opens up a whole new world.

While we’re on the subject of reading and writing, I want to share a couple of signs that I found posted to the boys bedroom doors a few weeks ago. We had a bunch of people over for the Super Bowl and Thomas decided that it was a good opportunity to set some ground rules for his guests.  I love how he put’s the “can’t do” list first and then follows it up with the “can’s”. For the record, jumping was accidentally put under the wrong list (he has a bunk bed and low ceilings).

Samuel was a little more direct.

“No girls in my bedroom”.

Here’s to making things crystal clear thanks to the written word.

Todays Photos of Seattle

Not much time to write today, just a few minutes to look back at some photos from my trip to Seattle last week. I found an hour to take a quick photo walk through the city and, although I wish I’d had more time, it was a nice inspirational boost. There’s nothing quite like a new location to make me excited about taking photos again. A little sunshine also helps (that was a special message for the Portland Weather Gods).

A quick walk along the waterfront confirmed that Seattle has the biggest seagulls in the world (in my very unscientific estimation).

Although I’ve been to Seattle many times before, this was the first time I’ve managed to stumble across the gum wall. In a word… ewwwww. As one colleague pointed out, I was lucky that I didn’t have my kids with me. Apparently they can’t help but touch something that looks so …ummm…. delicious.

Nothing says “If you trespass, you might die” quite like some very, very pointy artwork.

Thanks, Seattle. It was good seeing you again, even for a brief moment.

Today’s Photo Taken by Thomas

I’m back at home after a few days in Seattle and playing catch up. I think the tooth fairy must be feeling a little overwhelmed as well because she forgot to stop by our house last night for the second time this week. I blamed an overabundance of toothless seven year olds requiring her attention.

The weekend will be spent catching up on a few things around the house and, hopefully, some good old fashioned laying around. I need a recharge.

I leave you with a photo that Thomas took a couple of weeks ago. Happy Friday!