reading, roaring, our pet Peeve...and planning

Exciting things are happening around here--today Calvin read his first book! I made him and Jude their own "doodle books" today to draw in, and after Calvin showed me that he could write 'hat' and 'cat'...I realized he must be ready if he can spell a few words. I put this book in his hands from the Bob book series...and he chugged through it, sounding out letters and forming words like "Mat," "sat," etc. with minimal help. And while Jude is also extremely intelligent... He still has some lessons of obedience to learn. Like washing his hands. I've given repeated lectures on not plugging the sink to play in the water--not splashing--not flooding the floor with water, killjoy that I am...it's just too tempting. And believe me, I say the words, "Jude, go wash your hands" with great trepidation, knowing I'll invariably forget he's in there, and 7 minutes later I have a monumental flood to deal with. (Even though you can't see the floor here, it looks just like you'd expect with a sink overflowing and a 2-year-old exiting the room.) And besides the normalcy of messes in our household, the impossible has come to fruition this week: we now have a pet. In our house. Under the same roof as my husband who would name every pet "Peeve." Okay, I guess it's not that big of a deal since it's only a caterpillar that will likely stay just few days. But Cami is really excited about him (we decided that "he" is a boy, and his name is Sam or Sammy). She's bonded with him and plays with him all the time, even took him to school for a day for the class to inspect. It really is a funny thing and is entertaining to watch him hold onto her finger with his hind legs, and crank and swivel his head and the front half of his body every which way in an attempt to climb. She's created a nice little ecosystem for him in a little plastic cup that has a few twigs, leaves that she refreshes daily, a few drops of water...and plastic wrap with tiny holes. Last night she fed him a speck of a carrot, and delightedly discovered this morning that same carrot piece chewed up into a granular mush. Her funny quote was, "Hey--he left something on me!" (Yep--apparently caterpillars have bodily functions too.) She wasn't as thrilled when I told her what that brown speck was... And Jada--sweet thing that she is--CAN show an assertive (read: ANGRY) side when she's hungry. Her recent entertainment has been a very savage and throaty "AHHHHH"...a baby tiger-like growl that she sustains as long as she can, with her mouth hinged open as wide as it goes, accentuating the plumpies of her cheeks and double chin. I think I should be worried that she's manifesting this animal-like behavior...but she and I have an agreement about her staying little, sweet, and generally low-maintenance. (Right, Punkin?) On the homefront: I've been enjoying my home bakery and have many happy customers. I've been experimenting with a few unconventional grains, like Teff and Quinoa (pictured here),

and a sunflower-millet bread that wasn't so bad. Although I'm sure I will fall back on a 100% whole wheat recipe that I have (light and fluffy with my 800-watt mixer)...and possibly adding in a little something when I'm feeling wild & crazy.

I've also been trying to get some projects and things done around the house, keep it clean(er), and plan for our Advent activities similar to what we did last year, but more along the lines of this Advent kids devotional book that we have. I hope to present an ornament for each day to go along with the daily lesson/theme (I found some nice graphics here), and will likely go the printed/paper route since I'm not feeling I have time for 25 handmade felt ornaments up my sleeve. Hopefully I can find some coordinating activies, crafts and treats to complement our devotions and Nativity theme. And I should probably also plan some kind of Thankfulness activity for the month of November too. These currently are only in the planning stage...I hope to use all this fun stuff to point the kids to the Lord.

Have a blessed weekend!