A few random things

Today I helped the kids make Plaster of Paris prints of their feet. This is the first time I've ever done this, and I plan to make a wall hanging out of it, so I'll show you later what it looks like when I'm done.

Kiersa, who is bottle-fed part time, has recently learned how to hold her own bottle.

Talea, my little bug-lover, was thrilled to rescue me from this earwig and make it into her own little pet. She let it crawl up her arm and into her hair until I made her put it outside. I hate earwig pinches, but they don't bother Talea at all. She thinks they tickle and will purposely make them pinch her.

All of my kids have bone-straight hair, but Hyatt recently developed a little reoccurring curl in the front that makes its presence known on occasion. Watch him get all curly like all my Cluff brothers did when they hit puberty.

I'm one of those moms who feels like a kid needs as much time as possible to just be a kid because school will come soon enough and last forever it seems, so I won't enroll my kids in preschool. Learning about life from bugs and animals and hands-on experiences is all I feel my kids need until kindergarten. Then, some of my friends mentioned their 4 year-olds and my sister's 3 year-old could write their letters and names, so I figured I ought to teach Talea. She was never interested in sitting down and writing letters when she could be outside collecting worms, rolly-pollys and snakes, but I would occasionally sit her down and have her practice. She didn't seem to be interested, so I didn't want to push her and make her resent reading and writing (it's kind of like how there's no point in forcing your kid to potty train just because someone else's kid did it early). Then the other day she sat down and started writing letters on her DoodlePro. I was impressed because she was writing the letters without my direction, and then she'd decorate them with faces and hair. In all the times I had tried to teach her to write letters, she'd quickly get frustrated, then I'd get frustrated. Here she was writing them on her own so much better than the times I had helped her. I decided to see if she could write her name now, and low and behold, she whipped it out. I was shocked! Then I showed her once how Hyatt's name is spelled, and she wrote his name too. It's funny how kids will do things on their own time. I really feel like there isn't much sense in trying to force a kid to do something before they're ready. I'm pretty proud of her finally getting interested in writing, and I thought I'd show you how cute her letters are. I love little kids' handwriting!