John Paul spent hours today with Brian working on his new tree fort.  Looks pretty cool.  He's been asking Brian all week for help with the 'ladder' (the logs screwed into the trunk) and Brian went above and beyond to make a little platform and helped John Paul improve his pulley system for getting things up and down.  They are both in their glory.

Michael 

Michael began asking me questions this week about death.  I see his little innocent mind working and he asked me when we will die followed a few minutes later by would it be soon.  I love these moments as a parent explaining the mystery of the universe in a way that is not tainted by fear or false piety but with a real faith in what is true.  John Paul has always taken death as a fact of life and at some moments has said how he's excited for us to die so that we can go to heaven.  Michael may react differently, as expected but for now, it is beautiful to watch him work through these questions as I beg grace to answer them in the way that is best for him.

David 

Putting more and more sentences together, often backwards.  He makes us laugh so often with his ways of putting things and his complex sentences that do make sense if you have the David language decoder ring.  We do.  I started doing "So big!" with him again but this time added, "how fast is David?"  He then races his legs and arms in place and says "SO fast!"  Also added "how strong is David" in which he answers with his cute flexed arms and declares "SO strong!"  He's sleeping a bit better now that he is in the big boy room and we are working more with consistent discipline and helping him know how to properly ask for things and not whine.