This morning Dom informed me that he wanted to go to the pet store and get a raccoon. He didn't really understand why we can't have one for a pet, since the one outside "already lives here". Our neighbor is presently trying to trap it so he can relocate it.

Zack has started to show a real interest in learning to read and write. He'll ask us how to spell words so he can makes "signs" for around the house. Today he asked what the (Corn Pops) cereal box said, and proceeded to write a sign stating, "I LOVE POPS"...with the 'e' and the 's' backwards. I get "I LOVE MAMA" signs just about every day! He will also write a whole bunch of letters (with the word 'mama' thrown in), and then ask me to read them...he thinks it's hilarious when I speak gibberish.

We've decided to stay here at least another year...our concerns have been addressed, and since we really like the location, we don't feel like moving again. Happily, we've managed to sell, toss, and donate an entire garage space full of crap we've been moving around for the last five years. It feels really good to no longer be bogged down by "stuff." We had a garage sale a couple weeks ago, and it went really well. To help the kids get into the spirit of purging, we told them they could keep all the money made from selling off old toys. They made $50!