Luke lost another toof

Tooth #3 came out for Luke tonight. It's about time. The thing has seriously been hanging by a string for a week now. I asked him if I could take a picture and he said, "as long as I can pull any face I want." I agreed as long as he was showing his tooth. This is what we ended up with----


Even while pulling a dorky face, he's still delicious. The girl who captures his heart someday is seriously a lucky one.

Luke is my wonder child. I am constantly in awe of him. Homeschooling him has been such a pleasure. He is so quick and witty and I just love being around him. So do his brothers. This is the first year I've decided to do an official curriculum. I was very hesitant at first because I don't like HAVING to follow a certain set of rules. I try to shy away from "grade-level material" because I don't want to put my kids in a box and say "this is what you're supposed to learn this year." But I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I have enjoyed having more structure in our day-to-day learning.

One of the main reasons I went with this particular program is because they test the students by subject and place them at their level. This I love. I have said this a million times that Ben is a much better student-- he sits for long periods of time, loves to do worksheets, raises his hand when he's the only person I am talking to, folds his arms, etc. Luke is not such a student... but he's a brilliant little six year old. He tested higher than his older brother in every single subject (and Ben is really smart!) They are now both doing 5th grade math and it's a total cinch for Luke. He usually finishes his work first and then helps Zack with his "homework" while I work with Ben. Today while instructing Ben one-on-one, Luke was across the room mouthing the answers to the questions I was asking Ben. I nodded my head and put my finger to my mouth trying to acknowledge that I knew that HE KNEW the answers. Luke winked at me and nodded his head in return. It was one of those quiet moments that warms my heart. I seriously just want to eat him up sometimes. I can't wait to see what he becomes and where life takes him.

Oh, and at dinner tonight, Luke said the prayer. We all folded our arms and bowed our heads. Luke humbly said, "I pledge allegiance to the flag...." Of course everyone busted up, but Luke was giggling the hardest... so much that he couldn't pray for good 5 minutes. To tell you the truth, I still am not sure if he planned it. He acted innocent and shrugged his shoulders as if it just slipped out, but I know from experience that sometimes you have to stop trusting the little boy who cries wolf.