The Crandalls: March Madness (April and May too)

These last few months have passed like a whirlwind. We moved at the end of March into our new home. We love it and hope that we live here forever, both because it's perfect for us and the extreme pain of moving is still fresh in our minds. We hope to have lots of extended family over once the weather cools off and we have a landscaped backyard for cousins to play in. We're right across the street from a park, which has been a paradise for the kids. Now that summer is upon us (108 degrees today, aye aye aye) it's not so much fun, but we do have a community pool that we'll be taking advantage of. Our ward is wonderful. Neighbors are great. We feel very blessed.
Alan is doing great in school, but is beyond excited that the last day of school is Thursday. Ellie has been a social magnet for the neighborhood kids. I had to make a special sign that says, "The kids cannot play right now. Please don't knock or ring the doorbell," for homework time, chore time, and very early Saturday mornings. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but after 3:30 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend the most common sound in our house is often "BING BONG! BING BONG! BING BONG!.............." Ellie is loving it.
Dray is growing up so quickly. He's said so many things that have made me laugh lately. The other day he was holding a toy microphone and told me that he wanted to sing. When he wouldn't start singing after a few seconds I asked him when he was going to start. He responded with, "Mom, my song is still woading (loading.)" His favorite song is "Tonight" by the band "Fun." He asks to hear it repeatedly and sings along in a very cute, loud, and high pitched voice. He knows all of his colors and most of his letters. His favorite activities are looking at books (especially "The Thinks You Can Think" and "Are You My Mother?"), playing with play dough and painting. He and Ellie play really well together most of the time. She's very good at keeping him occupied. His favorite TV shows are Little Bear, Rugrats, and Wow Wow Wubzy. We've noticed that he's a very friendly, polite little guy most of the time. He makes sure to say "please," "thank you" and "I'm sorry," on a regular basis. When we respond with "you're welcome," he says, "you're welcome too!" He is still quite obsessed with outer space. He can name all the planets and frequently wants to talk about the characteristics of each one (Mercury is hot during the day and freezing at night!) He's also very interested in super heroes (his favorite is Hulk.) Best of all, he's very close to being potty trained! We love hims so very much.