Swim Lessons!

The girls have just finished two weeks of swim lessons. Both girls made huge strides and improvement.

Kaylin was in Level Two, and due to an error on my part,should have been in Level One. But there were about 15 kids in Level One, so her teacher said she could stay in Level Two because she worked so hard. She was the youngest in her group and was a little goofier than the others, but she really did work hard and try. She is so light--barely 40 pounds at age 5 1/2 that she has a hard time holding her body down in the water to swim. Wish I had that problem!

Macy was in Level Three, and couldn't swim as well as the others in her group, but by the end she was doing great. Last summer she had a cast on her arm during swim lessons and couldn't do the proper arm movement. This year she totally rocked the front crawl (with face full in the water), can do the backstroke (but needs some improvement) and learned the whip kick, dolphin kick, and something other kick. Last night she had a breakdown because she was embarrassed that she couldn't swim as well as the others, but today she did her best on all the tests. I'm very proud of her--she put herself out there and tried her best. That's all I can ask.

Happy (late) anniversary

Happy anniversary to the love of my life...

my hate-to-have his picture taken,

sand-lovin',

beach-diggin',

perfect smilin',

tire swingin'

family adorin'

firefighting devoted


run-to-get-children's-Tylenol-at-1:15 am

husband of mine. Happy (late) anniversary Bobby!

Don't rock the boat

This weekend was the second annual canoe and camping trip with a group of friends. There were five couples, and we had a great time hanging out. The girls went with Mom and Dad for the weekend, and I think they all had a good time.

Friday night Bobby made his world-famous hamburgers, and we played about 8 rounds of Catch Phrase. I think the boys won, unfortunately.

Saturday we did a 13 mile canoe trip. The first 7 miles was perfect--hardly any other canoes, and there were some difficult manuevers, which makes it challenging and fun. A couple of the guys enjoyed finding some rope swings and swinging into the water. At one point we found a ledge that was high in the air, and about five or six people jumped off into the water. Then it was decided by someone (not me) that all the women needed to jump. Once I got up there, I got a little freaked out. Now I know why Macy has problems with jumping into water. :) One of the other women held my hand like a little baby, and I did it! With pictures to prove it. We took our time on this stretch of the river and it was very nice.

After the peaceful and tranquil first 7 miles, the next 6 were not fun. Tons and tons of drunk people on huge blue rafts clogging up the river. It was like a gauntlet trying to get through. They weren't belligerent at least, but really lacking in common courtesy. They would stop in the middle of the river, or swim right in front of our canoe, or pull out in front of us, etc. We did the best we could to get through them quickly, but it took a while. We did those 6 miles in about 2 hours!

Once we floated back to camp, we got our chairs and sat on the sandbar across from our camp to watch all those people float in. Quite entertaining.

Dinner was fixed, and it started raining. We all piled under a canopy until it started raining sideways. Then we piled in one couple's tent and played Catch Phrase again--in much closer quarters this time!

When it finally stopped raining, it dumped an inch and a half in about an hour or two. Two of the couples tents got pretty wet, along with their sleeping stuff, so with the threat of more rain on the horizon, they had to pack up and leave. We hated to lose them, but no one wants to sleep in a wet tent on a wet sleeping bag! The rest of us stayed, ate smores and just talked. The weather after the storm was perfect, and it was wonderful sleeping outside weather.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home. It was a great weekend, and I can't wait to do it again next year! I'm already planning a trip to take the girls canoeing with us on a separate trip next year.

Perfect summer day

Perfect Summer Day for a child:

Swim lessons in the morning, Mom and Dad both there to watch.
Lunch at aunt's house with cousin; play in her pool all afternoon
Hot dogs for dinner
Another pool with a babysitter for three hours
Spending all day in your swimsuit!!

Kids are amazing. Simply amazing. Bobby and I can't get Macy to jump into the pool, to go down the slides at Oceans of Fun, nothing. She likes to swim and swims underwater, but freaks out about going down the slides and jumping in. Kaylin will barely jump from the diving board that is a mere six inches off the water at swim lessons. They are progressing in their swimming, though, just won't jump in.

Enter Emily, their favorite babysitter for three years. She's leaving for Drake University in about a month (she got a full ride!) She takes them to her country club pool tonight while Bobby and I go out to eat for our anniversary. She has them for three hours. When we come back, they are jumping from the low and HIGH dive. Unassisted. As in, Emily is standing at the side of the pool talking to us, and they jump in and swim to the side. I never thought I would see the day Macy would jump from the high dive.

She accomplished in no time what Bobby and I would probably never accomplish. We bought ice cream for everyone, including Emily, before we left. Just another example of why I would never home school my children: they do so much with other people than they do with me!!!!!

Down to earth

As women, we have days where we feel good about ourselves and days where we feel terrible about ourselves. It might be a special dress that makes us feel fabulous, or maybe our out-of-control hair makes us want to put on a baseball cap and hide from the world.

Bad hair days outside, I've been feeling pretty good about myself the last few weeks. Thanks to my walking/running (which is now more emphasis on running than walking) I've lost about 7 pounds and my clothes feel looser. Always a great thing to keep you motivated in working out.

Until Child #1 opens her mouth.

She was walking behind me at Oceans of Fun today. She steps up next to me, takes my hand, and says,

"Mom, your bottom isn't getting any smaller."

Thank you, Macy for bringing me back down to earth.

And if that wasn't enough, later in what we call the "snakey pool", I had my arms up on the side of the pool. Macy then says,

"Mom, you have hair growing in your armpit."

Thank you, Macy for that! I discreetly checked to make sure I had shaved this morning (I had) and I'm not sure what initiated that statement. But now I was paranoid, and kept my arms down from then on.

Not Me Monday

New logo from MckMama, same concept! CHeck out MckMama's blog for more Not Me Monday fun.

I did not wear my shirt wrong-side-out to Worlds of Fun last week, and Bobby did not tell me about it until we had been there an hour, probably. Thanks.

I do not hide cheese sticks in the fridge from my kids. When I want to eat one, I do not sneak upstairs with one hidden in my hand. No, I share all food with my kids.

This afternoon, when the girls were playing on a water slide at a neighbor's house, I did not stay behind to take a nap. I was not annoyed when Macy had got a nose bleed--not because I was worried for her, but because I had to wake up and go get her.

Dear Macy

Oh, my sweet, sweet tender-hearted girl. One day I hope you will realize how much Kaylin adores you and looks up to you.

Right now you see her as the annoying tag-along who I make you and your friends play with when you'd rather play alone.

Right now you see her as someone you have to share your makeup with when you'd rather use it all yourself.

Right now you see her as the baby who gets in your way when you want something.

Right now you don't understand that when you are snotty to her, she will be snotty back to you. Funny how that works, huh?

Right now you don't understand that when you hit her, she's going to hit back. Funny how that works again, huh?

But I see a different story.

I see a little girl who desperately wants to be just like her big sister, and wants to be accepted by her big sister and her friends.

I see a little girl who sees big sister putting on makeup, and she just wants to be as beautiful as that big sister.

I see a little girl who doesn't want to be left behind when big sister gets something.

I see a little girl who has learned to defend herself by being snotty back, and learning to give what she has received.

I see a little girl, seated next to her big sister at a picnic table, say something funny and look up at her with such adoration, such a need for acceptance, such a look of admiration and I wish she saw that too.

Oh, my sweet, sweet tender-hearted Macy. One day I hope you will realize how much Kaylin adores you and looks up to you. One day I hope you will realize what a role model you are for Kaylin and learn to set a good example. One day I hope you two become best friends.