Ten on Wednesday

Let's see, I wonder how long it has been since I did a Ten on Tuesday post... in any case, I think I'm turning the mental corner back towards crafting, writing, etc... instead of just reading in all spare moments. Only time will tell if as I do tend to shift back and forth.

1.  Yes, I have completed my December Daily--- I documented all the way through January 3rd!  I "may" take pictures of the days from Dec. 22-Jan 3rd... but we shall see. At the moment, I'm happy to close the book on that project. I do like the neat row of December Daily albums and love looking through them with our kids.

2. Swimming- over Christmas break, B was promoted from "Sapphire" to "Ivory."  The good news is he is getting faster and it is a big deal to move up a level. It does mean one extra additional day of practice a week (for a total of five) and, of course, the distances in practice get longer and the time to complete the sets get shorter.  So far, due to weather and holidays we haven't actually had a five days of practice week and I'm guessing it won't happen this week (probable ice storm) or next (his birthday party).  So maybe we'll make it there before the end of the short course season. He does happily still seem to really enjoy it and improved his times in the most recent race.

3. Horses -  riding - this remains M's activity of choice/passion/one true love.  Grandma gifted her with Holly Jolly Horse Camp as her Christmas present and she adored every bit.  She loved mucking out stalls almost as much as riding and was a font of new information each day.  She continues to take lessons for an hour a week and would probably live in the horse barn if that were an option. Her Christmas was filled with lots of horse related items and she spent her Christmas money on even more horse toys.  Obsession! I'm glad that she has found something she loves.

4. E - E does not have any activities per se.  He does really like snuggling me and we emphasized doing that part of every day of break.  He is also pretty fond of his hot wheel cars/tracks and all the newly aquired nerf guns.  Lately, he has persuaded B to read him a book in bed each night, which is tremendously adorable. I love the way our children's relationships are growing of late.  E is VERY tired in the morning as we shift back to school.  We all got pretty used to sleeping in.  I hear he has taken up napping at school, which is good for everyone. He is very sweet and polite right now, which is awesome---- save for when he is not, of course.

5. Brent is heading in to a harder semester.  He has more students in his classes than usual and more sections of his classes/labs than is normal.  Also, this is the spring semester which means he is also trying to plan and set up all the camps for the summer. Usually sometime around March I can feel the stress ratcheting up.  It is not fun.  Maybe this year will be better/easier as they have done it more than once now? It is tricky.

6. My big project for the last six months (off and on) has been helping with my job's search for its next president.  We locked that down last week in a flurry of last minute things.  Now, I'll move to help with the transition along with my normal load.  I did get a big raise and a slightly new title as the year begin, which is awesome.  I'm also doing the Yoga Revolution - 31 days of Yoga series.  I'm about 2 days behind due to our journey to Tulsa over the weekend, but finding it challenging and just the right length for a daily practice.

7.  Disney World - We are going to Disney World for Spring Break.  I'm not quite sure how we're getting there yet, but may actually be driving as the plane tickets are obscene, and hey, we should show the kids more of the country, right? Planning has been a bit more involved than I anticipated, but the kids helped pick out what rides they most wanted to do (and get FastPasses) for yesterday so progress is being made.  It feels a little overwhelming as a new to the Disney universe person, but this is going to be tons of fun, right?

8. Gather - my one little word for 2017 is going to be "Gather." It came to me as I reflected on the many holiday gatherings we had and how much I enjoyed them. It is my element and a strength.  Prior one little words have often been areas that I need to focus work on to improve or change.  This one is about embracing something that is so essentially me.  Looking to 2017, I'm playing to my strengths---gathering hope, courage, bravery, perseverance, people, knowledge, inspiration, challenges, opportunities, new experience and adventures and more.  I've begun by signing up for the Oklahoma Policy Institute's State Budget Summit to try and learn more about the Oklahoma budget I so often rail against.  I'm planning to be much more active this legislative session.  I'm also going to look for ways to gather people to our house as much as possible, and much more.

9.  Tulsa Trip - We flew out the door to Tulsa Friday afternoon on the idea that it might be better to drive on the snow while the sun was up and other people were driving than it would be to leave on hard frozen streets at like 6 am.  B had a swim meet in Tulsa and we had planned a weekend with the Wainrights.  So as soon as I finished the post-president electing debriefs with my colleagues we rushed out the door. We arrived in the middle of a game night with their friends and stayed until almost noon on Sunday.  Chrissie watched our younger kids while Brent and I went to the swim meet with B.  We played games, crafted, watched random shows on Netflix, read, snuggled kids, and then did it all again.  The weekends we spend with them whether at our house or theirs are a great blessing and truly relaxed and wonderful.  I feel so lucky to have their entire family be close to our entire family.  SO amazing. I'm already looking forward to whenever we manage to do it again!

10.  Babies -

Alice - is not yet here.  Kari's due date was earlier this week and we're all anxiously awaiting Alice's arrival.  I am irrationally excited about snuggling our very first niece and about all the fun to come. She will likely arrive by the 17th if not earlier!

Thatcher - My sister is also pregnant and has settled on a name for our sixth nephew.  I have no idea what it will be like to have two family babies again, especially so close in age! I am beyond thrilled that they will get to grow up together and we'll get to be a frequent presence in their lives.  Thatcher is scheduled to arrive in late March/early April so all the cousin fun and snuggling is just beginning!

Ten on Wednesday

 1.  Last week, the big kids didn't have school on Monday.  My leave request had gotten lost in the email so they had a lot of time on their own. I was surprised to discover M doing a science experiment at the table during one of my check-ins.  We took it up a notch and read the instructions, moved to the stove, and actually managed to successfully grow some crystals by the next day.

 2.  Girl Scouts has returned.  The first meeting was long and a little chaotic, but the troop leader is nice and there is a good group of girls so we're looking forward to a fun year.  M is still attending Girl Scouts at SEAS, but this may be the last year as after this the logistics/missed class time will likely tip the balance towards another troop.  In the meantime, she is having a great time doing crafts, learning core values, and making friends!

 3.  I read somewhere that a great way to reduce fits/improve behavior is to dedicate 20 minutes to playing with your kid on the floor daily.  This seems easy and something we're probably doing anyway, but I am making a conscious effort to make sure E is getting at least that in a super focused, no distractions way. I have have zero clue if it is working, but it is definitely entertaining and fun.  Last week, we spent the better part of an hour with him jumping off this ladder on to his bed.  Per his request I did video most of his attempts so he could watch the replay.

 4.  We took a whirlwind trip to the farm this weekend and it was great weather for it.  The kids spent a lot of time with the chickens and tree house, but also made fun gourd crafts.  M made 3! and the boys each made one of their own design.

 5.  E & Ro are adorable together.  They spent a lot of time with their tools, adventuring, and doing puzzles in the tents.  There was remarkably less fighting and more cooperation.  (Hooray!)

 6.  E specifically requested this photo with the chickens.  He is a big fan.  I got to spend a lot of extra time with him on Friday as he was randomly out of school.  I have no idea what families where both parents have normal jobs do with all these random days off.  I assume daycare or Grandma? In any case, glad I could be here with him.

 7.  M has a new "spelling menu" of activities to work on.  The first option was writing her spelling words in shaving cream and she loved it.  B would not have liked this as sensory play was not his favorite.  M could recall all other instances when she has done things with shaving cream and loves it.  The spelling menu is in addition to her "homework menu", monthly family projects, and daily XtraMath.  She has WAY more homework than Brendan does.  It is annoying.  She does need the extra time with her math facts, but some of the other stuff just feels like busy work.

 8.  M and I love fall mornings outside.  It isn't nearly as cold as her outfit would suggest.  We wandered the gardens, checked on our plants and faeries, and then sat on the porch and talked before she got in a little scooter time.  I adore our yard and it's quite wood.  Perfect for M & me!  (I should mention that Grandma loves to do all these things with her in the mornings too and is usually around a couple days of the week to lead morning adventuring).

9.  B sustained his first (very minor) swimming injury yesterday.  First, you need to know that he and the other boys in Onyx are racing at all times during practice. I don't think this is required, but who am I to say.  There is a staggered start for each length of the pool, but they battle to catch the people ahead of them before they reach the end. Over and over and over, for 45 minutes (with only a couple rests to put on flippers or get instruction).  When every length is a battle it was only a matter of time before someone got kicked in the face and yesterday was that day.  He is totally fine and definitely likes the race to the wall with every lap so kuddos to him.  We did mention watching out for other people's feet/bodies and making sure that they are doing what the coaches want. He is sore daily, but always happy to go and happy when he gets out of the water.  Love this.  (Ps. doesn't waiting at the bus stop with these two look fun?)

10. After heading back from the farm on Saturday, we went straight to "International Night" at OSSM.  It is always hard to leave the farm, but I'm glad we made it back for this event.  It features the food of all the countries where OSSM students and their families have roots.  This year, each table had a host family/theme country.  Yes, there were  some straight "America" tables, but a wide diversity of other countries too. The food is amazing and very authentic and the conversations both with other people and with our kids is great.  This year, there was even a short Irish Stepdance performance on the balcony.  This is probably the biggest event of the fall semester at OSSM and getting larger and better each year. I look forward to enjoying it again next fall.

Ten on Tuesday

1. If you know me, you know how I love/tend to overbook us in all ways possible because everything sounds like so much fun, right? Well, Saturday was booked full from about 11am onward.  On Thursday or Friday, Brent's back had started hurting and got worse by the day.  To the point where I was helping him up from sitting positions, consistently, etc... We took this as a message to scale back the rest of the weekend.  We did all the Saturday things -- hair apt. and yoga for me, birthday part for E's friend, riding lessons for M, and then bailed on the Girl Scout party and hung out at the neighborhood pool instead.  After that, we pretty much dialed back to not much so he could rest and we could all mentally rest after chaos behind and looking ahead of us.  We went to the pool every evening as part of our good byes as it has been such a constant to us this summer. We tossed E high in the air I got to swim actual laps (20 one day!). We did other little house projects like replacing some window screens.  We rested.  With a new chair, meds, and rest, Brent's back is MUCH better and I think so are all of us.

2. Sunday's one activity (other than the pool) was breakfast out as we were out of coffee and the kids were feeling like fall hot chocolate.  It was fun and delicious!

3.  M is now in group riding lessons with three other girls including her buddy Ashtyn.  She seems to have conquered her nerves, is feeling the rhythm with the horse and following all the instructions well.  She has beautiful posture on the horse and got lots of compliments from her instructor (rare!).  She got the new riding stance on the first try and took the horse over small landscapte timber obstacles as part of the riding circut.  Having an hour class is MUCH better!

 4.  Did I mention we had a hard time letting go of the pool? Here is M on the last day hugging the furniture!  B is having less difficulty as he knows he'll be swimming four days a week, but it will be less leisurely than our family swims, I suspect and indoors.

5.  In a stunning turn of events I started actually scrapbooking again.  In the course of the weekend I finished 12 pages. (Four of those I started last week, but hadn't done the journaling).  In fairness, 7 total of those were pretty formulaic - 4 pages of vacation photos on the same model, 3 pages of kid interviews on a different model.  The remaining 4 though were all unique and it took me a bit to relearn how to do that.  It is weird, as I've scrapbooked 100s of pages overtime, but it takes awhile to remember what works and figure out the style/layout components.  The above is probably my favorite of the lot.  It is about getting snowcones with the Wainrights and our adventures with them.  The other three pages are about - celebrating July 4th at the lake, going to the Zoo with cousins to start and end the summer, and E's summer gymnastics lessons.  Yes, I scrapbook kind of randomly whatever strikes my fancy!  All this was inspired by stopping at an actual scrapbook store on Friday afternoon and buying 20 pages of paper with the challenge to myself that I had to complete 10 layouts by the end of Monday--- and I did it! Hooray!

 6.  We had big rains last week!  Just a torential downpoor so all the occasional "water feature" in our yard were in full effect.  My favorite of them is when the little "creekbed" in the front pours down the steps creating little waterfalls.  (Most of the rest are less cute and more in need of fixing).  E dancing in the rain in his backwards swimming suit is always cute too!

7.  We've been so lucky to have Grandma stay with us several days a week of late.  Thursday (you can tell it is Thursday by E's mass-day uniform, lol), she bought each kids some books and little fun presents. They loved listening to her read books most of all.  E is especially cuddly of late after long days at school.

8.  FunRun! The school fundraiser at Cross Timbers is named Fun Run.  They raise money for technology, teacher grants, Scholastic news, school events, and other supplies for the school.  If you'd like to donate click on  (M) or (B) and donate either a flat amount or an amount per lap.  The fundraiser ends Thursday! Thanks to those of you who have already donate!

9.  Yes, we did wake up to the big 5.6 earthquake on Saturday morning.  It was the longest one I think I've experienced so far. We're all fine here, but there is damage closer to the epicenter. I do worry about what happens with the next bigger one when this one was a record.  We're starting to do a bit more teaching of our kids about earthquake safety and I'm looking at my emergency supplies in a new light.  Apparently September is national emergency preparedness month (apparently?) -- -anyway, I picked up a couple more items for our kit today. I add a few things now and then in an attempt to get it closer to the 72 hour kit ideal, but no so big that Brent loses patience with it..... hmmm Today's additions were these emergency whistles with compasses and a few other cool features and a small sleeping bag - this is only the second sleeping bag in the kit, but there are those mylar blankets in there.  In concept we should have time to grab actual sleeping bags but like to have some as back up.  In DC we had whistles like this for building collapses so that might have been inspired by the earthquake...

10.  We planted fall garden! I forget pretty much every year, but we made some small attempts this year.  I'm not super optimistic about all these things actually maturing before cold weather, but who knows!  Our sprinklers broke right after the big rainstorm so M is now in charge of watering the garden lightly 2x a day.  So far, so good!

News from our new routine: Right Now

3 happy kids as summer wound down and headed in to school year adventures. 

I like lists and have been missing Ten on Tuesdays so here is a look at where we are "Right Now."

1. Back to school is kind of hard on my.  I go from a house full of people all day to usually just me. I am a people person and it still is a little confusing that I telecommute given that, but it is so good in so many other ways.  Luckily, my mom has been around a few days a week of late dropping in here and there, but still definitely lonely. This, inevitably, lead to an emotional discussion with Brent on wholly unrelated topics that we both knew was really about my difficultly with transitions and the intense logistics of back to school when all of us, one way or another, have our daytime driving by school calendars. (Brent and I work for two different schools, our 3 kids go to 2 different schools... uh huh).  We LOVE education. Anyway, a lot is changing and going on so I wanted to hit some high and not so highlights here.

2. THE most exciting things this back to school revolve around B, which is cool. B is, like his daddy, not the world's "most" enthusiastic/emotive person on a daily basis.  Last year was hard with transitioning schools, a more demanding teacher, and adapting to all the newness.  This year is off to an amazing start.  He has the only male teacher in the school and LOVES it.  Loves his teachers, the class, looks forward to it, and seems to be thriving.  He has maybe found a new best buddy or two as well, which rocks.  He is willingly doing the very minimal homework he has and reveling in knowing he is really good at some of these things like reading and math.  He is excited about and enjoying 2 hours a week of enrichment (gifted and talented program).  He just seems baseline happier, more cooperative, more chatty, every day.  Such a relief.

3. There is MORE big news for B.  Remember his love of swim team this summer? Well, yesterday he finally started swimming with the King Marlin Swim Club (KMSC). I could probably write a whole post on our kids' activities they have tried and done, but not been passionate about.  We have had the opportunity to expose them to a lot of things and they have taken us up on it.  So far, B has tried - soccer (1.5 years), baseball (1.5 years), basketball (2 weeks?), archery (3 months), Tennis (4 months), Spanish (1.5 years)--- some he liked more than others, but rarely was he really all in.  He is SO all in to swimming.  He has been looking forward to it, practicing his strokes when we visit the neighborhood pool, helping gather supplies for the new team, and being very accepting of the new schedule that means swim team practice 4x a week for 45 minutes. We have never committed this level of time or resources to an activity, but also it never felt like there was an interest. I missed taking him to the first day of KMSC practice because the other 2 kids had teacher/parent meetings. We prepped him with information from our neighborhood coach whose kids swim for this club as well.  She is amazing.  Grandma took him and there were no problems, just 100 or more kids swimming hard. From school/neighborhood teams he knows maybe a dozen including one of those new buddies from school!  He came back super pumped and super starving.  He wants to compete asap.  He says they swam more laps yesterday than in all of the summer combined and yet he loved it.  We are so completely thrilled that he has found something he loves to do that is good for his body, good for the practice of routine exercise, good for his psychology and just plain fun.  Hooray for swimming and GO Marlins!

4.  M is maybe more of a mixed bag.  Lucky for us our kids seem to take turns with the highs and lows.  M is fine.  Her teacher is super enthusiastic and different from last year.  M says they spend a lot of time in circle time and her back hurts.  She is making new friends as some of her best friends are in other classes.  She is having nagging stomach issues, but maybe improving with the acid reflux.  Most of her issues, I think, are at home.  There is a lot of whiny and way too much lying about whether or not she has done what we told her too.  We are tightening up her supervision and basically watching everything she does to verify it is happening.  I doubt it is fun for her and it isn't for us, but we really have to help her build habits of cleanliness, honesty, and good health.  She is leaving chores half done by, for example, putting clothes that go in her drawers in the video game baskets.... So, there's that.

5.  The better news for M is her love of horses and english riding.  She doesn't even need to get on the horses.  She would love to just hang around in the stables and smell them...yes, you read that right.  We arrive at riding lessons 15-30 minutes early most week so she has time to wander the stables.  This week she is being promoted to group riding lessons which are the same price as the semi-private (2 rider) lessons of last month, but now last an entire hour.  She is psyched.  She is reading non-fiction and fiction books about horses. Sometimes a large number if imaginary horses live in our backyard.  She practices posting at the bus stop and everywhere else.  She has a whole area of her room which is a stable area for her toy horses.  It is definitely obsession level.  I don't see, yet, the need to compete that B has with swimming. She just enjoys doing it and being with the animals and I'm just as happy to invest the money in lessons v. competitions and all the gear that goes with it.  Saturday riding lessons are the best part of her week and she is so antsy to go before hand that she can barely handle it. (As a reminder prior to this she has tried dance lessons - 3 different years), Gymnastics 2.25 years, soccer - 1 season, swim team - summer, french - 2 years, girl scouts - ongoing) she tends to alternate between dance and gymnastics and prefers dance of the two, but with nothing like the fervor of the horse riding.  M loves to perform so weeks and weeks of lessons for one performance doesn't really match that although I know as she got older there would be more performance opportunities.  For now, we're fully embracing the love of horses and riding.  She says she wants to be a riding instructor when she grows up.

6. My poor, sweet E is exhausted.  Pre-K for him is actually more time in school than our bigger kids spend.  He, I'm told, does not nap at school.  When he is tired, he goes super fast --- think running all over, which is confusing.  He stops listening and starts hitting people or throwing things.  You can imagine how well evenings are going right now. I think he will adapt, but it is taking some time.  We had his parent/teacher group meeting yesterday and while the comments from his teacher were directed at all the parents I feel sure E is doing all of these things - taking off all his clothes to go potty, not always wiping well, not washing his hands with all the steps (water, soap, rub hands, rinse, dry), being distracted at lunch/not eating, not staying in his chair at lunch/snacktime, not keeping hands to themselves, forgetting to say please and thank  you, wearing a belt, forgetting to go to the bathroom before going to school, should I continue? These are all really life skills not academic ones, but they are things 4 year olds struggle with and we're trying to do a better job of emphasizing them here too.  Scandalously, I accidentally sent him in black rather than navy pants on Thursday.  Who knew we even had black dress pants for him? There was a stern note.

 This week's pre-K color is "yellow" (They are reading all curious george books, obvi) and the theme is "letting your light shine." So we're trying to emphasize that at home too and making sure his light is shining before he goes to school.  This is basically a reminder to be kind to everyone, share, help, talk nicely, mind your teachers, not throw fits, etc..  We talk about ways he is shining his light and try to keep him focused on that.... we shall see how that goes.  It is really hard to have all the tired struggles as I know he remains my sweet, snuggly, adoring boy under all that, but right now he is struggling through transition too and we're trying to help, but do have to also do a lot of parenting to keep him on the path. We, amazingly, did remember to bring his show and share item today - yellow, as requested.  He chose "sunshine bear," which seems perfectly on theme.  I"m excited for a more relaxed weekend with him, reading his new favorite ninja turtles in space book Grandma brought him yesterday.

7. Brent is actually the happiest and least stressed in the fall as he is mostly just teaching classes not doing quite as many of the administrative/camp things.  He is taking E to school two days a week and maybe coming home to cover swimming lessons some days too.  The thing about all school and these activities for our kids is they require a lot of logistics from us and getting everyone to the right place with the right stuff. For example, there can be 15 lunches to be made, 15 folders to review, 10 snacks to pack, etc...  We're working on being a true team on this front so we each really know what is needed and work through the prep together so neither of us goes crazy.  We're also working on the kids doing more of the prep themselves - especially things like lunch and snacks.  (Hooray!).  Otherwise, Brent is getting ready for football season with his dad, playing games with Gavin and Eric, doing lots of LEGOs with the kids, brainstorming fixes for the camps for next year,  and preparing for some of my upcoming trips away.

Yes, you read that right, I'm going to leave the chaos for a ridiculously brief trip in Sept. and then again in October. I should note that I was, in fact, for possibly the only month so far this year actually in Oklahoma every single day of August.

So that's pretty much where we are now.  Trying to adapt on lots of fronts and so, so excited for a three day weekend. 

4th Lake Fun 2016

 We spent a lovely two days at the lake last weekend with my siblings, their families, my mom and the occasional uncle or cousin.  There was a lot of this - hanging out on the dock, swimming, kayaking, chatting, fishing, and eating.

 B kayaked by himself for the first time.  He loved it!  Thanks to Able & Kari for bringing the kayaks. We all loved them and they are perfect for the lake set up!  Hooray!

 Uncle Zach led most of the fishing endeavors.  He is a great teacher and came prepared with lots of crickets.

 This was M's biggest fishing catch of the day.  it is a great place to fish as you pretty much catch something quickly with every catch.  We release them back too after looking them over carefully.

 Grandma brought a bunch of new floates, which the little boys particularly enjoyed.

 There were a few minor injuries like splinters and stickers, but we fixed them all right up.

 Audra led the making of these awesome family shirts while I was away in San Francisco.  Each has its own hashtag and they made for very cute pictures!

 It took a couple tries, but here are my awesome kids.

 There was a now traditional fish fry, led mostly by Able & Kari with help from Zach.  It was SO So delicious. I had the left overs for the next several meals.

 Swimming at dusk is awesome. The kids stayed up late for the fireworks before bedding down in the new bunk beds that had been made that day by the Uncles.

 We had amazing fireworks and lots of great glow necklaces too.  Two uncles and two of my cousins joined us for the fun.

 Of course there were sparklers and smaller fountains but lots of big fountains too.

The Korenaks and my crew stayed at the lake.  Audra got very little sleep but most of the rest of us got some combination of sleep.  The next day, Audra and I swam laps of the lake in the morning and we all did more of the above (fish, kayak, eat, swim, dive, cannon ball, etc...) until it was time to pack up around 4pm.  A great time was had by all!

Ten on Tuesday

1. LEGOs!  Because we always love them.  E got a gold and white ninjago dragon for his birthday that has been an excellent group project.  B, E, and Brent have all jumped in now and again.  Great to have a place where we can leave things like this out and come back to them.

2.  Speaking of which,  Great Grandpa dropped by and saw the house!!  I wasn't sure that would ever happen and it was a huge surprise. I almost missed saying hi because of all the calls I had, but broke free long enough to talk for a bit. I think he liked it? Hard to say, but glad we got to show him our home.  That also makes two times seeing him in less than a month with two more scheduled in the next month.  Hooray!

 3.  Love this photo - we close down the pool one evening recently. We're not swimming two times a day EVERY day any more, just most of them :)

 4.  M is having some swimming confidence issues that ended her swim meet early on Monday with just full body sobbing. Her coach is doing great with her and we have a joint strategy going in to Saturday's meet.  I believe she will swim two different races Saturday morning... if the plan works?  This "balking" tendency of our kids is super frustrating and nearly inexplicable, but we continue to try and work through it.  B has made it largely to the other side so we know it is possible!  We'll keep being positive and encouraging, but also keep making them try "hard things."

 5.  This guy is loving pool time and getting slightly more adventurous.  Overall, he is kind of emo.  Lots more tears than a few months ago, but also amazing snuggles.  We're hanging in there as snuggles always win.  The otter snuggles in Finding Dory are basically E & my spirit animal so we're good.

 6.  The oh, so comfy, best reading couch ever has arrived.  I realized at some point that I built my own blue room, just like my grandparents, but this one encourages using the furniture and curling up on the couch a bit more.  The kids and the baby sitter spend most of their time in this room as it keeps the noise away from the office.  They seem to be having a good time and I'm glad it is finally pretty much furnished and very comfortable.

 7. E went to VBS with Zane last week.  He "might" have been two young, but I think had a great time and occasionally tells us random things he learned after the fact even though he wasn't very forth coming during the actual week.  Zane, however, went also and was full of information so we got the gist.

 8.  We did a lot of things for Zane's birthday including dinner at Tucker's, the Finding Dory movie, and the big Harry Potter party.  it was tons of fun and their party decorations were, as always, completely on point. I feel we may need to step up our game slightly for M's party.... or have Audra and Zane just make us some decorations?

 9.  I had purple hair for my Tonks costume and kind of loved it.  This is also pretty much my face while my job has been trying to figure out whether or not I should come to DC and where I am most needed.  Just hanging in there and rolling with whatever.  Looks like no DC this month, just San Francisco beginning on Saturday as planned.

10.  Yes, one more swimming picture.  Here, B is lined up to begin the breast stroke.  He hadn't thought he was competing and maybe kind of hoped he wasn't as he isn't very confident in this stroke. The coach told him at race time that he was in and gave him a quick reminder on the pool deck about how the stroke works.  He did great! He went right ahead, jumped in, and won his heat. I am so insanely proud of him for pushing through his fears  and doing it anyway.  Such a great life skill.  Swim team is being very good for him.  He isn't the fastest by any measure, but is getting better every day, trying hard, and conquering his nerves to just go for it.  Great moment for him and for us. 

Swimming through June 2016

Every June we double down on swim lessons.  We sometimes take them at other times of the year, but in June, we focus.  This year, that process is much better due to the existence of a neighborhood swim team.  M & B have team practice 4 days a week for nearly an hour.  Then there are weekly swim meets.  It is awesome and they are improving SO much it is incredible.  E is taking swim lessons once a week at the Y and it is a disaster.  Last year his lessons were also pretty much a disaster.  That said, the older kids used to be much the same in the early years and love it now so we shall be patient.

 First day of swim team - we begin with basics. For M, basics begin with how to put on goggles :)

 So kids 5 and up are in various levels of team/lessons.  Kids younger than that and parents or baby sitters sit around and watch.  Kids older than 10 swim earlier in the morning.  The team has about 40ish people and is awesome.  GO Swordfish!

 E rather likes watching swim lessons.  This particular day he was wearing his robe, PJ top, and tshirt -- it was probably 80 degrees... I have no idea, but wasn't fighting that particular battle.

 On the third day of swim team, we also went swimming at Great Grandpa's cabin with our cousins and Grandma.  Which included diving lessons and lots of fun.

 Then we went swimming a third time at the pool on our way home when we stopped to pick up our OTP swim bracelets (long story).

 The next day was E's first lesson and it began so well.  This has been the only happy moment for E... and his parents, but it was adorable?

 In addition to lessons, we go swimming at the pool probably at least 4 days a week.  We usually stay just over an hour.  They love it and seem never to tire of going.

 B apparently does not have a lot of plans to wear non-swimwear this summer. He puts it on first ting for swim team and rarely takes it off before his bath.  He requested, nay, urgently begged for his first speedo for the swim meet.  Brent and I stiffled our laughter and bought him long, sort of tight racing shorts.  He loves it? Who  would have guessed.

 We often mistime our visits to coincide with the start of the hourly safety break so there is some sitting around.

 Why yes, there are swim team shirts!  M had horse camp last week and thus was not competing in the swim meet as she had not practiced (and admittedly is probably still not "race ready").  She SO wanted to be in the water, but looked great on the sidelines and kept me informed about what was going on while I worked in the concession stand for the meet.

 The day of the first meet, we left the house about 7:10 to make it to the pool for the 7:20ish team meet and warm up.

 B competed in freestyle and back stroke.  He won his back stroke heat, but fared less well in freestyle.  Brent sadly missed the first two races taking E to his "lesson."

He seemed to enjoy racing and was not nearly as nervous as I would have guessed.  So grown up all of a sudden.  He is a very confident swimmer now and his kick is probably better than mine already!  (I did beat him in a short race Wednesday, but who knows if I will for much longer....)

Luckily, to everyone's surprise, B swam in a freestyle relay at the end.  His relay team finished second and he got his very first swimming ribbon.  The swim meet lasted about 3.5 hours from warm up to completion.  There are four more this season.  Two of them are at our neighborhood pool and two are not.  The final meet is at the Y for the city championships.

Right now swimming both with the team and for fun in the afternoons is super popular.  We'll see if it continues into the hotter part of the summer, but right now it is great fun.  I am so glad they get to try this all out, make new friends, build a skill, and have fun together.



(Ps - M would like to add that their team swimming suits arrived today so now they are set for the next competition.  B's team speedo is substantially tighter than the one we purchased.  He still loves it.  )