More Swimming...

Anyone I have spoken with this summer, knows my extreme frustration at how my son would not try to swim on his own. Well, right before Shelley, our wonderful swim teacher emailed us, he decided to try it. And now, for three weeks, we have been making a 40 minute drive EVERYDAY with gas costing $4 a gallon, and I can honestly say it is worth it! He swims the length of the pool, using his arms, and breathing to the side. He is no longer afraid to go deep...and in the pics below you see him going through a hoop, which Shelley no longer has to help him do...he does it all by himself. I have found that him being able to swim doesn't just make me proud, but it makes me feel "safe"...or "safer" anyways. Every time I go in the pool with him and Abby, I had two kids holding on to me for dear life...now he can actually swim, so I can breath a sigh of relief...not that I would ever let him swim alone though!





Abigail on the other hand, had a much more difficult time with swimming lessons! She screamed, and cried, the entire first week. Then, suddenly she decided this jumping in stuff is fun. Now, she runs and jumps in whether you are there or not! SCARY! She can keep herself afloat for a couple of seconds and when she puts her face in the water, she can actually swim!! When we are swimming at my mom's house, she loves to swim from mommy to daddy and back again, over and over again. This is the girl that wouldn't put her face in the water at all 3 weeks ago...much less "swim".

Now, though, I have to watch her even more to make sure she doesn't leap without someone looking! But, this is the stage we must go through in order for her to learn to swim on her own. These three weeks have been priceless...living in Arizona, where our kids are constantly around pools, means that they have to know pool safety, it just isn't an option.

The Circus!

Caleb and I have what we call "Caleb and Mommy dates" (daddy has "daddy and Caleb hangouts"). This was something that we started after Abby was born, and we realized he needed some quality one on one time. By far, these are my favorite times with my son. I get him away from everyone else and it is just him and I, and the conversations are endless.



This last date was to the circus! We loved it! We had a fabulous time together! Towards the end, he started to get a little bored, and that is okay. His favorite part was the motorcycles in the cage. I will admit, that was really cool! My favorite part though, had to be the trapeze! Those people are crazy! :)



I had promised him if he was good, his treat would be cotten candy. This is because I seriously would never let him have this on his own. He did some extra chores around the house the morning of to earn some money for his cotten candy. Little did I know that it would cost us $12 for cotten candy! That is TWELVE dollars! YIKES! He ate it like a champ...but wouldn't touch it with his hands. He got very hyper, then crashed on the way home...typical!



It was a really fun day together!

Summer Fun!

Sorry for no posts...I have had trouble getting my pics to load up onto blogger for awhile. I think it is time to get some more memory for my computer!

These pics below are from Father's Day...but they are what we do every Sunday pretty much. We get together with the family and swim our little hearts out! It is fun, and we are creating such amazing memories for all the kids.

This last week, my kids went to Shelley for swim...so I must admit that if I were to take those pics yesterday, Caleb would no longer be in a vest. The vest did somewhat slow him down in his progress, but it became necessary for him last summer in order for me to have a peace of mind about swimming with him and a one year old. In just 4 short days of swim lessons, C is now swimming the length of the pool, and coming up for breaths along the way. It is great to be able to relax even though he has no vest!

Abby on the other hand, still hates to go under water, and it is really hard to watch her at swim lessons. In these pics, that is why she is on the outside of the gate, as she was mad for going under with me one time. We have two weeks of swim left, so I do hope to see as much progress in her as I did in Caleb!

A day hiking...

My dad got this great idea that we should all go hiking. We knew we would have to go early, because we live in such a hot place.



The kids started out running and energetic...and then by the end, they were having to be carried out.



The desert is not my first idea of beauty, yet, I am growing to appreciate it. Slowly but surely, after 17 years here, I can finally appreciate the beauty of the desert.



It was such a fun time together. The boys LOVED it, and even the little girl loved it.



The kids took their shirts off after they saw some other kids with their shirts off. Then, of course, Abby had to follow whatever everyone else was doing.



I think Papa carried Abby most of the time...but he doesn't mind. He loves that little girl so much...













Thanks for a great idea papa! It was so much fun, and we had a blast! We should definitely go again soon...well, maybe not so soon...definitely when the weather cools off.

Summer days are here...

Growing up, there was one thing that meant "summer" to me, and it was watermelon. My grandparents owned a farm in Arkansas that we visited every summer. One of the things that my grandad grew was watermelons. In fact, he grew HUGE watermelons, that tasted absolutely wonderful.

I have memories of getting HUGE slices of watermelon and having the juice run down my chin and onto my clothes. I never did like being sticky, but something about tasting that wonderful and sweet watermelon made my mouth melt. For me, it is the sum of the whole picture...

playing on the farm, racing our lawn mowers, painting the house, making mud pies, setting off our own fireworks, blackberry cobbler, corn on the cob, chicken n'dumplings, a pet deer (don't ask), naming the cows, fishing in the catfish pond (I think I just liked throwing out the food on the water), taking walks to the chicken coups, and yes, even going to church in the ultra-conservative town. All of these memories remind me of wonderful summers that are now gone. My grandparent's both passed away when I was in college. They will never know my kids, and my kids will never know them, or the joys of the farm. This is one of the sad details of life...however, we always have memories, and I will pass those onto my children. So, grab a slice of watermelon, and make those wonderful summer memories!