swim lessons

Ok. I'm a little late posting these pictures of the boys at their swimming lessons last week. Our babysitter hooked us up a couple years ago with private lessons at the swimming pool in Mt. Pleasant. Her daughter had taken them before & she thought it would be a good option for our boys, since Evan hadn't taken lessons before & Collin wasn't so thrilled about group lessons. She even took them herself, which was a major bonus for me. They love it, too, they have one teacher to themselves for an entire week. I think this is their 3rd year. I only took them a few times this week & I missed alot of good picture moments, unfortunately. I was really wanting to get Collin going off the high dive, but he ran way too fast! Thought these were neat, though, each of them having talks with their teachers. Collin didn't seem to have any troubles doing what his teacher asked, except for the last day when he was supposed to go off the high dive.... got cold feet at the end {says there was a heckler next in line}. Evan did most everything, he's just really learning basic swimming yet. They were trying to get him to jump in the pool, which is why his teacher is giving him a talk.... I think he insisted on having the life jacket on. He did jump off the diving board on a day I wasn't there... our babysitter told him if he did it, she'd give him $5. Anyone who knows Evan, knows that money talks. All in all, I think they did well.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 04:53 PM

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, it's been pure craziness around her! Happily, my my parents are back in the area after a few weeks away... we all missed them. They are so much help with everything & this time while they were gone, Lydia remembered them! She immediately went to them both with smiles & kisses. Lydia's personality is definitely emerging lately. She's becoming quite silly, quite talkative, readily gives out sloppy kisses, very loud, & a big temper {ok, so the last two we've known for several months}. She LOVES playing with the boys on the floor with blankets & is really liking hiding out places & trying to taunt people into chasing her. Oh, & by the way, her face is healing so quickly. The only scabs that are left are around the nose area & that's just because she keeps hitting her face in different situations & opening them back up. Believe me, we got some odd looks with her when we went to Menard's & Lowe's the other night.

Yesterday I went out solo to get some school shopping done. Since I didn't get left until after lunch, the crowds weren't too bad. I think I got most everything we needed. I love shopping for school supplies, always have....I'll be sad when I can't buy new markers & crayons. I had a hard time, though, when I got to Collin's list & realized I had to buy him deodorant for his gym bag. Is he really that old? He was very excited, though & had to try it out today, proudly announcing that he was now a "man". Funny guy.

Anyway, just trying to get through the day today with various tasks I need to do {laundry, dishes, etc etc} & trying to get some extra large signs made up for a local parade we'll be in next weekend. Every year West Point has the Sweet Corn Festival, pretty big deal around here. Dan & I are on our church sale committee {we have a turkey dinner & 2 day auction to support our parish & our school} & we're having a float, so making a sign for the back of the float & a cute turkey for the front of the truck. Hopefully won't take too long, just trying to help out. Dan's trying to get some stuff done outside on the house. Our roof is almost complete & it looks lovely {I know, it's a roof}. Only part left is above Lydia's room, where we are adding a dormer with 3 windows. Her room is what used to be my "studio" & was originally a attic storage room when we bought the house. It's a very cute & quirky room, with slanted ceilings & beadboard walls. I think it's about my favorite room in the house. I'll have to take some pictures & post them if I remember.

Stuff I'm Lovin' Right Now...

I've discovered alot of things recently that I'm really into, so I thought I'd share....

*McDonald's sugar free vanilla iced coffee {ok, so found out this isn't exactly so good for my WW points. tried my own at home this morning w/ fat free original creamer, caramel coffee & splenda.... much better for me!}

*American Eagle boyfriend jeans... picked these up this weekend & LOVE them {tried on many many jeans to find these... might have to get a few more}

*Victoria's Secret Bras {OMG I don't know why I haven't tried these before, but I'm sold... definitely worth the price}

*McDonald's Oriental Chicken Salad & Southwestern Chicken Salad {with the grilled chicken these are so WW friendly & very YUM}... their ice cream is also very low points {who knew?}

*Resale shops. So I've always been resale shop freak, especially since Collin was born & I have a few favorites around our area {Krafty Kids in Burlington, Stage 2 in Ft. Madison, Stuff in IC}. I get really excited at times like this when they are clearing out the season you're in & bringing in the new season. My favorite thing to look for is Gap stuff... so cute & well made. I've found lots of Gap stuff on Ebay for cheap too!

*Etsy.com. Love this place, wish I had more time to look around here. I did buy a super cool mother's necklace a few months ago that had the kids names stamped on it.

Happy Birthday Collin!

I can't believe it, but today is Collin's 9th birthday. How is that even possible? Nine years ago he was our one & only, center of our universe & today he is so independent {although he still has his moments}, the oldest, biggest brother. We started out his birthday w/ a trip to the store to pick out the rest of his birthday gift {he had gotten Guitar Hero for his DS at their bday party}. He picked out a huge Lego set called Cool Convertible... over 600 pieces. That should keep him busy for a while. After we did that it was off to swimming lessons where he bravely jumped off the high dive. What a great start to his day!

Happy Birthday Collin, we all love you so much!

Bruiser

We had a big scare this morning. Long story, but Dan was getting ready to take the kids to the babysitter & since he was gone this weekend, he had to put Lydia's seat back in his Suburban. So I told him to let Lydia play in the back while he was putting her seat in. He had put her in, closed the door & went to get the seat out of the garage. In the meantime, Collin had come out of the house & opened up the door, not knowing Lydia was in there. Out she came, falling right out onto the concrete. I was in the house & heard the boys yelling, but silly me, I thought they were just fighting with each other, until I saw Dan with Lydia. There she was, bloody nose, scraped forehead, scraped cheek, she looked horrible. All I could think of was what could possibly be wrong that I couldn't see, so we loaded everyone up as fast as we could & headed for the ER. Thank goodness everything checked out fine. We were all more worked up than she was I think. I couldn't stop shaking for about an hour. I'm glad the boys came along because Collin kept her quiet & held her hand in the back seat on the way. He told me after the dr. gave us the all clear that his prayers must have worked {how sweet is that?}. Anyway, here are pictures of our little bruiser.