second cousins

I'm not a big social media person. I mean, yes, I blog. (Every now and then.) But I don't consider that too much social media. In fact, its really me just posting stuff up for the benefit of my own family without being too social about it.

Facebook. Eh. I'm on every once in a great while. (Never mind that I check out Becky Higgins on Facebook every day.) Twitter. Nope. No tweets from me.

But Instagram. Yes. I'm on Instagram lots. I post almost every day. Sometimes not. But I check it SEVERAL times a day. (Just ask my husband who totally doesn't get it.) And I go through withdrawals when I can't check it, like when we go camping or somewhere else without much signal.

Through Instagram I have reconnected with my cousin Christina, and because of it, our kids have connected. It's pretty darn awesome.

They met a couple years ago at a family reunion, but I think they were all a little shy then and there were LOTS of unfamiliar faces so the situation was probably not ideal for making new friends. The second time they met was in June at a graduation party near their house. Both sets of kids hit it off.



The girls are two days apart, but her daughter is one grade higher than Emma. The boys are one year and one grade apart.

This next pic was taken yesterday when they came out for a visit. Pictured are all five kids, including my cousin's oldest daughter. We saw a movie and hung out for most of the day.



But so fun for these two girls. They have become pen pals and email pals. Emma emails her almost every day.




We don't live close so there won't be lots of visiting happening. But I think we can make it work a couple times a year.

Just so fun to re-connect and newly connect.

And I think we have Instagram to thank for it.

first day of swim lessons

Just jumping in... Been a long time. Not making any promises to keep up, but I'm here now and I'm going with it. Edited the jpgs on my laptop with minimal adjustments. May not look their very best, but I'm trying to teach myself that it is really okay to let it go, very best or not.

These were taken today on the first day of swim.


Emma, age 9. On her fifth round of level 2, which I am really hoping she will pass this time. I truly thought she would have passed maybe 2 sessions ago. Emma is already a far better swimmer than I ever was. That's not saying much, but man, I love that.
 


Ethan, age 6 (7 in 10 days-ish). Level 1, which is pretty much where he should be. Last year he ended the summer on the verge of swimming. But he has more fears than Emma and that definitely holds him back. Progress every year is all I ask for.
 






And with that I'll just tell you that the lesson went well. No great pictures to show for it (short lens and a fence to contend with), but the kids did great! Emma had great form and I would say made it across the pool the strongest in her group. Wow, I can still remember the time when she would flounder and stay in one place. Ethan, despite being extremely nervous about starting up again, was brave and did well with putting his face in the water and jumping into the pool. So proud of both my kids.









Can't wait to watch their progress. Watching them learn to swim is one of my greatest joys.

our little pumpkins, Halloween 2011

So many more where these came from...

another VBS over...

RIt's been a great week... The kids were given activity. And they LOVED it. I was given some quiet time. And I LOVED it.



Now the countdown is on until school starts. 27 days. Looking forward to it in many ways, but the hardest part will be getting up early again, as evidenced by almost every single day in my Week in the Life documentation. That's okay. It will be good for all of us to get into a schedule again.

And Ethan starts Kindergarten! My baby will be going to school with all the big kids. My heart breaks a little (or a lot actually), but he is SUPER excited. So I will be excited for him too.

Hey, both kids in school, five days a week, is not a bad deal for me either. ;)

first day of Vacation Bible School

Oh yes.
V.B.S.
It comes at the perfect time.
In the middle of our summer.
Right when I need a break.
And the kids need a little structured fun.



Oh yes.
V
B
S.

first day of swim lessons

We are now three days into swim lessons. Emma is focused and determined like her usual self. She's also enjoying the process. Love that! Ethan is a much more willing participant this year - he's combining his brave little self from last summer with lots of smiles this time around. They are both doing great!





No tears this year and lots and lots of smiles from this little guy.

Wow, what a delightful change that is!





As I sat on Tuesday watching them, I felt so grateful to be there at that moment, watching my kids learn how to swim. It is a very moving experience for me. Its one of those proud mama moments. Knowing how to swim is HUGE and important, and its also something that I'm not good at. I fear the water. I can swim well enough to get to the edge of the pool, but other things about being in water terrify me. I don't need my kids to be fish. But I do want them to be comfortable in the water. I want them to enjoy it. And I want to know that if they were to fall in, no matter how deep it is, they could easily get to the edge and/or tread water. Right now, at ages 7 and almost 5, that last one is number one on my list.

first day of swim lessons

Things were great getting ready this morning, talking about it in the car, and even walking in.



And we were still doing fine as we waited on the bench for our classes to gather and meet for the first time.



Then Ethan started talking about how he was going to get his toes wet. Even more specifically, his baby toe. Yeah buddy, you're going to get more than your toes wet... That's what I wanted to say, but at that point I just kept my mouth shut. I did my best to prepare him beforehand and I did know how difficult this was going to be for him.



The photos above were taken before the dude had any clue as to how cold the water might be (and he doesn't like being cold), or how hard it might be to hang onto the edge for long periods of time. Not even to mention the very idea that he might have to put his head in the water. (Yes, I did talk to him about putting his face in the water and learning to hold his breath, but going back to the toe in the water thing, I don't think he was putting it together).

He did fine for about the first ten minutes. I heard the instructors ask him questions and he would answer with a positive attitude (not quite enthusiastically), but he was definitely trying to be brave and willing. Then I started to hear the protests. The dude was not quite crying yet. But I could tell he was fighting it. I could tell he was cold. I could tell he wanted out.

20-30 minutes later and I thought how in the world were they going to keep him in the pool for another ten minutes. He was constantly trying to climb out of the pool. Every time they turned their back on him he was climbing. Almost made it a couple times too. At one point I had to go up to him and tell him that he was not allowed to climb out of the pool. I think that alerted the girls to what he was doing because up until that point they hadn't really seen him do it. By the end they were holding him. And he was crying. And I could hear him.

As my son likes to say these days, "You broke my heart". Son, you broke my heart today. Not because I was disappointed in you and not because I was in any way angry with you. But because I couldn't help you. Because I understand and sympathize with your fear. I couldn't rescue you or comfort you when I knew you needed me. And I am so sorry. Someday you will understand how hard this is for a parent. Especially for me.

And Emma? Well, Emma has been asking to go back to swim lessons since last summer's session ended. She had a great finish last year and the enthusiasm just carried over. At one point I saw her calling Ethan's name, because their classes were next to each other, and she was waving at him trying to encourage him. She really wants him to succeed and helps encourage him as much as she can. I felt horrible after class because she kept asking me if I saw her do this and saw her do that. I of course told her I did and went on about how proud I was. I watched her enough to know she was doing great. We waved a couple times and I saw her smiling. But I was pretty fixated on Ethan. I trust the instructors and their ability to teach our kids to swim. But I also know they are only human and it would only take one turn of the back for them to miss something. I needed to watch my son, to make sure I could see his little fingers gripping the wall, his little head bobbing at all times.

My poor little guy. This was very stressful for me. It took Emma three days to come around her first time... I will pray for the same turn around in Ethan.

one at a time

our favorite people

To say that we like our almost weekly lunch dates with Jerrie and Dennis is an understatement. We LOVE our lunch dates. We look forward to and cherish every moment we can get with two of our very favorite people in the whole wide world.



Obviously, not just speaking for myself.



I definitely said "we".




Jerrie IS Wonder Woman, by the way. Just in case you were wondering.





I think its safe to say that the feeling is mutual, not to be presumptuous or anything...

all I want for Christmas...

is my two front teeth!


Emma's two front teeth have been loose for almost two months. And then over the weekend, while being a little too hyper in Costco, and while pretending to bite her Daddy's arm as he pushed the shopping cart, the first tooth flew out. Not fell. Flew. This sent us into a momentary frenzy as we ran around trying to find paper towels because she was bleeding quite a bit. We should of just pulled out the second tooth right there because it was barely hanging on. It looked terrible. And crooked. But we knew it would come out soon on its own.



Yesterday, it did just that. While having lunch with our dear friends Jerrie and Dennis, her second came out, with far less drama than the first.


The first thing she did when we got home was run to her money to sort it, apparently making room for the tooth fairy's next installment!

Yes, my daughter has her money sorted in little baggies by all the different coins and bills. She is soooo my daughter.

And now we have this adorable toothless wonder running around, just looking as cute as ever. I love it.




And actually, so does she.



One last one with both kiddos, because I just can't keep the little guy out of my photos these days.


I am so not complaining about that!

ten on tuesday

Yeah, yeah... I know its really Wednesday. But I haven't gone to bed yet so I'm still feeling like its Tuesday. It's not often my thoughts are organized enough to list ten things so I've got to roll with it!

1. We have quite the little budding artist in our home these days. Always drawing, always coloring, always growing in her art. If she does indeed turn out to be an exceptional artist, I won't be the least bit surprised since her daddy and his siblings are all incredible artists.

This was the second of two similar drawings she made for me... They were both supposed to be of my dream house. Though the first drawing had a red door (and I would adore a red front door!) this was my favorite of the two because of the little girl and dog. I'm thinking this is really a picture of Emma's dream house because of the purple door, and the little girl, that I am assuming is her, and the dog, that I am assuming is the dog she hopes to get once we move into a house.

2. And this was a special drawing that she made for me while I was out doing sessions this past weekend.

Don't you just love the arms? And I love the frame. I just adore that girl of mine.

3. "Happy Day Mommy. Happy Day." said in the sweetest little three year old voice that there ever was!

Ethan handed this to me a week ago and that's what he told me. I absolutely melted. It's amazing how much the little ones pick up from their older sibling(s). The gesture came out of the blue, but the idea of giving me something special that he made totally comes from watching Emma. And I love both of them for it.

4. Okay. This I stole. It wasn't given to me with a "Happy Day" wish or anything. I just took it. And you would too!

My son brought this to me yesterday (or Monday) and said "It's a man". I couldn't believe it. How in the world did he go from scribbles to drawing a human form (or monkey/human form) in one week?! Oh my goodness, an absolute treasure... That's what this is to me.

5. And speaking of that little man of mine, Ethan has been doing the very confused counting business of just mixing up all the numbers. Though it's been really great lately because he's starting to get it and is counting more in order up to 10 in just the last few days. He counts everything and always asks us to count with him. But he's so cute because no matter what number he counts up to he always sums it up with the total being "nine" - "9 sheep", "9 circles", "9 people". Cracks me up!

6. This is a reminder that we all need to have a good photo taken of just ourselves every now and then. There will be a time when you are trying to find one, because you know, maybe your daughter is doing a family tree for a school project, and you are going through all your photos (within reason, of course), and all you can find are ones where you are squished up next to someone else (usually a kid). So you have to crop the heck out of the photo to get rid of that person next to you. And you are wondering "Why in the world don't I have any good shots of just me?". That was me last night. This holiday season I will make an extra effort to get some good individual photos of just my husband and I.

7. Photos that were used on Emma's family tree project:


8. House hunting is about as fun as I thought it would be. Sarcasm here. Just because they call it a buyer's market doesn't mean its easy to find a house. On the contrary, I'm wondering if its harder right now. I don't know. I'm just not liking it. I'm really dreading the thought that we may have to move further out than I was hoping to. Daniel could care less where we move. It's me that is struggling with the idea. What would I do without my Jerrie and Michelle close by? What would I do?

9. Ethan's eyes are almost completely back to normal again. As in what he looked like a year ago normal. He is healing and handling it like a wonder boy and it's just been such a relief. Whew!

10. I didn't pick Emma up from school today (or yesterday) because I was at my dad's. When I called Daniel on the drive home he told me that Emma got a certificate at school. He said for Outstanding Student, which I thought was super cool. I couldn't wait to talk to her about it. I came home to find the following:
, which I thought was even cooler! At first I was a little bummed that maybe there was a school assembly and that I wasn't informed so maybe I could've attended. But no, it sounded like the principal came into her classroom where she was called up to accept the award. I could tell Emma was proud... You know, there are times when I can tell she just doesn't "get it", but not with this. She knew this was special.

So incredibly proud of my little girl.


So excited to share that stuff and record it for the kids! And now, off to bed! We finally get to see our Jerrie and Dennis for lunch tomorrow... It's been weeks!

VBS 2009

My kids had a great time at VBS this year. I saw so much spiritual growth in Emma, almost like VBS was brand new for her this year, and it was so great that Ethan was finally old enough to go. Of course it was a nice break for me too! Believe it or not, I scrapbooked at my friend's house while they were there. Oh, and I also found some new favorites at Starbuck's...)





The other four kids are paired up because of their ages, which is nice, except Ethan will always be by himself. But that's okay. He's pretty independent.


My favorites ~