1. It felt like it took us a while to get into a normal summer routine around here. Our camping trip, Daniel taking extra time off and then 4th of July were very consuming and happened immediately after school was out. Last week we finally started to settle and this week was the first week of swim lessons. I love sleeping in (till 9 usually) and not worrying too much about bedtimes.
2. The first week of swim is over and one week left for this session. Emma is loving it; Ethan is enduring it. Both are making progress and I am very proud of both of them. I've decided to sign Emma up for another two week session, but not Ethan. I think two weeks of torture is enough for him (and me) and made for a good start. Next year he'll be a year older and we'll give it another go.
3. If you live in Southern California you can blame me for the sudden hot weather this week. I hoped and prayed for it because swim class is at 10:30 in the morning and the way we were going for the last two weeks, with especially cool temps in the morning, I was worried about it being too cold in an unheated pool. I needed as much in Ethan's favor as possible.
4. As soon as I finished reading Twilight I watched the movie. I was extremely disappointed. The whole feel of the movie was off with its weird coloring and music that reminded me of a B rated movie. The acting was just okay. The scenes that were added and of course others that were changed bothered me big time, as is usual when you have read the book. Worst of all was the horrible bright lipstick Edward wore and his ghastly face. I mean, did they really need to make them up so much? I didn't plan on ever watching it again.
Yeah, I've watched it at least 6 more times since then. And I'm ashamed to admit that its grown on me. I would never say I love it though. At least it has kept me at bay while waiting to read and watch New Moon.
5. New Moon. I swore I wouldn't pick up the book till I was finished proofing and doing all work-related tasks this month. But I couldn't help it. I started reading it a couple days ago and I finished last night. I loved it. And Edward is back, yeaaaaa! Wow, I missed him too Bella. :) Next up, the movie. I'm sure I'm setting myself up for disappointment yet again.
6. Do your kids ever speak in "opera"? Do you know what I mean by that? Yesterday my kids were playing behind me in the living room and they were talking to each other in song. It was the strangest yet cutest thing ever.
7. I was out running errands on Monday afternoon with the kids when I suddenly realized that we haven't had a stroller in the back of our car in months. Months. I can't even remember the last time we might have used one. Weird.
8. I am constantly running out of space on my computer. Not more than a month or two ago I burned a whole year's worth of photos and you would think I would be good for awhile. But instead its a daily task for me to make room for new photos. And if you only knew how many gigs of space I have on my computer. Its ridiculous. I still haven't uploaded all our 4th of July photos.
9. I am really disappointed in myself this month. By some miracle I only have one session scheduled for the month. Which I am great with by the way. And I thought that I could spend most of this month working on our family photos - processing, printing, getting layouts ready to take to my upcoming scrapbooking retreat in October. Sadly, I just finished proofing June's sessions yesterday and I still have a ton of projects and orders to work on. Please believe me when I say I am not complaining about having work. It's not that. But I was really looking forward to working on family photos. They are neglected in the worst way.
10. We are in escrow on a house... But I say that carefully because the house we are in escrow on is a short sale and we're still waiting for an approval by the bank for the amount we offered. We want to be excited, but we can't be quite yet. If its meant to be, its meant to be.
July 15, 2010
July 12, 2010
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.
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.
July 4, 2010
4th of July, come and gone.
What a busy day we had today. It started off early with a laundromat run and from there it was all go, go, go! We participated in a very cool bike parade at the home of our realtor who was also hosting a block party. She lives in the neighborhood of our school so Emma saw classmates and we got to hang out with our good friends, the Lopez Family. We spent a short time at home before taking off to the Gallagher's home for water-play and dinner. It was very busy, but a lot of fun. Honestly, I'm beat.
So happy to get such a nice family photo this year. Thanks Michelle!
Hope your day was just as fun!
So happy to get such a nice family photo this year. Thanks Michelle!
Hope your day was just as fun!
July 2, 2010
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