Swimming Time

We have enrolled the kids again into swimming. I love how it wears them out. For the first time Midge is on the preswim team. They wanted her to join last year, but we weren't sure she was ready to do 45 minutes of laps 3 times a week. We have a great facility close to us, and the instructors have always been great.

She is doing a phenominal job, and is learning a lot.

I wanted to get photos of her doing the breast stroke, but because she was moving so fast I had to switch to athletic mode. The ideal lighting for this mode is outside in the bright sunshine, but I was able to capture her as she would come out of the water for her breathing.

In the end Midge's coach let them dive in from the side.

Leo is taking lessons too.

His favorite game is when his teacher hides the rings in the bottom of the pool and he has to go and find them.

We were lucky because Leo is the only person in the class so it is like he is getting private lessons.

He is also learning the crawl stroke.

He also has to practice the back float.

The other thing that we love about this pool is they allow younger siblings to swim for free in the kiddie pool. Leo did this when he was younger and by the time he started taking lessons he was completely comfortable putting his face in the water. Little Miss loves swimming and already wants her own goggles.

We have to watch her closely with the fountain because she likes to plug it up and spray everyone sitting in the chairs.

Another one bites the dust

If you remember from earlier posts Leo has been losing teeth at a rapid rate. The other day he lost another one. We were joking that when we take him to the dentist next week we should get 50% off since he has only half of his teeth.

The funny thing was when he lost this last tooth I heard him yell, "Mom". Then I heard Midge say, "Remember the plan". In his excitement he told me he had lost another tooth and Midge looked on in disgust. When I asked her what the plan was she said they were going to keep the lose of the tooth a secret because they suspected that mom and dad were the tooth fairy and they wanted to see if the fairy would still come if mom and dad didn't know about the lost tooth. That girl is too sneaky for her own good.
We also wanted to get some photos of the way Midge and Leo have decorated their room. They decided that with the new baby coming they wanted to share a room because in their words, "whoever didn't get to share a room with Little Miss would be jealous of the on the two who were able to share together."

We still need to get photos of Little Miss's new room. The problem is she tries to kick out whoever comes in to her room. "My room get out!"

Midge wanted us to show that Snuggles has a new house too, and is in a new bedroom as well. He is adjusting to the transition just fine.

Big Changes are a Commin"

With only 6 weeks left we are getting everything ready for the new baby. Midge and Leo are now sharing a room (it was Midge's idea - they both said whoever got to share a room with Evie the person left out would be jealous!) Little Miss is now in Midge's own room (the biggest room out of the 3 kids rooms). She has adjusted just fine and anyone who goes into her room gets a quick push to turn around and a little voice saying, "get out a' my room". Today she wanted me to give her a horsey ride. I told her I couldn't because I had a baby in my tummy. She gave me a curious look and said, "you not a baby, you a mommy." I tried to explain again a baby was in my tummy, but she just looked at me and said, "No I'm a baby". This should be interesting.

We have been working to get the baby room ready. Here a few images below.

My work threw a baby shower and I had to include a picture of these adorable little firefighter boots.

Martin Luther King Day

One thing that bugs me is when kids have a day off from school and they can't tell you the reason behind why they were off from school. I feel that our children are getting old enough that they should be able to understand the importance of Martin Luther King and some of the things he stood for. I wanted to find a meaningful way for them to help others. When the kids woke up we told them about Martin Luther King and that he talked about equality and helping others. The kids have also been hearing about Haiti and we wanted to try and do something for the people in Haiti. We told the kids that by doing some chores around the house they could earn money and we would send it to the people of Haiti. At first Midge wanted to know why we didn't just send the money, but we told her we wanted them to put a little effort in to it.

I wasn't sure how the kids would respond, but they got really excited. When I was upstairs I could hear them talking. Soon Midge had everyone organized. I thought they would only do one job on the list, but they insisted on doing everything on the list. They worked so hard.
Even Little Miss got in on the action.

After we were finished we were sitting around having lunch with the radio on. A reporter came on the radio and he described how a little girl came up to him in Haiti and told him she hadn't eaten in 5 days. The kids looked down at their plates and then at me. Midge said it made her want to send all of her money to help them. I told them to always value what they have and appreciate living in the United States. We are truly a blessed country.

This picture has a story

"This picture has a story" I've been tagged. Here were my instructions:

1. Open your first picture folder

2. Upload the 10th picture in the folder

3. Tell us the story behind the picture

4. Tag 5 friends to do the same.

The Story: This was a Midge's 6th birthday. Leo was 3. We celebrated her birthday at Roaring Rapids Pizza. Leo was still young enough that we could put him on the rides and not put in any money and he still thought he was working the machines. Ah those were the days! Now he can burn through a roll of quarters in 10 minutes.

I tag: Shauna B., Jennifer, J.J., Maggie, Stacey

A Conversation with a 5 Year Old

Leo "We haven't eaten in days. I'm so hungry."

Mom "What do you call the ribs, garlic bread, and fruit salad you just ate 2 hours ago?"

Leo "That was just lunch!"

Mom (laughter)

Leo "So are you going to make me some food or not?"

Ah kids. When they're hungry 2 hours = several days. When you ask them to clean their room "in a minute" = "in a couple of days".

The Tooth that Cost the Tooth Fairy Double

As you may recall the tooth fairy has been making a lot of visits to our house lately. During this last visit the fairy had a hard time obtaining the actual tooth. The fairy was able to leave her payment, but the tooth was rather well hidden directly beneath Leo's head. Rather than risk being detected the fairy slipped away. For the previous two teeth pick-ups Leo has forgotten to check under his pillow until reminded by his thoughtful parents. The fairy thought once Leo was awake he might forget to check once again, and when he was out of the room the fairy could sneak in and snatch the tooth.

Wouldn't you know that when Leo's mom came to check wake him up in the morning the most amusing thing was waiting for him. Leo was wide awake and had a curious thing to show her, "Look at this mom the tooth fairy left me a $1 and my tooth. Why do you think the tooth fairy did that?" Being the smart mother that she is, and being well aware of how difficult it can be to carry all of those teeth the obvious answer was that the fairy had simply dropped it. Mom assured son that the fairy would probably be back that night to collect it. Whereupon Leo stated, "Great then I can get another $1"! That fairy had better start working out a better system or business is going to start going down hill.