Swimming Part Deux.

Haley began swim classes when she was 6 months old. It was probably a little too early, but I was so excited to be a mom and just thought that's what Mom's do...so I signed her up! Subsequently, she has always LOVED the water....

We had to wait longer with Lexi because she had such chronic ear infections, I was always afraid to get her in the water. So up until now, she has had very little water time. Side bar...getting tubes in her ears was the absolute best thing we have ever done! She is doing great with them! And we have been sleeping through the night (as opposed to getting up 2-3x a night with her) since the day she got tubes! So, YEAH TUBES.

Anyway...with her tube success, I decided to sign her up for a parent & me swim class. Daddy took her for her first class and she loved it. Some of the activities were: singing songs with swim motions, blowing bubbles in the water, kicking, jumping, and floating. Her favorite part was blowing bubbles. I didn't get to go to the class, but when she came home, we headed to our pool and she showed me all of her tricks. She kept blowing bubbles and saying "teacher"...which I assume means the teacher taught her that.

Here are some pics that Grandma Connie took of her first class.

Our budding swimmer...waiting for class to begin.



Until next time....

Conversation over G-Strings.

So Haley and I walked to the store today. I needed new bras. We made our way to the Lingerie section. There were a bunch of unmentionables on the floor. I thought asking Haley to pick them up would keep her busy. Until she discovered a G-String.

H: What's this mommy?
K: Oh...that's underwear that some people wear.
H: Huh? But their bottoms would hang out.
K: (giggling and trying to hide it) I know, that's crazy huh?
H: hmmm...I don't think those are underwear. It is not polite to let your bottom hang out.
K: You are probably right.

Brilliant.

Strong words.

“Next to the word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, mind, hearts, and spirits….a person who does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God…does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.”
-MARTIN LUTHER

Singing her Prayers.

Haley has taken to singing her prayers. It started because of a blessing song they learned in school. I complimented her on how lovely it was, and now she sings EVERY prayer. It is very sweet, albeit quite time consuming (not that praying is a bad thing). But a typical prayer now lasts 3-4 minutes because there are several stanzas. Lexi is so tired of it at mealtime, that she starts eating halfway through with disregard to the reverent singing prayer in the background. It can also be awkward at Cheesecake Factory when Granddad starts to pray, but Haley volunteers her prayer and then sings as quietly as a mouse, so we must all stretch and lean in to hear the divine wisdom coming from her.

Here was last night's prayer...sung to the tune of...well, whatever Haley has going on in her mind...

Thank you God for our friends.
(repeat 3x)

Thank you God for our family.
(repeat 3x)

Lord there are people who don't have homes or food...please take care of them...and help us to be kind to one another so they can have food (hold out food for a long extended time.)

And please help us make good choices and thank you for this day.

Thank you God for our friends that play outside on their bikes....

Amen.

Then she looks up with a big smile as if to say "how was that one mom?" So I'm not quite sure if the prayers are for me or God. But they are sweet just the same.

Precious Friends....

These are my friends...JD & Celeste Cunningham and their son Colin. I worked with JD in Vegas. He married Celeste several months after I met him, and we have been friends ever since. We have been through SO much together. Late night conversations, long hours of serving at the church, nights out in Vegas, LOTS of chips & salsa, a trip to Florida, having babies, losing a best friend, COUNTLESS moves, new jobs, Disney days and the list goes on....

JD & Celeste moved to California a year ago. They live in Simi Valley which isn't super close, but we still find time to connect. Today they called to see if we could meet at Disney, but unfortunately, Haley took a turn for the worst this afternoon and was "grounded" from those kinds of fun activities. And instead of driving home, they asked if they could drive down to see us.

Inspired by my dad's blog about sitting around and having conversation, I went and got a Strawberry Pie (MY FAVORITE) at Polly's, put on a pot of coffee, and was looking forward to good conversation with our friends.

Do you know what JD & Celeste are like? They are like your favorite t-shirt AND your favorite pair of sweats that are fresh out of the dryer and ready for you to wear. You know the ones...they are so cozy and just feel like "home." That is how it feels when we are with them.

We took the 2 minute tour of our tiny abode, and then sat on the couch for hours in conversation. No emails, no blogs, no cell phones....face to face conversation...of the best kind. It was just what I needed.

Busy Summer Days.

I feel like we are settled enough to start having some fun. So yesterday, my friend from college (Sara Emmerson), was visiting from Chicago, and we decided to meet at Disneyland. It took some work to get out of the house, but we finally made it. We parked in some random parking lot that looks like it is close to Disneyland, but actually took about 20 minutes to walk to the gate.

We met up with Sara at California Adventure, and of course, the kids hit it off right away. She has a little boy named Lincoln who is ADORABLE. Haley and Lexi took turns holding his hand all day. We had fun showing them some attractions that they hadn't yet seen. And we got to experience Toy Story Mania together for the first time. I must say, it was AWESOME! 2 thumbs up! More than I thought it would be! In other words...we really, really enjoyed it. We waited 45 minutes for it...but time goes by fast when you have good friends to talk to! :o) Sara had to leave by 2, but I decided to stick it out. I took the kids over to the water area...put their suits on and they played in the sprinklers. Lexi had enough and decided to take a nap in the stroller, while Haley played for another hour by herself. It was fun for her and relaxing for me.

We came home and I made a picnic dinner...inspired by the fact that we have no kitchen floors, and our dining room table is smushed into our refrigerator...another story entirely....but anyway, we headed outside and had a great dinner. We have a greenbelt in front of our house which is perfect for picnics!

Today, Haley went to school and I took Lexi to Summer Kids Movies. The Regal Cinemas by our house shows free movies for kids on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and today we thought we'd try it. It was Veggie Tales 'Jonah' movie. I didn't know how Lexi would do since the only movie she had been to before was when she was 6 weeks old, and she slept through the entire thing. But Curtis wants to take her to see WALL-E with us on Friday, so I thought we'd try this first. It went really well for about 30 minutes, and then she was restless. At an hour in, she packed up her popcorn, told me she was "all done". and said "BYE-BYE Jonah." So I took my cue, and we headed out. Hmmmm....I'm not sure about Wall-E.

Regardless....we are having a good time together.

Lesson Learned

Riding home in the car last night from church, I said "Hey girls, what did you learn at church tonight?" I thought Haley would respond, but Lexi chimed in with "Crackers & Toys."

Perfect.

Thank you Matt.

For our fresh out of the ocean sushi dinner. You have made a very stressful day have a happy ending.

Much love.

Is it bad...

when you pass a gas station and the price is $4.53 and you say, "oh, that's a good deal" ?

Update

We are officially out of the old house. All that remains are boxes that we must pick up and trash...and a garden hose for my parents. I just sent Curtis and Haley to a movie so I can unpack. So I should probably get off the computer now.