Dang it our baby is growing fast.  Look at these cute little Squidy buns on her first day of swim classes on Monday.  We have been meaning to get her in some swim classes, and signed her up at the cabana club twenty minutes before the first class started.  We brought her suit just in case, and now she conveniently has lessons the same time the kids are in the pool with the Gators.  The best part is that one of her teachers in Jessie's senior buddy on the team, so Syd already knows her.

After all the kids got out of the pool this morning I told the big kids how Syd almost drowned today during her class.  It's a good thing I was watching because she went off the last step to swim to her teacher, but the teacher was facing the other way with another kiddo.  It took my brain a couple seconds to process that seeing the top of Syd's head under the water was not a good thing.  I raced out of my chair poolside, but got to her just as her teacher turned around to get her up.  Phew.  There are two teachers and three kids, so it's not like Syd was unsupervised for long periods of time, but that sure got my heart pumping.

As I related what happened to the big kids they started to semi-fight over who would be able to save Syd if that happened in Grandma and Grandpa's pool.  J and Toby chatted about what they would do if Syd fell off the step when they were there.  All the sudden Logan pipes up, "HEY! I want to save Sydney!"  Without missing a beat, Syd says, "Okay Logan, you can be my superhero!"  As cute as the entire conversation was, I pray it never happens.

Back, fly, breast and free

I noticed today that we have a new set of words in our vocabulary at home now that we are a swim team family.  Saturdays are proving to be exhausting lately with swim meets in the morning and misc. Saturday stuff the rest of the day.  Our family is loving the swim season with the Gators though.  This being our first year, we certainly jumped in head first (no pun intended).  My Man is Co-Pres. of the team for the next two years, and we just might have all 4 kids swimming next year if little Squidy can make it across the pool by then.  Each of the kids has an older buddy that helps them out during the meets, brings them treats, meets them with their towel at the end of each race, and allows them to hang out at the big kid side of the lawn.  All our kids are loving the older attention and figuring out things to make or give to their buddies every Saturday.  Even little Syd has made some good friends.  She doesn't mind spending so much time at the pool if we have enough books and food to keep her busy.  We love the happy, friendly vibe of our team, and it's SO nice that all the kids can participate in a sport at the same time and place.  I'd much rather hang out at the pool for two hours a day for practice than shuttle kids to three different sports through out the week.  

Our little fish have improved immensely since the beginning of practice.  Mr. Cooper could barely make it across the pool while hanging onto the lane line for a couple rests.  Now he has a basic grasp of all four strokes, and won THREE first in heat ribbons on Saturday.  I'm bummed I didn't record his awesome freestyle race for which he earned a blue ribbon for the event.  Toby loves the backstroke and is also improving quickly in all aspects.  We just need to remind him how things work during a relay, so that he doesn't accidentally start the first leg of the relay as the #2 man from the opposite side of the pool.  Yep, he got a little too excited and before we could stop him he was off at the starting beep.  The kid who was supposed to start was either not ready or saw Toby starting and backed off.  Check out his coach's reaction right above him in the pics below.  Nnnnoooooooooo!  He swam a great lap too.  Figures right? 

Notice the other coach on the left looking Toby's way and blocking her swimmer from making the same mistake.  Also, take note of the awkward flop into the pool.  What's that all about?  The kid is capable of much nicer entries into the water.  Here's proof;   

The best part is Toby didn't even know he went early until I told him after the race.  My sweet Toby; he really does march to his own beat sometimes...... 

Jessie has been the wild card in this whole swim team situation.  She was the most nervous at the beginning of the year to be on the team.  I am not ashamed to say we pretty much made her try it.  J went from a beginning swimmer who wouldn't go under the water without plugging her nose to an awesome swimmer who learns quickly and improves more each week. She has found the swimming stroke that she loves, and it just happens to be butterfly which I think is the hardest.  Since this girl can out swim me with this stroke, and the fact that she has improved so much since the first day of practice in April, I am so pleased that I caught this race on film.

The kids are having fun being at the pool every day, hanging out with their buddies, making new friends and learning all that goes into swimming back, fly, breast and free strokes.  Now that I think about it, Mom and Dad are having a good time too. 

Our family attended our first Warm Springs Gators swim meet against the Southgate Penguins today.  They were not the most gracious hosts, so it made our first meet with the team pretty lackluster.  The weather decided that everyone at the pool needed to be drenched, not just the swimmers, because it poured rain for over five hours.  We tolerated setting up the pop-up canopy, camping chairs, and tarps in a drizzle of rain, but once it started pouring buckets we all got a little sick of getting wet.  My Man lucked out and missed the whole ordeal because he was at his last day of a continuing education class.

It didn't stop raining while I shuffled 5-8 year-old swimmers to their races and cheered on our three little fish.

It's June right?  Ladies were talking about skiing last weekend and planning ski trips to Tahoe for July 4th weekend.  What is with this late spring?  It felt so good to go home and get dry and warm.

Honored mother

On a perfect Mother's Day.....

*I would wake up on my own, well-rested and ready for the day, no phone alarm clock at 6:30 AM today
*I would hear the sound of my kids and handsome Man slaving away in the kitchen on what I can assume is breakfast in bed as I lay rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
*I would forget that my Man snuck in to ask me how exactly you make whipped cream, the real stuff!
*I would never forget my sweet kids filing into the bedroom, with a different bunch of my favorite flowers in each one's hand, to present their edible masterpiece.
*I would open handmade cards, gifts, and some cool surprises while eating my kids version of Old Glory pancakes; pancakes topped with blueberries, vanilla whipped cream, strawberries and cinnamon.  Yum!
*Sydney would wish me an enthusiastic "Happy Birthday!" as I open a present from her.
*Toby would flash me a beaming smile when I am happily surprised with the banana stand and recipe holder he made for me at Scouts.
*Logan would get dressed for church happily and on time.  (That's huge.)
*Jessie would be her usual overexcited self about gifts, and what they should have bought me and why Dad wouldn't buy the dress that she wanted for me, and wondering aloud if I was going to wear the dress they did buy me to church.  Love that girl! ;)
*I would nix doing my hair up fancy in favor of more snuggle time in bed with my sweet kids who would sneak bites of my huge plate of pancakes.  
*The dress, shoes, and necklace gifts my sweet children picked out for me to wear to church (with careful suggestions from my love) would all fit and look okay.

*My Man would take the time to dress everyone in the same colors as my outfit so as to match for the inevitable pictures after church.
*We would be on time to church!
*The mildly-cheesy (sorry, it kinda was) Mother's Day song I would sing with a great bunch of ladies would actually bring a few tears to some eyes. 
*I wouldn't have to give the Young Women's lesson I just read through the night before.
*The nap I was promised wouldn't get interrupted several times by kids sneaking around my bedroom or the dog licking my hand.
*My ear wouldn't be throbbing and getting worse with a major infection. :(
*I would enjoy the evening with both Moms, hence both sides of the family, over a delicious meal at Gram's house.
*I would feel no guilt while savoring the left-over chocolate caramel ice cream after the kids went to bed.
*I would fall asleep next to my love after a fabulous day.

While my Mother's Day wasn't perfect, it was as close as can be expected.  I am so grateful to have my beautiful Mother close by, and am especially grateful for the sacred blessing I have been given in being Mom to these four awesome kids.
 

Choice funnies of late

Driving to Naylor's with the kids we started to have a conversation about who owns what.  Logan said we owned the apartment complex where we live.  After explaining that Jean owns the buildings and we just live in them, Toby jokingly said, "so she owns my toys and all our stuff?!!"  "No, we own all our things," I assured the Littles.

After a brief silence, Logan said, "Guess who owns everything on the Earth?.....Heavenly Father!"

"I wouldn't say he owns everything on the Earth.  It's more like he created the Earth and loves everything on the Earth," I said.
"Yeah, and even he loves skunks?!!" Logan exclaimed.
Amen.


After a big breakfast at Naylor's, Syd said, "Mom, (big sigh) my tummy hurts.......cause I'm going to have a baby."  She then walked around sticking her tummy out and rubbing it.  Maybe she's been watching Auntie Lauren's tummy getting bigger lately.


Syd loves the books Pinkalicious and Purplicious.  We have read them enough together that she has them almost memorized and enjoys reading them to herself.  In Purplicious, Pinkalicious gets teased because she loves pink and it's a baby color to all her classmates.  The book says Pinkalicious writes in her pink diary that she loves pink.  Syd reading the book to herself said, "And I wrote in my pink diarrhea that pink is perfect!"