Snuggle Bug

What is most amazing about Garrett is that he can sleep through almost anything. Walking around with him, siblings running by screaming... would you believe he can even sleep through diaper changes? It's true! The one thing he cannot tolerate however is a warm, dark, quiet spot in which nobody is touching him. I can lay him down as softly and quietly as possible and the moment physical contact is broken his arms shoot out and he's looking for a snuggle. Spoiled baby. Daddy says he wouldn't have him any other way.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We didn't have any wrapping paper so I taped some white paper together and let the kids go nuts with the markers. We gave him a foot bath from the Sharper Image. He thought that I had wrapped up the new blender we got the month before so it was a surprise!

Family Pool Pass

I got a summer pass to the pool for the kids. We bought it the first day and after some quick math I determined that I would have to bring them at least 16 times to make the pass pay for itself. We've been going nearly every day with a few exceptions. The pool opens at 1 pm so I told the kids that they needed to finish their lessons before they were allowed to go to the pool. That has been very motivational for everybody! I've bought our History and Language curriculum for next year and we will continue with the math program I had. Elle gets really indignant that her lessons are so short and wants to do more. Hunter loves being able to figure words out in books and gets books from the library and will just pour over them trying to decipher the harder words. So mornings are pretty well laid out with lessons and afternoons are reserved for the pool. The Kids K group comes at about 2:30 and fills the pool up, but we leave at about 3 pm anyway so that I can have enough time to put dinner on at and early hour.

The first three days at the pool one of the lifeguards jumped in to pull on of my kids out. The first day was Hunter. I didn't see what happened, but he got away from the edge and he and Ethan were playing rough and he started to struggle.

The second day Ethan went down the slide and the lifeguard at the top told him to lie down. That made him go super fast and when he got to the bottom he got turned around and started swimming the wrong direction, so they jumped in. He was embarrassed and didn't want to go down the slide again. I insisted that he get over it and do it again. The third day Hunter went down the slide for the fourth time, but this last time the lifeguard at the top told him to take his goggles off. I got a picture of him with him coming down with them in his hand. When he got to the bottom he wasn't swimming as fast as they would have liked because the goggles were in his hand so she blew the whistle and jumped in. BLAH! They are trigger happy is what it is! ....mumble...but better safe than sorry, right?

Hunter and Ethan both became disgusted with the slide and their rules so they don't go down now.

This is after Hunter spent the first couple days practicing so he could pass the swim test. He had to swim from one end of the pool to the other without grabbing the rope. He did it! It wasn't pretty, but he did it. The lifeguard watching him verified that he passed the test but still said he couldn't go. I put my foot down. I told the lifeguard that they needed to make it a timed test or a longer test, but don't set a standard and then once a kid passes THEIR requirements tell them they can't go after all. What's the point of having the goal then? I argued with him and then explained the case to the Senior guard on duty. He agreed to let Hunter go down and when he got to the bottom and over to the side without any problems we were good. It wasn't until they changed the rules again and said no goggles that the boys lost interest.

End of the Season

We had the end of the season for the Dodgers. It was bittersweet. No more mid-week practices, but no more family Saturdays dedicated to the boys' baseball games. I must say, rooting for my boys was SO much fun! I was the team mom for the Dodgers. I sent out the reminders and e-mails and ran the dugout during the games. There was a time or two when Ethan and Hunter were playing at the same time so Michael and Elle cheered for him. My mom would come to some of the games and Uncle James and Aunt Kristi liked to come too when they were in town. It was a VERY fun family activity!

Elle in curls

Even though Elle has a head full of curls already we put her hair in rollers for a looser curl. She didn't have the patience to let them dry...so the world may never know.

Babyhood

These are some cute pictures I took of Garrett this week. His new highchair is so comfy he often falls asleep. Most of the time he sucks his thumb and holds his ear. This time he looks like he's just kickin' back relaxin'.









This picture is from Hunter's last baseball practice. I like to sit in the car and read. Garrett wanted to get out and work the steering wheel.

Tiny Tots Graduation

Elle had her first Graduation Ceremony today. She was not among the graduates, but every child was featured as part of the ceremony. Everyone was wearing a blue hat. The children who were returning wore crowns. The ones moving on to kindergarten wore caps. This was Elle's highlight:



Afterward the ceremony everyone moves out to the back for refreshments and entertainment in the form of Kelly the Clown. As a side note to this we were supposed to drop off the children and then come back in a half hour for the ceremony. I parked in front and rather than loose my primo spot I walked with the boys up to the library during the half hour. I checked out a book that I wanted to put in the car before going in to the Tiny Tots party. Much to my dismay I couldn't find my keys. What!?!? I asked Elle's teachers if I had left them on the table before I left. I called up to the library who looked and couldn't find them. The only other place would have to be in the car itself. I was wearing Garrett in the front pack for the first time in a while, so it's very likely that since my routine was off I would have left them under his seat.

While the children were enjoying Kelly the Clown I called AAA and waited for them out front. Ann and Mindi from church looked after the children all of whom had no idea that anything was wrong. The guy tried using a slim jim, but the Cruiser is so old that it wouldn't go down. Fortunately Elle left her window cracked so he was able to get in a tool and roll it down enough to grab a hold of the lock. Sure enough! My keys were under Garrett's seat. Thank goodness for insurance!