Thursday, July 31, 2008

Swim Lessons

Skyler is just finishing up 2 weeks of swim lessons with 2 more weeks to go. She had them last year (private lessons, one on one, 3 times a week for 15 minutes each day) and she was doing really well. She loved her teacher and loved going to lessons. Then this year rolled around and she said she didn't want to go. Her reasoning, she didn't want to put her face in the water.
Well, she was going to go, whether she liked it or not, but where she went was another thing all together. Last year's school is totally hard core. I loved it because they are all about teaching water safety. They want your child to be able to survive if he or she falls in the pool. I don't know about you but I think this is pretty important!

Skyler, on the other hand, sees no importance in this at all. "I don't need to know how to swim. You can just take me around the pool or I'll stay in the shallow end." Uh, I don't think so sister! So, I started to change my way of thinking and started wondering if she needed to see other kids swimming to give her that peer pressure to do better. I also wondered about her not wanting to put her face in the water.

Here are my two compromises: goggles and group lessons! The minute she put those goggles on she could magically swim. It was incredible! She just wasn't liking opening her eyes under water but this has solved that.
And I think the group lessons are working too. There is a little girl in her class that's a pretty good swimmer so that pushes Skyler to try to keep up. Here she is chatting it up with a girl in her class. Such a social butterfly!
No problem! She can even do it with her eyes closed!

She's doing great and today she gets to jump off the diving board into 10 ft of water! Stay tuned to see if I jump in after her or let her teacher catch her...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

shopping!

I very rarely buy things for myself and when I do it's not very expensive things but today was an exception. We have a new Anthropologie near by my house and I just had to check it out. In fact I told my husband, because he wouldn't come with me and made me go shopping by myself, that I would not be held accountable for the amount of money I spend. That kind of gave me the green light :)

We are going to a wedding this weekend. Actually my husband is in the wedding, I'm just going to hang out by myself. So, I should at least look good, right? I have a pair of white dress pants that I had planned on wearing but I wanted a new shirt to go with it. This is what I found:


It's so comfortable and looks really good with the white pants. Remember, it's 100 degrees out and the wedding is at a golf course. I think I'll wear a pair of black wedge shoes (even though the top is a dark navy blue or slate)...is that ok?

What about jewelry? I was thinking of wearing gold to dress it up. I saw these earings and necklace there but they were more than I wanted to spend:
I wonder if I could find something similar at Claire's or Target. What do you all think?

Friday, July 25, 2008

another baby gift


I had another baby shower to go to a few weeks ago and at the last minute decided to give this little onesie and matching burp cloth. The new baby's name was going to be Gavin. Didn't it turn out cute?!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Daddy Time

This past weekend my husband and 5 year old daughter decided to camp out in the backyard. They needed some good daddy/daughter time and this was just what they wanted to do!

They had music playing, daddy was BBQing, daughter was eating. They were having a blast!


Here's what was for dinner: grilled hamburgers and corn (and Smore's for dessert, of course!)


After dinner everyone changed into their jammies, zipped up the tent, got all cozy in their bed, and watched a movie (Harry Potter). Isn't that what everyone does when they camp?!


They can't wait to do it again!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

New Necklace


I just received a new necklace that I am loving! It is an oval with a cross that says "Faith." Thanks Erin!!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Open Water


When we started this Triathlon training we agreed that it would be a good idea to try the lake swim at least once a month. Today was the day that we decided to do our first trial swim. I had been excited about it but secretly terrified as well. For one, I wasn't completely sure I could swim 400 yards without stopping or having something to hold onto. And two, I was terrified/paranoid/grossed out about the murky water and what lies beneath. In the end, only half of my fears came true.

When we arrived at the lake we found a lifeguard that told us that while they are on duty we are only allowed to swim within the bouys. There's a lane set up outside the swimming area that we can do laps in but when they aren't on duty we can swim wherever we want. Next time maybe we'll come back when they aren't on duty so we can swim further out into the lake but for now, we'll do the lane.

The water wasn't too cold and you could actually see the bottom while walking in. That quickly changed. It became dark and green. I have a crazy fear of unknown, dark water where I can't see the bottom or what's in it. That was one of my problems.

To put it simply, I did my swim, as fast as I was physically able, and immediately got out. The water scared me and I think it would have been better to not have my goggles on so I couldn't actually see anything. At one point during my swim I saw bubbles coming up from the bottom. I just prayed it was a plant and not an animal. Acutally, I don't want to know what it was! We ended up swimming about 560 yards in about 19 minutes (the swim for the Triathlon is 400 yards) so we were happy with our first attempt.
One yukky/murky/scary lake swims down, 3 to go!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Holiday Happenings

Our neighboring town is celebrating it's 150th Anniversary. In 1958 they celebrated "Hay Days" with a parade and parties to commemorate their Centennial. Hay Days was the precursor of the current 4th of July Parade and was a four day event. This year they decided to celebrate 50 years since the first Hay Days but instead of a four day event they did it in 4 hours on the 3rd with Children's Carnival Games, a Family Picnic, Hay Rides, Train Rides, an Old Fashioned Bathing Suit Show, and more.

Skyler tried her hand at a fishing game, a "Knock 'Em Down" game, and the good ole sledgehammer!
Then bright and early the next day, on the 4th, we left the house, having already set our chairs out the night before for our annual Parade. The hardest part about the morning of the parade is waiting for the parade to actually start!



Here's what our little town's main street looks like, waiting for the parade to start:



Then the parade itself. I've been going to this parade for 17 years now and it never gets old. It's very small town, a little hokey, but VERY American. Here are some highlights...

Top Left: The Lawnmower Brigade. It just wouldn't be a parade without them! They are out there doing drills, running around being very silly, with their lawnmowers. Very fun!

Top Right: Pearl Harbor Survivors. Really all the service men and women that are in the parade get me emotional. Every year there is at least one in the parade that has just returned from Iraq or somewhere else just as scary. It's so awesome to see them home and safe. The Pearl Harbor Survivors are just precious though. Look how happy they are to be honored in such a way.

Bottom Left: The Blue Star Moms. I'm sure you all have a chapter in your town. These are moms that have children deployed. They walk in the parade carrying pictures of their children. They are so proud but understandably sad at the same time. Look at the woman in the back carrying a picture of 3 of her kids, all in fatigues. It's so inspirational!

Bottom Right: The Clackers. I'm not even sure if this is what they're really called but it's what we've always called them. They're some sort of gun club or rifle club or something. Everyone there looks like they just stepped out of the wild west. These guys signal the end of the parade every year. You can hear them coming a mile away. They walk for a minute, then stop, the guy in the front blows his whistle, and then they shoot off their rifles (or whatever they're called), either one by one or all at once. If you click on the picture you can see EVERYONE covering their ears. It is the loudest thing I've ever heard. And when you hear them coming, anyone with babies or dogs high-tails it outta there because it's a doozie. It wouldn't be the parade without them though.



We ended the day with Smores and fireworks from our backyard. It was a good couple of days and we're pooped. Off to bed for us all! Happy 4th!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Handmade with love...

A friend of mine had a baby boy in March and I'm JUST getting around to giving her something handmade. I gave her the traditional boring baby gift for her shower, something she registered for, I'm sure, although I can't really remember. But, I've been wanting to give her something that I made. So I made him this little onesie that I thought he could wear on Friday if he wants to. If he doesn't wear it on Friday I'm sure he could wear it to a Presidential Rally or to a taping of American Gladiators but I'm hoping he just wears it on Friday :)



Then this afternoon I went over to a friend's house for a "cocktail playgroup" (my favorite kind!) and we decided to break out her jewelry making stash. Here's what I made:


A bracelet and 2 pairs of earings (the other pair of earings aren't pictured here. They were coming out all blurry and I didn't want to fight with the camera). I love them and can't wait to wear them!