JPEG of the Week

Little Piggies

Because Wearing Your Pants Correctly is Soooo Blasé

He is going to make a great Frat Boy someday.....

I Have to Question the Vacation in VBS

This week is VBS! Because I am a group leader, Will is able to participate in VBS in the little 3 year old group. He is so excited that he gets to go to VBS like big brother Jack. His favorite part so far has been the slide and snacks (yesterday, it was goldfish and 'lemomade'). Today, my VBS group had crafts right after Will's group. The little ones were just finishing painting their picture frames, and I heard Will tell his helper, "I finished! Good painting, everybody!" So cute! The teen helper for Will's group, Thomas, is such a wonderful guy. Of course, Monday morning there were a few tears separating from Mom, but Thomas really bonded with several of the little guys and now has a few new buddies.

Jack is loving VBS, but this is not surprising because Jack has always LOVED VBS! He is enjoying learning all of the songs and dance movements that go along with them. Today, our theme was Pray, and this afternoon, Jack told me that he prayed to God. I asked him what he prayed about and he said, "Our house and our family." He is such a sweet child...and it is exciting to see the seeds being planted. I hope that he has as many wonderful memories of VBS as I do from my childhood.

Not much else to share...we've been busy, nothing really newsworthy, but I just felt like I needed to touch base with my 3 faithful readers. =)

Here are a few pictures from this weekend of the boys playing in our sprinkler system.





And here is Jack trying to give Will a hug. Was it a real hug or one of those "hugs"? I don't know. But I do know that Will promptly pulled Jack's hair. I comforted a protesting Jack by telling him that I had documented Will's ugliness for all the world to see. So now you see.....

For Jack's sake, just pretend that you can actually see Will pulling his hair. It will make him feel so much better!

Let's Get the Weekend Started

Tonight was one of those perfect summer evenings. Brent came home from work early and cut the grass while the boys played outside. Then we loaded up and headed to the pool for dinner and swimming. And we just had the best time.

Jack and Will played games with Daddy.

This is Diving with Daddy. Jack was riding piggyback as Brent did a forward roll in the water. I love Jack's face as he emerges from underwater.

This would be Waterskiing with Daddy. And this picture illustrates why Daddy is so much more fun at the pool than Mommy. Daddy can spin you FAST!

At the beginning of the summer, Will was a very reluctant swimmer, as in he would have the 'death grip' hold on me in the water. Now, he is becoming more and more comfortable in the water and LOVES 'swimming' with his life jacket. He'll even tell you, "I a good swimmer!" Here he is having a fun time bobbing around in the deep end of the pool.

And here is Will blowing bubbles. Once he becomes okay with getting his face completely wet, I think he will be a little fish like his brother.

We had Domino's deliver pizza to us for dinner....BBQ chicken pizza is Jack's new favorite, yum yum!
And we finished up the last bit of Jack's 'family' birthday cake for dessert. So we are officially done with the celebration. Whew!

It was such a fun and relaxing way to start off the weekend that it just might become a new Friday night summer tradition.

Our Own Michael Phelps

minus the bong hits, of course! It is Tuesday, so that means it is swim meet night! Jack swam in the 25 yd freestyle and the 25 yd backstroke. He did really well! This was his first backstroke race and he looked great doing the stroke. He swam backstroke the whole 25 yds ...didn't roll over once. I think Jack was most excited that since he swam 2 races, he got 2 treats...a (2 ft) pixie stick and a snowcone! We just couldn't be prouder of how hard he works in the pool and how much his form has improved this season. I was looking at his freestyle times over the last 3 meets, and he has gotten 3 seconds faster; evidence that he is getting stronger and faster.

Stretching before his freestyle race. Isn't he just the cutest little thing?!?!

Look at that good form!

Go, Jack, Go!

Ready for his backstroke race. And I was worried he wouldn't know how to start off...silly Mommy!

And he's off!

Good job, Jack!

For the 6 & under group, swim team is about learning your strokes and having the courage to swim in the race. That really is the achievement....the rest is just bonus. Every single time I see these little ones standing on the starting blocks, whether he is mine or not, I just get tears in my eyes. I am so proud for all of them. How brave they are. And I am not the only one...one of my good friends cried the first time she saw Jack swim in a race!

I am sure all you other mommas understand.

This is Awesome!

For Jack's 6th birthday party, we rented the Wild Rapids, a monster 20' by 30' waterslide! It was a wild, crazy, hilarious, fun time!

So the day started off before the sun rose. Jack was so excited about his big day that he was up around o'dark hundred =). The slide arrived at 6:30 AM, only 7 1/2 hours before party time. The owner said he had alot of inflatables to deliver today, plus he didn't want anything to mess up a child's birthday party so he likes to deliver those first. I appreciated that, and probably would have appreciated it even more around 9 AM, a mere 5 hours before the guests arrived. But I digress...

I have never seen two little boys get their swim suits on faster! By 7 AM, we were going strong on the waterslide.

The inaugural slide! His exact words at the bottom were, "This is soooo AWESOME!"



Will slid a couple of times by himself and then a few times with Daddy. But he especially loved swimming in the splash pool.

By 8 AM, we had to drag them off the slide (kicking and screaming) with the promise of treats so that Brent and I could get a little caffeine fortification for the day. I mean, we were only going to have the slide for 10 more hours, so naturally, you can understand their disappointment. Children really don't understand the concept of pacing one's self.

Well, finally, FINALLY, it was time to get this party started! Our little friends arrived with squeals and smiles, and you've never seen so many kids strip down to their swimsuits while in a full out sprint across the front yard! And since this was a drop-off party, you've never seen so many smiling parents in a full sprint back to their cars! Ahhh, a good time for all!

And don't even think that the girls were timid little flowers! They loved to fly down the slide just as much as the boys!



Taking the turn!



The big splash!

That, my friends, is some serious speed!

And what I loved is that each child would have the biggest smile on their face when they hit the pool. They would hop out of the splash pool and scramble up the stairs for another turn. This went on for 2 hours! Brent did a great job as master of the course. I am happy to report that there were no injuries. He sat/stood at the bottom of the slide, would wait for the splash pool to clear of sliders, and then yell "Ready! GO!" for the next two. And these were the sweetest children...everyone listened, followed the rules, had the best manners. Just couldn't have asked for a better group of kids. =)

After an hour and a half of sliding, we took a break for cake and ice cream.

The Monsters vs Aliens cake



I could just squeeze those chipmunk cheeks! Jack told me one time that you turn your new age the moment you blow out your birthday candles. So even though his birthday isn't until Thursday, I guess he is already 6!

Then it was back to the Wild Rapids for more sliding!

Besides the weather not cooperating, my biggest fear was that everyone would slide about 3 times and then decide that was enough! So I had a few items for Plan B: water balloons and silly string. Thankfully, the weather was absolutely perfect and there was definitely no need for plan B. But because I had spent over 2 hours filling and tying what had to be close to 200 water balloons, we were going to bust those suckers! So after the party guests left, Jack, Will and cousin C had a fun time!

An ice chest full of Plan B



Ready, Aim, FIRE!



Who says you can't throw multiple balloons at once?



Watch out for Little Trouble!


Then the little boogers turned on ME!



"Noooo, don't get me!"

So I think it will take me until Thursday to recover, when we will have more cake for Jack's actual birthday. Because as Brent likes to say....In our family, we don't just have a birthday. We have a birth-SEASON!

Hello Summer!

Today feels like the first day of my summer vacation. Last night was the last home swim meet and therefore, the last concessions that I had to worry about. It was a good meet...Jack had a really good swim. Brent had worked with him over the weekend about keeping his head in the water while swimming and just rotating his arms for the stroke. And during his race, he looked really good...much smoother and more effortless than before. It's wonderful to see his improvement this summer. The concessions went well too! Everyone seems pleased with what we have had to offer and the team directors seem pleased with the profits! I am excited with how well it went, but glad that I can just enjoy the last two away meets without worrying about 'the job'.

Tuesday morning, we went to the library for an "Animals from Around the World" program. An area petting zoo brought out some animals from different countries/continents and gave a short, informative presentation before letting the kids loose to visit with the animals and pet a few. Jack was in his element and loved all of the animals. Will was a die hard spider monkey fan. He could have visited with the monkey all morning.

Parker Gray, the spider monkey (South America), was quite the performer. And he seemed to appreciate the applause of all of the little ones gathered around.


The baby kangaroo (Australia) and the silver fox (Russia),not shown in the picture, shared the same pen and must be pretty good friends because they enjoyed a good wrestling match. Kinda reminded me of two little boys that I know.


Do you think he likes animals, or what?!?!


Here is Will violating the 'two finger' petting rule. Poor tortoise! I am surprised he didn't get yelled at by that militant librarian!

The capybara (South America) is the world's largest rodent. This little guy is only 15 days old. As an adult, it can weigh up to 200 pounds! Holy cow! Imagine finding Daddy Capybara in your crawl space! Jack loved the capybara, and I have to admit that he was kinda cute, but in the back of my mind was "Rodent, Rodent, Rodent!"

Jack has joined the library's summer reading program. Once he learned that if he read 10 books he would get a prize, he was all over that! So far, he has read 3 books...This is the House Where Jack Lives, The Great Snake Escape, and Danny and the Dinosaur, all of them are the I Can Read Books for beginning readers. I also told him about Barnes and Noble's reading program...read 8 books and you get a free book. He already has his sights set on that free book =).

Books, Books, Books

The trip to the library was a success...well, a success when you consider the Will Factor. Two year olds just aren't suited for the library; they are more of a Barnes and Noble crowd. We arrived at the library as they were unlocking the doors. We first started reading picture books, which went well until each one wanted me to read 'their' book right then and didn't want to listen to their brother's book. And Will was pulling books off of the shelves saying, "I want this one!" faster than I could reshelve them. So I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the librarian who spent her afternoon reshelving all of the books! Although in my defense, there were several families taking advantage of the library this morning so there were alot of books to be reshelved. And we only got yelled at once...as we were checking out our books to leave! Oh well, maybe next time we will remember to 'use our library voices'. Those librarians run a tight ship!

Jack was a man on a mission; he had come to the library to check out some science books, so while I was reading to Will, he went up to the librarian's desk and asked the librarian where the science books were. She told him that they were the books that started with 500s. And he found them by himself! I was most impressed =).

The big event of the trip was that Jack got his very own library card! I think I was more excited than he was; I still remember how proud I was to get my own card when I was little, I felt so grown up as I signed my name on my very own library card. Jack was able to check out all of his books on his very own card.

And after an hour and a half at the library, this is the result:

Loaded down with a dozen nonfiction and fiction books

Once we got home, Jack decided to create our own library for us. I was able to check out several good reads this afternoon. Here are the boys enjoying a little library time right before bed.

Jack is sitting at the check out desk, while Will is enjoying 'his favorite book'.
I thought about breaking down the library tonight, but we are supposed to have thunderstorms tomorrow, thus the library stays. What is more perfect than reading library books on a rainy afternoon?

How Many More Weeks Until School Starts?!?!

It has been awhile...thanks for continuing to check in with me. We have been busy; busier than I imagined we would be for the first 2 1/2 weeks of summer. Jack is on our neighborhood swim team again this summer. He LOVES swim team...loves everything about it, the practices, the meets, the ribbons, the doughnuts! Last week was the first meet. Jack swam in the boys 6 & under 25 yd freestyle (heat 3) and won first place! Yesterday was the second meet. This time, he swam in the boys 6 & under 100 yd freestyle relay and the boys 6 & under 25 yd freestyle and won second place and third place! Amazing to see his improvement from last summer. I am one of 3 ladies who are running the concession stand. It has been fun but a bit all consuming!

So when we are not busy with swim team, the boys have enjoyed a new hobby...irritating and harassing the stew out of each other! It is non-stop. And it is amazing at the nonsense they can find to argue or pick at each other about. Just nonsense! One day this week, they both spent multiple time-outs in their respective rooms. I am now regretting my decision to scale back on Jack's summer camps. I think all 3 of us are on each others' nerves =). We went to the gym this morning and I was only going to stay for an hour. When I went to pick them up, neither one of them wanted to leave the gym nursery! They were refusing to leave!! So being the good mother that I am, I gave in and let them have another 1/2 hour while I went to the treadmill (oh the peace and quiet!). When I went back, they were still grumbling about having to leave. Definitely a sign of a good nursery when the kids don't want to leave. I think I have found my new summer camp...we'll be there for the full 2 hours allowed 5 days a week (just kidding...well, maybe...depending on how bad the bickering gets!).

Tomorrow, we will head to the library after swim team practice. I gave Jack the choice between going to the park or to the library, and the library won. So we are going to find books about the weather. Because Jack is "a scientist and may want to become a meteorologist." Hopefully, Will behaves this time. The last time we went to the library Will was a baby and making happy baby squeals. You know the kind...happy, but LOUD, noises. Jack and I were reading a book and Will was squealing away when a librarian came over and asked if I could make the baby be quieter. Ummmm....welllll, let's see.....nope, this is as quiet as it gets, lady! Jack, who loves to know and obey all rules like no other, was mortified that we had broken the 'use only quiet voices in the library' rule and nearly got booted from the building! We quickly left the library while Jack continued to scold the oblivious, squealing baby for breaking the rules.

So Jack and I will be returning to the library in disguise. And with Will's proclivity for shouting when he thinks he is not being heard, I am sure our chances of being kicked out are pretty high.

Or as Jack likes to predict about all outings involving Will, "Mommy, Will's going to be a DISASTER!"