Time's Change

I babysat Samantha and Cameron when they were 4 and 2 years old. Ryan was also 4, and the girls were just 6 months. They were ALL in carseats. The girls in rear-facing, Cameron in a 5-point-harness front-facing, and Ryan & Sam in booster seats. There was only one configuration that worked in my van: 2 rear-facing seats in the back row with the front-facing seat jammed inbetween. Booster seats in the middle row. We had to do it that way because the work to get the back seat belts buckled properly was impossible with a booster seat. I would climb into the cargo area in the rear of the van to buckle up the girls, then bend over Cameron to get his belts fastened. Fortunately Ryan and Samantha were fairly self-sufficient. Now, four years later, two kids are out of booster seats completely (and Cameron will be done in a few more months), and three are just in booster seats. Buckling requires no assistance from an adult. We can just all hop in and go.

Little Swimmer, Part 2

We hit the road bright and early this morning to head up to Virginia. We arrived right at lunch time, so had the whole afternoon to enjoy our old neighborhood pool. Olivia was happy to paddle around with her vest part of the time, but she is now eager to practice swimming without her vest whenever possible. There is a nice shallow section and she is getting better and better at paddling for longer periods. So far, none of my kids have taken as long as I did to learn to swim, thank goodness!

I'll Be Back

I'm heading out of town to Virginia for a few days tomorrow. Then we're caravaning to Ocean Isle Beach with Stephanie and her kids and Kathryn and her kids to stay at Kathryn's grandfather's beach house for a little over a week. We're so excited about the trip! We haven't seen Steph and the kids for 4 months. And the beach trip will just be moms and kids. I foresee long days on the beach, and evenings spent rocking on the deck with a glass of wine. It'll be great to catch up with Kathryn because we never really get time to visit like we'd like to when I'm in Virginia. The house is right on the beach, and rent-free! I'll be back July 11th and will have tons of pictures to post, I'm sure. I'd wanted to get caught up with this week before leaving, but things have been crazy with baseball and packing and keeping the kiddies safe and amused.

Neighborhood Pool?

Our salesperson from Orleans Homes was not the most honest of fellows. He had a tendency to stretch the truth a bit if he felt it would help close the deal. One of his more popular tall tales was that our neighborhood would be able to have access to the pool at our sister neighborhood (Chesapeake Pointe) across the street. Well, times are tough and Orleans has sold a lot of the lots for that neighborhood to another builder, so our chances of using that pool are quite slim. Fortunately our good friends, the Christianos, who happen to live right across our street, are building a pool of their own. We are looking forward to diving in!

For Love of the Game

Kevin is traditionally the 3rd base coach when the All-Star Team is up to bat. Ryan is on his way to score another home run!

By Katy

Katelyn loves taking my camera and taking pictures. Here I am sitting at a(nother) baseball game, from Katy's view.

Squoooosh.

Did you know that if you hold your thumb and forefingers together near your eye and then close them, it can create the illusion of squoooshing someone's head? Livvy recently learned it...

Out of the Mouths of Kids

Olivia: Mom, when you get me a DS, you'll never hear me say 'I'm bored' again. I'll be too extracted.

Katelyn: It's distracted, Olivia.

Olivia: Whatever, Katy. Mom knows what I mean.

Tie Girls

I can remember when my kids were babies we would go through periods where it seemed as if every day brought new developments and discoveries. Lately it feels as if we're experiencing a similar period with the girls. They are learning so many new things so quickly. It is a bit overwhelming because the things that they are learning to do are not minor--riding a bike, how to swim, and their newest discovery is how to tie their shoes. Olivia figured it out on Sunday after playing with Kevin's shoes. On our way to the pool yesterday she taught Katelyn how to tie using the strings on their cover-ups.

And then the begging began. Can we PLEASE get tie shoes? Please? Please? Please? When can we get tie shoes? How many more days until we can get tie shoes? And so on.

Kevin and I discussed it, and decided that we would get them tie shoes now, with the condition that whenever they rode bikes or scooters, they needed to wear their tie shoes. Our condition was met with whoops of glee, and they are thrilled with their new shoes. We'll see how long before the novelty wears off, but for now at least we know they'll be wearing safer shoes for those activities.

Another One Bites the Dust

Of all my children, Livvy is definitely the most cautious. But this summer she has been making huge strides in conquering some of her fears. She's swimming in the lake, she has taken off her training wheels, she has started swimming some without her vest in a pool. And today she willingly went under water. A lot! She was so proud of herself. And she kept doing it over and over. By the end of the day not only was she dunking her head, she was even swimming for about 10 feet under water! I can't wait to see how she continues to beat her fears.

Ideal Father's Day

7:30 a.m. - Wake up without the aid of an alarm or children
8:15 a.m. - Eat a delicious Dunkin' Donut breakfast, open cards and gifts from children (including a new Virginia Tech boat flag)
9:00 a.m. - Relax on the patio
10:30 a.m. - Go out on your boat with another family to swim and hang out
1:30 p.m. - Return from boat trip and sit down to watch the U.S. Open while wife mows the lawn in the high heat
4:00 p.m. - Suggest to wife after she returns from mowing lawn that dinner at Red Robin would be nice
5:15 p.m. - Go out to dinner at Red Robin with wife and children and order favorite Royal Red Robin burger
6:30 p.m. - Return home and have a family movie night
8:15 p.m. - Kiss children good night and finish watching recorded U.S. Open
10:00 p.m. - Wake sleeping wife on couch and go to bed feeling happy and glad that you're a Dad

Mr. Baseball

Unfortunately our team, the Lake Norman Wildcats All-Stars, lost their first game last night. They played an amazing team that had great pitchers and fielders and hitters. A real triple-threat. So we played in the losers bracket today. Our first game was at 1 p.m., and it was an exciting win. They really gave it their all, playing great defense and getting their bats hot a few innings to score 12 runs. The boys were feeling good about themselves, but by the end of the game they were definitely drooping from the heat. The umps had to call breaks between several innings to allow everyone a chance to hold their heads under a pump with running water and cool down a bit. The girls spent most of the game playing in that water to stay cool. They had to turn around after a 20 minute break and play a second game. It was a close one, but they ended up losing in the bottom of the 6th (they only play 6 innings at this age). So baseball is over for this weekend. I think everyone was feeling a mixture of disappointment and relief. We'll be having practice every night this coming week (again) in preparation for next weekend's tournament and now have a better idea where our weaknesses are. Next weekend will determine whether our team will continue to the state tournament over the July 11th weekend.

Jump!

This weekend is going to be devoted to baseball. The extent to which it will be devoted to baseball depends entirely upon how our team does. This is the first of two All-Star Tournaments. They are double elimination tournaments, with a maximum of 2 games each day. The final championship is on Monday night. The forecast for the weekend? Hot. Really, really, really Hot. Like mid-90s kind of hot with a heat index in the triple digits. Woooooo Hooooo! We'll be packing lots of water and Gatorade, that's for sure. Ryan is playing center field and pitching on this team. He is one of the few players that can consistently catch fly balls and has a strong enough arm to throw from far in the outfield to the infield. And look at that jump in case someone really hits one hard! He's practicing for his stint on Sports Center's Top 10 highlight reel.

Contrast

I love the contrast of these ultra-girly, bling-rich flip flops with my daughter's dirty little feet with the ankles still showing new skin resulting from some type of nasty scrape.

Long as God Can Grow It

Ryan has decided that he wants to sport longer hair. And honestly I'm fine with that! As parents we have to choose our battles, and this is one that I don't mind losing. I'd rather he feel like he's expressing himself with hair that is easily changed than to someday feel like he needs to express himself with tattoos or piercings. That said, we (especially Kevin) do want his hair to be neat in its length. God has blessed him with luxuriously thick hair that requires some thinning to keep it lying nicely. It seems that the cheap haircuttery types of places don't employ people who know how to manage length and thickness in a way that looks good. So now he goes to see Vicki, the girl who cuts my hair. She is outstanding, and really relates well with him. He feels happy with his cut, and so does Kevin. It may cost a few dollars more, but it is so worth it. Although he is still aghast that he goes to a "salon and day spa!"

Famous

Katy has decided that she wants to take dance lessons, and is so excited to begin them. She asks me nearly every day "Is it time to register yet?" She is also still very much into singing, and particularly loves the soundtrack to the new Miley Cyrus movie which she received as a favor at a birthday party last weekend. More often than not she can be found singing and/or dancing somewhere around the house. For movie night last Friday, the girls and I watched the Hannah Montana concert movie (Ryan and Kevin had baseball--surprise!). At the end of the movie, Katy turned to me and said in the most sincere voice imaginable: "Mommy. I want to be famous." Hoo boy, I've got a feeling we're in for a ride with this one.

Geraniums in Bloom

I wish that I could take credit for how well my geraniums do on my front porch, but I think it is just that the porch is the perfect location for them. They receive just the right amount of sun. They are protected from too much rain. I have rocks under the soil so they don't ever get too much water. And I plant them in Miracle Grow soil so I don't have to remember to fertilize them. These were so tiny when I planted them last month, and they are already thriving and growing. There are few things so cheerful to me as bright, red geraniums.

Unnecessary Thanks

I love that I can go in and volunteer in my children's classrooms on a regular basis. As a stay-at-home mom, it is a privilege to be an active part of their day-to-day school routines. Obviously there are days that I'd rather not go in, but those are the exception. And truly my reward is in the act of being there and getting to know my kids' teachers and classmates. I do it because I can, and I do it because the time will come all too soon that they won't want me in their classrooms (and I plan on enjoying being an embarrassment too!). So I was thoroughly touched by the unexpected arrival of two adorable popcorn bowls from the kindergarten classes. Each piece of popcorn is made with thumbprints from the kids in the class, and they printed their names inside of the cards. And my girls were so excited to present the bowls to me when they got off the bus last week. (Yes, I got these last week, but I've been a bit re-miss in taking pictures of them since there has been so much else going on too!).

There She Goes

Yesterday, Livvy decided to try riding Katy's bike in our garage (it doesn't have any training wheels). She seemed to be doing okay, and told us that she wanted to take her training wheeels off too. Today, she practiced in the garage a bit more after we took off her training wheels, but since the area is rather small she kept having to go in circles. Let's face it, riding in circles on a bike is much more difficult than riding in a straight line! I suggested we give it a try on the street since it would be more straight there, and she said "okay!". She walked her bike down to the street and waited for me to come back with my camera. I was planning to have to run behind her for a bit (Kevin hurt his back a few days earlier, so he wasn't up to jogging bent over). But the next thing I knew she had hopped on her bike and taken off. No running required. She was so proud and excited! And I was stunned. I missed the first few moments because I wasn't expecting it to be so easy.

Dad's Night Out

One of our neighbors began hosting an annual dad's and kids campout in their back yard to celebrate the end of school (which tends to be around the time of Father's Day). Everyone comes and pitches tents in a big circle around the fire pit and big fun ensues. They roast hot dogs and have watermelon and chips and make s'mores. The boys love to play "Manhunt" which is basically hide-and-go-seek in the dark. The girls sing and dance and do other girly stuff, sometimes telling the manhunters where to find those who are hiding (much to the hiders angst, but hey, what are little sisters for?!). The festivities and sleeping needed to be moved indoors around 10 p.m. thanks to area thunderstorms, but a good time was still had by all. Oh, and the moms got to have a girls night out at a restaurant! The food at the Prickly Pear is absolutely amazing. I'm not sure who gets the better end of this deal... Oh wait, I got to sleep in my own bed and the kids didn't come home until 9 a.m. 'Nuf said.

Rock Band is not Compatible with Sleep

Ryan has maintained straight-A's for the entire year of 3rd grade. And these haven't been low A's. They've been 98s, 99s and 100s. We are so proud of his effort and want to encourage him in a way that will give him incentive to maintain these grades in future years. In the past we've gotten him a small lego set at the end of each quarter, but this year we told him we'd do something a bit bigger at the end of the year instead. We got him RockBand2 for his Wii. And he was thrilled!

It has a wireless guitar/bass, microphone and wireless drumset. And while these "instruments" don't make the same amount of noise as actual instruments, they do make some. Particularly the drums. And I have been awakened the past two mornings to an incessant tapping noise because Ryan's favorite of the instruments is the drums. He's really quite good, and it's gotten to the point that I can recognize songs that he's doing based upon the rhythms he's tapping out. But I believe I'm going to have to enforce a non-drumming time if the novelty doesn't wear off soon...

Little Swimmer

Last year once Olivia figured out that she floated in her life vest, she was as happy as can be to paddle around the pool and the lake. But this year she has been intimidated about going out in the lake. I guess I can understand--when we first started going out in the boat, the water was pretty chilly and it really wasn't hot enough to feel the need to cool off (although that didn't keep Ryan and Katy out of the water!). But the past few weeks the water has warmed up to the upper 70s and it has been pretty hot--hot enough for me to get in, and that's saying something. Livvy kept hanging out on the ladder, but wouldn't get all the way into the lake.

Today I took the boat out with Barbara and Erin and our 10 (!) kids. Livvy was trying to stay on the ladder, but the other kids kept getting on the boat and then jumping off. They needed to use the ladder to get on the boat. And she was whining that she couldn't stay on the ladder to stay cool.

So I took matters into my own hands. I took off my cover-up, put on a vest, picked her up and told her that it was time for her to get into the lake with me. She began to scream and kept grabbing onto the railing with her feet. Barbara helped me unhook her feet from the railing, I told her to take a breath and I jumped. We both went under for about 2 seconds and then re-emerged. The water was wonderful! She was crying at first that she was scared, but I just kept holding her nice and tight and she had a death grip on my vest. She calmed down after a few minutes and we paddled around together. And about 15 minutes after we jumped in together, she let go of my vest and off she went, happy as can be. She was so excited to be in the water again and I was so proud and relieved.

Now summer can officially begin.

Hail to Summer Vacation

Last year I began the tradition in my neighborhood of greeting the kids at the bus on the last day of school with our water guns. And water guns have come quite a long way since I was a kid! This particular model that I'm sporting holds 4 liters of water and can shoot up to 42 feet! While the kids weren't as surprised this year as last, we all still had a great time getting soaked and celebrating the start of summer vacation.

Later in the afternoon our circle of friends went to the Shragas to continue the water battle, make pizzas and have a movie night for the kids. The Huntley children spent the night at our house because I was watching them the next day while Allyson finished her last few days of work at school.

Field Day Antics

Elementary school field day was always one of my favorite days. I wasn't the most athletic kid, but I could run relays and do tug of war and all the other fun activities that were included on that day. This year was the first year that our school had class-wide field days that were organized by the PE department. Each class had three parent volunteers to help out at the different stations. There were 8 stations altogether, and I was at station #4: The Cup Relay. The children had to put on an inflatable float, pick up a cup and run down to a swimming pool, fill their cup with water, run back and empty the cup into a bucket. The team whose bucket had the most water at the end of 5 minutes was declared the winner. My girls were so excited when they came to my station with their class. I know the time will come when they won't want me around, so I try to enjoy these times when my presence is valued.

Slip 'n' Slide

Katy's kindergarten class had an end of the year party at one of the parent's homes today. We all pitched in and brought different activities from our homes and snacks. One mom brought a snow-cone machine which was a big hit, as were the cakes made by the hostess of the event who owns a commercial gourmet bakery. The sidewalk chalk that I brought was overshadowed by the bounce house and inflatable water slide brought by other moms! To say that the kids had fun would be an understatement. It was a great way to celebrate an outstanding school year.

Ahoy There!

Kevin took me out today to learn how to drive our boat. I want to be able to take the boat out during the week with the kids so that we can go swimming. Kevin warned me that I would probably be jerky with the throttle when I parked, but I pulled into our slip very smoothly. It is so important to me to be able to do things on my own and not to always have to rely on my husband (not that I don't enjoy relying on him for some things!). And now I'm looking forward to summer days spent on the lake with the kids--although I will always take another adult with me just in case something bad were to happen to me so the kids wouldn't be stranded on the lake. That sounds so morbid as I read it back. But I'm not willing to take those kinds of chances.

Here's the Pitch

Ryan is really doing well with his pitching this year. It helps that Kevin knows how to teach the mechanics. He has some tough innings, and certainly throws his fair share of balls. But he also gets one to two strike outs each inning. I can't believe how much harder he is throwing now compared to the beginning of the season. When he's not pitching, he generally plays shortstop or center field. He is one of the few players who can consistantly throw the ball as far as it needs to be thrown and with accuracy.

The Lake Cup

Our elementary school began a new tradition this year to raise money for local charities. The teachers formed a basketball team (and cheerleading squad!) to compete against another local elementary school for The Lake Cup (and bragging rights). The game was at our high school's gym and the gym was packed with supporters for both schools. We had a great time cheering and were thrilled to walk away as the winning school! Of course, the real winners were the charities being supported by each school (The Dove House which received $2,000 and The Humane Society which received $1,000).

Good Sports

Ryan is playing a LOT of baseball this year. As a result, I am not attending practices, and I don't go to every game. It's just too much to ask of the girls to sit through all of those games. Sometimes we leave the girls at a friend's house for a playdate so that I can go to a game without them. But they still have to attend some of the games. Fortunately there are playgrounds at many of the ball fields, and they are old enough that I allow them to go over and play while I watch the game. But sometimes it's just too hot to play. There is some whining, but generally they are really good sports about watching their big brother. And we will be sure to have him come watch them once they decide what they want to do!

Cooking Cookies

Barbara was feeling adventurous and invited all the girls over to bake cookies this afternoon. We had 4 moms and 11 kids working on two different varieties of cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut blossoms). We divided up into two teams and the kids got to make a batch of each kind of the cookies. In the past, we've only let the kids do the dumping of ingredients, but since they are all getting older we let them do the measuring too. We all had fun, and the sweet rewards at the end tasted even sweeter thanks to their increased participation.

Safe!

At the beginning of the baseball season, Ryan was eager to learn the proper way to slide. This is the first year that the kids have been allowed to slide in baseball (also the first year that the kids are pitching). At this age, a few runs are scored by hits, but the majority are through walks and then stolen bases. Kevin has the pitchers and catchers regularly practice how to properly cover home plate when there's a runner on third, and they've gotten a few daring runners out throughout the season. But Ryan is speedy quick, and a very good slider, and he often steals home with no problem!

Cat Napping

Bella and Midnight are getting so big! Bella is still sporting a petite and dainty frame, although she's getting taller. Midnight is just a brute. He's HUGE! Definitely bigger than Oreo was, and he's not even 6 months old yet. All this growing requires a lot of sleep, and these kitties are quite good at catching zzzzz's. Sometimes they sleep on separate chairs, but more often than not they are cozied up together. They are as loving with each other as they are with us.