Swimming Lessons!

We have spent the last two weeks going to swimming lessons every morning. This is something that Matt and I find extremely important for our children. Since we have a pool we feel the sooner they can learn to swim on their own the better!

This was Jaden's first time in swimming lessons. The classes offered at younger ages simply get children use to the water. This year was the first year he could enter a class and actually learn swimming techniques.

We weren't sure how Jaden would respond - he is extremely hesitant around water - but he did fantastic. He never got use to sticking his head under water...but he always listened to his teacher and did what he was told. Matt and I were floored by the fact that after even ONE week of lessons he seemed a lot more confident in the water even at home.

My favorite part about Jaden being in swimming lessons?

He was always waving to me from the side of the pool....


For Eva, this was her 4th year in swimming lessons...but this was the first year she was in "big kid" swimming lessons. This meant we were not allowed to be in with her during the lesson! This was an adjustment for ME...but she thought it was pretty cool! On the last day we were allowed to go in and watch her. She did so well! I was impressed that not only were they working on breast stroke - she was also working on backstroke and other strokes. She also was able to jump into the water on her own and pull herself to the surface. Awesome.

My favorite part about Eva being in swimming lessons?

She loved her teacher - Ms. Michelle. On the last day both Eva and Jaden had a small gift and card for their teachers. On Ms. Michelle's card Eva wrote, "I love you."

"Don't wait for your ship to come in - swim out to it."

--Unknown

BOWS...BOWS...BOWS

The wonderful woman that makes all of Eva's hair bows recently asked me if I would do a photo shoot for her and photograph her bows. This was a challenge for me because I've never done something like this before....but I was willing to give it a try (and deep down I was pretty excited about it)!!! I gathered Eva and a few of her friends and ending up doing the photo session right in our back yard (except for the ice cream pictures). It worked out great!

We will be forever grateful to Heather and her beautiful bows! We wear them every. single. day. and I have never found a hair bow that is a better quality or price! It was an honor to photograph them for her....and tooooo fun to spend the afternoon with these girlies!!!

Love it.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says,

"Oh Crap....she's up."

Play Ball!!!!

Our little girl is finishing up her first year of T-ball. This is something Eva has wanted to do since she was very, very young. She's always loved sports. Always loved the feeling of controlling a ball.....whether with a racket, a bat, or with her bare hand while she shoots hoops.

She's learned a lot this year and it's been fun to watch. Prior to this year she knew about hitting....but not much about fielding. She's had to learn that she can't chase the ball down from across the diamond. She's learned she has to rely on her teammates. She's learned she has to listen to her coaches.

She's still got a lot to learn...but I love experiencing the process and watching her grow. I've been sure to take pictures and capture video. Some day we will watch these videos and look at the pictures and giggle...we'll see how much she has learned and how far she has come.

Until then, I'm enjoying every single moment of watching this little girl in action. Savoring the fact that she still waves at me from second base and loving the fact that occasionally when the game gets a little long she still plays in the dirt around the base.

She's 5...and she's playing a game she loves....life couldn't be better.

"Baseball was made for kids...grown ups only mess it up."

--Bob Lemon

Slowing down and taking it alllll in....

We've been busy lately....too busy. We've got two major projects going on at our house (finishing the basement and landscaping around our fence out back). That combined with T-ball, swimming lessons, tennis, my workouts, etc. was making for some very busy days.

I'm not one that enjoys running around all day...there are so many more important things to be spending our time on.

So I had to make a conscious effort to slllooooooow down.

I've started grocery shopping once and getting enough for 2 weeks (this takes more planning...but it cuts down on at least one errand). I've cancelled a few of my workout sessions at the gym and have worked out at home instead. I pulled Eva out of tennis for the first summer session and have her set up to restart it for the second session....later this summer. I've made a point to cut our schedule down - to "make time" do do less....does that make sense?

And what have we done with this time?

We've played.
We've had picnics.
We've gone swimming.
We enjoyed the splash pad.
We've spent a lot more time in the garden.
We've jumped with excitement when the ice cream truck visited.
We've rode bikes.
We've painted faces (just cause it's fun)!
We've gone to the park.

We've laughed and we've giggled.
We've felt the heat of the sun on our skin....and we've literally danced in the rain.

Yes, we are still doing things.....but these are the things we enjoy doing. The things that summer is alll about. The things I hope my children remember when they look back and think about how they spent their childhood summers.

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."

--Ghandi

She finally lost it....

This little girl has had a loose tooth for a couple of weeks now....her very first loose tooth. Ever since she noticed it was loose she has been begging us to pull it. Well....tonight was the night.

There were a few tears after it was first pulled, but she quickly recovered. She is so proud of the new little hole in her mouth. One of the first things she asked for was a drink with a straw in it (because she now has the perfect spot in her mouth to stick a straw)!

Such special times....I love it.

Eva is now sleeping soundly in her bed. She has her tooth tucked in a special little pillow...and she is awaiting a visit from a very special fairy tonight.

"In this pocket you will find

a teensy tiny tooth of mine.

So while I sleep where dreams are made,

let's see if you can make a trade."

--Unknown

Eva's Prayer Last Night...

"Dear God...please kill all of the mosquitoes because I DON'T like it when they bite me! AMEN!!!"

(After explaining to her that mosquitoes - although annoying - are one of God's creatures she changed her prayer to "well...don't kill them...just keep them away from me!")

Seriously...every night I wish I had a tape recording of my children's bedtime prayers. They are so heartfelt - and often humorous.

"God tells us to burden Him with whatever burdens us."

(even mosquitoes in our case)

--Author Unknown

Oh! And before I forget...that little cutie patootie was counting coins with me the other day and it went like this, "Quarters, nickels, "diamonds" (instead of dimes), and pennies"

Love it.

A Day JUST for HER.....

Eva and some of her friends were recently treated to a very special day....a day full of fun and surprises! You see.....I have a group of friends that I have known since high school...and we all have girls that are pretty much the same age.

And waaaaaaaaay back last winter we started planning a little Mama and Daughter outing for these lovely little girls.

And we have been sooo excited and waiting ever so patiently for our special day to come.

And this week the day was FINALLY here!!

We started with a train ride to Chicago! This was Eva's first time on the train and she was ECSTATIC! Here are the lovely little ladies....

And here are the Mama's......
Once we got to Chicago we made our way to the American Girl Doll store. Eva was SUPER excited to pick out an American Girl Doll....and even more excited to pick out a sports outfit for her!!

After going through all of the dolls Eva decided on JULIE! I called Matt right away to tell him we were now grandparents! Ha! Here are two of the proud little Mama's with their new dolls....

Afterwards we all enjoyed an amazing lunch at the Grand Luxe....

After lunch we took a trolley ride to Navy Pier! The little ones were soooo excited about the trolley! I love how you can see the excitement in their faces...

Once at Navy Pier we went straight to the rides!!! The first one we rode on was the ENORMOUS Ferris wheel! I'm not gonna lie....I was a little nervous about it...but Eva wanted to ride it and this day was alllllll about her!!!!!

Me and my special little girl heading towards the top of the Ferris wheel!!!! She loved it!

We spent some time in front of the silly mirrors....and I'm not kidding when I say that I was laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants! Hilarious.

The day would not have been complete without a little ice cream....

After Navy Pier we ventured over to Lego World. The girls were amazed at the Lego creations in this fun place!All I gotta say is this is a whole bunch of cuteness....

After Lego World we went to Millennium Park and...welll....just kinda hung out (ha!)...

Eva and I in front of "the bean" at Millennium Park...

The day ended with a quick trip to Subway to get our dinners for the train ride home...

This was SUCH a special day...and one that I will always remember. I loved seeing the excitement in Eva's eyes. I loved to hear the enthusiasm in her voice. I loved to see her soak in things that I too often take for granted.

I loved that it was a YES day. "Can we ride the ride two times?" YES! "Can we get ice cream?" YES! "Can we run?!" ABSOLUTELY! "Can we get our feet wet?" YES!

I loved that I got to spend the whooooole day with just my little girl. A little girl that is growing up too fast right before my very eyes.

And last, but not least, I loved that at the end of the day when I was snuggled up with her on the train I asked her what her very favorite part of the trip was....Eva thought and thought and said she could come up with just one thing.

She said she loved it all.

Two Families Went Walking....

Two families went walking and what did they find?

That time spent together is simply DIVINE!

The two oldest walked...

The youngest one rode.

The middle? Well....he helped lighten the load...

In the end there were medals and ice cream in the sun,
with a great lesson learned...

EXERCISE CAN BE FUN!!!!!


Thanks Kim, Kevin, Tess, and Ella for a great time at the family walk!!!!
We look forward to it every year!

Garage Sale! Garage Sale!

We had a garage sale this past weekend. I love getting ready for a garage sale....getting rid of all of the things cluttering up your house that you no longer need or want. I keep boxes in the basement year round and when I come across things that I no longer need they immediately go to the "GARAGE SALE" boxes! After cleaning out our basement a few months ago our garage sale boxes were about to the ceiling! Ha!!! I also love to people watch and garage sales bring out allllll kinds of people!!!!


Then there is this little girl.....

Little Miss Eva decided that she wanted to have a snack stand at the garage sale. I told her it was an AWESOME idea....but that she could only keep a small portion of the money. The rest of the money had to be donated to a charitable cause of her choice.

After some thought she decided to donate it to "children that don't have things they need"...so I decided the American Red Cross would be a good fit and it could be used in relief efforts. Then she heard about a local radio station that was raising money for child abuse prevention. She asked me what child abuse was.

That's a tough one to explain to a 5 year old.

After our discussion about it she decided THAT is where her money should go. We called the radio station and got the address....bought our snacks....and set up her stand. We wrote "donations only" on her sign, but I had to chuckle because Eva kept telling everyone that everything was $1 (even a little bag of chips)....the thing that got me is that people gladly handed it over! That little girl was WORKIN' IT!!!

She sat at her stand for 2 days and in the end she raised $70 for child abuse prevention!

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

--William James

Jaden's Prayer Tonight...

"Thank you for God.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for watching over me.

And thank you that there are noooo monsters!

AMEN!!!!"

Slip Sliding Away....

Ahhhhhh.....the joys of summer.