Summer is HERE!

Oh blog, oh blog, how I have missed you. :) And all of you wonderful readers, too, even though I think I've talked to most of you in the past week in separate e-mails. lol.


It has been a week! A full week since I've written (or round about anyway, I didn't actually look at my last post).


I feel like I dropped off the planet... but I guess these things happen when you are busy trying to do eleventy hundred things (like that new phrase? It comes from another blog I've been reading, among the 100 that I'm becoming addicted to... maybe that's why I haven't been writing as much.).


So, what have we been up to? Well, it was Memorial Day weekend, so one would think that I would have long posts about great parties, boating, poolside relaxation, family picnics, travel, etc. However, I think I can sum up our Memorial Day in just a few words: t-ball, fun day at t-ball, pool opens, t-ball, mow grass, and work in garden, oh and t-ball. And there was some grillin'.


T-ball was our big focus for the weekend, as if you couldn't tell. Because of some rained out games, we had a game on Friday, a regularly-scheduled game on Saturday, and another make up game from rain on Sunday. We also had Fun Day at T-ball, which is exactly what it sounds like... fun. There are inflatables, games, carnival foods, auction items (lots of them), and a fun skills competition for the kids who play ball. Basically, we had a game at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and got home around 4 p.m. that afternoon, having spent relatively our entire day at the ball field for the game and our fun day activities.


I know many of you are thinking, "Man, that's a lot of t-ball... why would they want to do that." Well, OK. I can see how you think that. But, we have a really good time when we go. The kids love it... it's physical for them, which is healthy. We love the people on our team, parents and children, so we kind of have a little group of people that just hang out and have fun. I don't know. I guess you just have to do it to understand it. But, even when it's tiring, it's still fun.


Other than t-ball, our neighborhood pool opened. YAY for summer! It is finally here and I am so completely excited. This is what I've been waiting for. As soon as I started staying home with the kids, I have longed for the days that we can hang out at the pool all day, uninterrupted, and enjoy. It. Is. Here. :) We have already gone about three times in the past few days, spending only a couple of hours each time. It is not going to be as simple as it has been in the past. Bailey wants to be in the big pool. Jake wants to swim in the baby pool. Bailey wants to jump off the diving board. Jake wants me to swim with him the entire time. So, we're going to have to work all that out. But, I'm not complaining. We will enjoy the summer... in the water. Yes. YES!

Swimming sans Mommy

The big boy is growing up even more... he is now swimming on his own. I can't really believe it. We started swimming lessons two months ago. He was scared of the water and didn't even really trust me to take him into the pool. On Wednesday of last week, I decided it was high time for him to let me let go. He can swim and swim well, but he was not ever going to let me let go. So, I just gave him an extra big push to the side of the pool and let him swim his way there. The look on his face when he realized he had done it on his own was priceless.

So, this Monday, I was eager to see how he would do. It's funny what a little push in the right direction can do for a kid... a little bit of extra confidence and he's telling me to let him go and not touch him. He even went under several times and jumped off the side without me catching him. Of course, we didn't leave Spiderman out of the equation. Jake pretended to shoot webs at me in the pool and use those webs to swim across the pool. Hilarious, but effective.

His instructor was as impressed as I was at his ability. We have often talked about how well he does, if only he would just garner up the confidence to do it on his own and go to a "big boy" class without mommy. By the end of the day on Monday, his instructor and I were discussing putting him in the same class as Bailey (which is actually skipping the beginner class and going to the advanced beginner class). If he'll swim on his back tomorrow, we might just do that. Imagine my world getting easier... two less swimming lessons to make it out to each week! WOO HOO!

That's another milestone reached and just in the nick of time. We're about to enter the time of year in which we spend lots of time in the water, either the pool or the lake. Thankfully, he'll be ready for it and we won't spend the first month easing him into the water.

Play ball...

It is that time of year... spring. The time of year that my allergies kick in, so I am living in a semi-foggy state. All the same, one of my favorite times of the year. It is time to get out of the house and play some ball. And this year, we are not only fully-engrossed in t-ball with Bailey, we are playing three-year old kick start soccer with Jake. Talk about hectic... We are now parents of children involved in three sports... soccer, t-ball, and swimming. And, to beat it all, Brad is assistant coach in t-ball and head coach for soccer. Yes, you read that right, head coach for three-year old soccer. Yes, he has a wish to have a stroke before he's thirty. He'd have to, right? He and our friend Paul are managing (or attempting to manage) ten three-year olds while they teach them soccer skills. Funny that neither of them has ever played soccer. :)

Anyway... our schedule is filling up with all these things. And, we love it. Saturday morning, we were at the soccer field at a bright and early 9:45 for Jake's soccer practice (they don't really play games, just learn skills at this point). I was dreading to see how he was going to do. I had to miss the first practice the week before to take Bailey to her t-ball game that was at the same time. Apparently, Jake was horrible at his first practice. Brad had to run after him a couple of times, after he attempted to run to the parking lot. Yes... we have THAT child. :) Yet, this week was much different. He still came off the field a few times and had to be physically moved to line up a couple of times, but he did spend most of the time on the field, actually kicking his soccer ball. He and his friend, Joseph, are on the same team and also enjoyed a few moments of tackling each other and wrestling on the ground, while the rest of the team played freeze tag with the coaches (Jake and Joseph's dads). :) Funny how that works out sometimes!

Bailey is also enjoying t-ball this year. I was a little concerned at the beginning of the season that we were going to have to play her in the in-field because our team is pretty young, but after putting her in the second base position and allowing her to get hit by a ball because she was busy digging in the dirt, I think the coaches (and everyone else) realized it was a good idea for her to play outfield again. lol. She gets bored with the outfield, but understands that until she's really ready to watch the ball the ENTIRE game, she is going to have to stay out there. She asked me why she didn't get to play in the in-field and I explained to her that she had to work really hard to watch the ball and throw it to first if it came to her. She responded with, "Well... maybe I'll just stay in the outfield a little while longer." That's my girl. lol. She is hitting really well and has increased her speed this year, which is good. And, she knows how to run the bases, which helps. So, maybe a softball future is in the cards... we'll see. :) As long as she's having fun, right? And, she is. The whole team is. They have these chants that they yell in the dugout. I think I could hear them in my sleep because they really are that loud. But, that's what they love... being loud (and obnoxious). :)