Swimming with the trolls.

My big boy completed his second round of swim lessons and I am not talking about let's have a good time and float on noodles. No no. This is 4 year old swimming lesson BOOT CAMP! I love it. Joy and Allison have been teaching swim lessons for a thousand years and have probably taught millions of children how to swim and as a parent of one those, I am grateful ( like my exagerations?)
He was a champ last year, I mean did everyting they asked, never cried, which is saying alot for boot camp swimming. This year I thought was going to go without a hitch as well until two days before the last day. I picked him up and he was BAWLING. Joy told me he hit a wall, was starting to fear when she was making him swimm to farther than he was comfortable with. She said just to encourage him and she knew he would do better the next day. I was not so sure especially since on the way home he was crying his eyes out telling me he never wanted to swim again. " But what about getting your water rockets when you graduate?" " I don't want ANY water rockets. I never ever want to swim!" Oh dear. We talked off and on about it all evening long. We told him how we are all scared of things and we have to conquer our fears, how important it is to learn to swim,etc. Nothing was working. James told him that night in a last attempt that the deep water was like a mean troll that the brave Keller needed to defeat.
So the next day he was dropped of without any fear, so far so good. I was anxious the entire 45 minutes before he returned to the car. Lo and behold, here came my precious boy running down the driveway with a huge smile on his face. Joy said he did awesome, far exceeded where he was just days ago. Music to my ears. The next day was parent day where we all get to come and watch. I was almost brought to tears several times out of pride. I felt pride last year but more because my little guy was such a character and fearless. This year it was because he had a very daunting fear that he faced and overcame. After parent day, my friend Luci called me and told me that she wanted me to know she heard Keller telling the other children there were trolls in the water. So one conquered his fear, the rest were overcome with it. Oh well.

Grand Canyon with vulnerable pictures.

I hate every single picture of myself from our trip to the Grand Canyon so promise not to leave any snide comments about how awful I look and please keep thinking I am cute, k?
O the trip to the GC. What i have said is that there was nothign neutral about this trip, it was both magnificent and hell. The amazing moments I would not trade. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time is exactly what people say it is- there are no words. It takes your breath away. When we first got there we were all just taking it in and Keller turned to me and said, " Mommy, I wish I could dance on the Grand Canyon." Wow. He said it better than anything I could have ever said. Sounds funny but there was something so right to what he said. It engages your senses in a way that you just want to take it all. The other plus to our trip was the wonderful time we had with family. Brian, Fukuko and the kids live in Hong Kong so we only see them once a year. Such sweet time connecting with them and a time that we will cherish forever. The downside....
-Riding in an RV for 1,000 hours with four children one of those being a 2 year old.
-Sleeping in an RV and having my children wake up at 5am and no one else wanting to wake up until 8am.
- The RV leaking diesel fuel on the trip back. Having to ride for 5 hours trying to make it to New Mexcio with all of the windows down so we did not pass out from the smell of diesel.
- Spending the night in New Mexcio which is WACKO because the RV was no longer driveable.
-Packing everything we had on an RV onto a 15 passenger van including four children and 4 adults. This was the low point for me.
Do you see a trend with the negatives? RV!! Next time, I will be flying and spending the night in a cabin or better yet a hotel!
And YES, we had our kids no leashes.
- Pa

G turns 2!

Well this has been a long time coming. We have not had a computer for months so I have had a heck of a time uploading pictures from ipads and iphones.
SO our baby boy turned 2 on March 12th and we kept it pretty simple. Birthday breakfast with a few friends and family. It is crazy looking at these pictures because they are the last ones at our old house. The last birthday we ever had there. We started packing the next day. No sadness, just sureal when a season ends I always reflect for months even years afterwards.
We love our Bubba G and cannot imagine our family without him. He is such a gorgeous child with so much spunk and personality. We love you G and are so honored to be your parents!

A list

Borrowed from Kelly Harp's blog.

Listening: Bethel Live.
Reading: The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown.
Eating:Organic fruitmroll-ups, like 3 a day.
Drinking: lots of ice tea.
Watching: Army Wives and bawling at every episode
Enjoying: the Y pool with my two little fishies

Well, that was short lived.

If you know me you are not surprised that I make unreachable goals and fail to meet them. Oh well. I have not blogged for two days and the emotions I have felt are as such- guilt, freedom, pensive, ashamed,regretful- you get the picture. So I have decided to tweak my goal. First I had to realize what stood in my way of my first goal before I make another. A few things contributed to this.
1. Keller.
2. Graham. They take it out of me folks and having no preschool or mothers day out is taking a toll.
3. I have stories and anecdotes that could be shared daily but I started feeling pressures like, well I shared a serious one yesterday today has got to be funny or people will think I am depressed.
4. Blogging on an iPad. While this is a nifty gadget and a great mothers day present, it has proven to be more difficult to type on at length and very challenging to share pictures.

New goal. Blog often. No time commitments just a commitment that I will be more consistent and intentional.
Thanks for grace.

No peanuts or cracker jacks at this ballgame.

Who is it possible that my little bundle is old enough to play t ball? Last night was our first practice- oh boy we have a long way to go. He got the throw down pretty good and he hit it a few times but catching it is a different story. What I will say about my boy is that he a hustler. He would be at 3rd base and ball would be hit to first base but you betcha Keller would be running to get it. By the end of practice he was getting frustrated that not every ball was being hit to him and would turn around to look at me with tears in his eye sad that he was not the one to catch the ball. Can we see a little competivenrss in this one? I have pics but I am still figuring out to post pics from my iPad since we are currently without a home computer. Any tips on that would be appreciated.

What I have learned being a mom of boys.

1. Everything is more fun, adventurous and meaningful when it is LOUD.
2. Clothes are basically optional and if we are being completely honest they are a nuisance.
3. The dirtier the more fun they have.
4. Weapons are like shoes to girls- you can never have too many, the obsession begins very young and this continues on into adulthood...at least in my house.
5. A hug, kiss, back rub or anything affectionate is borderline abusive.
6. There obsession with their goods begins soon after leaving the canal.
7. They could care less if they have food on their face as long as the majority of it got in there tummies.
8. Every tree, rock, wall, bed, changing table is just waiting to be conquered by their strength.
9. Coloring or anything that resembles craftiness is a form of torture- at least for my boys
10. They help me imagine what my husband was like when he was little.
11. Boys are cheap when it comes to clothes- all they need are jeans and boots.

To be 18 again.

I mentioned in my last post that James' little 18 year old brother is living with us for the summer. I am totally outnumbered. Sam is a rare 18 year old. He is clean, thoughtful, amazing with my kids. I think one of the main reasons he is like this is because he has been homeschooled his entire life. My mother in law is a SAINT and has homeschooled 2 boys. They really are excpetional guys. Since he has been home all of his life, a jump to college seemd kind of big so we were a good transtion for him.
It is so interesting to me how at 18 your life is so shaped already. Most of us were shaped by our friends, pop cultrue even our youth group but being homeschooled your main influence are your parents. I hear Sam say things and instead of it sounding like a typical 18 year old boy it sounds like my MIL! I am not saying it is wrong or right it is just what it is.
I am excited to see him grow and become more independent this summer. Feeding him is a difrent story.

Weekend so far...

Met honey for happy hour at Sam's on the Square.
Ate Pei Wei for date night and sat at the counter so we could watch them cook and feel like we live in a the big city.
Went to Barnes and Noble to buy a Math and Reading book for big boy to work on for the summer... we shall see.
Went to 3 Spoons with the rest of town to get some delish fro yo.
Came home and watched Spider Man with James 18 year brother who is living with us for the summer( more on that tomorrow).
Finished The Help ( more on that sometime soon.)
Woke up this morning and drank coffee in a quiet house because our boys spent the night at the grandparents which they do just about every Friday night. I know, it is one of our greatest gifts.
Had Leal's for breakfast. For you non Wacoans, it is a breakfast burrito dive that I have been going to since I was 13. I can remember waking up in the summer, watching Young and the Restless and then riding my bike to Leal's ( used to be Taco Rico) for lunch EVERYDAY. Wow, summers as a kid were amazing.
Went to a few garage sales.
Went to pick up the monkeys.
Argued with James.
Cleaned house.
Made up with James.
Made lunch.
Took naps.
Went grocery shopping.
Cooked dinner.
Cleaned the play room while James bathed the kids.
Had devotinal- tonight was Shout to the Lord and the story of Jacob. Quick idea for simple family devotional, we found a kids Jesus loves me station on Pandora and we sing a song from it and then we downloaded a $0.99 app for the ipad with about 25 bible stories on it. Nice little mixing up on the family devotional.
Now I am blogging, about to eat a blueberry muffin because I did not like the dinner I made and watch the King's Speech. The End.

My boys.

Bleh

Today I am sick so I got nothing but I have to stay faithful to my word. Here's to hoping mom is back in action tomorrow.

Happy friends.

Ok I cannot get the entire pic to post- sad you can't see jack and Claire:(I love this picture with all of my heart! I love jack and Claire like my own children and to have them be so close with my boys is such gift. I was talking with luci,one of my other friends for life, about how important it is who influences our kids and choosing a community that you want to be part of that influencing process. I just have to say from having several amazing friendships here in Waco, to other friends and family all over the world, I am overcome with gratefulness at what amazing men and women we have as friends and my kids have as role models. I know James and I are the main molders of our children but I think other adults have such an impact our kids lives. Thank you to all of my friends who are more like family that have changed our lives and will help shape my little men.