After his swim lesson on Thursday, our almost four year old son hopped out of the pool and said he wanted a few minutes to swim in the "cat pool" before we left.
I said, "Cat Pool?"
He replied, "Yeah, that one" as he gestured to the in-ground wading pool. I was puzzled but I let him swim and splash around for a bit.
On the drive home I asked him why he called the pool a "cat pool?"
He said, "because that is what you called it Mommy."
"Really?"
"Yeah Mommy. You said it was a cat pool."
"Hmmm...I said it was a kiddie pool."
Mitchell laughed, "See Mommy! You said it was a kitty pool!"
He got me there! Ü
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Swim Lessons
We are very fortunate to live near an amazing swim school. While we don't have a pool we frequently find ourselves splashing around the pools of family and friends. We want our children to be safe and have some basic water skills...rest assured we watch them like hawks! Nothing takes the place of a pair of parental eyes watching from in the pool as well.
This is Mitchell after his first swim lesson in 2006. Poor guy looks traumatized!
This is Ellie after her first lessons just last week. She doesn't look traumatized so much as she looks plain mad!
This is Mitchell's third year of lessons and Ellie's first. Mitchell is ecstatic to be back. He has a smile so big that his cheeks hurt after his lesson! Miss Ellie is a bit apprehensive...as was Mitchell when he first started. I think the photos below are so funny...
This is Mitchell after his first swim lesson in 2006. Poor guy looks traumatized!This is Ellie after her first lessons just last week. She doesn't look traumatized so much as she looks plain mad!
Mitchell was excited about swimming after his fourth lesson that first summer. Hopefully, Ellie will get more excited too. She has only had two lessons so far. They each get ten lessons over five weeks. The lessons are one-on-one. The instructors are adorable. Mitchell already has a crush on his instructor...readily running to her arms when it is time to start his lesson. While Ellie likes her instructor she does try to make that one last mad dash before conceding that she must get in the pool. Her instructor gives her lots of hugs and kisses and Ellie clings to her like a baby monkey.
This is such a fun time to be a parent. We struggle daily in this terrible economy, but at the end of the day it is the little things we do with our children that really matter.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Rainy Weekend
This is the first time in my adult life I can recall having a rainy Memorial Day weekend. I am loving it! We are hosting a small barbecue tomorrow with traditional Memorial Day fare...hotdogs, chili, chips and dip. The only difference will be that instead of sitting out back enjoying some sunshine we will be sitting in the house enjoying warmth and conversation.
Where we live in Central California it gets blazing hot in the summer. An average summer day will hover around 101 degrees. So, a little rain and gloom late in the season is an absolute treat! It puts those dogs days of summer off a bit longer.
I also thought this weekend might be a bit of karma for the oil companies. As if prices were not high enough they hiked them up on Thursday hoping to make an extra buck (or twenty) from the weekend travellers. With the rain, most people we know are staying home. They are bunking in to avoid the rain rather than spending $4.19 per gallon to fill up their vehicle with regular unleaded. So, maybe the oil company profits will be a bit slimmer than expected. Oh, I am sure the oil executives will still have enough funds to wallpaper their mansions with $100 bills...but at least they will experience a little ding.
So bring on the rain! There is plenty of time for kite flying and bike riding later in the season! For now I am enjoying the coziness of home!
Where we live in Central California it gets blazing hot in the summer. An average summer day will hover around 101 degrees. So, a little rain and gloom late in the season is an absolute treat! It puts those dogs days of summer off a bit longer.
I also thought this weekend might be a bit of karma for the oil companies. As if prices were not high enough they hiked them up on Thursday hoping to make an extra buck (or twenty) from the weekend travellers. With the rain, most people we know are staying home. They are bunking in to avoid the rain rather than spending $4.19 per gallon to fill up their vehicle with regular unleaded. So, maybe the oil company profits will be a bit slimmer than expected. Oh, I am sure the oil executives will still have enough funds to wallpaper their mansions with $100 bills...but at least they will experience a little ding.
So bring on the rain! There is plenty of time for kite flying and bike riding later in the season! For now I am enjoying the coziness of home!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Family Moments
Mitchell trying out new wheels! This bike was given to us for his sister but he doesn't mind that it's pink. His reward will come on his birthday with a new, just-for-Mitchell bike!
We don't have a pool, but that doesn't mean the day's attire can't be a bikini!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Icky Dream
My dreams are most often very vivid. I have woken up on occasion wondering if what I dreamt was actually real. My husband tells me that I talk in my sleep in mumbles he can't quite understand. He said my tones rise and fall as if I am having a conversation with someone. Apparently, I sometimes even gesture with my hands. I have also woken myself up laughing! (What a pain I must be to sleep next too!) So, it is no wonder that often bad or disturbing dreams affect my mood for the day.
Last night I had a dream...a long, icky dream. People were telling me I was ugly. How cruel! I have always been a bit self-conscious so this hit my core. In my dream, I was walking with my husband and people were sneering at me. Some outright telling me I was nothing short of a troll. In the dream, my husband tried to be reassuring and said, "You are beautiful to me!" To which I replied, "Don't lie! I really am ugly. I can't believe I was fortunate enough to get married!" OK! What in the world does that mean? I have always thought that dreams were our mind's way of working things out while we sleep. I must have issues! At the very least, I must have felt less than desirable when I crawled into bed last night.
I much prefer the dreams that I don't want to wake up from. The ones that a person relishes. I have only once had a dream where I was able to fly by my own accord. That still ranks as my best dream ever! I was disappointed to wake up and realize I would not be flying to the kitchen for breakfast but rather using old-fashioned foot power.
My grandma never dreams. Isn't that interesting? She has had only a couple occasions in her life that she can recall dreaming. Her dream is always the same. She is lost in a crowd of people and frantic. When she was younger she was looking for her parents in the crowd and, later in life, the dream had her looking for my grandpa. She said the dream is almost like a nightmare and that she much prefers dreamless sleep. How odd it would be to close my eyes and then open them feeling refreshed. It there are no dreams than sleep must be like a blink. That is very hard to comprehend.
I actually enjoy most dreams. To me they are like a good book...a bit of an escape. I like when I am able to recall them. My husband and I often share our craziest dreams. Those dreams where you find yourself naked and no one else is. Yet, no one really seems to mind that you are naked even though you feel embarrassed. There are the dreams where you are hiking along a hill and your foot slips off the edge and you jerk awake because you actually kicked your leg out. Then there are the dreams were a sound in the room enters your dream as the sound from something different. I have had dreams about a woodpecker pecking on the house only to wake up and find the pecking sound was my husband making a clicking sound in his sleep.
Dreams are both good and bad. Good when they offer a brief escape or a nice laugh. Bad when they make the dreamer feel like a troll for the rest of the day!
Last night I had a dream...a long, icky dream. People were telling me I was ugly. How cruel! I have always been a bit self-conscious so this hit my core. In my dream, I was walking with my husband and people were sneering at me. Some outright telling me I was nothing short of a troll. In the dream, my husband tried to be reassuring and said, "You are beautiful to me!" To which I replied, "Don't lie! I really am ugly. I can't believe I was fortunate enough to get married!" OK! What in the world does that mean? I have always thought that dreams were our mind's way of working things out while we sleep. I must have issues! At the very least, I must have felt less than desirable when I crawled into bed last night.
I much prefer the dreams that I don't want to wake up from. The ones that a person relishes. I have only once had a dream where I was able to fly by my own accord. That still ranks as my best dream ever! I was disappointed to wake up and realize I would not be flying to the kitchen for breakfast but rather using old-fashioned foot power.
My grandma never dreams. Isn't that interesting? She has had only a couple occasions in her life that she can recall dreaming. Her dream is always the same. She is lost in a crowd of people and frantic. When she was younger she was looking for her parents in the crowd and, later in life, the dream had her looking for my grandpa. She said the dream is almost like a nightmare and that she much prefers dreamless sleep. How odd it would be to close my eyes and then open them feeling refreshed. It there are no dreams than sleep must be like a blink. That is very hard to comprehend.
I actually enjoy most dreams. To me they are like a good book...a bit of an escape. I like when I am able to recall them. My husband and I often share our craziest dreams. Those dreams where you find yourself naked and no one else is. Yet, no one really seems to mind that you are naked even though you feel embarrassed. There are the dreams where you are hiking along a hill and your foot slips off the edge and you jerk awake because you actually kicked your leg out. Then there are the dreams were a sound in the room enters your dream as the sound from something different. I have had dreams about a woodpecker pecking on the house only to wake up and find the pecking sound was my husband making a clicking sound in his sleep.
Dreams are both good and bad. Good when they offer a brief escape or a nice laugh. Bad when they make the dreamer feel like a troll for the rest of the day!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Momma's Day
Mother's Day was absolutely wonderful in this neck of the woods. My kids were angels all day. I got to spend the entire day with them and my husband...is there a better gift than that? At ages almost 4 and almost 2, my children spent a great portion of the day playing in our backyard...which has no yard at all...just a bunch of weeds and spans of dirt. My kids love it though...regardless. I love watching them tromp around discovering every nook and cranny of the property.
It was one of those special days. One of those days were nothing out of the ordinary occurs but I found myself thinking it was an extraordinary day!
It was one of those special days. One of those days were nothing out of the ordinary occurs but I found myself thinking it was an extraordinary day!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Conversations
I have the best conversations with my son who is almost four years old. He is quite profound. His view of the world is untainted. It is pure and simple. It has been fascinating to watch his vocabulary expand and listen to his, "um, uh, um, er" as he searches for just the right word to describe something.
He will talk about anything...anywhere! This morning he provided me with a full rundown of events as they took place in the bathroom on the potty. He doesn't mean to be gross. He simply finds the process of him pooping utterly fascinating.
He is very into dinosaurs and can knows their different names by characteristics his spots. We had this conversation not long ago.
"See this Mommy?"
"That thing on its head?"
"That is a crest Mommy."
"Oh!"
"That crest and this duck bill mean that this is a Parasauralopholus. Can you say para?"
"Para."
"OK, good. Now say para saura."
"Para saura."
"Good job Mommy! Now say para saura lopholus."
"Para saura lopholus!"
"Good work Mommy!"
I know I am completely biased but I think my son is brilliant! Don't all mothers think this of their most precious gifts? I am amazed at how much my son learns in one day. He is indeed a sponge. He also remembers little details that I never even notice. We were talking about Disneyland and he was talking about the dinosaur eggs that we saw on the train ride through the park. He remembered exactly how many eggs were in the display and how many had cracked open and had little baby dinosaurs popping out (by the way, he is absolutely certain those dinosaurs are real and I love it!).
My husband and I enjoy listening to our son explain the world to his little sister. In the simplest of terms he educates her on the world around them. He tells her the flowers are "bee flowers" and the trees are for birds. He takes her tromping through our back field and points out river rocks that he is sure are dinosaur eggs waiting to hatch. He tells her the sky is blue because God likes that color. And, "we don't have grass yet but we have great foxtails and weeds!"
I absolutely love the sound of my son's voice. It melts my heart when I tuck him in at night and he says, "I love you mommy. Today you were my best friend."
He will talk about anything...anywhere! This morning he provided me with a full rundown of events as they took place in the bathroom on the potty. He doesn't mean to be gross. He simply finds the process of him pooping utterly fascinating.
He is very into dinosaurs and can knows their different names by characteristics his spots. We had this conversation not long ago.
"See this Mommy?"
"That thing on its head?"
"That is a crest Mommy."
"Oh!"
"That crest and this duck bill mean that this is a Parasauralopholus. Can you say para?"
"Para."
"OK, good. Now say para saura."
"Para saura."
"Good job Mommy! Now say para saura lopholus."
"Para saura lopholus!"
"Good work Mommy!"
I know I am completely biased but I think my son is brilliant! Don't all mothers think this of their most precious gifts? I am amazed at how much my son learns in one day. He is indeed a sponge. He also remembers little details that I never even notice. We were talking about Disneyland and he was talking about the dinosaur eggs that we saw on the train ride through the park. He remembered exactly how many eggs were in the display and how many had cracked open and had little baby dinosaurs popping out (by the way, he is absolutely certain those dinosaurs are real and I love it!).
My husband and I enjoy listening to our son explain the world to his little sister. In the simplest of terms he educates her on the world around them. He tells her the flowers are "bee flowers" and the trees are for birds. He takes her tromping through our back field and points out river rocks that he is sure are dinosaur eggs waiting to hatch. He tells her the sky is blue because God likes that color. And, "we don't have grass yet but we have great foxtails and weeds!"
I absolutely love the sound of my son's voice. It melts my heart when I tuck him in at night and he says, "I love you mommy. Today you were my best friend."
Thursday, May 1, 2008
National Day of Prayer
Today is the National Day of Prayer. What a great opportunity to pray for our nation, our city, our community, the very street we live on. This is a non-denominational effort. I am excited to see the results of so many prayers lifted up to God. Also, I think it is so important, regardless of political affiliation, to pray for those who lead our local and federal governments. We don't have to agree with political views of our elected officials to pray for guidance and courage to do what is right.
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