Underwater babies!

We got underwater photos of our kiddos from their swim school. I love these!

Simple Pleasures

Right now I have the joy of watching my two children splash around in their kiddie pool. I can't imagine how long this blog will take me to write as I find myself looking up every few seconds...they are both in swim lessons but I trust my eyes more than their judgment right now!

My son is wearing his favorite "flower" swim trunks. He likes them because his Daddy has a pair just like them. My daughter is in a Little Mermaid one-piece that is just adorable. Their pool is maybe 10 feet in diameter with squishy sides and a built in seat that my son calls the "Hot Dog Seat." We have maybe 10 inches of water in the pool.

The kids are having an insane amount of fun. They have been squealing and splashing around for 30 minutes and show no signs of slowing down. I love that they can enjoy such simple pleasures. We don't have a fancy built-in pool with a diving board, but they don't mind one bit.

Earlier today we had the excitement of being able to drive through a construction zone. The county is building a new middle school across the street and, as a bonus, we are getting a new road put in. But, in order to leave our house, we literally must drive through construction with earth movers and water trucks cruising beside us. We had to make a run into town so off we went through the marking stakes and concrete pipes. The kids thought this was more fun than a full day at the park! They screamed and waved to the construction workers and enjoyed as our Escape slipped and slid through the recently watered dirt. Again they seem to enjoy the simplest of pleasures.

My kids are blessings in so many ways. One of the purest ways is how they show me how to have fun doing everyday things. They remind me to be content. They help me realize we don't have to have the fanciest toys or gadgets to have a good time. Their actions constantly remind me of what is most important. It doesn't matter what brand of clothes I wear or how big our home is. What matters is simply enjoying them and every precious moment we have together.

I am spending the day with them today because I will be on the east coast next week for work. I will miss them terribly. I will remember today though and look forward to the following weekend when we can have another day of simple fun. Which...of course...is the best type of fun!

The Cat Pool

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

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'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.

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!

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!

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!