Monday, July 27, 2009

Where to begin?



It has been so long, where do I even begin?  

Last I posted Laura was turning 7.  Well, that she did.  I turned thirty seven, Sarah turned one, Andrew turned ten and Adam and I celebrated fifteen years of marriage since.  That is just to name a few.  Andrew played flag football and Laura and Emma played lacrosse. I pretty much was a taxi driver, cheerleader, chef, maid, tutor, party planner, etc.  Needless to say, I just ran out of time in pretty much each and every day.

Well, the past two months we have been doing one thing... swimming.  We have been loving every minute of it too.  I was so proud of each and every one of the kids.  Laura conquered her fears and tried out for the team and has become a much more confident swimmer.  Laura has never had formal lessons and has improved her strokes more than we could have imagined.  

Andrew has excitement that is contagious.  The boy is a natural when it comes to breaststroke.  Ever single time he swam he came in first or second in his age group, even in the BIG meet against all of the summer swimmers in our area.  Many of the kids he was competing against swim year and Andrew still places above them with minimal coaching.

Emma, well leave it to Emma to outdo herself.  As in most things Emma tries, she does extremely well.  Emma is one of the most gifted people I have ever met, I can't think of many things that she does not excel far above average.  She is humble and a good sport too, I guess that is why I want to brag on her.  She did amazing all summer.  She is a natural in the pool.  As she swims it is almost an art, as she glides through the water.  Emma is also a natural breaststroker.  At most every meet, Emma placed at the top of her age group in every stroke, she was usually just behind the year round swimmers.

So I think we have found a great fit for our family, competitive swimming.  It was fun, the kids liked it and Sarah was such a trooper getting drug to and from the pool multiples times a day.

Now the big question is to swim year round or not?  If we do, will they burn out?  Do they have natural talent and passion and we should harness this energy and talent?  

We will see what the fall holds and if we decided to take the plunge, literally.  For now we will just enjoy the rest of the summer swimming at the community pool, for fun. 

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Painting Party

When we were brainstorming ideas for Laura's seventh birthday party we knew art was something to keep in mind.  Well... I started thinking.  I want to take the wallpaper off the wall... we will need to prime it before we paint it...why not let the kids just paint right on the wall?

This was the result.




It was a great time and I am not sure how soon we will paint over it.  Eventually.  

Friday, March 20, 2009

Sarah 11 months

These are way overdue, but here they are.


Our little Sarah Jane is already eleven months old.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Sarah 10 months

On Valentine's Day our littlest Valentine turned ten months.


Can you believe this this little girl was ever "failure to thrive"? It is hard to believe looking at her now.