Swimming

For there 4th class I actually remembered to bring my camera so I could get some decent pictures. During this class she was jumping in and swimming under water for at least 4 seconds. They had them retrieve things from a platform that is in the middle of the pool and bring it back. I am pretty sure they do these things without a fuss because they know they get an M&M when they are done. If only it worked like that all the time. For the 4th class we are so pleased. She is really starting to enjoy the water. At times Jason and I fear she enjoys it too much because she will occassionally try to jump in when we are not ready. There prize for this class was a flag. You would have thought she was given a bag of Cheetohs. The girl was soooo excited!

Happy Birthday Kalie Lynn

On June 30th Ms. Kalie Lynn turned three. Since we couldn't let her celebrate without a day of fun we decided to take the girls to the downtown children's museum. They had a blast. They pretty much ran right through every activity before slowing down to actually play with some of the exhibits. Too cute to watch. I am pretty sure there favorite part of the entire day was the free balloon animals they got. They were packing up for lunch and told us they couldn't make them and after mentioning it was her birthday they gave in. As you can tell by the last few pics it was well worth it. Afterwards we took them to Mac Donalds for lunch and some play time. Thanks for letting us spend your special day with you.

P.S...I know Kaylie had one piece of hair longer than the rest. It would not go back and I couldn't do anything about it until we got home.)

Should we be worried?!?

Should we be worried that Kaylie's new favorite thing to do at My Gym is slide down the pole?!?

Where do they come up with this?

While spending some time with Jolie, Fletch, and Lucas while the boys were away our two little smarties decided they would have the best time playing in the dogs crate. Not the big one that was right next to them but the little one. My favorite picture was the last one. Kaylie's face cracks me up and Fletcher is trying to get her to scoot over so he can be seen. What are we going to do with them?!? Too cute

VBS

I realized awhile back that I needed to look into finding a new church. We wanted one that was closer so we could be more active participants with our church family. This church came about after joining my MOPS group. After spending some time visiting we have found a new home and love it.

With it being summer time I decided to help teach a 3rd and 4th graders during VBS. It felt like I was teaching all over again. Even though it was only a half day thing I was exhausted by the end of the day. Teaching with my good friend Janet we were blessed to have over 20 kids in our class. On the last day I felt like I was saying good bye to my kids like I would at the end of the school year. Silly...I know!!!

The best part about all of this was that being a teacher allowed Kaylie to participate. Another plus to being a preemie was that this allowed her to be with the 3 year olds as well. They had different centers and traveled around learning all about God's love. She was blessed with two amazing teachers, Ms. Sharon and Ms. Merl that I know on a personal level making it even more special knowing I was leaving her in good hands. After class she would come home and recite her bible verse. The one she still remembers is "I am wonderfully made." They shortened it to make it manageable for the little ones. By the end of the week we were exhausted but a good exhausted. Definitely a great first VBS experience.

Happy Father's Day

To my amazing husband...Thank you so much for loving me and your daughter!!! You are such an amazing husband and father to both of us. We love you so much!

Family reunion

Over the Father's Day weekend we were blessed with a visit from some family members from my dad's side of the family that we had not seen in a long time. For one of them it had been so long Michael had never met him before. Definitely too long!!! For Ryan and I it was a reunion.

The last time I saw my Aunt Pam was 8 years ago at my wedding. The last time either of us saw my Uncle Jim was easily 25 years ago. Time definitely got away from us.

Even though these two brothers and sister have not been able to see much of each other you would never know it because when they are together they have a blast. There mannerisms are so incredibly alike it would freak you out, not to mention the two brothers look like they could be twins.

By the end of the visit I think we successfully showed them a great time making sure they had the true "Texas" experience. After so Randy White's barbecue, Babes Chicken, swimming in the 100+ degree weather, and barbecuing on the porch we had to say our good byes. Hopefully we will not have to wait as long before we can all be together again.

Clowning Around

The reward for there second swimming class was a red clown nose. I was shocked to see her put it on and actually like it!

Inservice time

It is so weird knowing I have completed an entire year as a stay at home mommy. I have to admit...it has not been easy. I loved my job and miss it. With that said I know Kaylie has made the progress she has because we could do this for her.

Even though I am not teaching I still try to help my friends when they need to attend trainings through out the summer and they help me with other things like dentist and doctor appointments. It actually helps both parties. For them it takes the worry of finding someone away and for me it gives Kaylie someone to play with. I think this is the 3rd year Felicia and I have done this. It is great being able to help each other out with watching our kids.

Two burritos

I love this picture!!! Kaylie and Kiera have become friends through there mommies. Laura and I have known each other since the 5th grade. After going to church together all throughout our school years and thankfully reconnecting after we were both married we now have the joy of having our kids grow up together as friends. We feel so blessed to have them in our lives!!!

1st day of swimming

The past two summers we had a group of three that would take swimming lessons at the Athletic Center in there parent child class. There main goal during those classes was to help build your child's confidence when it came to being in the water. It was nice but we didn't feel they got a lot of benefit from it. I know for Kaylie it was way to easy to "cop out" of doing what they wanted her to do when mommy was around to save her. This year I wasn't having that and figured it was time for her to move along so she could learn some water safe techniques.

Now that they are 3 and we had an actual swim school open up close to our house we decided to sign her up. Since they had to be three I realized one positive to her prematurity was that she was actually able to participate in this class. Otherwise, we would not have been able to stay with our group of friends that we have swam with the past few years. I am impressed I can find some positive things to her being born early :)

For the first time I was incredibly impressed. The beautiful thing about this class was that we got to sit out in the lobby, completely dry, watching through a glass window. Since there is only 4 to a class the kids are given many opportunities to participate. What surprised us was the fact that they never moved off there turtle seat unless it was there turn. It amazes me what they will do for someone when the parents are not there to save them.

Overall, her first day of swimming was great. She was comfortable in the water and didn't refuse to do anything. After class they were allowed to go down a "big" water slide and given a prize. We refused the slide but at her age I probably would have as well. We will make that a goal for our last class.

(pictures taken with my phone...sorry for the quality)