2014 Tire Pictures....

They just keep getting bigger! :)

Ben 2014

Ben 2013

Simon 2014

Simon 2013

Jonathan 2014

Jonathan 2013

All the boys 2014

All the boys 2013

Beach 2014....

At the beach this week....

I think there is no place my kids are happier and more content than when they are on the beach....

Ribbons!

Friday was Fun Friday/Ribbon Day at swim practice.

I prepped Simon for potentially not getting any because I was pretty sure he disqualified every race he swam. He was okay with that because some of the older girl swimmers had walked around and passed out bright yellow participation ribbons to the youngest swimmers at the meet on Wednesday night. (thank goodness.... I had been under the impression the little ones got ribbons just for swimming in the meets, but as it turns out, it's inconsistent and based on how much time the director's mom has to write them all up... )

At any rate, he got an 8th place and a 9th place ribbon (both dead last place, but he didn't care because... ribbons!) and one for swimming but DQ'ing. He was thrilled. WHEW.

Interestingly, getting the ribbons seems to have lit a fire under him because now he's practicing a little here and there in his free pool time like Ben does. He even has started trying to do a rudimentary butterfly stroke, which is pretty amazing considering he struggles with coordinating the arms and legs for regular old freestyle. LOL.  I shouldn't write him off as not being a swimmer just yet, it seems.  I mean, Ben couldn't even swim at ALL when he was 7!

Ben came away with a couples thirds and fourths. All were last place in his heat except one of the thirds for butterfly. He says he was really nervous.... but now with two meets under his belt, his confidence is back and he has now made it his mission to be the "butterfly master".

He is shooting for at least second in the next meet.... we'll see. The other pools put up some pretty tough competition. In the last meet, the first place 9/10 boy in butterfly went about five feet with every swing of his arms. The other three swimmers, Ben included, were pretty much in a dead heat, but this one kid was ridiculous. Ben doesn't have size on his side, but he is naturally pretty fast and lots of practice will build up his upper body strength and endurance so he can probably contend. We'll see... there are six more meets left to try!

Exciting stuff! ;)  Love watching them get excited about every new achievement!

THe End is In Sight...

At only two months shy of age four, Jonathan is my world's latest potty trainee.

BUT, I am very happy to say after a very slow process and months upon months of him wearing underwear and me having to be the one to make sure he is taken to the bathroom so he doesn't have an accident, he is now telling us when he needs to go! He shocked the heck out of me at the pool two days ago when he started telling me he needed to go even when wearing a wet swim diaper!

Now, if we could just get him to master #2, we will be a completely diaper-free house for the first time in a decade. HOORAY!

Amelia Bedelia Moment....

I forgot to mention the Amelia Bedelia moment I had with Jonathan the other night at the pool. 

On the way back from the snack bar at one point he asked me, "But where is the meat?", "When will they bring the meat?"

"Meat?"

"The swim meat!"

Dear Swim Coach....

Dear Swim Team Coach,

I love that you don't run the swim team like the tiny, perpetually losing, mostly-just-for-fun country club swim team that it is. It's why we keep coming back. You took my fearful, anxious son and turned him into a swimmer and gave him the gift of a sport that, with the right encouragement, he just might do for the rest of his life.

However, it has been a full year since he last swam in a meet. So when he showed up yesterday for the first meet of the season, a mess of tears and anxiety, and I brought him to your office, I had really hoped you would give him a little more than just a dismissive, "You won't die." I just wanted you to listen to him for a minute. Give him a pep talk. I'm a little disappointed in you.

I know you were busy getting things set up for the swim meet, and I know you don't pander to crying kids...  it's part of what made this all work for B last year.  He needs to be pushed and he needs people to not play into his tears and his fears. I love that you made him swim butterfly last year as a new swimmer and didn't let him back out. I love that when he said he didn't want to to relays, you said "Oh well. You're doing relays!"

But what he really needed yesterday was to be reminded by someone whose opinion means something (a.k.a. not mom and dad) that he could DO this. That he already DID do this. That you needed him to get it together and play his part on the team because he's important.  It would have taken you all of two minutes and would have made a world of difference.

I keep reminding myself that you are only 27 years old... that don't have your own kids and definitely don't at ALL understand kids like mine. I just wish I could make you understand just how much it has taken to get him where he is now....  how much he overcame just to get in that water last year, much less race. To you, I know he looks like a kid who needs to "man up" and be less crybaby about the whole thing. You see he's a good swimmer with a ton of potential and you don't get why he'd have so much anxiety about it. Nope. You don't get it at all.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to make you get it either.  That in itself will be a life lesson for B. Not everyone he encounters in life will understand where he is coming from or the battles he fights with his own mind.

You are a good coach, I just wish you would take a little time to get in the heads of some of the kids more. It's not just B, they all could use a little more individual attention and encouragement.  These aren't your college swimmers. Just a few well-timed encouraging words here and there could make the difference whether or not they stick with this sport you love so much.

Sincerely,
The Mom With the Crying 10-year-old

First Meet!

The first swim meet of the season was last night. Somehow, I had forgotten what complete and total insanity those are. I got the boys there an hour early for a couple reasons -- 1) I thought it would give us all some free time to swim before they closed the pool for warmups.  2) It's important, especially with having Jonathan with us, to stake out a couple of chairs and a table in the fenced in baby pool section. He doesn't usually play in the baby pool, but it makes the whole evening more manageable to have this home base.

So we went early.... except that no one swam. Ben had a full-on anxiety attack, crying and talking about how he didn't want to swim. Simon splashed in the baby pool with Jonathan and asked approximately every five minutes if the bake table was open yet. (it opens when the meet starts... at 6.... it was 4.....)  Jonathan kept asking for water guns that I hadn't brought.

Eventually, I was able to pawn anxious Ben off on the coaches for warmups.

Btw, his swim coach is really great.... coaches college swimming and takes it very seriously. It's part of why we stuck with this program. He doesn't treat it like a country club swim team, he treats it like it's the real deal. But MAN, that guy has absolutely NO idea what to do with an anxious kid. He's nice and all and I really like the tough coach thing to an extent.... but it would have been nice for him to take Ben aside for like five seconds and give him a pep talk. "Hey, remember where you started last year? Remember how far you came? You're a big part of the team! You're fast! Your butterfly looks great! Get it together!" I can say all that until I'm blue in the face, but if it came from the coach, I know it would mean more.  Anyway, whatever....

Simon went off to warm up too and I just had Jonathan to worry about...I got him some food and he came with me to put my salad together at the bake table. Then I remembered I had signed up for ribbon writing for the first half, so I went to go find out about that. I thought it was something I could do with Jonathan in tow.... I was crazy wrong. That job is no joke. THank GOODNESS Tom showed up in time because the next hour or so was blur once the meet started. The results papers start coming in and I cranked about about 6,000 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place ribbons. SHEESH.

Ben was up first in boys 9-10 freestyle. He was still off his game. He was hanging with the pack and vying for second place almost the whole way and then he got to the turn and hesitated. This drives me insane. He does it ALL the time in meets even though he knows better.  He also briefly looked like he forgot how to swim and he grabbed the lane line. I thought this was an automatic DQ, but turns out, they can grab the line, just not touch the bottom or pull themselves forward. Anyway, he came in fourth.... and I believe it was out of four. LOL.

Simon was up next with the 7-8s. He DQed about 3/4 of the way down for touching the bottom. I was so proud of him though! He  jumped right in there and swam his little heart out. I'm not sure he understood the concept of racing, but whatever. He did it. ;)

After that, we had a break until event 40. Somewhere in there, Tom took Jonathan home for bed. Again, I don't know how, but somehow I forgot how long and dragged out these things are.

Simon was up again for backstroke. This was amusing because he can't actually DO backstroke yet. With backstroke, you start IN the pool, but he missed that direction and was setting up for a regular racing start. I had to yell "Simon! Turn around and get in the pool! BACKSTROKE!!" LOL. Completely unfazed, he got in. And they were off... he was a distant last, but he did great. He backstroked about halfway than just laid on his back and kicked. Finished about a full minute after everyone else but he was so cute. ;)  I am just SO impressed that he just gets in and tries with no freak outs. He wants ribbons SO badly, but from what I learned last night, he may not actually get any when they give them out on Friday. He has to place and not DQ. They said sometimes they will write up "I swam!" ribbons for the 8Us, but not always. ARGH. C'mon....  seriously? I'm not a participation trophy fan, but these little ones are so brave to swim in a meet at all, much less their first one ever. So I hope they write some up even just this once.

Lastly, Ben had his dreaded 25 Fly.  Though he came in four out of four on this one too, it was pretty close among the four swimmers though. He swam WAY better than his first event and his confidence was coming back  -- anxiety was mostly gone at that point.  He swam it HARD and didn't give up.   Butterfly is his least favorite stroke (I don't blame him, it really is SO hard!!!), but the coach puts him in it because, even though he needs to up his endurance, he has good technique. Everyone can do freestyle and there are tons of other kids who can do back and breast but not as many who can do butterfly. This fact does not help in selling it to Ben.... but unfortunately, I think he's probably stuck on butterfly all season. :\

They ended on relays, which was a chaotic mess. B was supposed to swim but some kind of mixup happened and there weren't enough swimmers to do that particular relay or something, so whatever. Finally, we left.  Home at 9p.m. after being there since 3:45. So tired. Practice later today and another meet on Wednesday night. After that, we are at the beach, so we miss the next one.... which I'm thankful for. They are so exhausting! I think if any of them stick with swimming, and want to do it year-round, it will get easier the older Jonathan gets... but right now, just summer team and managing the three of them for that long in that crowded situation is plenty of insanity for me. I'll be happy to go back to regular lessons in the fall. LOL.

Last Day....

Today was the last day of school for the big ones! :)

Winding Down...

We are getting ready to close the book on yet another school year. Why did this one seem like it flew by so quickly? Was it all the snow days? I know I'm not alone because I have seen countless other moms make this same comment. Every year does not feel like this... but this one? Feels like it went by in a blink.

The boys brought home the entire contents of their desks and lockers today. I always love this. It's when we find all things that mysteriously went missing earlier in the year.  For instance, Simon brought home about 27 snack containers. So THAT'S where they all went!  Ben brought home some books that weren't actually his, so I'm not sure what happened there.

On Monday when they come home from the actual last day, (because oh heck yes, my children will be going even though it's ridiculously dumb that the last day of school is on a Monday) I'll wash the lunch boxes, art smocks, and backpacks and put them away again until August. It's bittersweet, a school year coming to an end. This was a good one -- fourth grade and first.  I hope next year it just as wonderful!

Swim Team Time!

Big shout-out to my super swimming boys! Simon continues to surprise me. He was tired yesterday, but he as soon as we got tot he pool, he got right in with his group and did SUCH a great job! Their group even tried no kickboards freestyle and backstroke for the first time last night and he gave it his best shot (no complaining.... Ben has me conditioned to expect complaining) Held his own in freestyle too! I can't wait to see him in his first meet. He's going to do a great job!

Then, the older group practiced. Ben did great, but kept grabbing the lane line when the coach wasn't looking (which drives me nuts! But all the other kids were doing it too....argh) At the end though, the coach had them swim a 25m freestyle as fast as they could and Ben came in first against three much bigger kids. I need to come up with some kind of size and speed-related nickname for him...  Hrm.....

Writing Workshop 2014

Ben has had a string of simply amazing teachers and his language arts teacher this year was no exception. Seriously, AMAZING. The work she got out of these kids was impressive! They wrote their little hearts out this year ... everything from narratives, to plays, to poetry of all kinds.... 

Yesterday, she put on a writing workshop and all the kids shared 1-2 of their favorite things they had written this year. Ben shared his personal narrative and a book review. 

He also welcomed everyone and introduced the awards segment of the presentation. The teacher made up a whole list of cute awards and the kids all voted on who got what. Ben tied with his friend Tommy for "fastest runner". LOL! 

This was just such a great class. Definitely hoping Simon gets this teacher in a few years! 

Random Assorted Update....

This came home in Simon's folder the other day. It was written, as you can see, by his "best fiend", Ben B. I love this! Ben B. is a super sweet kid too. Hope they are together next year. They also belong to our pool, so he and Simon will get to hang out a lot this summer. So happy he makes friends (or fiends) easily... it's a weight off my shoulders because it's not something that has always come easily for Ben. (my Ben, not Ben B...LOL) 

We were at the pool last night and another classmate Simon likes a lot was there and they just played and played. It's effortless. There are a lot of reasons I worry about Simon, but his ability to make friends  isn't one of them...  at least right now. Thank goodness. :) It's a nice change. 

Spent most of last week in and out of the bookfair. A few times, Jonathan came along for the ride. He was so good too... usually just played on Mrs. Terry's computer, drew in his notebook, or played on DS. On this particular day, his friend Aiden (seriously, he LOVES Aiden.... I think he thinks of him like another big brother) had come too and they played nicely together on PBSkids while we worked. Aiden is so tolerant and patient with J. I love it! 

Friday was a busy day.... we ended it with the opening blast at the pool and the swim team meet and greet. We really went for Ben, but I asked Simon if he wanted to do swim team too and he said he thought maybe he wanted to try it. (he likes he swimsuit and the idea of getting ribbons... thankfully, they give ribbons to all the 8 and unders for just participating in meets... they don't have to place and they can't get disqualified)  Simon can swim, as in, not drown... but strokes are difficult for him. I'm proud of him for wanting to try! Maybe coach Doug will work his magic and we'll have another swimmer by the end of the summer! I'm so proud of him for wanting to try! 

Ben is happy to be back at the pool... this is from yesterday.... and we're going back today. So happy summer is almost here!!!

This is from Friday. My kids were among the first in the pool! It was COLD. Simon's lips were PURPLE. Ben kept getting out to warm up, and Jonathan just shuffled around on the step mostly so didn't get too cold... but Simon stayed IN. After two hours I finally made him get out and warm up... purple lips are scary. LOL!

I had forgotten I bought a Groupon for tickets to Repticon for the weekend. We went yesterday afternoon. These two held a snake! Ack. Simon also held a lizard of some kind. No one would hold the tarantula. LOL. 

I STILL owe Simon a birthday update. It's coming... I swear. :)

Last Day of 3s....

My last kiddo had his LAST day of 3s preschool this past Friday and it was his teacher's LAST day of teaching since she is retiring. Lots of lasts!  :(

Chorus Concert....

Every spring, the 4th grade gives a chorus concert.  They spend the whole last two quarter working on it. Ben started dreading it LAST spring after the assembly for last year's 4th grade chorus. "I'm NEVER doing chorus. EVER. EVER EVER!"  At the time, I didn't realize it was a whole class thing and so I said, "Okay, whatever!"  Then, over the summer I was at a birthday party for one of Simon's friends and the music teacher was there because her son was in Simon's class too.... we got to talking and I told of Ben's utter disdain for chorus and how he said he would "NEVER EVER!" be in chorus. She laughed and said, "Well, he's in for a bad surprise because ALL the 4th graders do it in the spring."

Ohhhh..... yikes.

Anyway, so once spring came around, I braced myself....  he whined a little about it, but quickly got over it. Then, he was actually excited for the concert! YAY!

They did a great job. It's nice to just have one class performing. It was quick... like 45 minutes and not insanely crowded like a whole-school event would be. (At B's old elementary school, they had to hold the concert at the nearby high school!!!)

Sadly, my tiny child was in the front row, on the floor.... I could hardly see him, much less take good pictures. And even worse, during one song, he had a giant picture of a drum in front of his face the entire time. LOL.  

Here he is... white shirt... right in the front. ;)

During the instruments song.... with drum over his face....

With his friend Tommy before the concert....

Mother's Day....

Mother's day....

Went to brunch with grandmom and Aunt Deb.  Actually managed to get 1) a picture of all three boys looking at the camera  2) a family picture  and 3) a pic with me with the boys.... can't remember the last time we took one of those....

Mother's Day Tea....

Friday was my third and final Mother's Day Tea at Chestnut Grove....


So sweet. The kids sang some little songs. (I have video I have to get off my phone at some point) Then we went downstairs for the tea. Adorable and tear-inducing as usual. :)

Jonathan with his oh-so-patient teacher, Mrs. Poe. 

Singing songs with his class.....

I'll Start Here and Work My Way Back.... Happy 7th Birthday to Simon!

Simon's Minecraft birthday party!

A few kids from his class at school, a neighborhood friend, some friends from our old neighborhood, and some cousins and brothers = great crowd for another Gametruck party!

The kids had a blast and I am officially done with birthdays for a little while. (well, until August...)

Aunt Krystyna makes the coolest cakes!  (although don't ask her to make this exact one...  apparently it was a little tedious...) ;)   Please note the little "Simon" Steve.

Posts I Owe This Blog....

Later!

* Simon's birthday post
* Mother's Day
* Jonathan's Mother's Day Tea at preschool
* Simon's Minecraft Party

Updates....

Gah. So busy lately. The end of the school year is sneaking up on me, as is mother's day/Simon's bday (Sunday!) and I have a ton to do.

Let's see....

Ben:

Ben is doing well. Not much to report. He's getting excited for swim season which starts in ONE MONTH! Hooray! He's also excited that it means we can take a break from Saturday lessons for awhile. Those really cramp his style. Even though he has fun once we get there and loves his teacher, he hates stopping what he's doing in the middle of Saturday to go.

He has a writing workshop coming up in his language arts class in a couple weeks that I'm pretty excited to go to. He says math is his favorite class, but language arts is where he has really shined this year. I can't wait to hear what he's written!

Simon:

Simon is doing SO well in school right now. His teacher has nothing but good reports every day. He used to need all kinds of reminders to know where to put his papers. (folders are all color coded by subject for the kids). But now? She says he's reminding all the OTHER kids. Hilarious. She revamped his checklist to reflect what she wants him to focus on right now, which is capitals and punctuation. It only took one checklist for him to get the idea and start checking over his work. Now she is telling me he is doing THAT without reminders too. YAY!

His birthday is coming up and he wants Ninjago and Minecraft stuff. He and Ben got back into their Legos over Spring break and have been living and breathing Ninjago since then. I'm happy to see him playing something other than Minecraft.

Speaking of Minecraft, I am actually SO proud of him with something related to that. He was wanted for MONTHS now to make his own Minecraft server. I'm not exactly sure WHAT this entails, but I gather it means he can host a game of his own and people can log into it. Ya'll.... this kid googled and watched youtube videos NONSTOP for weeks and taught himself how to do this. I watched over his shoulder yesterday as he typed in commands and codes and it's kind of amazing. One of his birthday presents is going to be his own Minecraft account. Right now, he plays on the one I created when we first discovered the game. It's something he has wanted for ages now and I'm SO excited to give it to him.

Jonathan:

Jonathan has had a few very great weeks! He is no longer crying about going to school. His teacher hit upon a great little motivator. She asks him to pick a book from home and bring it to read to the class. He was ALL over this. And since then? No more crying. Mrs. P and I are both kicking ourselves for not thinking of it sooner, although honestly, I'm not even sure it would have worked any sooner. He just seems to have turned a corner in general.

This is not to say we aren't still working on some things. He bit Simon the other day. I thought we were done with that. Apparently not.

 Anyway, so all is well. Just busy and non-stop. And yet, I still feel like I get nothing done. I guess such is my life right now!

Easter 2014....

We kicked off Easter with our traditional Good Friday dinner and egg hunt at Grandmom and Poppy's house.


The picture of the boys turned out fabulously, as usual...

After J's front yard hunt, the big boys had a hunt out back where they had to find special eggs that contained the combination to safe!  Aunt Debbie is awesome. ;)

This is Simon telling my mom that he just hasn't found the right egg.... 

They eventually found their way to some pretty cool loot!

Here is J's egghunt book Aunt Debbie made for him. All the boys have one from when they were little. Well, actually, Ben has two. Shhh....

Here's our "before church" shot.... not too bad this year!

After church, we went to Nanee and Pap's house for their egg hunt. 

 Here, J was ticked because Simon took an egg he saw.... ay ay ay....

Simon counting his eggs....

Found one!

The boys and two of their cousins after the hunt.  Ben got to hold the new one. :) He was so excited. (this is just a bad picture of him... but I promise, he was psyched!)

This is right after Ben lost a molar to a tootsie roll. LOL!

SImon didn't lose any teeth, but smiled anyway... ;)

All in all Easter was busy, but wonderful. We also went to a birthday party in there on Saturday for our niece who turned three. Crazy weekend! The kids love being with their cousins though, so it was the good kind of chaos. :)

Happy Easter!