Photos

I've been way behind posting photos with my posts lately. We use Stephen's work camera, so I have to wait for him to bring it home and download the photos for me. So here are a bunch of fun ones from the most recent download. The first one is from Tyler's birthday this spring. They have had SOO much fun playing baseball and playing outside this summer. Next is of the kids fishing. Both boys are able to cast on their own now. Tyler is the fisherman like his dad, Ryan gets bored and starts throwing rocks. Jeanisha just wanders.




The next group of pictures here are from a Sunday morning getting ready for church. Aren't they cute???


















This next picture is our super sweet cat Lucy!!!! She is a joy and is so good with the kids. They haul her around, play with her with a bouncy ball or yarn. It is so funny to watch her chase a ball all around the patio. They all love her!!!!















Then you have cute Jeanisha-- she is the one who loves to pose for the camera.













And here is one of Adam with his sunglasses!

















And here is one of Tyler at the Idaho Youth games. He came in 2nd in his age group. He loves running and is pretty fast. He was so proud of his ribbon from this race and his medal from Tae Kwan Do. Jeanisha loved the dance class adn Tae Kwan Do, although she was pretty bummed her medal wasn't chocolate.














Here is Adam and his cousin running around during the races.






























Our other fun summer activity was swimming. Ryan is now in Level 3 and loves jumping off the diving board and being able to go anywhere he wants in the pool. Tyler is in Level 2 and has come SO far from a year ago when he wouldn't even bob under water. Jeanisha passed preschool with flying colors, but is still a bit short for level 1. She loves swimming and jumping off the diving board. We usually put her in a life jacket and then she can swim and go wherever she wants. Adam was just jealous that he couldn't get in the water.









And here's just one last cute picture of Adam eating his bowl on my birthday! He loved his cake.

Summer, Summer, Summer

Wow, this summer is flying by. We've been having fun with swimming lessons, playing outside, and just all the busyness of summer. Both of the boys are becoming really good swimmers. R is now in Level 3 and can swim across the pool pretty easily-- he just doesn't go very straight. It's amazing to me to watch him backstroke because that's one I could never do. T is now in Level 2, which is amazing since a year ago he wouldn't put his head in the water and couldn't pass preschool. J is in preschool, even though she is a fish and doesn't really need lessons. She wanted to so badly that we signed her up. She is the smallest one in her class and the slowest going across the pool-- mostly because she stops to wave a lot. She is always checking to make sure we are watching her. Today is diving board day and she is SO excited-- we'll see if she actually jumps.

Earlier this summer, the kids did the Idaho Youth Games. The all earned medals for Tae Kwan Do and the boys were really excited. J was just disappointed that hers wasn't chocolate inside. She spent quite a while trying to open it before we figured out what she was trying to do!

Then we took them to Roaring Springs, the big water park and had a blast. My sister kept A, so we were able to go from one big slide to another all day long. We were there for 9 hours and by the end of the day they were all ready to crash. J didn't like the dark tube slides, but went on everything else she was tall enough for and loved it.

The week of the fourth we went to 2 different fireworks shows and the parade. A wasn't real thrilled with the fireworks and the noise, but the other kids really enjoyed them. I love fireworks!!!!

Stephen has started telecommuting, and we're enjoying having him join us for lunch and wander through the house occasionally. It's also nice that he is home as soon as he gets off, and he gets to sleep in an hour in the morning. The kids had a hard time the first week with the idea that dad was at work, even though he was home, but now it doesn't even phase them.

Overall, we're having a fun, busy summer and having a blast!

Swimming and Co-op

We've been doing swimming lessons the past 2 weeks and T has learned to open his eyes under water and float with a kickboard. This is nothing short of amazing for him. He has Sensory Integration Disorder and water has always been a challenge for him. Imagine the sound of fingernails on the blackboard-- that is what water feels like to him. As a baby/toddler we would have a major fight on our hands with every bath. It took forever to get him into the pool, and even after taking preschool swimming lessons twice last summer, he wouldn't bob.

We went swimming several times during the fall and basically bribed him into learning to bob with donuts. Knowing he could earn a donut per bob to share with our family and his cousins finally helped him get over the phobia. But now that he has mastered that obstacle, he seems to actually be enjoying swimming and being in the water.

R has learned to backfloat and will go down the slide alone now. Yeah! I have my hands full with the two little ones, so catching him was quite a challenge. J and A both love water and are little fish. Hopefully when they are old enough for swim lessons they will still love it.


We also started our homeschool co-op Friday. I am teaching PE to the Class B, 7-9 year olds. We played junk food tag, where some of the kids have play junk food and if they tag you, you have to sit down because you are out of energy until someone with a vegetable or fruit tags you. We then played several other games and ended with water balloon volleyball and teamwork/cooperation activities with the water balloons. The kids had fun and I enjoyed teaching it. I also enjoyed the two hours when the older 3 were in their other classes and I could just read and visit with other moms and they liked showing off what they made and learned.