Family Visitors

The last 2 weekends we have had the pleasure of seeing and visiting lots of family. The first weekend Dan's dad and step mom flew in from Nebraska and Lisa, Nic, and the boys came in from Dallas to visit them as well. Eric and his fiance, Sara were in Austin and hung out as well. It was a short visit, but it was fun. The 3 boys had fun playing together while the adults had alot of visiting time. On Sunday morning, we went swimming at the hotel pool were everyone was staying. It just so happened to be the hotel that Dan and I got married at, so it was nice to kind of see the place again. We agreed that we didn't remember it being so small. I didn't see how we fit everything in, but we did. Anyway, it was a fun weekend and we were glad that we got to spend time with Dan's family and we look forward to seeing them in October.
This past weekend or should I say week, my Dad came into town to do some work for a client of his. He came in Wednesday evening and left yesterday. It was so nice to see him, since it had been awhile. We hung out and talked, grilled out and even made a trip to Cabella's. My brother, Chad, also came in from Dallas, for a short visit. Jan, my step mom was unable to make it, but she was greatly missed and hopefully we can get down there sometime soon.
This coming weekend is labor day weekend, and as tradition my mom and step dad will be coming in for all the birthdays that happen between Aug 31st and Sept. 15th. We do this every year. This year, my sister and her husband, Jason and my little niece Tenley will be joining us. We are going to have a full house, but it will be so much fun! I think my sister is going to get her Thursday night, so I will get to spend some time with them before the craziness starts. Everyone will be staying at our house, so it is sure to be great fun! Oh, and not to mention that Saturday is the start of LONGHORN FOOTBALL!!! This is the start of my favorite time of year!!!

So, I just wanted to give a little recap of what our weekends and weeks have been like! I hope to squeeze in one more post before the weekend, but I am not promising anything!!

2011-2012 School Year

So, Monday was Joshua's first day of the new school year at My Friends House CDC. We had a really rough morning to start off the new school year! Joshua was very reluctant to get out of bed. He was extremely tired and kept saying, "I just want to sleep!" Me too buddy, me too! Well, everything was followed by tears! There were no smiles this morning what so ever! Getting dressed produced big crocodile tears, brushing his teeth also produced tears, even putting Milo up brought tears! We even had an accident right before we were heading out the door. UGH! Needless to say I had to turn around and completely change him, with him, you guess it, crying the whole time. This is not how I pictured this morning going, but that is how it went down! When we finally made it to school, he seemed to be a little better. When we walked to the classroom he froze in front of the door. He wouldn't even budge!! Here is the reason why, he is in the same classroom this year, because he is not completely potty trained, and the school doesn't think he is socially ready yet. I don't necessarily agree with the "not socially ready" part, but the potty training I get! Anyway, his old teacher left and his friends he made moved up to the 4 yr old class. So, you can kind of imagine what Joshua was thinking and why he stopped abruptly at the door. He was probably confused! Same classroom, but different teacher and different kids. I eventually got him to go inside the classroom and tried to encourage him that he is going to have a great time with his new teacher, Ms. Rosie, and he will make new friends as well! He just stared at me with this blank look on his face. I put everything away and told him I would be back later and to have fun! When I was walking out the door I turned back to wave, (honestly, one should never do this, because you get the last image stuck in your head) and he was standing there with still a blank/terrified look on his face. Looking right at me! Seriously, why did I have to turn around! The good news about the morning is that he didn't cry when I left him! Thankfully, he just stared at me with a look of are you really going to leave me here! I will definitely take that over last year, when I dropped him off for the first day. I literally had to peel him off of me and left him screaming and crying! So, blank stare...I will take it!! Over the week he has seemed to become adjusted to his new teacher and friends! They have a computer in their classroom now and he loves it! Ms. Rosie said he is a whiz at it! They have also been painting with fruit and creating designs with puff paint! I think Joshua is adjusting well and since he is the oldest he can show the others the ropes of The Turtle Class!!

Funny Places of Escape!

I had a random thought the other day, that turned into a list of places that I never thought I would enjoy spending time in, but now I do. I thought I would share this random list! Once you become a mom, you totally loose your personal space and time, and while I have been a mom for almost 4 years now, I still laugh at these uncommon places of escape! These are not in any order. Here ya go! I know some of you moms will agree with me on this list!

1. The grocery store- as much as I hate going to the grocery, I find that I can easily spend 2 hours there. I will go up and down almost every aisle just to have some time to myself. It seems silly, but most of the time I like to go by myself so I can de-stress! Funny, but true!

2. My car-when I am in the car by myself, I sometimes turn off the radio, just to have peace and quiet. I also sometimes take the long way home when I am by myself. Not because I don't want to go home, but just so I can have an extra a minute or so to myself.

3. The shower-I love the shower! It is kind of like "white noise".

4. My desk at work- I know this might sound weird, but I am in a room all by myself, so I can turn my radio on and kind of be in my own little world. I do a little work too. HA!

Funny list, huh? These are not my favorite places, but they are the places that I am the most and so I take advantage of that ME time when I can. I know some of you moms out there can relate. I do not purposefully seek out these places for escape, but when I am there I do take my time on purpose. I love my little family, but everyone needs some time to themselves and these are the places that I can get it most of the time.

Do you have any weird places of escape?

A Day On A Swan!

On Sunday, Dan and I decided to go paddle boating on Lady Bird Lake. The only paddle boat that they had left was a swan. The one pictured above is the one we used. It was quite interesting to paddle around in a huge swan! It was extremely hot, but it was fun. We had a great time and got in a great leg workout. Joshua is with my mom this week because he is out of school the last 3 days, so my mom decided to take him and my nieces for the whole week. So, Dan and I are trying to take advantage of this time.

We actually saw a couple of real swans out on the lake. We tried to get closer, but the swan was able to move faster than our swan. Honestly felt like we were not moving even though we were.

This is a view of the swan from were we sat on the boat! Scary, huh?

After our hour long swan ride, we decided that we needed something cool to drink. We found this shaved ice truck downtown and decided that would be perfect! It sure did hit the spot and I really liked the name too!

This is the view from under the congress bridge! This bridge is famous for the bats that fly out from underneath at dusk. I think we actually heard bats while we were under there. It was alot loud high pitched noise, almost like chirping. The bats were the only thing we could think of. The congress bridge also provided the only shade out on the lake.

It was a nice day to be on a paddle boat, even if it was a swan paddle boat!

Joshua in Action!

Here is a video of Joshua in action at his swim lessons! Cormyc's mom, Danielle, took this video for me. Enjoy!

Swim Lessons: Week 1

Today Joshua started his first official swim lesson for the year! God Bless the women and men that teach the little ones how to swim. I really do not see how they do it. Today Mr. Robert taught the class, and he handle all 3 boys in the class very well. Joshua was a little stubborn this time around. He didn't want to sit on his turtle mat and he didn't want to take his turn in the lesson. What Joshua wanted to do was make the biggest splash that he could by kicking as hard as he could and sit on the first step in the pool. Robert, was a little more laid back than Ms. Judy and I think Joshua fed off of that. So, Joshua got to sit on the step and wait for his turn and kick his legs. When it came time for Joshua's turn he reluctantly got in the water, but once he was in the water he listened and did what he was told. He did a great job once he was in the water. It was the whole waiting that got him. I do understand that it is hard for a little kid to sit still and wait patiently, but the kid needs to learn that and also know that he can't get everything he wants. I think Mr. Robert is his teacher, so Joshua will probably get to splash and sit on the step and wait his turn, just like he wants. Ugh! At least he does what he is supposed to while he is in the water.

This is not Mr. Robert, obviously, but I didn't take pics today, so I used this one from last time.

I think these swimming lessons are going to cause me to have a panic attack! Seriously! I get so worked up inside, because I am so afraid that Joshua is going to lean to far over and fall in while waiting his turn. I am like a hawk watching its prey the whole 30 minutes of the lesson. The teacher really isn't that far away(like an arms length) and is always looking back at the kids waiting their turn, but still this just makes me nervous. One fun thing that the kids got to do today was "hunt" for buried treasure on the pirate ship. The so called "pirate ship" is really just pvc pipes glued together with a net attached to the bottom and a bar going across it. This way the kids can hold on to the bar at first and go under to get the "treasure" and then come back up and stand on the net. Eventually they would not need the bar. The boys loved it! Also, I told my co-worker, the one that we have been swimming with a few times about the swim lessons and she took her grandson today for a free lesson. She is going to sign him up and he will be in the same class as Joshua! How much fun are they going to have every Monday? Cormyc and Joshua really do play very well together and the swimming lessons were no different. It was really cute to listen and watch them clap and encourage each other. They are great friends! So, on the way home while we were creeping along, because of the wonderful 5:00 traffic, I look in my rear view to find this:

Joshua passed completely out! Drooling and snoring! I am not sure if he is going to go to bed on time tonight or not, because of his 30 minute nap, but I guess that is what swim lessons will do to you!

Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming...

Joshua has not taken swim lessons this summer, that is, until yesterday. Joshua took swim lessons through a local recreation center in the past summers since he was 6 months old, but I didn't feel that they would benefit this time around. I wanted to find a place that would be serious, but understanding all at the same time. So, I found a swim school that offered 1 free swim lesson, just to try it out and "test the waters"(haha). So, last night we took Joshua for his free lesson. I honestly didn't expect it to go as well as it did! When we first arrived they were in the middle of another class; so it was a little hectic trying to keep Joshua from getting in the water. He was so excited! He kept asking if he could get in. I tried to explain, as best I could to a 3 yr old, that you he had to wait until it was his turn. While we were waiting, the instructor for the class he would be in came over and greeted Dan and I and shook our hands and then she bent down and said, "Hello, Joshua!" Joshua immediately stuck his hand out and said, "Hello, nice to meet you!" It was so cute, but surprising! He usually shys away in these situations. It gave Dan and I confidence that this might actually work out. This is the first time that Dan and I didn't get in the water with him for his lesson. It would just be him and the instructor in the water. No water wings, No ring float, NOTHING!!! This made for one nervous momma, but this was the whole point and what I was looking for, so here went nothing. There were 2 other kids in his group(all boys); one had taken lessons before there and the other one was new, like Joshua. Ms. Judy, the instructor started right off the bat with getting them to use there legs and kick around in the water, then she showed them how to use their arms to push the water away. They also learned about blowing bubbles. Joshua already knew how to blow bubbles in the water, but she challenged them a little. She also taught how to get out of the water appropriately. Joshua had a little trouble sitting still, but what 3 yr old doesn't? Only one time did he get up and ask for me, but I quickly walked over and told him to sit down and that I would sit on the bench that was close by, so he could see me the whole time. I didn't know if this was going to help him or hinder him, but it seemed to work just fine. Ms. Judy actually had them swim(with her help, of course) from the side to the steps. Once they were all on the steps, she had some water toys, and asked each one to blow bubbles and reach for the toy underwater. She started out where they barely had to stick their heads under water to get the toy, then she would move the toy down to the next step. Towards the end of this exercise she actually had them blowing bubbles as they went underwater to grab the toy. When it was Joshua's turn, he wanted to just grab the toy without doing the work, but she told him that is not how it works. So, his first round he did great. The second round he came up coughing. He started out blowing bubbles, and then once he was under I guess he forgot to keep blowing bubbles and he swallowed a little water, but he came up coughing and smiling! He kept saying, "Momma, I did it, I did it!!" It honestly made my heart jump for joy to see him so proud of himself and for being so brave. When the lesson was over, he didn't want to get out of the pool. In fact, he began to cry and I literally had to pick him up out of the water. So, while Dan was changing him I asked his instructor what she thought about him and the lesson. She said that she thought he would do great and over time he would learn to sit still and patiently wait, but she knows it is hard to do for a little kid. Dan and I took a minute to discuss it and we both agreed this is where he needed to be. Everything went so much better than we expected! Joshua really surprised us last night! So, we signed him up and he will go every Monday from 4:30-5:00 starting Aug. 8th. He will get 8 lessons out of the deal and if we choose to extend it we can. That is the beauty of having it indoors; You can take lessons year round. I also think this will help him grow socially as well. Last night, when we were putting him to bed, I asked if he liked going to swim lessons and he said yes. I asked if he wanted to go back and he said yes! I told him good, you can go back next Monday! Dan took some pictures with his cell phone while we were there.

Joshua waiting for his turn in the water.

A little blurry, but you get the picture.

This was his little class last night.

3 little boys listening (ok, not really) to Ms. Judy!

Kick, Kick, Kick!

It is kind of blurry, but Joshua is following Ms. Judy as she shows them how to use their arms and make a "ham sandwich". That is what they call it when both of their hands meet.

We are so proud of Joshua! I just can't get over how well he did! We are looking forward to next Monday when he will be in his regular class, AquaTykes I!