It's Official

Austin says summertime is officially here, because we went swimming yesterday. And boy did he have fun. I think he and his daddy were in the pool for about 6 hours strait. He got more brave as the day went on, and was jumping off the side of the pool with daddy, and off the diving board (granted the board was only about a foot higher than the side of the pool, but that should not distract from the fact he felt very brave doing it), and swimming by himself with his little floaty suit on.

Aubrey enjoyed the water too, and she and mommy spent a lot of time just laying around floating on the water. Ahh, there is nothing better. I told Brian we needed to see about getting a swimming pool. You know, when we win the lottery. We all can't wait to go swimming again; as soon as Brian and my sunburns are gone. Thankfully I was a smart parent and kept applying sunscreen to the kids, but not so smart when it came to applying it to us.

Summertime

School is almost out, and Austin will officially be a Kindergartner. His last day of Pre-K is this Friday. I am still in amazement at how fast this year has flown. It really does seem like yesterday that I was walking him into class for the first time. I remember my mom saying how fast the years go by when you have kids, I never understood it when I was little because the summers lasted forever, and the school years were even longer than that. (Sigh...)

We are really looking forward to summer around here. I think Austin expects to go swimming every day. We are going to try to be in the water as much as possible, either playing in the sprinkler or at the pool as we didn't go hardly at all last summer. (Because even though I was as big as a whale pregnant with Aubrey and belonged in the water, getting into a bathing suit was not an option-another sigh...)

Brian is starting to realize he has a girl now, not like he was in denial or anything, but he has put his foot down for the first time in regards to her. We were at the store the other day and I was looking at swimming suits for Aubrey, ooohing and aaahing over how cute they were. They had a red, white, and blue one with glitter, and a Winnie the Pooh with the tummy cut out, tons of pink ones with foofy-flowers all over it, bikinis and one pieces to suit all tastes-except his. He said that they were all much too revealing, and he didn't want his daughter in anything flashy or sparkly or that shows too much skin. (Can you imagine our house in about 15 years?) I know what you are thinking, I was thinking the same thing. But I bit my tongue while rolling my eyes humored him and didn't buy one. Today I found the solution at Target, on clearance no less. The swimming tee and matching diaper bottoms. Practical, as I won't have to buy little swimmer diapers all summer, and modest as well.

I must say it is pretty cute. And supposedly blocks 50% of the harmful UV rays. I also bought a hat for her because I couldn't resist.

The hard part will be getting her to keep it on.

Bubbles and Hopscotch

Is there really any better way to spend a sunny afternoon? Aubrey enjoyed watching Austin hop, and chase bubbles. He enjoyed blowing the bubbles in her face so they would pop on her nose. Good times...

Destiny

One of Austin's (and my) favorite movies is The Sandlot. I have always loved this show, and Austin would watch it everyday if we would let him, probably several times. He can quote it and loves to pretend he is one of the boys in the movie when he plays baseball. His favorite part is when Benny hits the ball and the ball comes apart. They say he busted the guts out of it, and that he was then destined for something great.

Austin was in his room playing (what else?) baseball recently. He was using plastic baseball Easter eggs and was hitting them with his little bat. One shattered when he hit it. He ran out to me, very excited and shouted, "Look Mommy, I Gusted the Buts out of it!!!!!" Once I wiped the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard, I told him he was then destined for something great too. But I already knew that before those buts were gusted.

For My Mommy

THANK YOU...

For being my best friend.
For being my cheerleader and biggest supporter.
For being my most honest critic.
For teaching me about life.
For praying for me and teaching me about God's love.
For picking a great daddy for us.
For not giving up on me in my dreaded teen years!
For letting me dream and grow and choose my own path.
For showing me how important it is to care for and about others.
For always being there for me-for the small things, and for the big things.
For spending hours on the phone with me (sometimes daily) talking about nothing and everything.
For getting my jokes.
For helping to make me into the woman I am today.
For teaching me what a good mommy consists of.
For loving my husband and for loving my kids.
And, For everything else...


I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day

Somewhere out there in Internet land or cyberspace or whatever it is called, is a poem titled "Before I was a Mom". I have gotten it emailed to me few times, and it is pretty good. I probably cried reading it. I thought in honor of Mother's day, I would write my own version of this piece...

Before I was Mom...

-I never slept on the very edge of a king size bed in 3 inches of space with a toddler's foot in my back.
-I was never woken up by a toddler standing with his nose 2 inches from my face whispering 'mommy' over and over. Or by a kick to the nose at 3am.
-I never knew I could function on two hours sleep.

-I never held a baby on my lap while I went to the bathroom to stop him/her from crying hysterically and/or playing in the trash.
-I never caught poo-poo in my hand to keep it from getting on my white bed spread.
-I never did the pee-pee dance or have been so proud of poo-poo in the potty.
-I never used words like poo-poo or pee-pee.

-I saw movies with adult content, and I didn't have to share my popcorn with anyone.
-I never enjoyed riding a carousel so much.
-I didn't know the names of all the dinosaurs.

-I never had carrots sneezed on me and I never knew they would stain any material known to man.
-I never knew my washing machine ate miniature socks.
-I never knew diaper blowouts only happened out in public.

-I didn't know I could make a full dinner holding a baby on my hip.
-I didn't know I could do work out videos with a nine month old holding on to one leg. Or make a bed. Or play catch with a 4 year old.

-I never worried and fretted about how much another human being ate and slept and pooped.
-I never saw every stranger as potential danger for my child.
-I never knew the fear a screaming child could instill in me.

-I never knew I could love my husband more just by watching him teach and play with our children.
-I never knew a baby's belly laugh could make me belly laugh too.
-I never knew how good it would feel to be called mommy.

-I never truly understood God's miracles, and I thank Him daily for the two he gave to me.
-I never fully understood true, pure love, with no conditions, the kind that even a smile or a laugh can bring you to tears.
-I never understood how much my parents love me.

Before I was a mom...

-I never knew a sweet little boy could be so ornery but so lovable at the same time.
-I never knew a sweet little girl could be such a drama queen and still melt my heart at the same time.
-I never knew how incomplete I was.

Can We Fix It...Yes We Can

Like his daddy, Austin loves to work on things. Here is a picture of him and his daddy changing the oil in "old red". He was about 2 years old. I love the t-shirt and diaper look.


Here Austin is working on Aubrey's play center, as she supervises. She is probably telling him what he is doing wrong. Just like a woman. And he is probably not listening. Just like a man.