SWIM LESSONS HAVE BEGUN :D/Summer activities

I know it has been forever since I last posted. It is just too busy around here keeping up with all of my responsibilities to sit down and post here on the blog. I don't think I can go back and play catch up. Too many things to write about. I'm starting fresh.

The kids started swim lessons today and were so excited to go. I love that. It has been awhile since we were last in a pool. The kids did great. Mitch was complaining a bit afterward how tired he felt. He is in level 5 which has the kids swimming massive amounts of laps across the pool. Oh, it's good for him. Casey did great and Emily of course was a fish loving to be there. It was so fun to see them all up a level from last summer. I love to see improvement. I think what it really makes me feel is that these little kids are getting older. AhHhhhhh! For me, having 4 children close in age and all little at the same time, really appreciate the moments when I see/feel the children getting older and more independent. The sun came out and it was beautiful for their lesson. It stays foggy for most of the mornings here in the summer. I am excited for the next two weeks. Ellie was good for me at the pool which made it very nice. It was nice that Emily knows the 3 other children in her class and Casey has a few that he knows and Mitch has a few that he knows. That is what I love about small town stuff. I hope Mitch has a better attitude about swimming in the morning.

I'm off to make some bread. I made a couple of loaves of Honey Wheat bread last week and they turned out great. I love making bread.( No bread machine....all by the sweat of my brow. :D haha) I told the kids I would make some white bread so we'll see how it turns out.

Emily broke the arm of her glasses on Saturday night and so now I'm in a desperate rush to get her new glasses so that we will have them by the time we leave on our trip (10 days and counting). We are going to pick some out tomorrow. She is so excited.

Some other news is that we planted some veggies and made a little garden last week. I am so excited. Todd and I are so excited to see anything grow that we are out there every evening inspecting the plants for new growth. We planted green onions, serrano chili peppers, fresno chili, squash, cucumbers, 3 tomato plants, oregano, rosemary, and basil. I am in heaven with our garden. We have most of them in containers and the bigger plants (squash and cucumbers) in the ground. The oranges on our tree are getting bigger. It's so fun to watch. I can't wait to pick fruit and veggies in my own backyard and eat them.

I hope to post more often but no promises can be made on that.

Swimming Lesson Pictures/Happy 4th of July!!!****

Here is Emily floating on her back. She just loves it now.



Here is Casey floating and then he was kicking. He is doing really well. Once his confidence is up more about swimming where it is deeper than he can touch, he will freely get out there and swim on his own. He loves his teacher. He told me that he likes the way she looks. It starts so young....what am I going to do with these boys? :D


Here is Mitty doing the backstroke. He was a little skeptical at first about how hard the class might be. He stuck to it and really loves his class. He is doing great. I love to see him pushing himself.

The 10 days of swimming lessons is almost over for us (Thursday). They have tomorrow off because of the holiday and then Thursday will be my kids last day...until Monday. I signed them up to do another session (2 more weeks). The kids absolutely are loving it. Emily has come a long way in these last 7 days. She loves to do all of the activities. They look forward to the lessons every morning....thank goodness!! And the weather has been so great for swimming. On Monday, it was in the 80's. This next session of lessons will be pretty fun. There are 2 boys from church that will be in Casey's class and then another girl in Emily's that I know of for sure. A lady that I have met this session is putting her son in for another session and her daughter will be in Emily's class. I'm excited for the kids to have friends in their classes and for me to have friends to chat with :D. I didn't get so lucky to have them all taking a lesson at the same time. Casey and Mitch will go at the same time and then Emily will be the next hour. 2 hours at the pool with Ellie may be a bit rough. It keeps us all busy for a good part of the summer. I don't mind it.

I guess I can say Happy 4th of July now. Today we are going to go to the Pancake breakfast that our Stake puts on every year. It starts at 8:00...yikes. It's about 25 minutes away too. I don't see Todd moving so quickly that early on his day off. We'll see when we get there. I've set out the girls clothes, my clothes and put the diaper bag together. Let's see if that helps in the morning. Everyone showered/bathed up tonight so the kids should be good to go in the morning. Just watch....for the first time ever they will all sleep in when we need to be somewhere. That is so how life works. The kids really want to go so it should be fun. I'm hoping to get some pics of our festivities that I will post later.

The kids got a free pass to swim at the pool tomorrow since they don't have a lesson so we may venture over and let them practice their swimming. If the weather stays hot like it's been, that is the place I will be. We don't have any big plans for tomorrow but will leave to go up north on Thursday after their lessons. I'm ready for a little break again. I love driving north....it's a much easier drive than going south into LA. I will get some pics of what all we do and post them for my July 4th post.

Have fun and be safe wherever you are on this holiday!!