Swimming Sweeties

Dog Days of Summer here... We have been busy keeping ourselves entertained, but not taking many photos.

However, last week, the kids had their swimming lessons with Ms. Sally, and on their last day, Todd took the day off to spend with them and see their progress firsthand!

Both kids did GREAT - Luken has really progressed from last summer, and Keeley responded to Sally in a way I could not have predicted. Keeley has been stuck to me like a Koala Bear in the water all summer, arms and legs wrapped tightly around me even while wearing a flotation vest, but Sally was able to convince her to SWIM almost immediately!!

My 3 favorite people, waiting patiently for the earlier lesson to end.
Keeley is wearing her brand new pink goggles - my gift to her for doing so well!!


Luken and Keeley, observing some other kids.


Getting ready to go under!




And SWIMMING!!




Luken's turn!!




More swimming!!






Success buys Luken a "water firecracker!"




Luken attempts his own firecracker!




Both kiddos need a bit more work remembering to blow their bubbles while swimming, so they work on that while picking up little plastic sea creatures.




Then, Keeley catches a ride to the deep end of the pool to ready for some JUMPING!


And Luken's up first!




Taking a big breath (though he was supposed to flip onto his back for this...)


Keeley's turn!!






Onto the diving board!!












And then Keeley wows us up on the board, too!






We are so stinkin' proud of these two we can hardly stand it!!!!!! :D

Ms. Sally performs the medal ceremony after their big feats!








They each got a lollipop and a prize!! Luken chose a paper fan, and Keeley chose a beaded bracelet.


We said a big THANK YOU to Ms. Sally, and then took the kiddos by Sonic for some slushes and juice, and then headed to our neighborhood pool for some more family water fun!
Todd took a few photos of Keeley and me when he and Luken were out of the water for a few minutes. Keeley is back in her vest because she's not quite ready to be on her own, but this was the FIRST time she let go of me in the pool and swam around on her own! She was so cute - you could see her little legs kicking in the water, bicycle style, and she tooled around like she owned the place! It was so great to see her enjoying the water and having the confidence to be on her own!

(I don't know quite was I was doing here!)


Waving to Luken!


Look at these cuties!




A rare photo of ME! :P

Luken's fabulous artwork!!!!!

In the paperwork we picked up at Kindergarten orientation recently, there are some suggestions for activities to do with your children over the summer, and one such suggestion is to read a book to your child, and then have them draw a picture about the story. I thought this might be fun, and something to fill up a little time.

I picked "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises" as our first subject. It's a fun book, and the kids had fun imitating all the silly noises.

I had no idea what to expect from the kids as far as the drawings were concerned. I set them up at the table, and went over to the computer to check emails while they worked. Luken asked me how to spell a few words, and I obliged. Soon, he said he was done, so I went to see what he had come up with, and I must say, I was MIGHTY impressed!!




I figured he would just write a bunch of words, and that would be it. He has never really expressed much artistic interest, and so I was quite excited at the details and colors he used in this piece!!

On the left is a cow, for MOO.
In the middle is a bee, for BUZZ. I love that he used black and yellow stripes, and red for wings. And he pointed out that there is a brown stinger on the tush! :D
On the right is a butterfly for WHISPER!
It was all from memory - he didn't ask any questions, or look through the book while drawing.
Did I mention I was impressed??? :D
It really is probably the first drawing he has done that wasn't full of octopuses or light sabers.

Here is Keeley's creation! :) I just realized this could very well be Mr. Brown!


C'mon... comment back about how brilliant my children are!! :D

Rainy Day Entertainment

So, what do you do when it's summer in Texas, but it's raining cats and dogs? Dig through the craft bin and see what looks good!

Monday, it was Magic Rocks. I believe I had picked these up as a possible activity after Luken's hernia surgery in March, but never got around to it. I figured it would kill some time!



While I got things set up, the kiddos did some drawings...


First step was to arrange the rock pellet thingies on the bottom of the tank.




Next, we added water to the toxic goop that you are not supposed to touch.


Stir it up!




After pouring it in, it was time to watch the rocks grow!!


It said to wait 6 hours after the first batch, though the box said they'd be grown within a couple of hours!!!


Getting started...


About an hour later, we had something to look at!


Later that day, we added the second batch of rocks, which are supposedly the ones that will REALLY grow.






And, the final product. It got kind of messy at the end. Oh, well. It was sort of fun. Something to do on a rainy day. Probably not to be repeated, ha!!