Swimming at Pine Tree

This past weekend we went swimming with Brian and Shannon and the kids. It was fun (as it always is) with all of the children together. The set-up at their pool caters to families with young kids. They have a baby pool, a large pool with a large shallow area and a playground right off the pool area....all of which is fenced in so the little ones can't run off. In addition, they allow kids less than 5 yrs old to eat for free....which is a heck of a deal.

Preston loved going back and forth between the baby pool and big pool, and Bennett just hung out wherever everyone else was. It was a fun way to spend the morning.

Thanks Brian and Shannon for inviting us!

Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs!

Now that Bennett is 3 yrs old, she will be starting 3K Preschool in the fall. Since both of the kids also attend summer school, I could elect to keep her in her previous class, or move her to her new "big school." The two year olds only go Monday and Wednesday, but the three year olds can attend Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I hemmed and hawed about it, but finally decided to send her to her new school now so I could spend some alone time with Preston on Friday mornings.

It has worked out great, and turned out to be one of the best decisions I made for Bennett. She absolutely loves her new "big school." She loves the change in curriculum, her new teachers, and her new classmates. Each week of summer school they have a theme, and last week was bugs. I sent her to school with an empty mayonnaise jar and she decorated it with stickers. Her teacher told them all about different bugs, and gave them each a cricket last Wednesday. Bennett was so excited with her new pet, and she never left him out of her site. She would carry him (we assumed it was a boy....don't ask me why) to her bedroom when she took a nap or went to bed, take him with her in car when we ran errands, held him in her lap when she watched movies on the sofa, etc. Preston was enthralled with him too, always looking at him and saying "bug."

Ms Celia (her teacher) put a little slice of an apple in there, and this cricket managed to survive on this food for 10 days. He was still alive, though he was missing one leg, when I let him go last night in our yard. That poor thing had been startled so much in the past 10 days with the kids dropping his "home" and him rolling around on the kitchen counter, I honestly was shocked to hear him chirp each day. Bennett had lost interest in him the past few days, so I decided to put him out of his misery and let him go.

However, both kids are still fascinated with bugs, so when we saw this HUGE green bug crawling on our car after church, we drove home very slowly so he wouldn't blow off and the kids could get an up close look at him. Does anyone know what he is? He is the largest insect I have ever seen, probably measuring 1 inch thick and a few inches long. When we were staring at him, I could see his little yellow eyes looking back at us with his extra long antennas blowing in the wind.

Anyway, summer is in full force here, so we will have plenty of opportunities to explore more. One night I will have to help the kids catch lightening bugs - that was always a fun time for me as a kid.

Just Do It!

At the beginning of this year Steve received a pedometer from his company for a competition that they were holding. KBR wants to encourage a healthier lifestyle and wanted to see how many people could reach 1 million steps by the end of September. He got off to a great start, and has been extremely diligent about moving his pedometer to any shoe he is wearing (running shoes, work shoes, even flip-flops). Initially he was coming home and telling me how many steps he was averaging each day and week, which was making me so upset that I couldn't be apart of it.

For those that know me, you won't be surprised to know that I wanted a pedometer too so I could compete against him! With Valentine's Day right around the corner...guess what I got for my gift? Yep, my very own pedometer. Unfortunately mine is not as user-friendly as Steve's. It requires a special watch and the pedometer needs to be tied on to a shoe (not clipped). So it doesn't work for my standard uniform of shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops.

Though I can only use it when I am working out, I must admit it has made me work out more often. Back in January I decided I needed to get off my duff, and start exercising again. It started off slow, but after I got my pedometer things started to build. Then I started walking with my friend, Allyson a few days a week. We started off walking a couple of miles, and then it grew to 4-6 miles, with us averaging 5-5.5 miles several times a week now.

A few months ago, I learned to set goals on the Nike website for myself, and I am happy to say that I have successfully met two now. My most recent goal was to walk/run 100 miles in 4 weeks (averaging 25 miles/week). Allyson and I had easily been averaging that several weeks ago, so I didn't think it was unreasonable when I set it. However, with my weekend away and the temperatures averaging 95 degrees for the past two weeks, it has been more difficult to exercise outside. So I really had to press myself to get up early and do it, or go to the gym.

I am happy to say I am back at the gym, running and walking on the treadmill and now lifting weights several days a week. I feel SOOO much better and have definitely seen a change in my mental health and my body! Steve is doing great with his million step challenge, and shouldn't have a problem reaching it. He is even making it to the gym a couple days a week. We are both bound and determined to be more fit, and we learned that it wasn't going to happen with us sitting on the sofa.

So people...get off your duffs and JUST DO IT!!

Happy Birthday Julie

Yesterday was Julie's Birthday! Bennett and Pres were very excited to wish their mommy a big happy birthday but they may have been slightly more excited about the potential for birthday cake. Both were so excited about singing and blowing out the candles that dinner was quite the struggle.

We celebrated the big occassion with a strawberry cake from Edgar's. For those of you who haven't had this cake, the cake and icing are both made with real strawberries (the icing has actual strawberry chunks and is pretty darn good). Following dinner we put 5 candles on Julie's cake (for some reason 5 is Bennett's favorite number) and we all sang happy birthday.

Prior to slicing into the cake the kids got to lick the icing off of the candles. As you can see by the last picture below (see the candle on the right) one of our kids (who shall remain un-named) got a little carried away... All-in-all we had a great time.

Julie does such a great job with this blog but rarely takes the time to brag on herself...so on behalf of Bennett and Pres, I wanted to wish mommy a very happy birthday and let her know how much we love her. Love, Steve

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the special daddys out there, but especially to Steve, my father, Lynn, and Steve's father, Louis. These three men are such wonderful, giving people and do so much for me and the children and I love you for that!



This year, the children both made special gifts for their daddy. In fact, I wanted to share a quick story. After school on Wednesday, Preston had his Father's Day gift for Steve (since he doesn't attend school on Fridays during the summer), and Bennett was upset that she didn't have her gift too. I asked her if she had already made it, and she said "Yeah, I made him a tie." I was slightly confused, but didn't press the issue. Friday Steve picked her up from school, and she was so excited to share her gifts with him early. Aren't they cute? The key chain is from Preston (a thumb print football).

My Little Fish

Yesterday we went to the pool for the first time since the kids finished swim lessons, and we were both so surprised at how well they are doing. Within an hour at the pool, Bennett was jumping off the side of the pool and swimming to us. Even Preston was doing well, swimming back and forth from the side of the pool to us.

We were so pleasantly surprised that we went to the pool again this morning and brought our recorder so we could document their progress from 3 weeks ago (which I think is amazing, if I may say so). After watching Bennett jump in countless times, Pres even began doing it on his own today. All I can say is those swim lessons were the best money I spent this month!

Now all we need to do is work on their form!