Swimming

The boys just completed day one of swimming lessons.  Their reactions were pretty much what I expected.  Ethan learned how to swim at the Baker pool in Florida last year, but hasn't had much pool time to practice.  But he was excited about lessons and jumped right in, willing to try anything that was thrown at him. 

Caleb was crying before he entered the locker room.  Granted, it is a little frustrating that the only way to the pool is through the locker rooms, and the boys are too old to go through the girls' side.  Caleb calmed down before the lesson started, but once he realized he wouldn't be in the same class as Ethan, I think he started feeling very apprehensive.  There were lots of tears, but he did do everything asked of him, though with much hesitation, much fear, and many tears.  Poor kid.  His teacher said it's what's to be expected for a first-timer, and she was pleased that he still cooperated (sort of).  I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.  I AM happy with the student-teacher ratio.  Caleb is with one other little girl.  Ethan is the only one with his teacher.  :)

Random Things

I know, I'm way overdue for a new post.  I haven't had anything remarkable to write about, but I figured it was time for something new (though I still like looking at those pics of Anelise in her life jacket.  so cute!). 

We had a busy weekend getting work done outside.  Jonathan and I spent a significant portion of Saturday working in the yard.  Jonathan mowed and trimmed (weed-whacked), and trimmed one of the pine trees in the front (near the neighbor's property).  I weeded the mulch around the trees in the front.  And it was a big job.  My wrists are still sore from putting pressure on them while pulling out miniature oak trees.  Lots of them. 

We also spent a fair amount of time with friends over the weekend.  Saturday we had a cookout with a couple of church friends.  Sunday after church we headed over to the home of an unnamed Irish police sergeant's family.  We planned on spending a few hours there, and ended up monopolizing their entire day.  We arrived around 1:00 and didn't leave until after 8.  That's how much fun they are.  On Monday we had a busy day, preparing for house guests (I'll get to that in a minute), and ended the day by heading downtown for the fireworks.  Where we met again with the Irish folks.  What a great family.  :)

Houseguests.  We are thoroughly enjoying our time with good friends Bill and Alissa, here for a visit from our nation's capitol.  We have spent some time out and about (park, zoo), but mostly we're relaxing at home together.  The kids (their 3 plus our 3) have been playing well together, just having a good time.

I spent a few minutes looking at the calendar today, and I can hardly believe what I see.  The month of June was fairly relaxed, but our calendar is FULL from now until school starts!  I would have preferred to space things out a little.  But I AM very excited about the rest of our summer.  Coming up: Bax visit, Dad Baker visit, Baker cottage, Ippel cottage, camping at Clifty Falls.  Whew!

Last week, Ethan was at SpringHill day camp all week.  He had a blast, and at the end of the week, was awarded the Integrity Award for his group.  We are so proud.

Anelise continues to wow us with her language skills.  The word we hear most often is "smine."  And yes, she's saying, "it's mine."  I'm not too worried about selfishness; her context is more factual.  Like she'll point to her chair, and say, "smine."  Or her shoes: "smine," and then point out "mommy soo", "daddy soo", etc.  She's such a sweet girl.  And so cute, I can hardly stand it.

Caleb just finished his first chapter book. 

Hmm... the middle child got the least written about him.  Raise your hand if you're a middle child!  (hand raised)  Maybe I'll devote an entire post to Caleb soon.  Maybe...