Swim Lessons

We kicked off our summer with swim lessons this week! Lily and Bear took a private lesson together each evening this week! Lily took lessons last year and was able to quickly pick up from where she left off last summer! We're proud of Bear too - I didn't expect for him to learn to swim this week, but he made good progress with putting his face in the water and becoming a little more confident.

Lily testing the water out - it was pretty cold! It had gotten really warm in early May when I scheduled lessons. Then, we had a cold snap the week before! Luckily, the temperature warmed up for our lessons, but boy was the water still cool!

Jordan, our swim instructor, wanted Lily to be able to swim across the deep end by Friday. On Friday, she and Lily headed to the deep side of the pool. It took a while to coax Lily in - we've drilled it in her head for so long to stay on the shallow side of the ropes that she was bit scared of the deep water.

She didn't want to jump off of the diving board, but was finally willing to jump off of the side of the pool to Jordan.

And she's off...

So proud of her!! She's actually swam across the deep end a few times now. We spent some time at the pool on Saturday and several times she asked to go swim in the deep end.

I didn't get any pictures of Bear in action, as to not to distract him - we are having a bit of trouble with listening right now :). Here he is snuggled up in his towel after finishing his last turn! I just love those big brown eyes! As much as he can frustrate me at times, looks like this just melt my heart!!

Cubbie and Puggles End of the Year Program

We wrapped up our year in Awana a few weeks ago with a short program highlighting all that the kids accomplished in the program. Lily did a great job in her 2nd year as a Cubbie - she memorized over 30 verses this year. She'll actually move upstairs with the Children's program next year and will be a Spark! I love that the Awana program is helping us instill early in her life the importance of memorizing scripture!

Lily and one of her favorite friends Erin

Waiting to go on stage

Katie Anne joined us this year for Cubbies! She came on bring a friend night back in the fall and started coming each week. She finished the whole book, despite getting a late start! We are so proud of her!

Bear was a Puggle this year - he loved getting to spend time with his church buddies on Wednesday nights while Lily and I were in Cubbies. Though they didn't learn verses, they did begin to learn basic Bible precepts, like God is love, God Made Everything, and Give Thanks.

Lily and her Cubbie friends

Bear on stage for his award

Lily and Erin comparing their certificates

So proud!

Sweet Friends, Lily and Katie Anne

And we can't forget Bear!

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Silly String Fun

Gotta love an afternoon of silly string fun...such joy from such simple things!

End of the School Year

It's so hard to believe the school year is wrapping up! With end of the year activities for school, church and gymnastics, we've been on the go the last few weeks!

Bear had his end of the year program and party last week! This was his first year in preschool and it was an amazing experience for him! His teachers, Ms. Sharon and Ms. Tabitha were great with this active bunch of 2 and 3 year olds and we are so grateful for the energy and love they poured into Bear and his friends this year! I just love our preschool and am so glad we have at least one more year with them! Since the kids will all be back next year in various 3 year old classes, they didn't do a preschool graduation. Instead, Ms. Tabitha pulled together a sweet slide show with pictures from throughout the school year. It was amazing to see just how much each of them has grown over the last 9 months!

Bear, Camden, and other friends coming in for the slideshow presentation

Bear looking for his fan club :)

After the slideshow program, we went back to their classroom for the end of the year party! Pizza was definitely a hit with Bear!

Half of his precious class!

Bear and his "girlfriend" Eliza. These 2 have been together since birth and are attached at the hip! Bear's eyes crack me up in this picture

Ms. Tabitha and Bear

Ms. Sharon and Bear

Lily's last day isn't until Friday, but her class had their end of the year party on Tuesday morning! I can't say enough about the great year Lily has had! To say I was nervous/anxious/not excited about her starting pre-K is an understatement...I just was not ready in August for her to start true public school education. The Lord, however, knew just what He was doing when he placed in her in this school with her teachers and new found friends! It has turned out to be a great experience and she has thrived! She has learned so much over the course of the year - I love seeing her writing and drawings from the fall compared to now; it's night and day! Lily got great comments on her end of the year assessment and I'm so proud of all she has accomplished! Lily has come out of her shell socially quite a bit too and made lots of new friends! Her teachers, Ms. Carter and Ms. Bolin, have been everything to her that I prayed they would. I'm actually very sad to see the year ending and am now dreading sending my baby to kindergarten!!

Lily at her end of the year party - it was a summer theme and they all got sand buckets full of fun goodies to take home!

After their snack, we went outside to do a pinata. The girls went first, as this class is full of wild, baseball playing boys and we wanted to make sure everyone got a shot.

Ms. Bolin was the brave soul standing close to the bat and pinata!

After trying with the blindfold, we decided to just hit it - it was hard enough without!

Lily and Ms. Carter

Lily and Ms. Bolin

What a fun way to end the school year!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I can remember many nights spent sleeping just like this - except my baby doll was baby Lily! She's getting sooo big!

Mother's Day 2011

It's so hard to believe that I celebrated my 6th Mother's Day today! Time has just flown by since the day Lily was born. I watch Lily now, playing babies and pretending to be their mom, but to me, it feels like it should be the other way around with Lily being the newborn and me learning the ropes of being a new mom! Being a mom is the hardest - but most amazing thing I've ever done! I am so thankful that the Lord has entrusted me to raise, protect, and teach Lily and Bear. I love watching each new milestone they reach, the tight bond of friendship that they've formed with each other, and dreaming about what great things they will do as they get older! I love that today, my big girl crawled up into my lap to snuggle when she was tired (she doesn't do that very often anymore). I love that Bear gives me the biggest hugs that I think a 3 year old has ever given! I love that they pour love and affection on me each and every day! I'm thankful too for the wonderful women in my life that have set a great example for me and who I get to share the joys of motherhood with! My mom, mother-in-law, grandmothers, and dear friends are there for every up and down and encourage me along the way!

We had a low-key weekend, which was perfect and just what I wanted! Flowers were planted, a little shopping was done, delicious food was eaten that didn't require me washing a single dish, and best of all it included lots of quality time with my sweet family! We spent the day in Alabama today with Josh's sweet grandmother and I forgot my camera - so no official mother's day picture this year! Thank you Lily, Bear and Josh for making me feel like a special momma - today and everyday!