Painting & Sleeping

The kids have been feeling a little under the weather the last few days.  I think they might have caught a little summer bug.  We have stayed in the past few days.  We have been painting, drawing and coloring.  Here are a couple of pictures of the kids and their creations.  Ignore the way they look.  The past few days have been "pajama" days.

Nathan painting his train

Abby and her monkey

Noah painting his pirate ship

We have been sleeping late every day so Noah has a tough time falling asleep some nights.  Lately he has been getting up a lot.  We seem to find him in everyone's bed but his own.



Happy Birthday Mary Helen!

Last week we went to Mary Helen's birthday party at a really fun bounce house.  This is one of the best bounce houses around because it has so many different things to do.  The kids had a ball!  We finished off our night with pizza and yummy birthday cake.  I can't believe Mary Helen is five.  It seems like just yesterday that we met her for the first time. 

The birthday girl!

Little Fish

We finished up swimming lessons last week and the kids were swimming like little fish. They had the best time and we had great teachers.  The kids loved Mr. Mark and his daughter Ms. Abby.  They took time out for a little fun the last day.  Of course the kids just wanted them to throw them in the water so I got some good action shots. Abby was swimming well by the end  of the week and had really improved the smoothness of her crawl stroke.  The boys can jump off in the deep end and swim to the ladder.  We are still working on that "reach and pull" every time we go to the pool with them.  (The boys, especially Noah, like to spend all of their time going under the water instead of swimming on top of the water. )  We try to get to the pool as much as possible for practice. 

practicing our kicks

Noah diving for toys on the bottom

Nathan telling them how many times he needs to take a breath

Nathan in green

Nathan swimming

Noah swimming

Nathan is upset with Abby. 

Noah in blue

Swimming Lessons

The kids are taking swimming lessons this week from Mr. Mark again.  He does such a good job with them and is so patient.  This year they are all taking them together for the whole hour instead of splitting up.  It's actually working out pretty well.  I love it because I can just sit there and watch the whole time instead of keeping them entertained until it's their turn.  Abby is fully swimming and she is just working on her crawl stroke and breathing.  The boys are just starting to swim but they are doing great.  They leave very tired every day. 

Waiting patiently for instructions...

Ring around the Rosie

Noah