Our Week

Our weeklong re-cap.....

• Monday began with school followed by swim practice and piano and then closed down with a bang around 10pm following an exciting baseball game win enjoyed by C's team.
• Tuesday began with another round of school followed by swim practice and then....well, then, I decided that it would be such a wonderful treat for my 3 children plus a friend to enjoy a homemade treat....DONUTS. Only, I didn't have the ingredients. So, off to the store we went, friend and all. While there, I get the shocking news that "friend's" parents are getting divorced. This was a curve ball, this family is one that we know and love and are sad to learn of their struggles. I paused to thank God for my marriage and my husband and my family. With ingredients in hand we come home, and I proceed to make said donuts....an hour later, with my house smelling greasy and fry-ie, donuts are served, for lunch no doubt, and much liked. We closed down day 2 of the week with a swim meet which we WON!
• Wednesday began with our last official school day of the week, the boys took their first "test", and each scored a 100. They can now officially name to us the 7 continents, 4 oceans, place them each on a map and they have acquired the knowledge of 7 states and capitals as well. Then onto swim practice, our last golf session and a 7:20 baseball playoff game....phew! What a game it was....keeping in mind that this is little league baseball, this game was played in the big time....tackling at homeplate, coaches getting thrown out, ankles getting sprained....my OWN baby getting the ball pitched into his HEAD. **This is a side note for me that may or may not interest those reading but humors me nonetheless....so Ryan, MK, Pryce and I are sitting behind homeplate, first inning of the game. Ball pitched, ball hit, pop fly....ten kids rushing to get one ball = someone getting hurt, kid down on the field, coaches scampering around to assist....me, well, I made note of the fact that the mother of this child wasn't on the field and never did go to the field....what kind of mother does this?! So I say to Ryan that the child's mother should be on the field and Ryan's response was "B, mom's don't go on the field, the coaches will handle it"...fine, but I still thought the mother should be there. SOOOO fast forward a few moments, our team is batting, up comes my little man. C is in position, ball is pitched, ball hits C in the head, HARD. Who is on the field BEFORE the coaches can even get there???? The father of my child, the one who had just told me that "moms don't go on the field"....so when the excitement dies down, I state this to said father of my child and his response was "well, it scared me....I just heard this 'crack' and I knew it wasn't good"....new rule learned, moms are not allowed on field when child is hurt but dads ARE. For those of you who know Ryan, he is the calm one of the two, the one of us who doesn't worry, so for him to jump up the way he did was startling in and of itself.....turns out, C has a busted up lip, he took his base, scored two runs and his team went on to win their game in double overtime against an undefeated team, 10-9. So exciting! ****Another side note, I painted MK's nails for the first time today. Oh my goodness, she was so thrilled! I had planned only to paint her toenails. I painted all ten of those and she promptly popped her hands down for me to paint her fingernails. She walked around all day with her hands out in front of her admiring the beauty. Love it!
• Thursday we traveled with our friends to Atlanta to visit the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. The boys LOVED it and can't wait to go back. Also, our friends, the Metcalfs, arrived home with their latest addition, Colby. The boys asked to go decorate their home as this is something they remember people did for us, so off we went....so much fun! Can't wait to meet the little guy!
• And finally it is FRIDAY! Yay! A day of rest. Hopefully.

A Few Notes

You know you have been to the beach a lot when your child has the following discussion:

While at the neighborhood pool, P needs to go to the bathroom. He gets out and asks me for permission to do so. The man sitting next to us jokingly says, "P just go in the pool, we won't tell!"....P pauses for a minute, big grin on his face that says 'you are kidding, right?'. Then, P says "Nooooo, you can't go in the POOL, that's the OCEAN! Everyone goes in the ocean!"

Pryce finished his baseball season last week. He was a bit disappointed when his last game of the season was rained out. He recovered quickly though when he received his medal as well as a trophy for a job well done! Way to go P!

C is letting his hair grow out. I have fought this for quite sometime now but decided to let him do it over the summer as it seems to be the style these days. He told me a week or so ago that he wants the back to "flip up like a tidal wave." Sigh.

MK continues to entertain us whether she is doing something naughty or nice. She continues to be the sweetest of children yet she has this flair to her that is sometimes hard to grasp. I love to see and hear her laugh....one can't help but laugh with her.

So many have asked, why homeschool in the summer? And, quite honestly, I wondered on Monday if starting on Tuesday was really giving us all the break that we needed. Well, turns out that starting on Tuesday was the best decision for our family. We are only homeschooling three days per week during the summer. This morning as we were doing our work I had one child begging me to please give him a test tomorrow and the other one asking if he could still read me a story tomorrow AND they BOTH were pleading with me to continue reading our assigned Read Aloud story.....I had to remind them that tomorrow was not a "school day". They were visibly sad and happy at the same time. In other news, we are finishing off P's baseball season tonight barring no rain. C also has his last season game tonight and then his team will head into playoffs next week. The boys swam their first swimteam meet on Tuesday. Our neighborhood team won! They both did marvelous and they were beyond exhausted! We all were. MK continues to swim like a fish. Three weeks into the swim season and she is jumping into the pool alone (float on, of course), she swims with her face in the water and her little legs kicking as fast as they will go....then, when, if, she tires, she flips onto her back where she proceeds to grab her feet and float until the rest is no longer needed.

"1,2,3....GO!" This was taken at the beach. Now that we are home, she has graduated to jumping from the side of the pool. No fear.

"Pink baby" swims with us everywhere.

Seabrook Island

As we approached the island that our family has become so familiar with, Pryce was the first to shout "hey mom, Seabrook, we are almost there....I can smell the ocean!" And he was right. Even in the pouring down rain, my three children were more than excited as we took on the last leg of the trip. Ryan first introduced me to Seabrook Island in March of 1996. Seabrook is like no other. It is nestled in just beside Kiawah, SC, not commercialized, bike riders adorn the streets, deer munch on grass along the main road, gators lurk in the many "swamps" as my boys like to call them, pelicans flock in behind the shrimp boats as they make their way back to the marina, dolphins frolick in the ocean....the island is lush and green yet it has that salty smell and sticky appeal all incorporated in one. To say that my family enjoys every minute of our time spent there would be an understatement. There are not enough hours in the day when we are visiting the island - we simply can't get enough. The ocean, the pool, the bike rides, the treks to the Lollipop Shop, the wave jumping, the wave surfing, castle building, jaunts to the ice cream shop. This past week was our first trip to Seabrook during the 2009 summer season. As I sat and watched the children play at the beach during our first day on the island, I took note of the fact that this is the first year that all three children have played contentedly for hours at the beach. Years past, C has been my beachgoer....he always finds something to do whether it is building an elaborate castle creation or bodysurfing in the waves. P has always enjoyed the beach but once a crab appeared in the surf, he was done, ready for a snack and a trip to the pool. MK, last year she was skeptical about the whole sand thing so in order to keep her content there had to be food involved. This year, all three of them played until I said it was time to go....me, I had to literally pull them away! We also got to spend some quality time with our friends, the Hantzis family. Their daughter, Molly, was in P's Kindergarten class and they have become the best of buds. In summary, our first beach trip of the season was a huge success!

When the children were not swimming, they were hunting for ocean life in the surf. One day they dug a hole to house the many hermit crabs they found....they worked meticulously together as a team to keep all of their hard shelled finds happy!

My mom used to tell me that my face would stay like this if I didn't stop. For whatever reason, MK's newest trick is this pose....and she finds it quite hilarious especially when the camera is around.

1, 2, 3, GO!

Our neighborhood pool opened 2 weeks ago and then the rain began. It has rained and rained and rained and if it hasn't been raining, it has been COLD. As a result, swimteam practice has been somewhat brutal on the boys, lips turning blue, teeth chattering so much that talking wasn't even an option and hot showers needed immediately following. Alas, the time has come and the sun has been shining and the girl has been unleashed....translation, we spent the last four days at our pool. First day, MK played mostly on the steps.....mommy likes it best that way as it is way too cold for mommy to even think about getting in with her :) Second day, MK still on the steps, but went from step one to step two, a tad deeper. Third day, MK decided to venture out a bit and walk along step two, fell once or twice, head fully soaked, scared her a little but the recovery was quick. Fourth day, a friend asked if she could take MK into the 3 foot area. I said "Sure!" thinking that MK would protest and that the steps would continue to be our home. But wouldn't you know that MK agreed and off they went into the deep blue pool....she loves it! Her little legs kicked and kicked, then she realized she could just lay back in her little floatie on her back and chill, then she played a game of fetch with her little friend....the friend would throw the toy and MK would retrieve it. To take things a step further, she thought jumping would be a great new trick too! So we spent at least an hour counting, "One, two, three, GO!" and under the water she went popping immediately back up. So, the girl has been unleashed and it looks like I will be watching my THREE children very closely this summer. On another note, please take a moment to check out our friend's site over the next few days. The address is www.colbycomeshome.blogspot.com This family started the process to adopt from China before we did in 2006, switched to the WC program sometime last year and they were matched with a precious little boy, Colby, in November. They begin their journey to China today and Gotcha Day is Sunday. This family is very special to us....they live nearby, Kendra will be teaching MK's Mother's Day Out class next year, and they are part of our adoption group that meets every month. Please keep them in your prayers!

Happy Memorial Day

Just before going over to celebrate the holiday weekend with neighbors yesterday, the boys and MK wanted to swing. We have two swings and a baby swing. The baby swing was a little dirty from the ongoing rain that we have been experiencing and I did not think that dirt plus MK's white dress would be a good mix. So, MK got to swing on a big swing. And the boys.....Pryce said, "Hey, Colin, remember how we can swing together.....me on your lap?"....and they proceeded to share the swing, spider style. It was a flashback moment from my childhood. Have a great Memorial Day!

Look, mom, no hands!

All Done!

It's over! School is OUT and we survived with minimum tears, all of us. Stay tuned for the status update on tears....the boys are announcing to everyone who asks that they are going to be homeschooled next year and that they will only get ONE week of vacation. Poor kids. Poor mother. The truth is we are starting the first week of June but we are doing that in order to be able to vacation throughout the year without school work to contend with. And we are taking Mondays and Fridays off during the summer. And, because my children get up with the birds, we will be done with schoolwork before their regularly scheduled activities even think to take place. So, we will proceed with school just as planned and we hope that tears will not be involved due to a lack of "vacation".

Now, backing up, Mason-Kate has come so far this year in school. Her first months at MDO were quite traumatic for her and there was no allowing anyone to console her unless mommy appeared. Nine months later, I watched proudly as she marched into the church sanctuary on Thursday holding the hand of her teacher with her classmates toddling along behind. She spotted me, waved and proceeded forward to her designated performance spot. She sang, she smiled, she yelled her sweet little yell "Hi mommy, hi!" and then as quickly as the program had begun, it was over. Short, sweet and to the point. Perfect.

On Friday, C and P had there end of the year celebrations. C's class began the morning with a Luau style celebration. Lots of fun was had by all of the younsters while the teachers sat back and weathered the storm. C awoke this morning and the first sentence I heard him speak was "I really wish I could relive yesterday." Following the Luau, the boys, Ryan, his parents and MK all joined the kindergarten students on the school lawn for a picnic. Then it was time to begin the Kindergaren Graduation ceremony. It could not have been better....the children all filed in, smiles on, sang their little hearts out, shared in some laughter, received their certificates and it was over. Again, short, sweet and to the point. Perfect. Well, almost. MK did not think it was quite short enough. Thankfully, G-Mom was there to escort her out during her more fussy moments. This school year was awesome for both boys. They both had the greatest of teachers and learned so much through experience as well as teaching. I have a lot to live up to next year!