Breakfast Dinner

Tonight dinner was supposed to be easy. It was breakfast dinner night. Can't be hard, right? Well I have to say I have never had such a fiasco in the kitchen as I did tonight.

Now part of the problem is that Rehm likes only pancakes and bacon, Charlotte likes only eggs and sausage (OK she'll eat pancakes and bacon but they aren't her favorite) and Ruby and Eliza Claire will eat it all.

So I'm cooking the bacon and sausage, mixing the pancakes and trying to get the eggs in a bowl to scramble. Eliza Claire is fussy and wants to be held, so I'm doing this all one handed. I get the egg carton open and Eliza Claire decides she must have the carton right this second. Yep she knocks the whole thing in the floor, upside down of course. A full dozen eggs on the floor, smashed! Of course, at that exact moment all of my children get a sudden urge to be in the kitchen, no other place will do. The closer they can get to the raw oozing egg mess the better.

Oh and now what is that I smell? Oops, that would be the bacon. Burned to a crisp. Uh oh, I forgot that pancake was in the pan, yep burned. Oh my, where is that baby, about to crawl through raw eggs. Yikes! What to do!

I turned off all the burners, banned all the children from the kitchen (which is hard to do since it is completely open to the family room). I called Michael to tell him I ruined dinner. He offered to pick up something. I asked him to come home and let me see if I could salvage it.

While still holding Eliza Claire (she was having none of being banished to the family room) I managed to get the eggs off the floor, find more bacon, save the sausage from burning and start more pancakes.

By the time Michael got home I had pancakes, sausage, bacon and 3 scrambled eggs ready. We all managed to find enough to eat, I'm not sure how, but we did.

I have never, ever, ever had a dinner turn out so poorly. I'm a good cook - according to Rehm. How do you mess up breakfast dinner? It is easy. Nothing to it. If I was going to mess up dinner you would expect it to be something like last night's dinner. Last night I made Fettuccine Alfredo, marinated chicken, sauteed mushrooms and onions in a white wine sauce and steamed peas. All without a recipe! All while holding Eliza Claire. It was yummy! Delicious! I felt like super mom making dinner from scratch (OK I didn't make the pasta, just boiled it). And then tonight complete and utter failure and on such an easy meal. The shame, the horror! How?????

Jenn

PS Sorry for the lack of pictures. I thought about taking some of the disaster zone but alas the safety of the children won out over the desire to record this fiasco.

First Grade

Yesterday was Rehm's first day of first grade. He has a great teacher and already knew at least six kids in his class. He seemed to enjoy his day though I could not get much information out of him about it.

He brought the "What's It" Box home with him yesterday with instructions to place one item in it and bring it back to school. He was supposed be able to give the class three clues about what was in the box. He could not bring a toy. His three clues were: it's a collection, it's a special type of rock, You can make them with sugar. Some of the guess were: gemstones and sugar crystals. He actually took his crystal collect (small pieces of quartz he found on the playground last week and carried around in his pocket all that day)

Jenn

I've spent the last hour trying to upload our traditional first day of school video but keep having technical difficulty. Hopefully I'll be able to add it soon.

Mommy Charlotte

Today Real Mommy was playing "Babies" in the car with Charlotte. It was my turn to be the baby and Charlotte was my Mommy.

Here is a portion of our conversation,

Baby: "What's my Daddy's name?"
Mommy: "I don't know, he didn't tell me."
Baby: "Oh"
Mommy: "I think his name is Tottis, yeah, that's it."
Baby: "How old am I?'
Mommy: "One. Your birthday is tomorrow!"
Baby: "How old will I be then?"
Mommy: "Two"
Baby: "How old are you Mommy?"
Mommy: "Sixteen, you have to be at least that old to be a Mommy."
Baby: "How old is my Daddy?"
Mommy: "One older than sixteen...let me count...13, yeah that's right."

So Mommy Charlotte was 16 with a two year old and she didn't know the daddy's name! I've got a lot of educating to do.

Jenn

Charlotte's Favorite Activities

Every night at bed time Michael asks each of the kids what their favorite activity was that day. Then when they pray they thank God for doing that activity.

Tonight we were talking after the kids went to sleep. I asked Michael what Charlotte's favorite thing was today. He said it was playing Sea World.

I thought that was interesting because Charlotte asked me to play Sea World in the car today and got side tracked and we never played. Sea World in the car usually consists of someone being the worker and someone being the visitor and going from activity to activity at Sea World - this is always played in the car so it is just an imagination game. Most of the time Rehm is the worker and when we "arrive" at Sea World we are the one millionth customer and get lots of freebies and a dedicated staff member to take us from place to place.

I voiced my surprise to Michael since we never actually played and he said "Yeah you did, you went outside in the back yard and you blew up her dolphin float and Charlotte went swimming with the dolphins..." At this point I interupt to say "Um, we didn't do any of that."

So I asked what her favorite thing was yesterday. It was playing dolls with me - we never played dolls yesterday!

I expressed my concern to Michael that her favorite activities all seem to be made up and that I'm a terrible mother. His response was "well, Charlotte thinks your a great mom." Apparently her Imaginary Mommy is a great mom but her real mother obviously needs to spend a little more time playing with her.

Who knew you could feel so terrible when your daughter is telling huge lies.

Off to be more like Imaginary Mommy,
Jenn

Charlotte and Big Mo

Here are the promised pictures of Charlotte and the water slide.

Before

During (click on the picture to see it larger to get the full facial expression)

After

Mo Ranch

This weekend we traveled to Hunt, Texas to attend the "All Family Retreat" our church was hosting at Mo Ranch. This is our second year to go. Yes, we were crazy enough to go last year with two eight week old babies. What were we thinking?

Again this year I was just amazed at how wonderful this trip is. I did not get to attend any of the adult programming as I was helping with the children's programming at those times. I did hear the speaker was really good.

The thing that has struck me both years on this trip is how much my family feels part of the larger community. There were countless times where adults went out of their way to connect with my children. My children are learning that their church cares deeply and personally about them and not just on Sunday mornings but every day.

At every baptism in our church we as a congregation promise to help the child grow in their faith. Mo Ranch is one of those times when I feel like our church really does this, not just in the programming but more in the personal connections.


We arrived on Friday Evening in time for dinner. After unpacking and having a quick dinner it was time to go to the opening programming. Programming wasn't over until 9:30 so it was really late before the kids were all in bed. Rehm and Charlotte were staying in Grandma and Grandpa's room (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa). They had a leaking toilet and had to change rooms at 10:30pm! So it was a really late night for them. After kids went to bed I got the opportunity to visit was good friends for a few hours and catch up.

Saturday everyone was up and ready for breakfast by 8:00am. Then it was off to the morning programming. After the program we all met for lunch. That afternoon we had free time. Grandma and Grandpa were nice and offered to watch Ruby and Eliza Claire so we could take the big kids to the river. Ruby and Eliza Claire were so sleep deprived at this point they didn't want to nap. I'm afraid it wasn't a very pleasant afternoon for Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks again for doing this.

Michael, the big kids and I started off at the pool but with in a half an hour had decided to go check out the Guadalupe River. Charlotte decided she wanted to ride Big Mo, a really tall and fast "water slide." She rode with Michael. Her face coming down said it all (picture to come). When she got back to shore she said it was "pretty fun" but did not want to ride again. Rehm wouldn't ride.

After Big Mo we headed off to the rapids. This is an area in the river where the limestone is very close to the surface. The river has eroded the stone in a way that forms a natural water slide. Due to recent rain the river was probably a foot to foot and a half higher than last year and more swift as well. Last year both kids loved it. This year Charlotte loved it and went down the rapids proabbly 20+ times. Rehm only did it three times and two of those were with a borrowed intertube. Apparently it was too much for him this year. He enjoyed sliding down one big rock into the river instead. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the river and then it was time to head back. On the way back the kids convinced us to take out a canoe for a quick trip up the river. This of course is the first time I've been in a small boat in probably 20 years - since I used to go fishing with my Dad. This was the first time I'd ever had paddling responsibilities and of course I had not clue what to do. Michael was right it was pretty easy. The kids had fun and we paddled up to the rapids and back.

Then we had dinner and entertainment for the whole family (singing songs and face painting). After getting all the kids to bed we sat outside with our friends Clark and Meredith, Grandma and Grandpa, and Clark's parents. It was so nice to get to visit with everyone and connect across generations. Again that sense of community. Church is not just a place we go on Sunday morning. It is a group of people that truly care about each other and come together through their mutual love of God.

Sunday we had breakfast and packed up the room. I got locked out of the room and it took 3 trips to the office to finally get a key that worked. Then it was time for worship. Rehm had a complete and total meltdown on the way to worship (thanks to too little sleep and too many activities). It was not pretty. Luckily he eventually got over it and was able to join us for worship.


Worship is held at an outdoor chapel overlooking the river. It is always a moving experience for me. During the service we Passed the Peace (Meaning we would tell each other "the peace of Christ be with you" and the other person would respond "and also with you") What was especially moving for me was to bend down and pass the peace to all of the precious children around me. To do my part in helping them know that God loves them and that they are important to Him and our church. I'm sure they don't understand at this point but hope when they are older they will look back on these experiences and see that there were several adults besides their parents and grandparents that loved them and wanted them to know Christ.


After the service we finished packing the car. Had lunch with our dear friends the Weatherbys and the Kildays and headed home.

It was a blessed weekend. It is a tradition I hope we as a church and we as a family continue for many years to come. I think it is so important and part of what makes it special is that it is a multi generational experience. It isn't just something for families with small kids, or families with youth. Having friends, parents, and grandparents all there and involved is just an awesome experience. It is what the Church is supposed to be.

I'm reminded of a song my kids have learned in Sunday school:

The church is not a building,
The church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting place,
The church is the people.

Here are pictures from this year and last. It seems that I forgot to take my camera to many of the things we did this year.

Blessings to all,
Jenn

Traveling Halfway Across the Country with Four Kids

Many people have asked me how we did it? So I'll take a few minutes to explain.

The most important thing is planning. This starts a few weeks ahead of time and includes everything from planning the route and hotel stops to planning what to pack to planning what toys and snacks to have in the car. Now granted Michael's answer would probably be different but I'm a planner by nature so for me this is a must. A trip that takes 3 days to get to the destination definitely adds complexity to the plan. You have to figure out what you need while you are there versus what you need while traveling and have enough room for both. I go as far as making a packing list for each person and for the car. Then I make a list of all the things I have to do before I leave. Then I make a list for the pet sitter. By this point Micheal is rolling his eyes. Then I pack the packing list so I know what I should come home with. Then he really rolls his eyes.


Once everything is packed and in the car it is all about attitude. The trip is an "Adventure" not "the longest time we have ever spent cooped up in the car trying not to kill each other." This means going with the flow. If someone has to go the bathroom 30 minutes after the last stop you laugh about it and take away their water bottle. If someone gets a speeding ticket you ask them to at least not get another one until we reach the next state, instead of reminding them of the hassle and cost. If you realize neither of you printed the directions to the hotel, well then you get a little snippy. If you get to the hotel at 11 pm instead of 8pm and everyone is cranky you give them a bath and read them a story and cross your fingers they all go to sleep. If you get to the hotel at 7:00 and everyone is cranky, you give them a bath, read them a story and turn the lights off at 8:00 even though you aren't tired - a good book light comes in handy.



We make frequent stops, about every three hours. We eat breakfast at the hotel. Our first stop is for lunch. We usually end up at a McDonald's with a indoor playscape. Our next stop is mid-afternoon, again at a fast food place with a playscape. These two stops really help as the kids get to run around and play for a bit. When they get tired of playing I use my stop watch to time them going through the maze. This makes it fun again and gets about 10 more minutes of activity out of them. Most days we have an unexpected "I gotta go potty bad, Bad, BAD" stop that is at the closest gas station or "forest" we can find. Dinner is usually a sit down restaurant so we can have something have way healthy to eat.



The kids watch a bunch of DVD's and eat a bunch of snacks. The little ones take a couple of naps. Charlotte usually gets bored with the TV and asks us to play games with her. She usually picks some kind of pretend game, most often Baby. She's the baby, I'm the Mommy, Michael is the Daddy. Hmmm. Why does that sound so familiar?

When we get to the hotel the big kids help carry in the "hotel" bags and pack-n-plays while Ruby and Eliza Claire enjoy crawling around and being free. Then it is bath time and bedtime. I would love to say that everyone goes right to sleep. In actuality trying to get 6 people to sleep peacefully in the same room is impossible. We quickly found that Rehm and Charlotte can not share a bed. And that at least one baby will end up not sleeping in the pack-n-play. And everyone wakes up early.

I hope all of us will look back on these trips as fun family adventures. And they will turn into stories our children tell their children about "the great vacations we took when we were kids."

So that is how we travel halfway across the country with four kids...
Jenn

So Big

When did my babies get so big? Today Eliza Claire woke up from her nap not feeling well and fussy. Ruby went with me to get her up. While I was sitting in the rocker comforting Eliza Claire, Ruby crawled over to Eliza Claire's crib and got her lovie and brought it to Eliza Claire. Then she crawled back to Eliza Claire's crib and got her paci and brought it to her. Then she crawled back over and got her blankie and brought it to her!

When did they get big enough to understand this much and do this much? What an empathetic little girl Ruby is. Hopefully Eliza Claire will feel better soon.

Jenn

Adding a Fifth

Yes, we are crazy. No, we don't know what we were thinking. But it is true, this week we have a fifth child at our house. Our sweet niece Brooke is spending the week with us.

Hee, hee that was fun. Admit it you thought we were expecting again and you thought we were CRAZY! Well we aren't quite that crazy. So you can rest easy.

Brooke will be here until Saturday. She is such a sweet child and such a blessing to have. She comes most summers for a visit. Charlotte is so happy to have a big sister to play with this week. I think Brook is enjoying having babies to play with too. This morning she even helped me get the twins dressed. She did a great job but was surprised at how hard it was.

Off to pack dinners, we have to go back to church so I can work.
Jenn

Vacation

We are finally home from a 3.5 week vacation to NC. We arrived home Saturday evening and I'm just now getting a minute to post. Now I shouldn't be posting, I should be emptying the dishwasher, folding clothes, putting away the last few items from the trip that have no home and most of all working. But, here I am.

We drove from Texas to Pine Knoll Shores, NC in three days - 2 long days and 1 short day. It was amazing to drive through Texas and see all the creeks and rivers above their banks and for everything to be green. Usually by July everything is pretty brown in these parts. Everyone traveled well.

Our first week in NC was spent at the beach with Papa, Cici, Aunt Sherri and Zander. It was wonderful. The kids loved the ocean. Charlotte didn't remember it from her last trip two year ago but decided the ocean was awesome and in typical Charlotte style had no fear. She kept asking her Daddy to take her our further and further and loved riding the waves. Rehm enjoyed looking for sand fleas, fishing with Papa (they caught a small shark) and riding waves. He was definitely more cautious than Charlotte. Ruby and Eliza thought they should eat sand and shells. The loved the edge of the ocean and crawled around exploring.

While at the beach we went to play miniature golf, to the aquarium, to Fort Macon (for a civil war reenactment, no less - Rehm even got to train to be in the army), and to the town of Beaufort where Michael and I were married.

We happened to be at the beach for my birthday. Michael kept asking what I wanted to do to celebrate. I had no ideas but knew I needed to come up with something or he would just keep bugging me. I found a flyer for parasailing and decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. It was a lot of fun. It was not as thrilling as I expected it to be it was much more peaceful. I would definitely do it again sometime.

We dropped Michael at the airport on our way to my parents house. The kids and I stayed with them for almost two weeks. We had fun going to the children's museum, going to breakfast at Mickey's , visiting with Granny and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins, going to the park, sewing with Cici, making potholders and making picture frames with shells we collected at the beach.

More details to come later,
Jenn

PS If you can't see the slide show all the pictures can be seen here

Independence Day

One of Michael's biggest pet peeves is that most Americans refer to Independence Day as the Fourth of July! He thinks we are all too PC and will next be referring to Christmas as the Twenty-Fifth of December. Anyway that is all beside the point, but at our house it is Independence Day.

We had a big day planned. And had done lots of prep work for it. We had bought decorations for the bikes and stroller. I had made special hats for the big kids to wear. I was sure after so much planning ahead and work the festivities would all be canceled.

Luckily the rain held off for at least part of it. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood for a parade. After the parade there was snow cones, face painting, moonwalk, cakewalk and popcorn! Oh and I forgot to mention the all important Bike Decorating Contest! Rehm has been obsessed with it for weeks!


Rehm made it around the whole block on his bike with no help. Grandma pushed the twins in their stroller and Michael and I helped Charlotte on her big girl bike. The rain started about 15 minutes after the parade was done. There were a few downpours but mostly sprinkles. After about an hour we called it quits and headed for Grandma and Grandpa's. Rehm rode his bike the whole way - about 1/2 mile. He was so proud of himself.

Later in the day our dear friends came over with their two kids. We had a great time visiting and I enjoyed getting to hold a teeny baby - Liam is 8 weeks old.

The fireworks were unfortunately canceled but the good news is they were resceduled for Labor Day. So we will get to see them then.

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Independence Day as much as our family did.
Jenn

PS All of our Independence Day pictures can be seen here.

Bike Riding

Rehm has been practicing his bike riding for the last month or so. This weekend the training wheels came off for good. We officially have a big kid.





Charlotte of course could not be left behind and has upgraded from her little kid trike to a big kid bike with training wheels.




Now they will both be ready to ride in the Independence Day parade, assuming it isn't rained out. Unfortunately there is a 90% chance of rain. Of course we spent the afternoon decorating the kids bikes and stroller for the parade. And this is the first year we have actually been prepared for the parade and not been scrambling in the craft drawer at 10 pm the night before trying to find anything that can be used for a bike decoration. We even made special hats for tomorrow. Cross your fingers we get to use them.

Jenn

Sentences

Well I did something today I never thought I would do. I gave Rehm sentences to write! Yep, I resorted to the dreaded punishment of sentences! How can it be?

Well, it all started on the way home from the gym this morning. I informed Rehm that there was a good chance it would rain on Independence Day and we might not get to participate in the little neighborhood parade or watch fireworks. He lost it! He was furious and somehow he decided that it was all Charlotte's fault! He kept saying "It's all your fault Charlotte!" in a really disdainful voice. (He uses this tone with her frequently these days and we are trying our best to stop it but have yet to figure out how.)

Apparently in his mind because Charlotte has been praying that the rain stop God is going to have to make it rain on Independence Day. So it is all Charlotte's fault and she is making it rain on Independence Day. After several minutes of this I told him if I heard it was Charlotte's fault anymore he would get 10 minutes of Room Time each time he said it. After earning an hour of room time I resorted to sentences.

I sent him to room time with a notebook and pencil and this sentence. "Charlotte has done nothing wrong." He had to write it ten times before he could have any tv, computer, game, bike riding, etc privileges. At the end of his hour of room time he had written nothing. So we had lunch. Then he wrote five of his sentences and had a break where he entertained himself with various drawing and made up games.

Then Charlotte and I went outside to ride bikes and "Oh, Bummer" Rehm couldn't come out until he finished those dreaded sentences. We were outside for an hour. He spent the hour standing at the windows by the front door crying. "He understands, we don't like him he is just the worker man. He only gets to work." "Mom, you told me you would never leave me in the house alone!" "Mom, you and Charlotte don't like me!" He finished 3 more. We came in because the babies woke up from their naps. Now he is screaming "You don't appreciate me! I'm under appreciated!" "Charlotte and Mommy hate me!" Charlotte is watching TV. Rehm had to leave the room because "Oh, Bummer" he doesn't have TV privileges until he gets his sentences done.

I have explained to him multiple times that it is his choice to not be riding his bike, watching TV, etc. He has had plenty of time to complete the task but he keeps choosing to complain instead of actually doing it. Oh, bummer! Hopefully it will sink in soon.

I'm not sure that I've accomplished my original goal of having him talk nicer to Charlotte. But I think I've at least made him understand there are consequences to what he says and how he says it.

Charlotte has done nothing wrong!
Jenn

The Actual Birthday

First Year Highlights

Ruby and Eliza Claire had a great birthday. Ruby woke up early (5ish) - I guess she was just too excited about turning one to sleep. We opened presents and spent the a while playing with them. Then it was time to go grocery shopping. After shopping we had lunch at a pizza place with Michael. After lunch we came home for nap time and then had some friends over for a playdate and cake. After that it was time for dinner, bath and bed.

First Birhtday in Pictures

It is amazing how different the day was from a year ago. Then Michael and I got up at 5ish and headed to the hospital. About 7:00 they started getting us ready for the c-section. By 7:30 they were doing my spinal. Ruby arrived at 7:58 and Eliza Claire arrived at 7:59 am. Both were healthy and perfect. Within an hour they were both in recovery with me nursing. What a new experience. Rehm and Charlotte both ended up in the NICU and it was several hours before I got to see them. After lunch their big siblings got to come to the hospital to meet them. Wow how they've changed in a year.

Ruby currently weighs 21.5 lbs and is inches long. Eliza Claire weighs 23.5 lbs and is inches long.

Happy Birthday Girls,
Jenn

The Birthday Party

The party ended up being a small affair with us, Grandma and Grandpa and our dear friends the Weatherbys. We had a great time. Ruby and Eliza Claire clearly enjoyed being the center of attention. They both had great fun with their cakes though they attacked them in totally different ways. Ruby went for the big mess and annihilated her cake , Eliza Claire went for eating more but doing so very neatly and having half the cake saved for later.

You can see all the pictures here. Make sure to check out the cakes. A friend of ours made them and they were delicious and beautiful!

Happy Birthday Girls!
Jenn

Note to Self

Don't leave the room when children are playing with play dough.

I decided to be Super Cool Mommy and make play dough with the big kids this afternoon. Of course they enjoyed measuring, mixing and kneading. Once it was done they got out some play dough toys and were sitting happily playing. I decided to go upstairs and fold a load of laundry. A few minutes later Rehm came to tell me Charlotte had put some of her play dough in water. Still I wasn't too concerned. Of course I came downstairs to find huge blobs of wet, messy, gooey playdough, water dripping from the counter, and a girl with play dough smeared all down the front of her outfit.

So half of our new, just made play dough is now in the trash, a girl is in another set of clothes and they are getting ready to color. I wonder what excitement that will bring.

Ah the joys of summer,
Jenn

Play Dough Recipe (I like this one because it is a no cook recipe)

1 cup salt
2 cups sifted flour (I didn't sift it - I never do)
2 tablespoons alum
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water

Mix all ingredients together until they form a smooth dough. Food coloring can be added to the water before adding it to the mixture. More flour may be needed to get the right consistency. Can be stored in a zip top bag for several weeks.

Ironing

No, I'm not ironing. I don't do that. Well, at least not very often, really only for special occasions. I don't like ironing and always seem to burn myself in the process so I avoid it if at all possible.

Charlotte informed me when I took the picture that "the thing I'm holding is very HOT!"

Charlotte came in the kitchen today and ask for help setting up her ironing board (which is actually my play ironing board from when I was her age). We got it set up and in a few minutes she was back again. This time she needed help finding her "ar-on." It was imperative that we find out it immediately because today was Charlotte's only day to "ar-on" this week! She had to get all of her "ar-oning" done today because she wouldn't have time to "ar-on" again for another week.

A few minutes later she came out to tell Rehm she had "ar-oned" his vampire cape for him. And she just informed me that when our friend come over to play today they aren't allowed to wear any dress up clothes because she has already "ar-oned" them and doesn't want to get them messed up and she is done "ar-oning" for the day. Especially the Cinderella dress that she "ar-oned" that she wants to wear for Halloween.

I don't know where she gets this new found love of ironing from as I don't think she has ever in her life seen her mother do it.

Happy Ironing!
Jenn

PS She is now coloring and keeps telling me "I have to concentrate really hard on what I am doing now."

Typical Summer Day

What does a typical day look like around here? I'm not sure I know but here are some of our normal activities for our home days.

I invested in the Crainium Mega Fort. I found it on sale at TRU Memorial Day weekend. We love it! It is great and the kids can spend about an hour at a time playing with it. This is the day the decided to build a hot air balloon. After building it they came to ask me for a fan to make it blow up. We didn't have one so they had to pretend.


We also have craft/school time everyday. This consists of Rehm working on his summer work book and writing in his journal. Charlotte usually gets some paper and markers out at this time too.

We play with lots of dolls, dress up clothes, blocks and other building things as well.

Three days a week we go to the gym so I can work out and the kids can all play. Two days we go to swim lessons. We try to have at least one playdate each week as well.

I didn't forget the girls. They usually are crawling around playing with their toys are being entertained by their older siblings or they are asleep.

For the last couple of months Charlotte has been much more interested in letters and what sounds they make. She has been trying to spell her name for several weeks. This week she finally got it right will all the letters! Now I think she thinks "tt" is it's own letter in the alphabet but that is OK. Here she is showing off her new skill. Maybe in the next six months we will get her interested in actually writing letters.

Portraits

Today we had pictures done of all four kids. What was I thinking? I took them all by myself and with two outfits each! Overall it went well. Ruby and Eliza Claire both did fine for individual pictures but wanted nothing to do with group pictures. Hmmm, I wonder what that says about them. Finally at one point I handed them each a tag off of their dresses and told the photographer to just take the pictures whether they were crying or not. Here are a few of the pictures. More can be found here.

We did the pictures at Portrait Innovations. This is the second time I've had pictures done at one of their studios. I really like them. They took over 100 shots, we picked the ones we wanted and had all the prints by the time we walked around the building to Target and back.

Jenn

PS I should mention that Eliza Claire figured out clapping for the very first time in the middle of the shoot. What a smart girl to hit a milestone during professional pictures.

Swim Lessons

Rehm and Charlotte started swim lessons last week at Nitro Swim. They have had three lessons each and I am so impressed. The facility is amazing, except for the fact that it is not air conditioned. The instructors seem to be top notch. The kids are learning at a very fast pace. The focus is definitely on proper technique.

I'm not surprised we are impressed since Rehm had private lessons with the owner two years ago. I've been singing his praises ever since. He loves what he does and has a great method of teaching that really seems to click for my kids. I've been referring everyone to Coach Mike since the very first lesson.

Today Rehm swam the width of the pool on his back and on his stomach- only kicking, no arms (they were practicing kicking technique) and for the first time figured out how to breathe without stopping. This is a huge development for him. I was so proud of him.

Charlotte is learning to glide and float and is doing a great job as long as she remembers to hold her breath. Sometimes she forgets and it isn't pretty. Of course she chokes and gags but her poor instructor looks at her like shes grown a second head she carries on so.

The swim lessons are set up as stations. When a child finishes a station they get to get out of the pool and go ring this large gong set up to one side. Of course the kids love this. The first day of lessons Rehm finished the first station and got to ring the gong. After class he came up to me, really excited, and said "Mom, I got to hit the bong!" After I got done laughing I explained that it is a "GONG" not a bong! I don't need him going around town telling everyone he loves his swim lessons because he gets to "hit the bong." I don't think that is quite the kind of advertising they are looking for.

Happy Swimming
Jenn