Busy, Busy Weekend!

When it rains, it pours. We were invited to 2 birthday parties, a barbecue, and my kid's school had a family picnic. We made it to all except one birthday party, but we were exhausted!

Regan's Birthday

Our little princess wanted a rock climbing party for her birthday this year. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I think she's tired of swim parties. : ). It was a very successful, popular party. All of the kids seemed to have fun. I found a uniform that matches her school uniform for her American Girl Doll. She was very excited about that!

School

I, once again, will not be in the running for mother of the year. A mom of grown children once told me that being mom of the year is overrated, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. : ). With that said, I did not take first day of school pictures this year. My only excuse with Regan is that she leaves really early and my brain doesn't function that early. I don't know what my excuse with Addison is.

Regan is loving school, of course. Her teacher seems nice and she has a really sweet class. And for the first time since we've been at the school her class is balanced with boys and girls. Up until now the classes have been boy heavy, which has been hard at times.

I'm room mom for Regan's class this year, which came as a shock to me. Unlike most schools, who are begging for volunteers, there are an inordinate amount of super moms who volunteer for everything and are room moms every year at my children's school. Up until now, I've been content to let them be super moms and I've sent the juice boxes. My motto has been I'm a good Indian and it's hard to find good Indians. Everyone can't be a chief. So imagine my surprise when I got the call to be chief. So far it hasn't been bad. Seeing as I am nosy by nature, I like being in the know on things. We'll see how it goes. I have three assistant room moms, so I think it will be okay. To put it all in perspective, Addison's class has five room moms.

For the first time ever Addison is loving school, too. She never liked school when she was at her last school. She would tell me every morning that she didn't like school and didn't want to go. I just thought that you don't get lucky enough to have two children who love school. Now I think she got unlucky with her teachers and was bored. There is a lot of commotion at her new school and I think she likes that. She tells us that her favorite is the sensory table. There is also another little girl in her class who has glasses and she and Addison have become fast friends.

Addison is most excited that there is an after school class for cooking. The after school classes start next week and she asks me every day when her class starts. Regan is taking the pottery class, of course.

Weekend Fun

Ever since Addison got glasses Regan has been dying for a pair. She thinks the cutest thing is glasses, freckles and braces. It has been somewhat helpful, because anytime Addison complains about her glasses Regan tells her how cute she is. So imagine her delight when she found fake glasses at Gymboree this weekend! She has been wearing them ever since.

We had a nice weekend in New Orleans. Matt has been working a lot lately and wanted to get away for the weekend. We went to the Northshore on Saturday afternoon and spent the afternoon with his brother's family. We took the kids to the children's museum in Hammond which is about the size of our children's museum. The kids had fun playing with their cousins, as always. I wanted to get a picture of all of the kids, but forgot.

Regan is Reading!!

Regan has been reading for a while now, but mostly only when it was required of her by me or school. But she recently checked out her American Girl Doll, Kit's, books on tape and was reading along with the recording. She then decided to read a Junie B. Jones book that Aunt Carla had given us a long time ago. I'm not a huge fan of Junie B. Jones. She's very Sassy. But I decided that as long as Regan knows that she's not aloud to talk like that and as long as I don't have to read them, it's okay with me. My mom bought her some and I got some from the library and she has read seven, so far. Today she read her first book all in one sitting. I'm so proud! I've always wanted my children to love reading!

Play Dates

One thing that we've done differently this summer is have lots of play dates. A definite downside of private school is that you don't necessarily go to school with the kids in your neighborhood. So you have to schedule play time for your kids. This is a stark contrast to how I grew up. I always played with whoever lived closest to me and they also went to school with me. It started with play group, which I was fine with because I was with my kids. But then it turned into drop your kid off, which I was less okay with because I didn't know the parents very well. But then I realized it's good for kids to get to know each other outside of the school setting. No one tells you how hard this parenting business is. The kids have fun playing with their friends. Addison thinks that she is seven, so we mostly had play dates with Regan's friends. They were kind enough to let her play. I don't know what Addison's going to do when she gets to pre-k4. She definitely doesn't think of herself as a four year old.

Trip to my Mom's house

The girl's went to my Mom's house for a week after the swim meet. Matt and I missed them a lot while they were gone, but they had fun. The most exciting thing for Matt and I was that we could turn the tv on before 7:30 (their bedtime). It was also nice to go out to dinner without the added expense of a babysitter. I now know that when my kids are grown and gone, my house will stay clean and I will rarely (if ever) cook. And we will stay home a lot and watch tv. : )

8 & Under Regionals

Clerk of Course

Fueling Up

Regan's team won 8 & Under Regionals again! Of course, it helps that we have the largest team. But we also have some very good swimmers. Regan didn't do as well as we had hoped, but she still did really well. We think she is built for endurance not speed (much like her mommy). She has excellent technique, but she's not very strong. Strength will come. Our goal right now is to keep her liking it.

Her results were:

6 under 25 Yard Freestyle, 24:41, 5th overall
6 & under 25 Yard Backstroke, 32:78, 13th overall
7 & under 100 Yard IM, 2:27:18, 23rd overall
7 & under 100 Yard Freestyle Relay, 1:52:59, 2nd overall
6 & under 25 Yard Breaststroke, 32:42, 5th overall
6 & under 25 Yard Butterfly, 33:49, 6th overall
7 & under 50 Yard Freestyle, 34th overall
100 Yard Medley Relay

Not sure on the times for the last two. I'll try to find out and get back to you. : )
As you can see she swam A LOT. It's over two days, but still! It's very impressive to me that they can swim that much at their age.

This was her last time swimming in the 6 & Under age group. She's now going to be at the bottom of the age group again. Which will be good for her, because she will start winning her heats again. Which is all they really care about at this age.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery Shopping with the both of the kids can be challenging. I think it is boring for them and so they find ways to entertain themselves that are not entertaining to me. It's fine if I just have one, but put them together and it can be a little chaotic. Fortunately we have discovered that the Starbucks puts chocolate milk in mini coffee cups, which they think is the best thing ever. It's not foolproof, but it does keep them entertained for a little bit.

Kid's eat for cheap and face painting

We went to dinner last night at Izzo's Illegal Burrito. On Mondays kids eat for 99 cents and they have face painting. It doesn't get much better than that!

Best Big Sister

I really don't know if Addison could have a better big sister. They have their moments and Regan will definitely push Addison's buttons when she is in a mood. But she watches out for her and is nurturing to her. I don't even know how to explain what a good big sister she is. She just is and I'm thankful.

Dallas Trip (American Girl Place)

Lunch

Exhausted after a full day!

Okay, so the real reason we went to Dallas was to go to the American Girl Place. I think Matt and I like it as much as the girls (he's a really good dad). I know I do! I'm worse than them. I want to buy everything in the store, only the cost holds me back. And even then.... I know that it is high quality stuff (the doll stuff anyway, the little girl stuff doesn't seem to be as good a quality), because my girls love to play with my cousins American Girl stuff when we are at one of my aunt's houses. We did mostly make them spend their own money (because they still had a lot left over from birthday and Christmas and Regan is about to have another birthday). The big thing that they wanted was matching pajamas for Kit and Ruthie, which they bought. There was a little drama, because Addison's Ruthie pajamas had to be ordered. I payed for Kaylee and Ruthie to have their hair done (Kaylee was in major need). And I had to buy them a hat, mittens and gloves for their trips up north this fall and winter. We couldn't have them with bare heads. They might catch cold! Ruthie also got some glasses to match Addison's. It was the highlight of the trip and I think the girls have worn the matching pajamas every night since.

Dallas Trip (Great Wolf Lodge)

You know you're on vacation when mommy lets you order a milkshake with your dinner.

Story time

When she finished she said "I did it without Mommie's help!!"

Who can argue with a free popsicle on a hot (and I mean hot!!) day

We decided to do something a little different for vacation this year. As you probably already know, we usually go to the beach in the summer. But we have had one to many summers of being at the beach and our children wanting to be at the pool the whole time. And they think that all beaches have pools. I think that Regan would play in the sand if that was all there was, but Addison has very little love for sand. She has definitely improved from when she was a baby, but it's still not her idea of fun. That is not to say that we won't go back to the beach next year, but we decided to try something different this year. Variety is the spice of life, right? So we went to Great Wolf Lodge. It's a resort with a water park inside. It was fun for the kids, although we were probably there one day to long. On the last day Regan said she was tired of the water, which are words that never pass my children's lips. I think it will be more fun when they get older. I think we'll definitely go back in a few years, but we'll try to go with another family. Addison was to young to do most of the stuff, which was fine with her because she has no interest in big water slides. She says they'll make her dizzy. She even does a motion with her body to emphasize her point. She does, however, enjoy a good lazy river. She particularly liked the one at this place because she could stand up in it. She and Regan also really liked the wave pool. Addison loved diving into the waves, which gives me hope for the future in regards to the beach. Poor Regan was forced to ride the slides with Matt and then with me. She was a good sport about it but by the end she told Matt that she didn't want everything she did to be on a slide. I particularly liked riding with Regan, because while I was whoo hooing she was providing a running commentary on what was coming next. We only used the outdoor pool once, because it was unbearably hot. The ground literally burned the skin off your feet and I had to completely cover the chair to be able to lay on it. Which makes me think next time we'll go in the colder months. The lifeguards do walk around frequently outside and give out free Popsicles, but that still didn't make it appealing for the kids.

I couldn't help but compare this water park with the water parks that I went to as a kid. This one was highly regulated with lifeguards and red/green lights to let you go when it was safe. I know there were lifeguards at the one that my cousins and I went to, but I don't remember ever seeing them. There were definitely no red/green lights. We would purposefully load up together and fall on top of one another. Much more fun than the regulated way, but not as safe. Ah the good ole days!

Swimming Update

Matt looked up the final results for the last swim meet that Regan did. She was the fastest 6 year old in the butterfly. She was the second fastest 6 year old in the breast stroke. I guess she likes the hard strokes best.

Addison continues to make the lifeguards at the pool nervous. She's so tiny that when she jumps in the pool I see the lifeguards grab their flotation device and look like they're planning to jump in to save her. Addison is also a very friendly and outgoing kid that lately is making friends everywhere she goes. A grandpa came up to me at the pool and told me that she was playing with his granddaughter and how much they enjoyed her and couldn't get over how well she swims. I think he was ready to sign his granddaughter up for swim team.

Happenings and the Fourth

We have had a busy, busy summer so far. The first few weeks were a little to busy for my liking, but we have since settled into a good routine. I'm practicing tennis with my new team and playing in a summer league. Regan is enjoying her piano lessons and they are both still doing swim team. In-between we are meeting friends at the pool and having lots of play dates. I think we've struck a good balance.

We had a really good Fourth of July weekend. On the third we went to a local firework show. They had pony rides and face paintings. For the first time ever Regan didn't want to get her face painted. She said she was to hot. Which was fine with me, because the lines were long. I think the line was a deterrent for Addison. She barely made it in the line for the pony. We set up our chairs early and had an excellent view for the firework show. Afterwards they had a dance party with their friend while we waited for the traffic to die down.

On the fourth we cleaned and organized the girl's room and the playroom. That night we went to dinner as a family at one of my kid's favorite restaurants, Carrabas. They call it the dough place, because they give them dough to play with. Before we even sat down Addison said to the hostess "Can we get some dough, please.". I also got the nicest note I've ever received from a complete stranger.

Please ignore my foot in the picture.

Weekend in New Orleans

Lunch with the Fam

We have had a very nice weekend in New Orleans.

We came on Thursday, because Regan had a swim meet at St. Martin's on Friday evening. We had a successful afternoon family nap which was good for Regan, because the swim meet wasn't over until well past her bed time. I think Addison actually naps better by herself, but we all have to make sacrifices. : ). Regan had a great swim meet. Her dives have improved immensely! She is diving out and streamlining past the flags which gives her an advantage. Right before her breast stroke swim she told me that you don't kick during your streamline for breast stroke. She was telling me, but it was like she was verifying. I told her that she should do whatever her coaches tell her to do, because I don't know how to swim breast stroke. She won her heat in butterfly and swam a personal best in free style and butterfly. In this swim meet she was swimming against 7 and 8 year olds. We are really looking forward to her swim meet in July when she will only be competing against 6 year olds.

After the swim meet we went over to my cousin's house for pizza and beer while granny babysat (thanks granny). We had fun, as always. I had planned to go to lunch with Meredith by myself the next day, but when the girls heard that Meredith was here they wanted to go.... So we all went and then Meredith and I went to coffee afterwards. : ). I'm amazed Meredith got to eat at all, because the girls wanted to sit next to her and I'm not sure that they stopped talking the entire lunch. Especially Addison. Meredith said that at one point Regan said to her "I like to do art. What are your talents?"

We had a wedding on Saturday for one of Matt's former co-workers and granny babysat again (thanks again granny :)). We met a very nice couple that the wife of that couple is still in public accounting. We were reminded, as we always are, of how glad we are that Matt is no longer in public accounting. It's great experience, but a very hard life. We are glad we got that out of the way before kids.

Future Foodie

Addison has been interested in food and cooking since birth, it seems. When she was a baby she would stand at the stove and "help" me make her egg. Today while I was cooking dinner, she pulled up a chair and was watching me cook and asking questions. Eventually, she wanted in on the action and helped put in ingredients and stirred.

Library

Computer Time

Three weeks into summer and we finally made it to the library and signed up for the summer reading program.

Conversation of the Day (yesterday)

Yesterday we were driving home from swim practice and Regan started to ask me about when Matt and I first met.

Regan: Mommy did you and Daddy meet at UNO?
Me: yes
Regan: How old were you when you first met?
Me: I was 22 and Daddy was 20
Regan: Did you have play dates together?
Me: No. We went on dates to restaurants.
Regan: And you decided to become best friends?
Me: Yes.

Fun Weekend

Nail Salon

Baseball Game

Some of the Phil Manning's came to visit this weekend. The boys took the kids to a baseball game while I went to get a mani-pedi. After the game we had a dance party that was both hilarious and fun. Regan had a salon birthday on Saturday. They were picked up in a limo and taken to the little girl's house for facials and nails. It was cute and right up Regan's alley! Saturday Matt and I had a party which required a lazy Sunday. We went over for dinner to our Scottish friend's house. His wife and kid's are in Scotland for the summer and we have had him over a few times and he wanted to return the favor. Even though Regan and Addison are missing their friends, they were perfectly happy to play with their toys without them.

Finally this week we start our low key (for us) summer. We will still be on the go with swim team, piano and my tennis. But it's much more laid back than camp or school.