2 Little Starfish!

 

I am so proud of these two little ones!  They worked so hard the last couple of months and are now great little swimmers!  Luke started out with a  big fear of putting his face in the water, but now he will swim face in, legs kicking, and going so fast.  He swims a little ways, then flips over to do a starfish (float on his back), and then flips back to his stomach to swim some more.  I was confident he would learn to kind of swim, but I must admit I didn't expect him to be swimming so well already!  Hannah had no idea what she was in for when we started this journey.  She never enjoyed her lessons, but by the end she would cry while the teacher held her, but then stop crying as soon as she was put in the water.  It was like she focused on what she was doing while she swam, but then as soon as she was safe in the teacher's arms she began crying again.  I am beyond amazed by how well she is doing, I know we still have to watch her closely by the pool, but I feel so much safer knowing that if she falls in, she can swim to the surface, flip herself to her back and float. 

 

I am excited for many more fun days of swimming in the pool with these two this summer...love them!

4th of July 2013

What a fun 4th of July!  We love keeping it low key on the 4th, just swimming, good food, best friends, and family. This year it was great, and we had the added fun of fireworks!  In the past the boys were too scared of fireworks to even watch them, much less set off our own.  A few days before Isaac told me he really wanted to get some and do our own.  I was skeptical, but he was persistent.  So Carl took the boys and they bought a few fun ones, all afternoon and evening Isaac asked when we could do them.  Although they were a little nervous with the big ones, they did great overall!  Isaac even helped light quite a few of them.  It was fun watching my boys, Isaac seemed so big!  (tear)  We are SO thankful for our family and friends, and the sweet memories that were made that day.

Father's Day 2013

My kids and I are so blessed to have 4 amazing men in our lives to call, Dad, Daddy, Opa, Gumby, and Grandpa.  This year we celebrated Carl on Father's Day along with his dad, Gumby.  We started the day with donuts for breakfast and then the morning at church.  After church we headed out to Pasadena to celebrate Gumby and Grandpa.  It was a special time with family, it was so good to see the extended family out there.  We are so thankful for the loving and supportive family God has given us.  My favorite moment from that day was as Grandpa was getting ready to leave, Hannah and I were talking to him, and she just randomly leaned over to kiss him.  He was so happy, then she did it again!  It was completely on her own, no prompting from me...she's never done that before and hasn't done it since.  He just smiled so big and said, "She is such a delight!"  It's a moment I'll always remember.

Unfortunately, my dad/Opa was in Holland on Father's Day, so we didn't get to celebrate with him that day, but he was not far from our hearts and minds.  We sent him the picture from above, and Isaac filled out a sweet questionaire for him.  We missed him so much, but were sure to share our love with him once he returned.

I am so thankful that Carl has so many men in his life to look up to and learn from; I know that he is the father he is today because of these amazing men surrounding him.  I love all of these men so much, and I hope they always know how much they mean to me and the kids!