Argggh!

Graham loves accessories and as of late, he loves hats.  It is pretty normal for him to come bounding into the kitchen with a construction hat on or a fireman's hat or animal ears, but today, he was all pirate.  Being a pirate means, to Graham, that you jump around, walk with your legs spread out, run from room to room and yell, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" at everyone and everything.  Sometimes a foam sword is brought out, sometimes his little plastic retractable knife, but usually, just a hat and a bit of attitude.

Last meet, last chance

Lucy has been kicking tail in all of her swim meets swimming "25 freestyle" and at practice she chooses freestyle every time.  You see, she has been avoiding the dreaded backstroke.  And for good reason.  For  the first few weeks she a bit like a drowning victim than a backstroker whenever she gave it a go.  There was even a time when her coach held her in midair in the middle of the pool so that she could practice her stroke without actually hitting the water since it seemed that the water was what holding her back. 
So for weeks she has adamently denied any requests to attempt backstroke in a meet.  And I wasn't pushing.  But then the last meet was coming up and the drive for more ribbons took over.  She loves ribbons and ribbons are a great motivating factor in her swimming. 
She was nervous as we arrived at the meet.  She was jabbering about nonsense and when we found her team, my normally cheerful and excited swimmer was clingy and whiny.  I reassured her and told her that she could skip backstroke if she wanted.
She went out and swam freestyle and did great.  It was a close race and she got beat out of first and second by only a touch.  It was a busy meet so we had lots of time before backstroke began.  We went over to the concession stand for pizza with friends and overheard a friend's parents also trying to talk their daughter into doing backstroke.  And Lucy stepped in.  "It's your last chance to try for the season.  Don't you want a backstroke ribbon?  I'm going to do it, maybe we could try together." 
Her friend was not convinced, but now Lucy had made a declaration and began getting excited about her upcoming race.
And then it was time for her heat.  Never having started a race in the pool, she took her cues from her fellow swimmers and curled herself up into a tiny start position.  And then she was off.  She led the entire way until she tired out toward the end and gave up her lead.  She finished third.  But there was no struggling, no swerving, no running into the lane line.  She popped out of the pool pleased as punch, so proud of her accomplishment and eager to tell everyone she saw.  Not a bad way to end the season and we are all so proud.
By the way, Lucy finished the season with only first, second and third finishes.  She is one of the youngest in her age group so this is phenomenal.  Better yet, she improved her freestyle time everytime she raced but once, so her "personal best" ribbon collection is impressive as well.  We have another week of practice and Lucy is already talking about winter swim so I think we may have found something we can stick with for a while!

Look Ma, no training wheels!

It was a summer goal of Lucy's to learn to ride her bike without training wheels.  She sees the kids at the pool cruising up on two wheels, looking very cool, and really wanted to be part of that world who just glide up, slip out of their bikes, leaving the wheels spinning in the grass, as they casually toss it aside and stroll into the pool. And now, she is part of that very biker-chic crowd. 
It took a bit of mind trickery.  We took the trainers off and then the bike sat untouched for days.  Then she finally got up the courage, as did I, to take her out into the court to practice.  It was not very fun that first day.  She crashed, cried, cried, crashed.  She was so worried about crashing that she wouldl crash because she would twist her bike into some contortion trying to show me that "her bike just does that!" But without her realizing it, I would let go and she would cruise past one house and then the other until she would suddenly realize that I was running beside her and twist her bike and crash.  If it weren't for all the gear she insisted upon- bike helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves, it would have been a bloody scene.  Eventually, the night ended up with her throwing a tantrum in the middle of the street because, she insisted, her bike was making her crash.
We skipped a few days.
Then Aunt Lauren, Max and Molly came into town, we had a gorgeous night that might prevent me from being a hot sweaty mess and I casually asked Lucy if she wanted to go out for a try.  She was happy and eager.  She loaded up on gear and we were all out the door, with many short little cheerleaders following.  They made sort of an obstacle course, everytime Lucy got going, Max or Molly would jump in front of her bike and she would swerve to avoid them.  Distracting? Yes, but it also made her determined to show them what she could do.  Finally, I ran with her as she got going and let go and then ran beside her.  She was crying and carrying on like it was the most miserable experience ever.  But she wanted to keep trying and eventually, the nerves died down and she got a feel for her balance and she was off.  She rode up and down the cul de sac, showing us how she can stop on her own, steer away from parked cars and distracting cousins and even, GASP!, smile while riding her bike.
Now it is all she wants to do.  She goes out and rides back and forth, faster and faster and only crashes when she forgets to slow down on a turn.  And yes, she has ridden to the pool with that cool crowd.  She went with a friend and thought it was the most awesome thing in the world.  We'll remind her of how cool riding your bike is when she is 16, and then I'm sure the crying and carrying on will pick up once more.

Are they here yet?

I know how it is when we are in the car heading to Kentucky and the kids ask "are we there yet?" but today it is all about Max and Molly's visit here. They left Kentucky at 7 am and by 9 am my kids were asking where they were. Harper threatened to only eat dinner and skip lunch "because they will be here if it is dinnertime!" Lucy keeps asking "how many minutes?" and Graham comes running to me and yelling "Max here!"
Let's just see how long until they all get into a brawl over a toy. But for now the anticipation of cousins is pure bliss.

Tantrum

Harper throws, uh, we'll call them tantrums. The thing is, they are very hilarious since they are always unexpected and she goes to great length to yell, as loudly as possible, something totally absurd. here are our favorites:
- heard as she went running down the hall to her bedroom "then I just won't eat any breakfast!"
- heard, while I was still sleeping as she was inches from my face, "then I just won't wear my fish shorts!"
- heard as she was playing in the basement, "I never get to see the dead cricket!"
Our dear Harper is very emotional these days and these outbursts always include a stern crossing of arms or frantic running away, tears and utter noncooperation. Good thing she's cute, and ridiculous.

Pretty Boy

A few months ago there was Internet hub bub about a JCrew ad that showed a mom painting her sons toenails.  I didn't hear about this until the day Graham showed up at school with painted blue toenails.  Oh, and a blue beaded necklace.  And his sisters' pink striped sunglasses.  And a ponytail in his hair. 
Folks asked me, "does Ian care?"  Does Ian care?  In short, no.  He doesn't care.  We are pretty sure that our head butting, wrestling, tackling big boy is pretty secure in his, uh, manhood.  He really just wants to be like his sisters, who he thinks are the greatest people on Earth.  When they put on jewelry, he puts on jewelry.  When they line up, assembly-line style, to have their hair done in the mornings, he lines up to. He used to settle for just a hair brushing.  Then he would ask for a hair barrette which could easily be swiped out of his hair without him even knowing.  But now we are on to the ponytail.  Not as easy to discreetly take out, but he likes it and that's all that matters for now.  Happy boy makes me a happy girl.  And Ian is just fine with that!

Let's hear it for the boy!

 Needing a diaper change, Graham happily went with Ian to the van for a quick clean up.  Upon their arrival back to our table at the pool, Graham was overheard chanting, "Grammy!  Grammy!  Grammy!" Not sure what we were cheering, but we all joined in, much to his delight.

What's in a name?

Heading to the pool yesterday, Harper told me that she was " a girl rolly poly who is a princess named Feelayla."  Please don't call her FAlayla.  I was quickly corrected with FEElayla.  Nevermind the fact that she said that she was a rolly poly bug princess, just get the name right, please!

Just like dad

Happy Father's Day!  And to all you dads out there, Graham is trying to take your job, so watch out!  He watches Ian very closely and then mimics everything he does.  Grab a baseball cap, check.  Grab your lawn mower, check.  Stop to pick up sticks, check.  Sit and have a cool drink with your dad, check.  Think your dad is the greatest, check!

Baby doll walks

Boy or girl, you love to take your babies, horses, rockets, or trucks for "baby doll" walks EVERY DAY if you live in this house.  Harper asks every day.  Every day.  Whether in the stroller, the scooter, the wagon or just dragging something behind you, it is all good.  Now it has gotten even better since Graham has discovered that our neighbor down the street has rasberry bushes and has welcomed us to the feast.  So now we walk down to his house, grab handfuls of rasberries and Graham eats a rasberry at every driveway we pass.  He now refers to them as "rasberry walks".  Add lightening bugs and you have a real evening on your hands!

Strawberries!

Our annual trip to the strawberry patch with the Butlers, one of our favorite spring traditions!

Lucy at Daisies

Lucy and Taylor at our Daisy field trip to Huntley Meadows.

Kyle and the slip n slide

What is better than your good buddy, popsicles, and a slip n slide, not much, if you are Lucy.

Time Trials

It's official, Lucy swam her first 25 freestyle race today at her swim team's time trials.  If she would stop looking up and smiling at me, she might have been even faster! One race today, they will build up to doing relays, backstroke and eventually the other strokes.  Good start, she earned a blue ribbon for her heat!  Once she got out of the pool, she ran up to her Pops and he said, "good job Lucy!"  to which she replied, "thanks, did I win?" 

And yes, once again Lucy is the smallest on the team so that means the coaches pick her up constantly.  In this instance,  she was held while the coaches led the team in cheers.

Kids and their music

Harper loves her new cd player and regularly plays music on it. At full volume.  It is something that I didn't think I would have to say for quite some time, but today I had to knock on Harper's door, which had been shut "for privacy" and "so Graham doesn't mess my room up" and ask her to turn her music down.  She was blaring her princess cd and singing full tilt, twirling in the middle of her room with her new bday bear.  It was cute, but I still made her turn down her music.  Better to start now!

Swim Team

Lucy has now finished her first week of her first swim team's practice. After much nerves and uncertainty about swimming in "11 feet deep", the first day they lined up the kids in order of height. This means Lucy was first in line, at the "11 feet deep" and was told to jump in.  Well, she decided to ease into the water rather than jump, but after that, it was full throttle swimming all the way down the pool.  She did terrrific and got to the other end, looked up at me from across the pool and flashed a thumbs up.  I couldn't have been prouder. 
Since that first day (we've only had 4 practices) she has overcome her fear of the depth of the water and has swam repeatedly down the lane without needing to hold the lane or wall once.  She takes breaths like a (semi) pro, smiles everytime she looks up and is eager for practice every day.  She said after practice on Thursday, "my body hurts".  45 minutes of practice, after school is a lot, but she is relishing it and is disappointed that she doesn't have practice on the weekends.  She even has a new team suit and loves that it "makes her swim like a dolphin".  We always did call her our little fish.

Obsessed

All of the kids, their friends and friends' little brothers are obsessed with the prospect of seeing our slithering friend. There are supposed sightings, screaming at the sight of every vine and twig in the yard and the conversation is one topic only: snake. Even Graham is on topic yelling periodically, "snake!"
I am ready for a new topic, maybe the mice will return thus giving the kids and the snake something to focus on.

Shirtless summer

Graham dies nOt like taking his shirt off. He battles each and every change of shirt. It doesn't matter if it is a pj shirt or a favorite shirt or just a plain old tshirt, he wants it on for good. Wet, covered with pizza sauce or mud, whatever he has on is a keeper. So the impending summer shirtless weather is not boding well for our little man. He threw a fit for 20 minutes today when I put swim trunks on him to play out in the baby pool. Until I shut the door to his room and forced him outside to witness his sisters splashing it up did he forget the current favorite turquoise colored polo shirt that now lie on his floor, awaiting his return to dry clothes.
Perhaps it has been the months of asking, "hey Graham, where's your situation?" or the constant squeezing of his muffin top or the calling him chubs, pudge, or piggy that have made him insecure. Or maybe it's just a demonstration of having some control for little man who just simply doesn't get much say around here, being the baby, one year old boy with two older sisters. Either way, let's hope that he gets over his shirt obsession- the pool opens in just days and he's just about the only boy up there that I think can turn heads!

Watch out woodpecker!

They're baaack! The kids and I just watched a very long black rat snake climb about 20-30 feet up the trunk of a tree in the backyard. It disappeared into a woodpecker hole. Not sure if I prefer them living on holes underground or up in the trees.

I love...

I love...
Lucy- and the fact that when she draws people in her pictures she always draws them naked, and then adds their clothes, just like they are getting dressed in the picture.
Graham- and the way he twists his whole upper body when he runs, leading with one arm so that he looks like a little tornado coming at you, and that he usually does a fair bit of destruction as well.
Harper- and that she honestly thinks that brown and pink striped shorts with a purple fairy tshirt go especially well with pink socks and dirty "red heart" tennis shoes, on the wrong feet, nonetheless, as well as a big white bow in her hair and the "super sparkly hair barrett" she regularly chooses, just to spice up her outfit.
Ian- and the fact that on the way to picking strawberries Lucy proclaimed that she wanted to be called "bandaid elbow girl" for the day and Ian remembered to refer to her as that for the remainder of the day.
Graham, and the fact that when he saw me light a scented candle the other night, he broke into "Happy Birthday" and tried to blow out the candle from across the room.
Harper, and the fact that she wants to keep her bucket of strawberries all to herself, just so she has her own supply.
Lucy, and the fact that when completing her P.E. "homework" of 50 jumps over a line, gets to number 43, loses count, and starts all over again.  And did this 3 times!