Pre-K

Sarah started Pre-K on August 20th. She goes Monday through Friday in the mornings. It's been such a fun experience for everyone.
Sarah loves having something to do, playing with her friends, and learning new things.
Dennis likes having a little passenger with him on the way to work. Sarah's school is on the way to the hospital, so Dennis takes her most mornings.
I love that she is happier and more cooperative. I also love having more one-on-one time with Emma, and a little more time with just "the little kids."
Emma is learning how to adjust to Sarah being missing for a couple hours every day. She has a whole different demeanor when she doesn't have Sarah to follow around. She's figuring out what she likes to do on her own.
Andrew is a little confused about it all, but he loves to follow me around when I'm cleaning up the house in the mornings.

Each Friday, Sarah's teacher sends home a homework folder with an assignment that is due the following week. Sarah gets so excited about that homework. She asks me almost every afternoon if we can do homework, and she's so depressed when there isn't any more to do. We spend a lot of time coloring and doing workbooks at home. She is a very happy girl and feels like she is big stuff!

Summertime Swimming

Finally, finally... for the first time we enrolled our kids in swim lessons this summer. Well, we actually only signed up the girls because both Emma and Andrew were in the age group for the mom & tot class, and I didn't think I could handle both of them in the water!

Emma had a blast when she wasn't didn't think about what was going on. For the first week, I swam with her each day and she would kick and blow bubbles while holding on with a death-grip around my neck. The second week, she wanted to be a big girl and play a little with Sarah's class. She mostly stayed on the steps, but had fun anyway. Her teacher's name was actually Sarah, and she really clung to her and loved her. It was sweet.

Sarah was in a pre-school aged class and had 2 other girls with her. She did pretty well considering we haven't taken our kids swimming more than once or twice a year. By the end of the two weeks, she was actually willing to go under the water all by herself. It doesn't sound like much, but it really was for her. I was a proud little mommy.

My parents were in town during some of the lessons. While I was busy taking pictures of the girls one night, I glanced over at my dad and Andrew and found this: my normally busy and mischievous little boy sitting calmly with his arms folded. He sat there for a good 5-10 minutes this way too! I couldn't believe it... not my boy! I asked my dad later if he threatened the kid or something, but he said that when Andrew was trying to get away he just said, "Andrew, behave." And, just like that... must be a grandpa's touch.

The week Emma swam without me, she spent a lot of time glued to her teacher, Sarah's side. It's been over a month since lessons, but Emma still asks me a couple times a week, "We going to sfim yessons aday?"


A couple weeks after lessons, our friends invited us to a neighboring city's pool one weekend, and we were so happy we went. It was a perfect pool for the kids. A huge section of it was like a beach where you could just walk down into the water. It didn't go deeper than 2 feet or so. It was nice that the kids didn't get nervous, and Dennis & I didn't have to worry much either.

This was Andrew's first experience in a pool, and he absolutely loved it. He would walk out into the water, invariably lose his balance and fall, and then when we frantically scrambled to get him up, he would just smile and start the whole thing over again. He is so brave about the water - and has absolutely none of the hesitation our girls usually have.
Truthfully, I have to say this was his second experience in a pool. One night at the end of swim lessons, we went to a friend's house that has an outdoor, underground pool in their backyard. Just the girls and I were swimming, but Andrew would come and sit at the top of the steps and splash around a little, then find something else fun to do, come back, and so forth. On about the third time around on his little cycle, he stood up after splashing as if he was going back to his toys. I was on the deck, and I looked down and saw him COMPLETELY submerged in the water with his head lower than his toes. I grabbed him upside down by his feet and Dennis rushed a towel to us. As I wrapped him up, Andrew realized he didn't get to swim and he started screaming at the top of his lungs. He wasn't hurt, scared, cold, or gasping for breath - he was furious that he didn't get to jump back in!!!

Emma found this little toy truck. Try as she might, she couldn't get the thing to float.

Sarah - what more can I say?

The three little cuties watching the "big boys" (Daddy's) jump off the high dive. It was quite the show.

Photo Op

Sometimes there is no reason to take a picture other than the fact that my kids are cute. Here are a few like that!

Sarah in her self-proclaimed "Hannah Montana hat!"

Next thing I know... she's got Andrew running into the kitchen dressed up as "Hannah."
He does look cute - I must say!

A pretty purple-lover and some pretty purple flowers on a Sunday afternoon.

Another attempt in vain to get our ball-of-fire, Emma, to look at the camera!

Who doesn't love a good over-sized pair of cowboy boots or fuzzy puppy slippers?

Running with the Indians

On August 8th, my mom and I ran in a 5K together while my parents were visiting. We went to "Indian Country" here in Oklahoma because it was the only 5K we could find that day. It was a lot of fun running with Joe Huntinghorse and Clay Smokingdog. (I'm not kidding... one of those names is for real. Can you guess which one?)

Running has become so great for me, even though I used to HATE running. It lifts my mood, makes me feel like I've accomplished something, and helps burn a few calories. The days that I miss my run, I really feel like something is missing.

This was my second 5K (I ran one in early July), and I improved my time by 4 1/2 minutes. I was sooo happy!! I'm hoping to run another 5K in October. We'll see how that one goes!

Here I am about half-way through the race... I like how it's blurry and it looks like I'm going REALLY fast. Very deceiving, isn't it?

My mom and I after the race. She took 1st in her age division and I took 2nd in my division. We will not discuss how many people were in our divisions...
I have to say that my mom is super cool, though. She is 58 years old and she's running in a 5K!? That's amazing... and she walks quite a few half-marathons and at least 1 whole marathon each year.

Cutie Sarah posing after the race... she's really starting to grasp the "pose!"

It looks like there are some deep secrets being shared here!

Crazy little Andrew waiting curb-side during the race - ready to cheer us on!

I Did It!

I started my own etsy shop this week. Now, some of you are asking... "What on earth is etsy?" It is a website where people can buy and sell handmade and homemade items.

After being somewhat obsessed with hooded towels (I won't give my kids a bath without one in hand), I started making the towels for friends and family when they had a new baby. It's really fun for me, and I'm hoping people out there like them.


So, I've become an official Etsy junkie... this will be my new project! Check me out at www.SeaBabies.etsy.com.

Bumps & Bruises

You know the saying, "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails... that's what little boys are made of"? Well, I think that it should be "Bruises and bumps and cute little rumps... that's what little boys are made of." Or something like that - I'm not the best rhymer in the world.

Andrew is a rough and tumble little guy! He seems to constantly be getting scraped up, and as soon as one heals, he'll get another. Here's a little taste of his last few weeks. Minutes before leaving for Iowa, Andrew came in from playing outside with one side of his face covered in dirt. After trying to wash it all off, I realized that under the dirt he had scraped up his face pretty good. No crying or complaining about it, either!


Then, no sooner did the scrapes start healing before he fell down some wooden deck steps and got his first black eye! After about 30 seconds of hollering, he was fine to laugh and play the rest of the night.


We took this picture about an hour after the fall, but the black eye got worse for a few days (I didn't get any pictures to prove it) before it got better.

Then... today came along. We went to the park this morning, and within 10 minutes of getting there he fell and bumped his left eye just below the eyebrow.


I felt bad for the little guy, and then 45 minutes later he climbed up a picnic bench and fell off half onto sand and half onto concrete. This is the beautiful result of that fall.


Every time he gets hurt, he cries or gets mad for about 30 seconds and he's done. He's tough, rough, and made of good stuff...

I have a feeling we're going to see many, many more injuries with this guy.

Knee High by the Fourth of July

Every 4th of July, we try to make a trip to Iowa for two major reasons. First off, Dennis's family has a fun little reunion where we get to see most of his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother. Also... Iowa is absolutely gorgeous in the summertime! It is green trees, green fields, red barns, and white farm houses, more green fields, and blue sky. Growing up in a desert myself and now living in a pretty dry climate, I just love to see the beauty of Iowa in the summertime. Oh yeah... and it marks the 7th anniversary of the week Dennis and I met, which could be part of the charm I'm sure. ("Knee High by the Fourth of July" is actually something farmers used to say about the height of the corn crop at this time. The funny thing is that every year I've seen it, the corn is well over 6 feet tall at this point).

Some quality time on the farm - Dennis and his dad and brothers got one of the old tractors out (the 520 for you tractor experts) to take a few spins around the yard. Our kids loved it, and Sarah even drove (or steered, depending on your perspective).

Corey Ned & Andrew Ned on the tractor - these little boys are only 5 months apart and they both carry their grandpa's name. Best buds for life....

I couldn't pass up posting these pictures. It is such a funny power struggle between these two. Corey is older and weighs a lot more, but Andrew really wasn't intimidated. They were both laughing and having a great time through it all.

Emma enjoyed taking it easy whether it was blowing bubbles in the shade, dropping leaves in the creek, or riding the tractor with Daddy.

Just a little boy trying to take on the world...

A couple months ago, my mom and I decided we were going to run a 5K together when my parents come to visit in August. I've always hated running, but now it's fun and I can honestly say I enjoy it. The 5K in August was supposed to be my first one ever. But... when we were in Iowa, one of the little towns around us had a 5K run and I thought it would be a good test. I called every one of my sisters-in-law to get someone to run with me. With all the guilt and peer pressure, I finally got one of them to cave. Thanks, Melanie!

Here we are about halfway through the race. This course was nuts - it was through all the neighborhoods of the town and it was very hilly. The coordinator of the race told us that "if you're not running uphill, you're running downhill!" Very funny. Hopefully my next 5K won't be this hilly!

This "Hurkey the Hawk" was outside the mall playground, and Emma just loved it. She kept giving it hugs and calling it Daddy bird, so I had to take a picture.

Emma, Caleb, Sarah, and Sammie. These two are Corey's older siblings and also Melanie's children. They sure love each other.