Summer Vacation - Week 2

Another busy week, which is good for mommy and the kids.  Emma and Seth had swim lessons this week.  They both did really well.  Several months ago when I signed them up I asked Jacob if he wanted to take them also.  He said no, because he already knows how to swim.  Well, all week he was wishing he had signed up.  He did get to swim this week though.  Friday he went with a friend and his family to a big pool in our area.  On the same day I took the other three kids to a different, somewhat smaller, easier for me to manage pool.  All of the kids are doing really well in the pool.  We also got to swim today at Sean's parents pool in their neighborhood.

The kids started doing school work this week also, I know I am a mean mom.  They only have to do a few things and I try to make it fun.  So far so good.  On Thursday we made a "summer chain". (I took a picture but do not have it with me, I will try to remember to post it later.)  There is a chain for each day of the summer.  We wrote different things we have planned this summer on the links.  Each day they get to take a link off.  The last link is the "first day of school".  It was a fun little project for the kids.

Tuesday we went into Leesburg and spent the evening with my good friend Jen and her family.  The kids really enjoy having them closer and getting to see them more ofter.  They have a new baby, 3 months old, Emma and Seth love to hold little Spencer.

Thursday Sean took the older three to the movies to see Shrek, Forever After.  They all enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed having an evening with only Lucy.

Today we headed to Sean's parents for the weekend.  The kids and I are heading to South Carolina tomorrow morning to visit my mom for a week.  I am not looking forward to an eight hour drive alone but I know it will be fun.  We will come home next Saturday night.

Free Food

Oh what do you do in the summer time....Emma and Seth decided they were going to have a "Food Stand" today.  They had a good time going in the cabinet and fridge finding things to put in the stand.  All of the them are enjoying eating everything that the food stand has to offer.  Emma was amazed that I even let them put some candy in it (see I am nice sometimes).

And one more makes three....

On Saturday afternoon Jacob lost a tooth.  Last summer he lost the two bottom middle.  It is hard to tell from the picture but it is the bottom left tooth.  He had been working on getting it out for several days.  Sean tried one night but still could not get it out.  He was at a birthday party Saturday, eating snow cones and cotton candy.  He did not know he lost his tooth at first.  He just thought it was a piece of ice from the snow cone.  He put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy brought him a dollar.

Summer Vacation Week 1

Let's see if I can make it all the way through the summer keeping the blog up to date this year.  :-)  Emma's last day of school was Thursday, June 3rd and Jacob's was Friday, June 4th.  Last week was our first full week of summer vacation and we stayed busy.  It was also Sean's first week on his new schedule which is Monday - Friday 7:30am-4:00pm.  He has never been on a "normal' schedule since we have been married.  I am really looking forward to having him home every evening for dinner but more having him home every Saturday also. 

On Monday and Wednesday Emma had her last two gymnastics classes.  She really enjoyed her class.  She is trying to decide if she wants to do a dance class or be a cheer leader in the fall.  She loves anything that is girly.  I am not sure where she got that from.  On Tuesday we had a very busy day.  In the morning we meet some friends at the park.  It is a new park for my kids, which is always nice, and there are never any other kids there, except when we invite our friends to join us.  Jacob is going to continue to take piano lessons over the summer.  His wonderful teacher has a pool at her house and told us to plan on swimming every Tuesday when he has his lesson, so we did.  Jacob had his piano lesson then we swam until about 4pm.  We came home, just in time to make dinner and get Jacob ready for his baseball game.  He also had a game Saturday and his last one is this coming Wednesday.

We had to have new brakes put on our van so Thursday the kids and I spent the day at home which was a nice break from running around.

We started babysit swapping with two other families so that we can get to the temple monthly.  We took the first turn to have all the kids.  So, Friday night we had 12 kids at our house while their parents went to the temple.  Our kids were very excited to have all of their friends over.  The night went really well.  We played games, watched movies, caught fireflies, played tag and many other fun things.  About 10pm, when things were winding down I told Sean, "I thought that went well."  To which he replied, "Yeah, but I do not want to do it again tomorrow."  It was a late night but the kids made some great memories.

Saturday was going to yard sales and working the baseball concession stand for mommy, yard work for daddy and birthday parties and   baseball games for the kids.

Girls Night

At the end of May our church had a Father/Son campout.  (I did not get any pictures of the boys before they left)  So, daddy took both boys to camp in the woods.  They had s'mores and slept in a tent, what could be better. 

While the boys were away the girls played.  Emma, Lucy and I went to Panera for dinner.  After dinner we headed to get some ice cream.  Then we went over to a friends house for a girls night.  We stay out until about 9pm.  Once we got home I put Lucy to bed and the pampering began.  I did Emma's hair.  She had never slept in curlers before.  She said it was not that bad.  We also painted our finger and toe nails.  I loved spending some time with just my girls.

Daddy/Daughter and Donuts

Emma's preschool had a "Donuts with Dad' at the end of May.  Emma was very excited for her daddy to come to school with her.  They enjoyed donuts and milk.  The kids also sang the dad's a couple of songs.  They both had a lot of fun.