Diving Board

I forgot to talk about this yesterday but it will probably end up long anyway as I have a tendency of over informing! :)

There are two female lifegaurds at our pool that have taken to our kids especially Olivia (one of them (Lauren) looks like she could be Liv's older sister...last year Lauren brought in some photos of herself at Liv's age & we were all amazed at how much they looked alike). Anyway (see I told over informing), last summer they worked really hard with Olivia, one-on-one, to get her to go off the diving board (with a life jacket on & them in the pool catching her) because she was afraid of it...this totally blows my mind that she's afraid because she really isn't afraid of much - she's the child that asked me at 3yrs. old when she could start rock climbing! So now that it's a year later we are having to start back at square one with her. Lauren starts with her just jumping in the deep end, which isn't as big of a deal as that crazy diving board. Yesterday, the girls got her to finally go off the board but only once. Once kids accomplish this feat there is always lots of cheering and hoopla from those that are witness to it (Liv was one of a few to tackle this feat yesterday).

Bella was in the baby pool while this was taking place and heard all the cheers as well as doing some cheering for them and must have been inspired. She turns to me and says I want to do it too. I was shocked & nervous but said ok. So I suited her up in a life jacket and took her over to Lauren. Lauren walked her to the end of the board and lowered her in...at this point she was like this is not big deal until she was in the water. The life jacket that I put on her made her float right to her back and it scared her because she was stuck. Bail was in waiting for her so she scooped her up and brought her to me. I had no idea that that jacket would do that...oops. In the back of my head I have the saying "if you fall off the horse you've gotta get back on" so I say let's try it again with a different one, and she wanted nothing to do with that. Bad mom that I am, I force her into a different jacket (she's crying & fighting me but I do win as always :)) and get in the shallower water with her so she can see that that jacket works better for her. Later in the day when she's back in the kiddie pool w/o the life jacket she says, "I want to do it again mom". To which I reply, "let's wait until tomorrow because Lauren went home". Hopefully she'll try it again!

*Gosh it's a good thing I didn't post this lengthy word spew yesterday...that post would have taken up the whole page!

**Bail & Nico had their first swim meet tonight vs. Wilson's. I will let you know the results tomorrow, but they did very well...I was very proud!!!

***Liv was able to have her last game tonight and from what I hear she did a great job and she said she had fun! She also got her medal tonight! --Thanks Catons for helping us out tonight!!!!

Run Down of the Past Week

Not too much exciting has been going on but since I haven't posted in a couple of days I'll give you a rundown from the last week.

Wednesday, 6/4: Bailey & Nico had their 1st swim team practice @ 9am and then we hung out at the pool until about 3PM. Then that evening we went to Olivia's t-Ball game. She loves playing & does really well...several parents have paid compliments on her skills of the game for her age & on how fast she is!!

Thursday, 6/5: Bail had swim team practice at 8am & Nico had it @ 9am. Then the girls and I met up with the kids at 10am and stayed again until about 3ish. Then that evening we went to go visit dad & Andy at football camp.

Friday, 6/6: We were able to sleep in as it was raining and swim practice was cancelled. :<) We ran some errands for Don for camp & picked up snacks for Nico's baseball game (I was snack mom that night). Came home to relax before his game only to find out it was cancelled yet again (5th game this season...not to mention the numerous practices that were cancelled prior to the season)...the fields were apparently to wet from the morning rain. Anyway, we were able to go see dad at camp...the kids like to go visit camp on Friday night because the campers get to scrimmage in the stadium under the lights. Saturday, 6/7:

• Nico went with his friend Carson & some other boys to celebrate Carson's birthday (movie - You Don't Mess With the Zohan & sleepover),

• Bailey had her friend Kylie come over.
  
• Liv went to see Kung Fu Panda with her friend Brett and to play at the park. Dad was at camp so we called him on our way to the movie to see how his day was going & he asked about ours. I told him that we were on our way to the theater so Liv could go w/Brett. He replies with, "Is this her 1st date? If so he better be paying for her?!" Liv comes back with, "Dad, it's not a date...I'm too young!" - too cute!
• Poor little Bella was so sad because all of the kids had play dates except her. So I suggested that we call the Catons to see if Kade could play with her at the pool.
  
• Once Liv got home from her "date" we all loaded up, even dad, and met the Catons at the pool.

Sunday, 6/8: Don and I did yard work pretty much all day. Then at 4:30 all the boys headed to work to fit our Freshman players and the girls headed to the pool with the Catons.

Monday, 6/9: We woke up again to rain so swim team practices were cancelled again as well as Nico's last game of the season (aggh...that's #6) & Liv's t-ball game. So we just made a relaxation day and ordered Macaroni Grill for dinner.

Tuesday, 6/10: The kids had swim team practice this morning and then the girls and I met them at the pool @ 10am. We stayed at the pool until about 1ish and then we came home to say goodbye to dad & Andy...the EQ staff all headed out today to go to the AEMA convention in Dallas. The kids & I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and then we had to leave at 6PM so Bailey could attend her 1st jazz class tonight at CPAC (btw she said she had a good time). And I had to go to the annual Ridgefield Park Association mtg tonight at 7PM at a neighbors house...which leads me to the fact that I should not be allowed to go to anymore meetings of any kind!!! Apparently, I'm lacking the "NO" gene when it comes to this stuff because yet again I'm now on another 2 committees...WTH is my problem?!?!

Crazy!!

Tell me this, why would anyone want to pay over a thousand dollars for a trip, plus expenses, only to have to work for 16 plus hours a day with no pay in freakin' hot, muggy weather? Well that is what Andy, aka "the Kraut", has been doing every spring for the past three years! Not my kind of vacation...if I'm paying that kind of money it better involve me sitting on my arse with a cold one in hand!!!

All I have to say is CRAZY!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes #9

We are sitting in Don's office because the football camp has just ended for the evening, and we are waiting for Don to wrap it so we can go home. Bella is playing with some of the orange cones that they use for drills. She sits down in a chair in Don's office, looks at me with the sweetest face and in the sweetest voice says, "Mom, I'd appreciate if we could take these home!" She wanted to be able to take the stack of cones in her lap home. I wish I had that one on video (Bail & I both said "ohh" when she said it). It was so precious that it made it very hard for me to tell her no, but I had to as the guys will need them in the morning.

*One side note...we are still working on potty training as she is very strong willed, and tonight we have made progress. Bella used the potty before we left for camp, and when we were on the field she said that she had to go potty. She said she had to wait until we got home because she didn't want to get dropped in the toilet because she didn't have her potty seat. We got back to his office about a half hour later and she said she had to go again. I promised her that I would hold her and not drop her, so she went. Then about an hour later she said she had to go again and went with dad. Maybe we are nearing the end of diapers...keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Great News!!!

I'm so excited to share this news with all of you that have prayed for Kari: my brother-in-law, Dan, called last night to inform of us of Kari's latest results from her last tests. I'm very happy to report that her blood markers are all normal...normal like a healthy person!!! This is so exciting!!! Way to go Kari, I think it's safe to say that your diet and lifestyle change has paid off!

We Love You!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes #8

It is 11:15PM and it as been lightning & thundering for a little while now. Bella is not sleeping yet and keeps saying that she is afraid of the light. Well, she just yelled down and said, "mom, can you call the neighbors and ask them to turn off the lights?" "Mom, and can you ask them to stop the drums?"

I just love the things that they come up with...too cute!!

*Just in case you didn't get it, she was referring to the thunder & lightning!

Locks of Love

Today Bailey was finally able to get her hair cut. For those of you that don't know, she has been growing her hair out for about two years and it was finally long enough to be cut for Locks of Love (needs to be 10 inches from top of pony to the bottom - we have that exactly and then probably another inch to two for a total). They accept photos of people's experiences so we emailed those today along with this note:

My 12 year old daughter, Bailey Barnes, has been growing her hair for two years and just had her hair cut this morning for Locks of Love. Her hair had been getting long & is very thick and I, her mother, had suggested that she donate it to your organization. She agreed that it would be a great idea and that she wanted to be able to help children out that need it. We would like to share the photos of her process today with you, and the hair is in the mail!

Here are photos of the process:

Last night after her shower:

Dalene prepping her hair:The 1st snip:Almost through:It's cut!!:Getting moussed:
Getting styled:Voila the finished masterpiece:

Thanks Dalene!!

"School's Out for Summer...."

Ok, now I have that song stuck in my head! Anyway, the kids are out of school for the summer...Friday was their last day of school. We are not off to a very good start though because it has been raining pretty much all day today, and we are stuck in the house. It's supposed to be like this the rest of the week so please pray for my sanity cuz I'll need all the help I can get...I was excited for summer to start but being cooped up isn't exactly what I had in mind.

On the last day of school the kids have Field Day... they get to wear regular clothes, they have an all-school Mass in the morning, then the PE teachers have stations of games organized for grades K-5th and soccer/baseball games for 6th & 7th to play, and they get to have popcorn, cotton candy, & snow cones. This is very fun filled day for the kids and they have a great time!

Here are some photos of the day:

Nico & some of his buddies (all of these boys are also on his baseball team - Josh, Tanner, Austin & Nico):

Nico doing one of the games...he has a bean bag on his neck while running:Liv running on the track:Bail's class playing soccer (or attempting too) :Bail and some of her friends (Kylie, Bail, Caroline, Stephanie, & Molly):Liv doing one of the games with her friend Bailey pushing her:
Liv and some of her friends (Alexa, Brooke, Liv, & Brooklyn)Bail & her 8th grade buddies (Katie, Bail, Maddie, & Cailin):
PS. those are suckers in their mouths.