First Swimming Lesson

Posted June 2nd, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

This afternoon the boys had their first swimming lesson.  They were the only ones in the class – rather their were several instructors and the classes were VERY small!  C and J were with a young adult named Andrew.

C and J learned that the first rule of swimming (or being at the pool) is not to run.  C and J also blew bubbles in the water, held on to the side of the pool and kicked their legs, sat on the side of the pool and kicked their legs and also they jumped into the pool to Andrew and he caught them.  Jumping in the pool was their favorite part!

When the boys and I are swimming together, J loves to hold my hands and jump in the water.  I let his head go under the water and then quickly pull him up.  C is quite comfortable wearing his floaty swim suit and jumping in the pool by himself.  He goes under the water and pops up all by himself with a huge grin.  Both boys have already learned how to “dog paddle” while wearing their floaty swim suits, but I wanted them to know how to swim without assistance – or at least know how to float and tread water.

Good job C and J and Andrew!  I look forward to tomorrow’s lesson!

Make bicycle work = pedal

Posted May 30th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

This past Tuesday evening, B and I met after B’s workday at a local gym/spa for a tour. We discussed joining the gym facility over the prior weekend and anticipated joining after the tour, which we did join.

The kids are loving swimming daily. I really have missed swimming. Growing up through high school and college, we had a neighborhood pool and I could be found there most days after school. Wednesday was the first day I took the kids swimming. C remembered the pool from our beach vacation last year and jumped right into the water, no fear. It took J a little while to acclimate to the water, but after about a half hour was swimming on his own – of course with his floaty swimsuit. Both boys are learning the names of kids that they are seeing, since we are going to the pool about the same time every day.

The boys begin swimming lessons on Monday. I can’t wait!! They are also excited. I’ll blog about the lessons next week…

On Wednesday evening (I think), B went to the gym to exercise while the boys and I stayed home – it was near the kids’ bedtime, so B had time to relax on his own. He came home and told me about his experience. He wanted to try the mechanical bicycles – which happened to be on the first row of the exercise machines. He got on one and pressed the buttons to start it. Nothing happened. No one else was on any of the bicycles, so B tried another bike. Same thing. Nothing. After trying a third bike, and it not working, B was feeling quite conspicuous, thinking that all the other people exercising were watching him and wondering what he was possibly doing. After feeling conspicuous and none of the bikes working by B pressing the buttons, he went to ask if they were unplugged, or what he was doing wrong or what he needed to do to get the bicycles to work. The gym representative said, “Pedal the bike to make it work.” Duh… I got a good laugh out of the story. B felt pretty bad. However, understandably if you expect to program the settings on the stationary bike before starting, it makes since to have the buttons working.

I have to say that I am glad this experience happened to B and not to me. Now I know to try the machines to get them to work if the buttons don’t automatically start it. Thanks B for your willingness to try something new… (lets work on new foods, now?)

5.22.2008

Posted May 22nd, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

C had his last t-ball game of the season this evening. He hit another coach pitched ball really well. A lot of the other kids try to hit the coach pitch, but after 3 tries, end up using the tee. C has consistently hit the coach pitches. Great season, C! After the game, each team member received a bobble-head wildcat statue, similar to the bobble-head bulldog that C received last year.

After the game and awards ceremony, the boys and I went out to dinner at Chili’s. Since it was C’s last game, he got to pick where to eat. While at Chili’s, a waitress walked by the table. J smiled and waved at her (he is so not shy…). The waitress stopped and chatted with J for a second. After she left, J looked over at my coyly and said, “She likes me ’cause I’m handsome!”

I’m about to finish some housework while J is playing with play-doh at the kitchen table. C is playing Mario Kart Racing on the Wii.

It is going to be hard to get the boys to go to sleep tonight. B has been out of town all week and is to be home late tonight. I need the boys to go to bed so I can wrap the presents that B is to give them upon his return. B got C a Lego At-Ap and got J a fire airplane that can carry 3 die cast fire vehicles. Both boys should be very happy – that B is home and with the gifts.

Welcome home, B! Glad that you are on your way home!!!

Go Wildcats!

Posted April 10th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

C had his first t-ball practice of the new season this evening. He was great! His coaches are a husband and wife team, along with their older sons. They have a son that is C’s age and plays on the team as well. A huge THANKS for coaching yelled out to Coach Jim and Mrs. Christy!!! This season is going to be so much fun!!!

As this was the Wildcats’ initial practice, a lot of time was spent on throwing the ball back and forth in teams. C remained focus and had a great time (although we need to work on him reining in the force of his throws – we don’t want the ball going onto the next field!). The team also did runs around the bases and practiced hitting the ball off of the tee. I’m not sure yet if C will be more comfortable hitting the ball left or right handed. He tried both ways this evening. Hitting right handed, the ball went more towards first base. However, hitting the ball left handed produced the ball soaring straight at 2nd base. We’ll see which way is more comfortable for him in the coming practices…

At one point, the team split into two with some players hitting the ball and some on the field. C loved being on the field. He was positioned at short-stop. Whenever the ball was hit anywhere on the field, C ran for it. (We’ll have to encourage him to let some of the other players participate more…) If C got the ball, he would throw it home. If another teammate got to the ball first, we could watch C having a discussion with that teammate. The usual result was that they gave the ball to C for him to throw home. Not sure how C was so persuasive, but he was very effective!

We have already returned home (obviously) and had a dinner of roast that has been in the crock-pot all day. It was delicious. Over dinner at the table, we talked about C’s practice. C said that his favorite part of t-ball this evening was “catching.” This is such a different response from last year. Last season, C preferred hitting and his least favorite part was catching in the field. I am thrilled at seeing his progression from last year to this year.

While C practiced, J played on the nearby playground – I know my arms are going to be hurting tomorrow from pushing him on the swing for so long (I could watch C play and push J at the same time). C is playing for a church team near our home. Our church doesn’t start kids playing t-ball until they’re older than C, therefore, we are playing on this team. C played for this church last year as well. There is an awesome group of people at this church, very friendly.

I can’t wait until Saturday! C will have his next practice and I know he is looking forward to it as much as I am. The games start the week of the 21st. So, we get to practice for this week and next week. (I’ll email the game schedule to the grandparents as soon as I receive it!)

Go Wildcats!! BTW – our team colors are silver, navy blue and gold. We are the “Bold Believers” and our Bible verse is 1 Thessalonians 2:2 – As you know, we had struggled…but with the help of our God we were bold to tell you His gospel in spite of strong opposition.

Awesome verse! Hopefully we won’t have to struggle to win some games…

Munchkin Madness, 2008 and misc.

Posted April 7th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

J started playing soccer this afternoon. B, me, and C came to watch J in addition to Nana and Grandma B.

In this one session, J played more than C did his entire season that he was involved with soccer. (C will begin playing t-ball on Thursday of this week – his first practice of the season. C seemed to enjoy t-ball last year more than soccer.)

J loved playing with a pink soccer ball, one of the many soccer balls available – in fact, since it was the one he was holding, his team ended up using it for their 45 minute session. (For those of you who don’t know J very well, he loves the color pink. This is the only feature about him that is girly. He loves to rough and tumble and loves dirt more than life itself!)

I was pleased that he was willing to play and interact with the coaches and team players, he is a very social child. J had such a red face at the end of the session – it was almost 80 degrees today. Thankfully I brought a bottle of cold water and apple slices for a snack. J also enjoyed the water and apple slices during the half time break.

C has gone home with my mom for dinner and J came home with me and Daddy B. B is currently cooking hamburgers. This, being after B figured out a way to clean the grill for the first time this year. You should have heard B and J in the garage rigging up a cleaner for the grill. B ended up drilling holes in a wooden pole (think broom handle) and screwing a metal/wire brush to the end of it. B could have cleaned the grill from 6 feet away from it. Quite the creative one, that B!

As for this evening, after dinner we will go retrieve C and then I will introduce my children to college basketball on television (although the kids will not be up for all the game since it is starting so late). Tonight is the NCAA championship game and my beloved alma mater made it to the finals. Go University of Memphis Tigers!!!!!

C’s first t-ball game

Posted April 24th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

Well, C’s Bulldogs team had their first official game last night. Since every player gets to bat in each inning (there were only 2 innings since the game is maximum of 1 hour), there is no official score keeper or score. However, after the game is snack time – so all the kids win!

This was the first time that C wore his uniform. His team has red shirts with Bulldogs written on them and blue and red hats. I got him some youth white baseball pants since Coach Scott wanted them all to wear white pants. Poor little C – the extra small youth pants were still too big for him. I ended up sewing a 1 inch pleat (folded material took up 2 inches) into the back waistband to make them fit. All the kids but 1 are taller than him – some by as much as 10 inches. I’m sure he will catch up. As B pointed out, C will be 5 next month and some of the kids are 6 or 7 years old.

At the start of the game was the announcement of the players and C ran out like a pro and stood with his coaches and team. Then came the national anthem and C stood still with the others for most of the music – at one point he turned and waved at Daddy.

C can really hit the ball! I was quite impressed. He also gently dropped the bat instead of throwing or swinging it hard when starting to run to 1st base. C knew his bases and followed the 1st and 3rd base coaches’ instructions. Once on 3rd base, C waved at me and called out “I love you!” Sweet boy!

All of this made up for his lack of enthusiasm in the outfield. C preferred to run from his place in the outfield to the second base and prevent the other team’s runners from getting on base. Not quite sure what that was all about. I told him that he was supposed to gather the t-ball into his glove and throw it to 1st base, but his only comment was that “running to the base was fun.” Coach Scott was really gentle about guiding C back to his position in the outfield.

All in all, I was really thrilled at C’s performance. He obeyed the coaches and was nice. At the end of the game, the teams lined up to “high five” each other. I don’t think C has ever seen this done and ended up playing with his hat instead. We’ll discuss it before the next game to help him mentally prepare.

This reminds me – about hats… The batter wears a helmet to bat and keeps it on throughout their run on the bases. C is so little, including his head that the hat he had on (over his baseball cap for extra filler in the helmet) still kept falling forward or backwards on his head and, of course, he liked to help it move forward and backwards. This was quite a distraction for him while on base. Today I took him to the sporting goods store and bought him a helmet that fits his little head. He loves it! C even wore it in the car tonight to go get tacos. I told him he could take it to rest time and bed time too. (When he finally fell asleep at rest time, he didn’t have it on. I guess he figured out that it wasn’t comfortable to sleep in.)

Little fella is growing up. He has an amazing throwing arm. A couple of days ago, B and I took the boys to the ball field to practice. I asked C to throw the ball to me and I had my glove ready. B told me to back up or I would get hit. I backed up a few steps and thought I was ready. I wasn’t. I realized that as the ball went sailing past me!

Another amazing thing… C is right handed and throws right handed. The little thing feels more comfortable batting left handed! It is a sight to see! The assistant coach set him up to bat the second inning and positioned him to bat right handed. C was quite awkward until the coach heard the audience yell to turn him around. The coach let C turn to bat left handed and Swing – Contact – Run! Go C!!!!!

For those of you reading this… when you see C in the major league, you can comment that you knew him when he was just a tot playing t-ball!