Swimming Lessons

The girls started swimming lessons at Dunkley Family Swim School this week. We all love it! I am very impressed with Dunkley's. They do a great job with the girls. I've been amazed at how far both of them are coming this year with their swimming. Lizette will even jump off the diving board this year (with a floaty on of course)! Lexi cried the first couple of days when she first got in the pool, but they have been great with her and she loves going now.

Lizette is breathing under water with no problem and is getting pretty close to being able to swim on her own I think. That is a huge leap forward from last year.  Lexi loves to be in the water and has no problem swimming in the deeper water with just her arm floaties on. It has been so fun going to our pool this summer. We go just before lunch most days and pretty much have the place to ourselves. The girls have loved playing at the pool and I love that they are able to branch out on their own a little more and really play and have fun together.

Lexi's first trip out to swim with the teacher. 

Lizette just coming up out of the water after practicing her under water breathing and freestyle arms.

I LOVE this picture of them. It's so rare that I get smiles out of both of them for a picture. 

Lizette jumping off the diving board. Go Lizette!!

Summer Fun

In my last post I was worried about not filling up our days with meaningful activities. After this last month, I've decided that we do plenty of that. And actually it's not so bad to have some down time after all. So here it is....the summer catch up post!

We'll start off with a visit from our sweet friend, Angel. She stayed with us for a week while her family was out of town and it was lots of fun. As I've said before, the girls love her and she loves them. She has the sweetest spirit and you can't help but love her to pieces. While she was here we went to Sonic many times for 1/2 price shakes after 8:00, took several trips to Walmart (the fun never ends at Walmart!), did pedicures, went swimming and many other little outings. Here is pedicure day. The girls lounged in the recliners while I gave them full out spa like pedicures. They have no idea how spoiled they are!

The next week we were off to Utah and Southeast Idaho to visit with family. This was the week of the 4th of July and it was a fun break. First stop was Utah to visit Aunt Abby and go to Lagoon. Abby and Lizette spent the day together on Monday while Jeff, Lexi and I went to Park City to explore. And when I say explore, I mean we shopped at the outlet mall there all day. Our plan was to walk around the old downtown, see some sights and do a little shopping. Well, we shopped 'til we dropped and found so many great bargains for Jeff and the girls that we couldn't resist the opportunity. We'll go back to Park City again and see the other sights later. Lexi was a good sport and we each took turns playing with her while the other one shopped. I think she had a good time having one on one attention for the day. Aunt Abby and Lizette had a blast. Of course Abby spoiled her with a trip to the zoo, stuffed animals, and lots of fun goodies. Lizette was in heaven.

The next day we took Lizette to Lagoon while Lexi got to have her fun day with Aunt Abby. Lagoon was fun and I would highly recommend it as a GREAT family destination. We met Thayne and Angel's family there and had a fun day. Lizette and I were both timid about rides so it was good that Jeff had good ride buddies for the day. Jeff made me go on Wicked and I have still not forgiven him. And I don't think Lizette has forgiven me for some of the rides I made her go on. In fact, on one of them, she screamed bloody murder and cried the entire time. I really thought that once it got going she would like it. Well, I was wrong. When we left the ride I felt many stares from other parents. No doubt judging me as the worst mom ever. (At least that's how I felt!) Her favorite ride of the day was the merry-go-round because it was a nice and safe escape from the scary rides! We ended the day with ice cream and that made it all better. The valuable lesson that I learned from this is that Lizette is exactly like me. She is shy, timid and afraid to try new things. So, why do I feel that I need to push her to not be shy or timid and try new things? Because I don't want her to be like me! I'm thinking counseling is in our future. 

We left Utah on Tuesday night and headed to Soda to celebrate the 4th. It was fun and as always Grandma and Grandpa Rigby had tons of fun things planned for the kids. They should really write a book or teach classes on how to be the best grandparents to your grandkids. They take such an interest in each one of their grandkids and spend time planning meaningful and memorable activities with them. The kids adore them and it's not because they spoil them with things. It's because they spoil them with their time, their undivided attention and pure unconditional love. I really need to take notes when I go there. 

Soda does the 4th of July right. They have a fun parade and lots of fun community events. Here are the girls on a barrel train ride. We thought it would be a fun idea to have them ride together. Sweet, right? Well, by the end I think Lexi had taken charge of the car and Lizette was more than happy to be done. These sisters have a love/hate relationship for sure! 

After our trip, we spent the next week catching up at home. Getting back into the swing of things again with Lizette's camp and ballet schedules, laundry, errands, housework, callings...I could go on, but you know what I mean. We did take a break to play dress up one day. The girls love putting on our winter coats, hats and gloves so we broke them out and had a great time dressing up. Lizette is always in charge of wardrobe and she did a great job. Lexi's tank top, rain/go-go boot and winter hat ensemble work well together. And I love how serious Lizette becomes when she puts on a scarf. Something about a scarf brings out lots of serious posing. 

On the 12th, I had Cub Scout Camp. Yes, you did read that correctly. Cub Scout Camp. Believe it or not, through my church calling, I am sort of "over" scouting in our ward. I was the obvious choice for this as I have no sons and no clue about scouting. Yes, I am being very sarcastic. I bring it up at church all the time in the hopes that they will see what an unfortunate misfit I am and put me in ANY other calling. But I guess I am supposed to be learning a life lesson here or something and I am in scouts. When I am given an assignment I do it and to the best of my abilities (even when I have hardly any) so that is what I have done with scouting. I actually even have a scout shirt now. I look like a full fledged den mother. And truth be told, I sort of like scouting. I like pack meetings and roundtable and all that stuff. I just don't really like being in charge. Here I am in 108 degree weather at the end of the day at camp. 

All in all, our summer is going great. The girls are so fun and having a lot of fun this summer. I'm loving that they are having more fun moments together now. Mixed in with lots of fighting of course, but it is nice to see them enjoying each other more and more. We finally bought some backyard toys which was challenging given the size of our backyard (Small. Very, very small.) We found an 8' trampoline which the girls immediately have shortened the name to the tramp. It's like they think they are pretty cool saying, "Mom, I'm going to go jump on the tramp." I don't know. It just cracks me up. Like "Yeah, we're going to jump on the tramp. That's how we roll." I guess after waiting for so long, they probably do feel pretty cool to finally have a tramp. We also bought a swing set. It has one swing and one glider swing. Yes, small but it does the job for us. 

Lizette is loving ballet and still goes to fitness camp three times a week. Between that, trips to Jackson's and Sonic for Diet Coke, trips to the library, the park, and many trips to the swimming pool each week. We stay busy. And I LOVE spending time with my little sweet girls. Blessed I am. 

I had to get this picture of Lexi as big as possible. Her expression cracks me up.

Speaking of spending time with people. Jeff and I are finding that we have very little time together. Yes, you've heard this before I know. :-) As I've mentioned before, his job is busy. He is 110% dedicated to any job he has and this job requires a lot of his time both at work and working from home. He comes home exhausted and is going on very little sleep. His calling is busy and he is also very committed to that. I'm selfish with our time these days and cherish any date night we can get! Remember the restaurant reviews I used to do? Haven't seen those lately have ya? It's because we barely get any date nights anymore. 

Woe is me! 

I know there are bigger problems in the world, but I'm just saying...I miss the good 'ol days when he got home by 5:00 and could even come home for lunch now and then. Well, through all this I've been noticing more and more how Jeff is actually a really good guy. :-) I know that does sound ridiculous. Of course he is a good guy. But he's someone that people look up to and turn to for advice. He is actually pretty wise. I guess I've never really thought about him as that guy before. I'm seeing him in a whole new light and it's making me love him even more. I guess sharing him is not so easy sometimes, but I'm glad he's the kind of guy that needs to be shared. He does a lot of good.  

On that sappy note, I end this post. Hope you are having a really fun summer. 

(P.S. Sorry Jeff that some of my pictures are fuzzy. I know this is not acceptable. I will admit that you need to give me lessons on taking photos with the iPhone.)

Why are we so busy?

The last couple of weeks have been fun, I think!

It seems like every day fills up and I'm not sure if we are actually doing much of anything fun! I often wonder if I'm the only mom who feels this way. It seems like there are never enough hours in the day to get everything in that I want to. Lizette has her fitness camp three days a week for an hour and a half and ballet every Tuesday for a half hour. As far as set activities, that is about it!

The rest of the hours in the day seem to fill up with chores and errands and this and that, and I feel like we should be having more...fun. We do go to the pool a couple times a week. And we usually have neighborhood kids at our house every day. But I feel like we should be out exploring the world and instead our days get sucked up with random 'stuff' that isn't all that meaningful.  Maybe I'm just overreacting to a couple of ho-hum weeks. I hope so! I want my girls to have a memorable and fun summer!

Speaking of the girls, they are great! I think Lizette is actually enjoying summer a ton despite my concerns. She loves her fitness camp and ballet. And she loves to have her friends over.

Two of Lizette's new favorite things...Cheetos and her new desk space she created in daddy's office. She randomly tells me now that she needs to go do some 'work' and she'll be in the office for a while. 

And Lexi is always having fun. She has become quite the singer. She does a medley of several songs together, but I couldn't get her to do them all for this video. Still thought it was cute though!

New Car

We bought a new car!

We've been having issues with our Explorer for a while now. We took it in to get a diagnosis and it needed about $6,000 worth of work done! A new transmission being the main cost, but a whole host of other must get done repairs too. Jeff's never been a fan of the Explorer. We paid too much for it for one thing. (That was back in the days of no kids and two jobs when we weren't quite so frugal. Okay, so we're probably not the most frugal people now either, but we were worse back then.) It was also a gas guzzler.

A while back when our Mazda was having some issues, Jeff started researching a replacement for it. He and I both decided when the Mazda died we would buy a Hyundai Elantra. They are rated high, get great gas mileage and should last a long, long time.

When the issues with the Explorer came up, we decided that rather than pay for the repairs, we would see about trading it in and buying something else. Well, that something else ended up being a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. We figured that our family is small so an economy car will work great for us. Jeff went alone to do the purchase and negotiations. I can't really stomach those situations very well and it makes me nervous to watch Jeff do it. He is actually a pretty impressive negotiator, but it still makes me nervous.

In the end I think he did great. I think it is very cute. It has a moon roof (love that!), leather seats, all kinds of gadgety features and it drives very smooth.

You may we wondering, what we will do when the Mazda finally dies. We are wondering that too! We're going to keep nursing it along as long as we can and hope that it gives us a few more years. It only has 170,000 miles on it. We've heard of some Mazda's getting as much as 250,000 and we're hoping ours is one of those. When it does die, we might just get another Hyundai. I think Jeff should get a black one and we could be super cute with our matching cars. :-)

The Ironman

My brother Greg competed in the Ironman a couple of weeks age and it was soooo much fun to watch. Greg is my oldest brother and is 60 years old! It was inspiring to watch him especially knowing how hard he has been working these last several months to train. As we were waiting for him to cross the finish line, we watched several other competitors come in. I got emotional almost every time someone crossed over the finish line. Thinking how hard they have all worked and what they had just accomplished! So inspiring.

Jeff made a fun video of the last moments leading up to him crossing the finish line as we all waited, and then watching him cross over. I love these videos Jeff creates.  It's great to have these memories captured in such a neat way. (If you are on Facebook, you may have already seen this a couple weeks ago, but I had to get it on the blog too!)

Fitness Camp

I signed Lizette up for a fitness camp through Treasure Valley Youth Fitness. I thought this sounded like a great thing for her to build up some confidence and learn a little bit before going into school PE and other sports ventures. There are about 15 kids in her group. She is by far the youngest and one of three girls. Once we arrived and I realized how much smaller she was than the rest of the kids, I was a little nervous. She was a little nervous too and wasn't so sure about the whole situation.

I decided to stay the first day and make sure she did okay. Once they started their exercises I became even more nervous. They all took off running and my little girl was behind everyone else by a long ways. Oh no! I just knew she was going to be nervous, scared, embarrassed, or all of the above. They ran for about 10 minutes. More worried thoughts...Would she be able to survive this? What kind of mother am I for sending her to fitness camp at only five years old?

Then they stretched. Okay, stretching is good. Lizette was fine. And then came the bear crawls down the field! What? Bear crawls! Oh no Lizette! I'm so sorry! Oh no! Again, she was way behind everyone else. Thankfully, she and two of the other younger kids only had to bear crawl half way down the field instead of the entire length. After the bear crawls came sit ups, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, planks, jump roping, and some other things I lost track of during my internal meltdown.

During the water breaks she seemed to be doing fine and said she was having fun, so that calmed my worries a bit. And the trainers stood by her the whole time, cheering her on and making sure she was okay. They were great.

In the end, she absolutely loved it! I couldn't believe it. And in the end, kept going, did not give up, listened to the trainers and did not complain once. And the most comical part of the whole thing was they timed all the kids to see how long they could hold a plank position. Lizette tied with one of the older boys for the longest time at 3 minutes! And I think this is maybe the first time in her life she came home dirty, sweaty and grass stained. :-) This is going to be good for her!

Above, with the rest of the group. She is the second one from the right. You can see some of the older kids are bending over, catching their breath. This was no easy workout! 

Another Catch Up Post

I've finished season two of Downton Abbey so I can get back to blogging again. ;-)
This will be another catch up post that I will categorize with titles. There are several categories! First things first, the girls...


The Preschool Graduation
Lizette is officially graduated from preschool now! After three years, two in a co-op and her final year at Little Joys Academy, I would say she is more than ready for Kindergarten. This last year has been a lot of fun for her at Little Joys Academy. They do an excellent job and do so many fun things with the kids. Tons of fun field trips, science experiments, hands on projects, new songs all the time and excellent teachers added up to a great preschool experience for her. They put together an adorable graduation ceremony with official caps and gowns and all the extras to make it special. Lizette got the award for "Most Responsible" and she was very pleased.

        

Above with dad and her teacher Mrs. Lawson

First Trip to the Pool

The girls were thrilled with the news that summer is officially here and the POOL IS OPEN! I didn't catch any pics of them while at the pool because I was too busy chasing after both of them! I can see that this year is going to be a little tricky for me at the pool. They are both a little more daring than in the past. Both wanting to jump in the "deep" end on their own and they don't want help from mom. So, no sipping diet Coke while thumbing through a magazine for this mama. Pool time might become my daily work out!


The Braids
I have no idea how this happened or why the thought even came to me to French braid Lexi's hair. But somehow after a lifetime of not knowing how to do this, I did it!  And the most amazing part of it all was that she sat there and let me do it. Thank goodness for our box of hair stuff that she loves to look through. She looked through clips and barrettes the entire time. I'm so proud of this accomplishment so don't be surprised if Lexi is in braids every time you see her from now on.

Of course, I think this cute little face would look good in just about any hairdo. :-) 

The Memorial Day Block Party

Yet another surprising turn of events, Jeff and I hosted a block party! Yes, we who hardly ever entertain or invite friends over. Last year we hosted a Summer Kick Off barbecue for several of our friends that live in our little corner of the neighborhood. When we talked about doing it again this year, we decided to break out of our comfort zone and invite a bunch of neighbors that we didn't know. I made up invitations and passed them around, put up a sign by the mailboxes and sent out a Facebook message to get the word out. We ended up with about 60 people in our front yard and it was a ton of fun. We met a bunch of people that we had never met before and got to know several others better. 

I tried to get fancy and make a patriotic layered drink, but otherwise it was pretty casual. Burgers, hot dogs and a bunch of yummy side dishes that our neighbors brought. One of the highlights of the day was that Jeff was able to debut his new grill. It cooked the burgers great and you could tell that they were cooked on a very manly grill. :-) 

Another Fun Gathering with Dear Friends

I've mentioned my friends the Lambs on here before. Referring to Becky and Sharon who I used to work with in the Glulam department at Weyerhaeuser. We have been friends for about 10 years now and they are both lovely with just as lovely families. We all have girls and it's been so fun to watch them all grow up. Every so often we get together with our families and each time it gets a little more fun. As the kids are getting older and can play so well, and as our husbands get to know each other a little better too. Last night Becky and Bill invited us over to their house for a barbecue. Lizette had a blast playing with the other little girls and we all enjoyed their beautiful backyard. It is PERFECT for kids. An in ground trampoline, tons of room for kids to run, beautiful flowers and landscaping. Yes, I was jealous. :-) 

A beautiful picture of "the Lambs", Becky and Sharon. Since you all know them now, I will call them by their real names. :-) 

The Pillows 

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I needed to tell you about my pillow project. I've been so excited about this! For Christmas Abby gave me the best gift ever. After hearing me talk about wanting to make covers for all of my decorative pillows, she put together the nicest gift that included patterns, material, pillows, and finished pillow covers. And then she took a day and taught me how to make them! So thoughtful and nice. She picked some of the cutest fabrics too! 

Then it was up to me to get going and make pillows! Part of my plan included getting our living room furniture recovered somehow. Either slipcovers or reupholstering. Well, our furniture seems to be too big for slipcovers and reupholstering is going to take some serious $$$. So now I have all this cute fabric that doesn't match my furniture! What to do? I decided to use the cute fabric that Abby gave me to make pillow covers for the pillows on my outside rocking chairs. I love re-doing my outside decor and these will be perfect for that. I have pillows for every season now!  

For my living room furniture, I had to find something that matches Khaki Green. Hmmm. So, I went to Home Fabrics and found some that I think work pretty well. Yellows, oranges and different shades of brown in different patterns. I made all of my covers in an envelope style which is super simple and takes no time at all. I bought a few others with some detail to add a little interest and in the end I was happy. I love pillows and truly believe you can never have too many. :) However, I like change and so to buy new pillows all the time would be expensive. But making pillow covers is super inexpensive! All this time, such a simple solution was right at my fingertips and all it took was Abby giving me the motivation to do it. Thanks Abby! 

While I was at it, I painted our fireplace wall and got a new rug too. Woohoo! New living room look for about $150.  Now I need to get a few other accessories to finish it off. :) 

My outdoor pillow project is next. Pictures to follow! 

And We're Off!

This Summer is going to be a busy one. Lizette is signed up for an 8 week ballet class that meets every Tuesday, as well as a fitness camp for kids that meets Mon, Wed and Fri mornings for four weeks. Swim lessons will be later in the summer and in between all that will be many trips to the pool, family gatherings, a couple of road trips and hopefully some nice and relaxing down time!