Swim Practice

We were board, so I was harrassing her with the camera
And wouldn't ya know...Noah found a quarter on the bottom of the pool during practice. That boy has a knack for finding quarters! (Do you see the rings under his eyes?? His goggles fit so tight, but if they aren't that tight they leak....but they make circles under eyes that look painful to me!

The guy's weekend

Well, I was happy that Clay took at least a few photos! You know if it had been me, I would have come home with over 100, and he took 10, but that is huge for him! They had a great time, but were also glad to be home sleeping in their own beds last night. Noah caught 2 fish, and he was proud of that.

At the campsite frying up their fish they caught

Leah's Day

Maybe the cake looks slightly better in the candlelight glow!?! ha ha

She was very excited when she got up and saw her party!

(those are root beer bottles btw)




She was heavy on the lip gloss that day. This is the first time I have ever gotten her lip gloss, and she was loving it!

JUMP ZONE!

At Razorback Pizza.....she was serious about that too!

Then, after we ate, we went to Target and she spent some of her b-day money, and then we were off to the pool. She said it was the best day ever!

How can you call yourself her mother??

During our foster care training, one of my new friends...such an awesome woman, Christie was talking to us as an experienced 14 yr foster care mother. I think she said she has had over 100 babies come through her home....I may be overestimating that...but I know it is a lot. Anyway, she was talking about her current foster daughter, and referred to herself as her mother. And one of the women in our class asked her, how could she use the term mother when talking about her....knowing in her heart that she isn't her "real" mother b/c she has a mother. And I LOVE what Christie said to her so kindly and gently. She said, b/c in my heart, for as long as I have that child, I am her mother. That child may be with us for just a short time, but how could I show them the love, support and security that they NEED, if I didn't think of myself as their mother, and love them as much as I could my own? She is so right. I think to go into this with reserve, or holding back emotion to protect myself, I wouldn't be giving the child what they need. It is not my place to hold back knowing I very well will be giving this child back, but it is my place to give that child as much love as I possibly can. I may be the most stable thing they ever have in their life. (I hope that is not the case....b/c I aint too stable some times! haha) She has been an awesome mentor to me, and such an inspiration to see what she has done. She started fostering whenever some of her 4 children were younger than my own, and now her oldest just graduated high school. And she is still at it. They just adopted their first child that came to them as a foster child....and she has taken care of so many babies. She does so much....I wish I had the dedication, strength, and energy that she has.

The pool

This is the cool slide that is at our pool! Noah is the only one brave enough to go down it, even though the girls both went down one steeper than this at Wild River Country last year, but I can't convince them to give it a try. It even ends in a shallow part of the pool where a lifeguard is standing.

This is a picture of the play area for the little kids. It is so nice if you have babies and toddlers b/c it is so shallow....of course you can see there is a ton of people, but the whole area shown is shallow enough for little ones.

Fun at the Pool

Well, we have joined the community pool this year. That is something I NEVER thought I would do, as I have had somewhat of a phobia of swimming in public places most of my life. When I go to the beach, I have my butt firmly planted in the sand, unless I am fully clothed, and then I will walk along the beach. Last year in the apartment, I think I got in the pool one time. But, I am so glad that my kids love the pool, love to swim, that I decided to tackle my fears. We have taken them 2-3 times a week the past 3 weeks, and I have gotten in the water with them almost everytime. That is HUGE for me! There are SO many people at the pool at all times, and in a way, I hate there being that many people there, but at the same time, I think that is what has helped me get over myself. I know there are so many people, nobody pays a lick of attention to me. Plus, I realize that the only people that are really in shape are the young lifeguards.

Love the hairdo!

Here they are sitting out during Mandatory adult swim time. Which is so retarted to us b/c nobody swims, they are all sitting out of the pool with their kids that are throwing a fit b/c they don't understand why they had to get out of the pool. They even make everyone get out of the 1 ft deep kiddie pool!

Right after they got home, Noah asked me to pull his other top tooth for him, so he is toothless on top right now.

the boys are coming home tomorrow....

And I can't wait to see them!

And, I have not been nearly as productive as I had hoped! I might could have completed my to do list if they were gone an entire week. I did get about half of my photography work done, all my laundry (which will only stay caught up until they return), the kitchen clean, swimsuit shopping for myself with 2 girls...(that was a total waste of time....don't know why I even bother, I need to just go buy a tent!), lunch with a friend, went to Build A Bear, ate out TOO many times, went to the movies today to watch Horton Hears a Who, and rented and watched Martian Child, August Rush, PS I Love You, and We Own the Night. And the first 3 of those I watched with the girls up and about, and paused them 1,000 times between the girls and laundry.

Leah came to me this morning and said, "Sooo, what is on your FUN list today??" And I told her to get the whole house clean....that is what would be fun to me, and I DON'T think that was the answer she wanted to hear, so we opted for the movies instead! LOL They had wanted to sleep with me again tonight, but they were not minding me AT ALL, and I had just had enough "girl" time, so I was able to luckily get them to bed by 9:00, and it is 2:00am right now and I NEED to go to bed, but it is just so hard for me to make myself go to bed alone. I have enjoyed my quiet time tonight though.

I really did want to get our bedroom cleaned....it stays a total disaster most of the time. We work in here, and it is just the last room to ever get clean. And, I also noticed today while I was trying to get the house picked up, how much I miss having Clay and Noah during that time. Clay helps me stay on the girls to get them to do something....you have to tell them each individual thing to pick up...and usually Noah will do half of it just b/c he wants to get to go do something. The girls asked today if we could go swimming, and I told them only if we got the house clean, so they just simply said, nevermind. And then I sorta forgot all that when I announced lets go to the movies, but by then, I just didn't feel like having the cleaning fight.

Rachel did mention tonight late that she was ready for our makeup party. I didn't have it in me to do that by that time, so I hope we will get to doing that tomorrow.

I guess I should quit rambling and go to bed, or I will never get up for church in the morning!