Sam the SWIMMER!

   The pool has been his happy place this summer.  At the beginning of the summer, keep in mind it's still only June 16th, Sam couldn't swim more than 5 feet without grabbing on to the rope or the wall.  We had heard many friends say that swim team was the best thing for teaching youngsters to swim--I have to agree.  We signed him up for the swim team thinking it may help him learn how to swim.   He has already far exceeded my expectations.  At practice every night, he swims in the lap lane, but one of the coaches is always in the water with him helping him.  He was stopping on the rope or wall every 4-5 feet.  It takes a long time to make it across the pool when you stop that often!  

     At Sam's first meet, he walked in and started to panic and cry.  He absolutely did NOT want to swim in front of all those people!  For the first time, he wasn't interested in racing anyone---I think partly because he knew he would never win and partly because there were so many people watching.  He cried the whole way up to the podium.  I hated it.  I wanted to just scoop him up and tell him he didn't have to do it.  Alan talked to him about his own fears when he races and that seemed to help get him at least to the lane where his coaches would take over the encouragement.  Alan and his coaches must have said something right, because somehow Sam made it to the podium and jumped in the pool.

     The announcer said, "Swimmers, take your mark, ready, set..."  and the horn went off.  My focus was fixed completely on Sam and I could hardly believe my eyes.  Sam swam the ENTIRE LENGTH of the pool without stopping once!!!  HE DID IT!!!  HE DID IT!!!  We were so proud of him!  Here is a picture of him after that first swim all the way across the pool.  

Little Biker Boy

     This cute little fella loves his bikes.  It started with a fascination with motorcycles, thanks to Grandpa Dean.  Then he started riding anything and everything with wheels that he could find in the garage, minus the adult cars and bikes.  Recently, has been interested in the bike in this picture with training wheels.  He calls it his "big bike".  He was nice and cautious for a few days, and then a couple of days ago, he decided he wanted to go for a big ride.  He had been so cautious that I thought it would be okay to go down the street a bit.  Well, as soon as he got a taste of the freedom, he took off!  The scary part was that he really doesn't have much control on the bike yet...he just goes fast!  I found myself running after him yelling, "Stop!!!  Patrick!!!  Stop!!!".  I eventually caught up to him and he had a grin on his face from ear to ear. "I ride my big bike, mommy!!!"  

My little buttercup...

Sometimes I like to call Patrick "my little buttercup".  

Lately his reply has been,  "No mommy, I'm Patrick Rogers!"

He loves Sam and I caught this sweet moment yesterday.  Sam is doing "computer school"(ABC mouse.com) and 

Patrick is just sitting with his big brother 

watching every move.  

Notice his arm around Sam.  

He's so affectionate and sweet!

I love it.

End of the School Year Thoughts

     This has been a really busy school year, I think back and can't believe how much has happened in the past year.

     We were blessed with the birth of sweet George.  His first year of life is going by so quickly!  Sometimes I just want to sit in one spot and hold him and look at his sweet face to savor the memory.  With each milestone, I almost feel a sense of sadness as he grows so quickly and I realize he is (most likely) our last baby.  There is just nothing as sweet as those sweet baby sounds and soft baby skin.  He is a happy baby boy!  I could just sit and cuddle with him for hours...if I only had the time.

     Patrick has grown and changed so much in the last year.  I was amazed when I found a list that I created just one year ago of the words that Patrick was saying.  It was just last summer that I was worried that Patrick was going to need speech therapy because he wasn't talking much.  Now, he talks in complete sentences and shares his thoughts constantly during his waking hours!  I love hearing what is on his mind.  He has such sweet manners, saying "please", "Thank you, mommy", and "God Bless You" when I sneeze.  He tells us what he likes and what he doesn't like.  I think he is the most decisive person in our family!  He sings and dances and is so full of life.  His smile brightens the room every time.

     Sam finished his first year of school.  He had a great experience in Pre-K! The picture below is Sam with his Pre-K Teacher, Mrs. Whitcomb.  Although, he admits that his favorite part of the school day was PE and recess, I can't believe how much he learned this year.  He loves sports of all kinds:  soccer, basketball, baseball, football, golf, tennis, swimming, hockey, and even archery.  His after school activities have kept us extra busy this year!

     Alan and I are trying to keep up each day...the daily chores, full-time jobs, and parenting consume us.   We are always relieved when my summer break comes around.  A time when we can relax a little more and catch up on some of the chores that get pushed aside during the busy school year.  Life is full!

Patrick's first trip to the ER

I hesitate to write "first trip" because I sure pray and  hope that he doesn't go back, but somehow I have a feeling that it won't be our last trip with three boys in the house.

He was a trooper.  Sam and Patrick collided in the driveway.  Sam was on his bike and Patrick was running.  Patrick came running from around the corner and they didn't see each other until it was too late.  There were more tears than Patrick's usual reaction.  Normally, he falls and brushes it off and gets back up again very quickly, but not this time.  

Once he got to the hospital, Alan said that he was the sweetest little patient.  He didn't cry at all and sat sweetly with his Daddy.  He's such a brave little boy. 

Before the stitch--was excited to go ride to work with Daddy in the Jeep.

After the stitch--still smiling.