Swimming Lessons

Who needs to stay in some fancy hotel on a tropical paradise to enjoy a great afternoon of swimming? Not us. At least not now. We just decided to continue our stay-cation and head down the sidewalk to our very own pool.

Kyle couldn't wait to get to the water...he insisted on putting his floaties on before we got to the pool.

The swimming is going better. Kyle loves swimming with his dad and is learning to kick and "swim" between us. He's also getting over some of his fears of floating. I'm hopeful that he'll get it this year, especially since he seems to truly love the water. As long as he's not afraid of swimming, we don't have a problem. Heck, he's even "asking" to go and wants to wear his swim gear around the house.

Are We On Cops??

While we were swimming, we suddenly heard sirens and helicopters from all directions. The was something major going on right across the street from our complex. Stephen knew it was serious when a sheriff chopper swooped down and landed in the middle of the road.

We dried off and walked over to check out what was happening and noticed that traffic was at a stand-still in all directions. There didn't appear to be any remnants of a wreck, however.

We came home and found out by breaking news on the local station that there was a break in/shooting nearby. I guess I'll have to find out more information because we don't know any further details.

And I thought we lived in a safe area of Miami!!!

Stay-cation

One of my friends made a comment about how cool it was that Stephen was able to go to the beach with us yesterday, which made me realize I forgot to mention that he finished his spring semester and has this week off until the summer term begins. We really wanted to take a vacation and do something special to enjoy this week, since it's his last break until he graduates in December 2010, but we just couldn't justify taking a major vacation. We debated going to Houston or taking advantage of all the deals to the Bahamas (only 50 miles away!) or even trying to make a trip up to Orlando. We finally just decided to stay around here and check out some of the fun things that Miami has to offer, our own "stay-cation."

It's been raining today, so the weather was perfect for mini-vacation to the Miami Children's Museum. Kyle loved being able to run around and get into things without getting into trouble and we had a pretty good time, too.

First, we took a pretend cruise. (That's a pretend vacation I'll take any time!)


One of our excursions included deep sea fishing. (Can you believe we actually got to hold our own fishing poles and caught something? There were no free drinks included, though.)


We also got to head to the pretend beach and make sand castles.


On our day at sea, Kyle and Stephen were able to take a tour of the cabin and steer the ship.


Kyle also got to relax on deck and read a good book, while listening to some great music.




We got back from our pretend cruise with enough time to run to the grocery store. They had an amazing selection of fresh fruits and veggies and we were able to pick up the catch of the day.


What great service we had at the check-out!


On our way out of the store, I had a make-believe fall, causing a fake broken arm that required a pretend cast. Kyle was an amazing pretend doctor.


While waiting for Mom to get her fake broken arm fixed, Kyle and Dad stopped by the make-believe dentist to see if they could get a check up, but the dentist was pretty busy with a big case....(ha, ha.)

There was also a pretend fire near the hospital and we got to see the fire truck!


Wow! What a busy morning. After all that make-believe fun, we used up our supply of pretend money. We had to make a quick stop by the bank to try to replenish our cash. Too bad we weren't able to withdraw enough money to fund a real vacation for the future....the teller just wouldn't budge!!

Free Chocolate

My friend, Shannan, hates Mother's Day. See why. Inspire her to change her mind, and free chocolate may be coming your way!

Vamos a la Playa!!

We went to the beach today.


Kyle found a perfect place in the sand and staked our claim.



We walked along the shore.





We played in the water.



We built sandcastles and soaked up some of the sun's rays.


What a perfect morning!

Story Time Monday

A library has to be the worst public place for a temper tantrum.


When I was checking out some books last week, I asked about story time for toddlers and was told there is a class on Mondays from 11:00-11:30. I signed Kyle up and was given the April calendar. Judging from how he acts about going to the nursery at church, Kyle needs more exposure to other kids and needs more practice on being in environments other than our home, so I thought the library would be a great place...he loves books and being read to. What could go wrong?

It was so fun to see all the other kids and moms there....at least for me. Kyle must have thought I was going to drop him off and leave him like I do at church because he started screaming when I tried to put my bag against the wall. Once he realized I was going to stay, we sat on the rug and sang the "Hello Song" and "B-I-N-G-O." After that, Kyle was done. He wanted to get up and leave and DID NOT want to listen to a book about a dog. Forget it! The tantrum began.

Of course the story time room is in the back of the library and I had to pack up stuff and get out of there so the other kids could actually enjoy the book. But, getting out of that room only seemed to expand the area Kyle's screams could fill. I left a room of toddlers and moms of toddlers to have to walk through a library (past the stink-eyed librarians) full of people trying to study/read in peace. It's really got to be the worst place for a tantrum. I finally got in the hall and had a little "come to Jesus" talk with the screamer. He calmed down and we decided to try the whole story time thing again.

By the time we got back, the book was over, but it was time to dance. The parachute came out and we played with it to the tune of "Who let the Dogs Out?" Kyle finally decided story time was okay, after all.

He even decided to stick it out long enough to color a dog picture and to play with toys.



Just when I was getting excited that this could be a great thing to look forward to from week to week, the leader made an announcement: "This will be the last story time until October." What the...?! I guess toddlers are put on the back burner when school is out so they can make time for school-aged kids. That sucks. I finally get signed up and get excited about going, only to have all my plans smashed to bits. No it's my turn to throw a tantrum!!! Maybe they'll change their mind and add something for the little ones, too.

Making Progress

For the first time ever, Kyle stayed in the nursery at church for the entire time today. The crying was kept to a minimum when Stephen dropped him off. He didn't even have to be taken out because he was throwing a fit or for his signature 11:05 stink-bomb diaper. I think he might be getting the hang of it! We have been working on lessons from the manual and practicing activities at home. Maybe that's helped a little.



Here's Kyle doing one of his favorite activities. He loves this set of sight-word cards Granna sent him. We go through them everyday and then play a game where I lay several down and he has to point to the one I ask him for. It's funny that he will beg to play with these word cards, even over other toys!


This picture really has nothing to do with nursery or making progess of any kind. I just thought I'd throw it in. It's Kyle wanting to jump off the coffee table, trying to get me to catch him. (I guess I could call it practice for jumping into the swimming pool, something he definitely needs to make progress on.)

Swimming Lessons: Day Five

Today we had a guest instructor join our "classroom." Stephen, much more skilled in the subject of swimming, was able to help out with Kyle's instruction. He's much more patient and experienced, so the lessons went quite well. It also helps to have another person for Kyle to "swim" back and forth to. I'm feeling quite confident that all of this swim stuff will sink in soon. It just takes lots of patience and practice......Good thing we live in Sunny South Florida, where it's swim-weather most of the year!

Reaching Goals

For the first time in about 6 years I am up-to-date on my scrapbooking!!! This was one of my major goals for 2009, and it feels so good to have my pictures at an easy-to-manage point. Now, I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about making separate books for Kyle. It's a long way off, but some time in the future he'll probably move out and might just want to take a few pictures from his childhood with him. I don't really want to just give him our family scrapbooks, especially since we're planning on having other children....how would I split that up, anyway? I need to think about what system would be best and maintainable for having a family scrapbook and a scrapbook/photo album for each child. (Just when I think I'm done with something, it sparks a whole new project.....) Any ideas/suggestions?

Swimming Lessons: Day Four

Lesson Four: Field Trip!!!

Our playgroup decided to go to take a little trip to the water park instead of to our usual playground today. There ended up only being 2 moms and 2 kids, but we had fun anyway! Kyle still isn't buying the whole swimming thing. He didn't want to climb on the equipment and never went down the slide. I had to force him to even get in the water, but he absolutely hated anything that had water showering down on him. By the end of our time there, he had progressed to the point of not screaming in fear every time the big gator in the barrel at the top of the fort blew a whistle and dumped water down below. That's something. I'm not too worried, though. He's still young and we're going to keep swimming and having fun, whether he likes it or not!!!

Happy Earth Day

You must be living in a cave if you haven't been blasted by the media at every possible moment about "going green" or off-setting your "carbon footprint" or how we need to stop "global warming." It's overkill.

Don't get me wrong; I am pro-Earth all the way!! I love being outside and enjoying our environment. I can't stand when people litter or purposely destroy nature. However, all of this "go green" crap is starting to get to me. It's an entire industry. People are going nut-so over this "green" Kool-Aid they're drinking. Kids are actually getting scared of the end of the world being brought about by people not reducing-reusing-recycling. Give me a break!

At this point, I'm about as "green" as I'm going to be. So, liberal media, "Get off my back!!!" I'm getting sick of this new-age idea creeping up into every television show, commercial, and store. To quote a portion from Red (The Shawshank Repemption) : Green? "It's just a bull**** word....stop wasting my time because to tell you the truth, I don't give a $/*+."


Ok. I'll get off my soapbox. Knowing that I find the "go green" campaign to be a joke, you will get the sarcasm in Kyle's outfit. His shirt says, "Working for a GREEN FUTURE." Working, yes. Green? Not-so-much.

Instead of buying carbon credits to off-set our carbon footprints, Kyle and I decided to get out into nature and make some *actual* footprints. We took a little nature walk this morning, enjoying the sunny weather, blooming flowers, birds, and even a few lizards. (Here's Kyle trying to get a closer look at one on a tree.)


We walked all the way to the playground, leaving more footprints in the sand. (I sure hope that playground equipment is constructed from recycled materials!)



Here's some proof that we love the environment on days other than those made-up for celebrating it. A few days ago, Kyle and I walked to the pond. We were looking for birds and tadpoles by the water.

There weren't too many birds down by the water's edge, but we did see several fish and tadpoles. Instead of marveling at the circle of life by observing the frog's life cycle in action, Kyle decided to what boys do best: throw a bunch of rocks in, thus scaring all the animals away. (Probably increasing his carbon footprint at the same time.)


Happy Earth Day, everyone. Let's all work for a "Green Future." Or.....let's all work for some "green" ($$$) FOR the future!!!!

We Got Mail!

Granna said to be on the look-out for a package being sent our way. Kyle couldn't wait to see what was coming, so he drove down to check our mail boxes and found a box waiting there, just for us! (I think he needs a bigger car.)