I Love My Feet

We took this video shortly after Sophia found her feet.

She is so stinkin' cute!

Let's Go Wyley, Let's Go(to Toy 'R Us)!!!

Wyley is showing off his event numbers (25 yds Freestyle and 25 yds Backstroke).

This post is dedicated to the motivation of Wyley.

Wyley is getting set up in his lane. He is worried. Very. And Veronica Harper is trying to focus him on getting to the other side....without stopping.

Wyley's first start-ever! That blue blur grabbing on to the lane line is my boy!

This would be break 1, i think. There were so many, that I didn't take a picture of each one.

The swimming resumes.

And another break.....and so it goes.

He has been working his tail end off in the pool since school let out. He is trying so hard to improve his skill level, his time, and overcome his nervousness. So, we want to hear from his friends and family. He has dropped his freestyle time from 1minute 58 seconds to 59 seconds! That is huge. His stroke looks so good, when he isn't hanging on the lane lines, and his attitude couldn't be better. (Ok, there was the day he begged me not to go.....he still goes.)

His back says it all, huh?

His future goals include:

• swim 25 yards freestyle and stop only 3 times=2 push pops from Mrs. Flanagan*



• swim 25 yards freestyle and stop only at the end=1 trip to Toys 'R Us with Mom



• dive in from side (not off of starting block) and keep going!!!!*



• dive in from starting block....i add this one, but he says this isn't his goal until he's 8.

*indicates the goals he is working on currently

Wyley getting a last minute pep talk from Coach Meagan. He tried his hardest at the Backstroke, but fear overwhelmed him and we let him stop half way. Wyley will swim it! Maybe when he's 8, he said.

Soooooo, lets hear from ya people! Motivate my little one! Help him feel the joy of a job well done and recognition of hard work. Reply to this post and I will have Wyley check it each day to see if folks have responded! Feel free to respond more than once by coming back and visiting our blog often! The pictures spread throughout this post are from Wyley's first meet. He's so cute!

Love to all, and we hope to report soon of any of Wyley's progress!

Photos of Wyley with his team. They are getting a pep talk and giving a cheer!

None of That Sissy Stuff

Are you tired of those sissy 'friendship' poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on this...Just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.
1. When you are sad --I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!!!!!!!!!
2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile -- I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.
4. When you're scared -- we will high tail it out of here.
5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining, ya big baby!!!!
6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.
7. When you are sick --Stay away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall -- I'll pick you up and dust you off.
9. This is my oath...I pledge it to the end. 'Why?' you may ask -- because you are my FRIEND!

Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.

Rachel Loves Being An Aunt

She doesn't want anyone to know this, but Rachel loves being an aunt. She really loves little girls, and how cute they are. Pink might not be her favorite color, but she sure is buddies with one chica who makes pink exceptional!

Check out that grin!

And Rachie is also really good at changing nasty diapers, putting fussy babies to sleep, warming breastmilk or mixing formula, as well as throwing in movies for older siblings. (She has vacation days available if you should need her in the fall, Will and Brandy!) So, don't let her fool you. She too owns a pink shirt!

Who Knew Fun Would Be A Swim Cap?

Wyley is on a swim team. And so far the coolest part is the swim cap!

Even Zane thinks so.

He looks so cute! You should see him with the goggles on. Its the cutest thing in the world.

Okay, well his tiny tush in the swim jammers are the cutest!

Zane loves to dress up.

And this is his "Goonies" get-up. (Come on...One-Eyed Willie! You've got to remember that!)

Even best friend Nathan got in the swim cap for some fun!

Renovations UPDATE

So, the counters are in!! And I am one happy mama! As you can see, there are still things to be done, but we are one step closer to completion! I think that we did a good job on the color of the counters. And Doug did a fantastic job working with all the punches our kitchen threw back at him! LOVE IT!!! Oh...did you see that! See if you can find our BRAND NEW STOVE!

Its right over there!

Its that beautiful piece of appliancery that I am kissing....

and hugging.

Who would have known that a stove would make me this happy? Maybe it will make me cook better too! Hmmm? We shall see.

Thank you! You know who you are!!!

House Renovations

Some of you are aware that we are knee deep and then some into house renovations and upgrades. These are the images of our house in the throws of battle! We forgot to take some "before" pictures, but are really looking forward to showing off some "after" photos! Tim and especially his dad, have been working their tails off to get this project completed. We sure do love Doug's talents, but truly admire how much of his time and energy he sacrifices for the betterment of our home! We love you!

This is the living room. To the left are the stairs to the basement. And what you see on the right is the remainders of our hallway. The big square in the middle is our new closet. We are still spacling (spelling?) and sanding and looking for our flooring.

This is the view of looking down the hallway. Its not there! Yippie!

This is our kitchen. The decision was made to put in new countertops. And we went for broke, making changes and improvements to help with the functionality of the house. So we painted and changed the hardware and added a section to our cabinets. The countertops are coming soon! (Okay, they came this weekend, but I do not have my pictures yet. The counters also came with a new stove...that I LOVE....the pictures of me hugging and kissing it are coming soon!)

Another view of the kitchen. My house is torn apart...my homemaking skills aren't THAT bad. Check out that yucky stove!

I even painted the doors on the pantry! (Not much fun to do, but don't they look so much better?) Stay tuned for postings on the new countertops!

So, you say they are called feet!?!?!

I often wonder what goes on in her mind. Already she likes to babble alot, so this is what I think that she has to say:

"Feet. I like feet. I can hold them, and slobber on them. I always have something to play with. If I play with them and ignore Zane, he usually goes away."

"Hands. I like them a lot. They move around alot. That's kinda cool. I can make them wave and people think that I am waving at them. I am not, I am just figuring out how these puppies work. But you should hear the big folks when I do it!"

"But my thumbs.....they make me happiest."

"This is my buddy Zack Lewis. He's cool. We roll around alot together. He's older than me, but I am taller. He's what mom calls a "thinker" and I am what mom calls a "mover". I just think he could flatten me if he rolled on top of me. He's tried. Its kinda freaky. But we have a good time together. I like how he laughs...it makes me smile."

One night Wyley went buggy!

Is this not the cutest face you have ever seen? Wyley's class did a musical play entitled, "Goin' Buggy" The kids were so cute, and we just got a kick out of the entire play. The theme of the play centered around being fair to bugs and how they have gotten a bad rap. If I had creepy-crawlers like this guy hanging around my house, they would have equal rights! (But they do not and they make my boys scream like little girly-men.)

Here's the full view of the Wyley Catepillar!

Zane was so proud of his brother. He didn't even mind that Wyley had 6 extra legs!

The Lion in my Bedroom

Zane was digging around in my bathroom cabinet and found one of my hair bands.

He placed it on his face and said,

"I'm a lion! Roar!"

The Lost Tooth

Wyley has already lost one tooth. And up until last Sunday has had another wiggley tooth. Just after bedtime we here, "DADDY!!!!" We thought something was wrong, but alas, not so. We entered the room and Wyley held out his tooth and said, "I lost my other tooth!"

Check out that gap!!! And if you look very closely you will even see the impending adult teeth.

My baby is getting big!

Here it is....the lost tooth. I actually remember when this tooth came in!