Outside All the Time!

Now that warm weather is here to stay, it seems I'm busier than ever because we are constantly outside on adventures! I almost wish for cold, rainy days just so I can have a break! But it's good. I love the warm weather and all the outdoor frolicking and sunsoaking we do.

End of March, Tommy was at a sleepover at his friend Tucker's house, so he wasn't with us when we went to hike in Palmer Park and ended up doing a little over 3 miles. The kids were troopers, but they were definitely done at the end. Future note: slightly shorter hikes so we're all still in happy moods to leave with.

{Samson, Dancy, Thora}

Painted rock :)

Thora. She'll be fine and happy one minute, pouting the next. Kinda like Colorado weather!

{Dancy, Thora, Shad, Samson, Katie}

I've decided that I can break down and be one of those people with a selfie stick because it's really hard to get 6 and 7 people all in a shot.

{Me, Dancy, Thora, Shad, Samson, Katie}

* * *

Fast forward 2 days to a blissful afternoon in our forest! One of the girls in our group keeps a nature journal and she was on a mission to find snails. Tommy found them for her to sketch!

Fishing poles

{Dancy, boy I don't know, Noah, Tommy}

It's been so great to be back in the forest! I stay home in the cold weather because it's just not worth it to me to spend an hour getting kids ready, drive 20 minutes, walk 10 minutes in, and then kids are clinging to me and whining after 5 minutes. No, that's just what a backyard is for. But we do really miss our forest during those times. I'm ready for it to green up a bit now so I can breathe all that wonderful air in.

Mallards came to visit! All the kids got super excited. The mallards did not.

Thora has really grown in her comfort in the forest. She's really embracing life as a forest fairy/elf!

Last year there was no way she'd go up this hill without holding my hand and needing me to push and pull her. At her demand.

And then we finished with cuddles. happy cuddles that don't interfere with Mom chat time are way different than whiny clinging that does.

Winter Sickness

I suppose it had to hit us sometime, right? End of March being the first time we got sick all year? SAWEEET! And even though this sickness meant that my three-year-old was exploding out of both ends for 4 days straight, it also meant that whenever I wasn't showering myself, bathing him, washing laundry, stripping his sheets off his bed, or scrubbing carpet, I got to be cuddling him.

We watched Incredibles 2 (awesome!), Cars 3 (meh), and...some other kid movie sequel I needed caught up on. If I recall, it was also meh. But the cuddles were divine!

Katie set up a hair salon for Thora and Dancy.

She got creative with her techniques and experimented with using Q-tips as curlers. Thora wasn't impressed with the result. I had to convince her to stand there for me to take the picture.

Um, this is out of chronology, but it's because I realized I never took a finished-product picture. I went to a painting party at my friend Katie's house in December to celebrate the end of her school semester. This is what we created. I put a ton of pennies on this sunflower, so it is HEAVY!

And more cuddles with this human. This time he was on the mend.

"Let's show Dad my water bottle."

And a slight relapse.

I wanted a blanket for my bed for next winter season, so I invited Katie to go to Costco with me to get it. She really liked the ribbon sash that bundled the blanket and has spent many days since played British Royalty.

Bomb Cyclone

Bomb cyclone:

I needed okay, wanted to go to Target before it really hit to get things like cardstock to print some curriculum pieces, locks for YMCA lockers, etc. Target decided to be like Walmart and misdirect me all over the store, have empty shelves, and no price labels. So I decided to screw it all and go home to shop on Amazon. Love wasting my time trying to shop locally and then just go to the internet anyway because I can get what's on my list. Anyway, getting back to my van was a bit of a schlepp. 

I brushed snow off my van, only on the passenger side because that's how the wind was blowing. Then I walked back to get in the van, buckled, texted Shad to let him know what the weather was doing...and I needed to brush off the van again.

Complete sideways snow.

It's not that we got a lot of snow, or maybe we did and just didn't know it. It blew away! Wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour! And around 45 otherwise. Actually, not all the snow blew away. When I shoveled off my trampoline the next day, there was at least 18 inches of snow.

Inside:

"Look, Mom! I'm a turtle!"

I could still see grass in my neighbor's yard.

Day after.

Thick ice.

We've taken up watching musicals with the kids. This is how enraptured Thora was with Into the Woods.

#teamcinderella

Saturday morning cartoons and cereal? Nah. Egg sandwiches and Crazy Russian Hacker on YouTube.

The bomb cyclone happened on a Wednesday, so we had to make up a day of swim lessons. Even though all 5 of my kids take lessons at the same time (two different classes), they were rescheduled at two different times. That meant that I actually got a chance to watch Katie a little. Here she is jumping into the 6-foot water.

I'm typing the instructor comments because I loved his commentary on Katie so much!

(All wording is exact to how David typed it.)

Tommy started scared. He did not do well on his front or back. However, when he started to see that he could float on his back and that swimming on his stomach was not a lethal adventure he started to relax and his skills improved quickly. I do not know what mental process got him over his fears but it happened and he now swims the three strokes we start with without any need for me to be in the immediate vicinity.

He also is a great brother. He is constantly trying to help Katie. A few positive words from Tommy and Katie tries things that may have taken me minutes to coax her into. Katie is doing much better thanks to Tommy.

Tommy has a positive attitude and displays a great desire to improve. He is a wonderful asset to the class and a great person.

Poor Katie tries so hard. She is scared much of the time but she does not quit. Katie's skills are not that good but I believe it is mostly because she is afraid. There are times (like when she knows she is in the shallow end) when she will relax her stroke flow better and she moves through the water rather well.

Through the classes Katie has gotten surer of herself. When she jumps in for rings she forgets about her apprehension and has fun even in water well over her head. However, the next time she swims over that very spot the apprehension returns. I am sure that one day it will dawn on her that jumping in and swimming to the wall not different than swimming over the same spot.

Katie is always trying to improve. I have tremendous admiration for her tenacity. Most "scared" students just quit but not Katie. She really seems to want to learn to swim and she is not going to let anything stand in her way. Time in the water should help her mitigate her fears and realize her ambition.

It is great having Katie in the class. The more capable swimmers watch and think, "If she tries that hard so can I." Her ambition helps her improve and motivates others. Impressive!

On the last Wednesday Katie swam lengths of the pool using the three strokes we have learned with almost no assistance at all and she did a sitting and a kneeling dive on her own. YEAH!!!

Swim Lessons and Such

We finally joined the Y. Held off for a long time, but finally did it. So that means yoga classes, hot tub, weight room, and swim lessons! We started our first swim session in March. Tommy, Samson, and Dancy all fell right into the swing of it with enthusiasm and joy. Thora and Katie...Katie's swim teacher said she was fearful and nervous, but never gave up and got over her fears. Thora needed some emotional coaching from me squatting right at the poolside. What really pulled her out of it and got her to brighten up was saying that I'd take pictures and videos to send to Lori!

{Thora, Samson, Dancy}

When we got home from swim lessons, Thora had to call Lori, of course. And even though I gave Thora my room for quiet, she had to come be where everyone else was and demand that we be quiet. She may be 4, but once a threenager, always a threenager.

Um, I know it's this thing that parents are super biased with their kids, but she's adorable! Dancy (5) fixed her hair. Right after this picture, she turned to the map and identified Australia as Austria. So I took the opportunity to show her European geography connected to composers that would excite her: Austria (Mozart), Germany (all the Johanns: Brahms, Bach, Strauss), Czech Republic (Dvorak), Italy (Vivaldi), France (Bizet). I missed Norway (Grieg) and Russia (Korsakov and Tchaikovsky). She got giddy with glee that they're all neighbors and "Little Einsteins!!!" She's one track away from having that CD mastered.

We had Samson's birthday party and apparently I took zero pictures. But here's tidbits: When he and I were planning, I asked him who he wanted to invite to his party. "Brittany...Zaki because he's my best buddy...Ruth...and Coltyn because he's my best buddy...Ruth because she's my best girl..." Now, let's back track a little. Who is Brittany? When the kids were at Ruth and Coltyn's in February, they all got together with Ruth's friend Brittany, who happens to be one of Lori's best friends, and I know her, too, from growing up together at church. So when my kids came back from Ruth's and were all excited to tell me they went to Brittany's house and I was confused, they clarified, "You know, she's LORI'S friend!" And I actually did understand. Samson loves her enough that she made the top of his invite list and he still talks about her. So, back to the list now. I asked if he wanted to invite Grandma. He hesitated, then declined because he doesn't like her pillows. I said, "Well, she wouldn't bring her pillows..." Then he approved her to come to his party as long as she didn't bring her pillows to ruin everything!

So we had his birthday party at our house again because it was warm all week until the weekend, just like last year. We planned zero activities and just let everyone enjoy each other's company and lunch. Not each other's lunch. Just lunch. We had my mom, brother Jake and his wife, Amber, Brittany, Shad's parents, Ruth & Coltyn, and local friends Hiram & Aly and their kids Hailey and Spencer. Baked potatoes, brownies, and a little bit of football with a foam ball. When you're 3 and you skipped your nap because you were partying hard all day for your birthday party and you end the night by staying up late to have a movie night with your sisters. He hardly stirred as I lifted him from the couch, carried him upstairs, maneuvered him into the bottom bunk, and pulled my arm out from under him.

Ha! Different day. The boy fell asleep with a pony tail in. It was funny.

And then one night during dinner, I turned to Shad in exasperation and asked, "Why can't kids be functional at eating?!" His response: "Because they're DISfunctional."