Our Tree Climber

By the time we got home from the Fire Station, Andy was home as well from his church errand, so he got busy doing some yard work outside. Rachel loves to have an excuse to be outside, so she always heads out when Andy's out there working. She disappeared and surprised Andy by being up in a tree like this: 

She LOVES to climb trees. I keep on wanting Andy to get rid of these 4 trees (2 in the back and 2 in the front) but maybe we shouldn't...

Fire Station Open House

The Fire Station near our house held an Open House today. The kids and I decided to go and we had a fun time checking out the fire trucks, ambulances, and other activities. Ian had fun as well, but was not willing to participate in any of the picture taking. We got lots of little freebies from the vendors that were there and it was a fun Saturday morning activity.

Student Council Installation Ceremony

This morning I went to Rachel's Student Council Installation Ceremony. It was quite interesting... I 'd never seen anything like it. I used to work with the Student Council when I taught school and I don't recall us doing anything like this. Maybe we did and my memory is just gone... Anyhow, Rachel thought it was pretty cool to sit up on the stage and get sworn in as a Student Council Representative. The only disappointing things was only 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders attended. We thought Audrey would have been there. And she was kind of bummed to miss it. If we ever do this again, I may just have to pull the younger sibling out of class for 15 minutes. Here's a picture of Rachel with all her Student Council friends:

Chef-in-Training

Rachel insisted on helping cook the vegetables for our fajitas tonight. I loved her apron and safety goggles! And I definitely LOVE this girl! She says she may want to be a cook when she grows up. So, I told her there's a lady who has a show on TV named Rachael Ray and maybe she can take her place. I got a big smile when I told her that... :)

Queen Audrey

Audrey came home from school pretty excited today because she got to be queen for the day. Each child is given the opportunity and as I understand it, their morning calendar work revolves around Audrey (or whomever is queen/kind of the day). And of course she then gets to wear a crown all day. Kindergarten is definitely the best!!!

Swim Meet

Rachel participated in her first swim meet on Saturday. I finally talked her into doing swim team. She's always been a strong swimmer, but just hasn't been interested in swim team. Not sure why she finally caved, but she did. We signed her up for just September to see how it went. She's now decided she wants to continue on through November. Now she's committed, which means I need to get online and order the super expensive swim team swimsuit... But I've spent as much money on Audrey's tap and ballet shoes, so fair is fair. We're doing swim team at the YMCA. She has practices twice a week for an hour and then has swim meets 1-2 times a month on Saturdays. It has definitely kept us busy the past couple of weeks, but she's enjoying it. 

I was secretly hoping that Rachel wouldn't want to do the swim meet this month, because Andy was out of town and we had to drive 35 miles to the meet, which started at 7:30 am. But to be fair, I also wanted her to experience a meet. So, she insisted on going and we went. I ended up getting a babysitter for Audrey and Ian. I'm so glad I did! Worth every penny!!! Rachel and I headed out around 6:45 am. As we were driving east on the freeway Rachel kept on commenting how beautiful the sky was. And then it dawned on me that she's never seen a sunrise. Once this really bright pink circle started emerging she was amazed that it was the sun. It was a neat moment, to share the beauty of the sunrise with her. I even risked getting in an accident or a ticket by taking a picture:

You'll have to excuse the quality of the pictures and videos. Andy had the good camera with him on his trip, so my phone had to do...

We got there just as they were getting the kids into the water to warm up. Here's Rachel all smiles:

Rachel did one lap and then came out to me in tears. She didn't want to stay. She didn't want to do it. It was too cold and she just wanted to go home. And she just cried and cried and cried!!! I wasn't sure what to, so I tried my best to calm her down and I told her they were expecting her to swim for the team. Somehow I got her back in the water to swim a few more laps and I told her we'd at least try the first event and then go from there. She was pretty proud of the events written on her forearm:

We bundled her up and waited for her first event. Luckily her first event was freestyle, her favorite, and she did great! Here she is swimming away:

Her time was 25.17 seconds and she placed second. I was a bit worried as she walked around the pool to me... But luckily she was all smiles and said she wanted to stay. Yay!!! Right before Rachel got into the water there was a sweet girl standing next to me who noticed Rachel was nervous. She was probably about 10 years old. She asked if it was Rachel's first meet and I said yes. She then told us that she was so nervous her first meet that she cried a lot. I felt like hugging that sweet girl. Her words meant a lot. And then as she watched Rachel with me, she commented on how good Rachel was for her first meet. I made sure to share this with Rachel when she got back to me. So grateful for a sweet 10 year-old girl who was willing to open up to an adult and talk. So, here Rachel is being a goof with my sunglasses on and waiting for her next event:

Her next event was backstroke:

She got across in 28.45 seconds and placed second again. I thought she was going to place first, but another swimmer barely beat her. It was pretty exciting!!! Once again she was all smiles. Rachel then participated in 2 relays. The first relay she was the first swimmer of four. Her relay team placed first. And then in the second relay, she was the third swimmer. Their first swimmer struggled getting across the pool. I think the other team was already on to their third swimmer by the time she got across. The remaining 3 swimmers did their best to catch up, but it was hard. They still did an awesome job though! We were done by 10:30 and headed home. 

Overall, I would say her first swim meet was a great success. There's another one in 3 weeks. I've told Andy he gets to go to that one. And really, it's a fun bonding experience. You can kind of see why some parents go crazy with their kids and sports. It was exciting to see Rachel succeed. But she has been very clear to tell me that she doesn't want me cheering her on the whole way. It just makes her nervous. And that's fine by me. I'm so proud of my girl and that she tried something new and that she enjoyed it. I'd love to see her continue as I feel that swimming is a safe sport and an important skill for life.

Strep Throat

Andy's been out of town since Saturday night. He won't get back until early Monday morning. We really miss him when he's gone. And then unfortunately this week Ian came down with strep throat. I honestly don't recall ever having strep throat. Maybe I did when I was really little, but I know I've never had it as an adult. But when your 2 year-old is complaining that his throat hurts, you take him in. I'm so glad I did! You know how you always second guess yourself, but this time I was glad I followed through. Poor boy was miserable! He even fell asleep on our short drive to the doctor. As soon as we got home I gave him his first dose of antibiotics and then he pretty much fell asleep on me, which doesn't ever happen anymore...

And luckily 3 hours later when he woke up he was all smiles and back to his happy self:

Yay!!! So, this all happened on Monday. I was a bit worried about how the rest of the week would play out... But luckily no one else has gotten sick, so I think we're safe now. When Rachel came down with Strep last Spring we were able to avoid spreading it as well. I don't profess to be a super-clean freak, but I must be doing something right... I hate it when my kids are sick, but I guess it's one of those things that have to happen in order to enjoy the good times!

Student Council

Rachel ran for student council today. I was terrified for her. She wasn't bothered about it at all. I tried to explain to her that she might not win and she said that would be okay. That calmed me a little, but I still wondered if deep down she would be bothered. Anyhow, there was no need to worry Rachel won. She's the student council representative for her class and she's thrilled. I called a friend yesterday who has had her children do student council in the past. She told me to put a power point presentation together, so we did just that. Rachel loved doing it! She loved picking out the animations and transitions. She had fun practicing it at home. Audrey even became her little assistant. It was cute! Rachel went to school and presented her presentation and ended up getting the most votes in her class. She's excited about being able to do this and I know she'll do a good job. Once upon a time, I use to help run student council in the school I worked in. That seems ages ago... I'm glad Rachel has this opportunity to learn and grow and have fun!

I've tried to get her presentation loaded on here. The transitions and animations haven't come through, but you'll get the idea.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Last night Ian was introduced to "Duck, Duck, Goose" and he was loving it!
 

UNO

Ian has recently been introduced to UNO. He actually gets the game and enjoys playing. It's perfect timing, since he's missing his sisters while they are back at school. So, Ian and I play a few games each day.