Swim lessons

Swim lessons started a few weeks ago at a rock-bottom low. Tantrums were had by all -- Miles, over a snack; Noah, over some goggles, me, over how late we were going to be. It was ugly -- very ugly. But this week, our 4th week, was amazing. We hit our stride and now we all look forward to Mondays and Wednesdays.

We changed the dynamic by arriving to at the pool 45 minutes early (versus staying for 45 minutes to swim after their lessons). The older boys can swim before lessons and we get to avoid the "just 5 more minutes to play", because when its time for lessons, its time to head to the other pool. After lessons, we all shower and get into our pjs. It gives us one less step at home and the boys think its fun to be out-and-about in their pajamas. If they are good during the swim & shower time, they get to watch their 30 minutes of tv for the day when we get home. They love their tv-time, so everyone is a winner!



Griffin started off wary of the water, but now he LOVES it. He jumps up and purposely falls so that his face goes under the water (and then laughs hysterically). He loves to float on his back, though he spends most of his time trying to pry my hands off of him. I let him go a couple of times to show him that he'd go under without me. I "rescued" him immediately and he wasn't phased. He is going to love summertime at the pool (and will likely need to wear a life jacket at all times!).



Noah hated lessons at first. He screamed for me to 2 weeks. Now, he walks right over to his class and sits in his spot. He's frequently spotted smiling while swimming. :)



Miles loves to swim and he is f-a-s-t! Check him out in this picture...no one else in his class is near him. His teacher is great -- and is having the kids use noodles/floatation devices as a way to help them work on different aspects of their strokes. I've been really impressed. I'm going to encourage him to join the neighborhood swim team this summer, just to keep up the practice.

***
The only bad part to these water-loving boys, is that the outdoor pool water is c-o-l-d in May and June. I may need to ask for a wet suit for Mother's Day! :)

Spring Fever

The weather has been incredible! We broke for dinner at 4:45pm and then resumed our outside fun. We have s-p-r-i-n-g f-e-v-e-r and can't stop smiling!





Tonight Griffin climbed into the jumpy with his brothers for the first time. They were like 3 bear cubs crawling all over each other. He's almost 2 -- and is losing his baby ways -- and moving into the pack!

Close Call

It was a close call; but, Miles saved the day (and many future days and nights) with his quick thinking and speedy hands. The second he noticed that Griffin had his lovie AND the twin back-up lovie, Miles lunged in and performed a snatch & grab. Griffin never knew what hit him.

Sun-kissed Cheeks

Super Sunny Saturday

There is nothing like warm weather and sunshine to bring out the smiles. Being cooped up during the long-dark winter has been hard this year; but, with Spring around the corner I can't help but hold a smile. We spent 3 full hours at the park today with some of our favorite neighbors. It rocked.


The neighborhood crew....


Check out the big guy....handling his own water bottle!



After I gave Noah a mohawk, he tried to give Griffy one.



Ellie, Claire, and Lawson Fisher. All so cute.



Evan & Sydney Bass. Big smiles, awesome blond hair.


Will Marler. Aka ~ Mr Photogenic.


Quick pick-up game? Anyone? Anyone?

Who Me?

Who me? You think I'm really cute? Well, if you say so.

Say "AH"

Miles and Noah both studied healthcare in school this week. Miles even took a field trip to a hospital. His favorite part was seeing a stomach x-ray of someone who had swallowed a quarter. He thought it was crazy.

While we were talking about it, I asked the boys if they remembered that Gram is a nurse. Both Miles' & Noah's eyes got HUGE. Miles gasped and then said, "I didn't know that Gram fixes people!" He was in awe.

Another Snow Day!

We returned home from Mexico in perfect time to see the snow flurries begin. The next day we woke up to 4 inches of snow. WOW! The kids were ecstatic and jumped into their snow gear the second they finished their last spoonful of cereal. The boys enjoyed playing outside for about 30 minutes -- upon which time Noah announced that he was going in. IMMEDIATELY. The Brown boys are definitely the fair-weather kind. Still, I'm holding on to the belief that as they get older, they'll LOVE the snow and we'll play in it together for hours. Until then, they seem to be playing just long enough to earn their hot chocolate.











Snowy weather.....see you next year!

Ah....Mexico

Mike and I spent an incredible 6 days in Mexico. Mike's parents arrived the Saturday before we left to settle into our routine. The boys LOVE spending time with their grandparents, so they were thrilled to have them here for so many days. But, not so fast: to ensure that we earned every minute of our upcoming relaxation, one of our boys turned into an absolute crazy-person before we left. There were too many tantrums to even count. Was it fatigue? Too many sweets? Inconsistent discipline? I'll never know. What I do know, is that my heart broke hours before we left when he looked at me in the car and said, "mommy, I'm just so sad that you're leaving." Just thinking about it now makes me tear up. It was a momentary sadness, I'm sure, as the boys had a BLAST with Bob & Peggy. And, as much as we missed them, we had also had a BLAST on our adults-only vacation. It was truly therapeutic to be able to exercise every day, have leisurely meals, enjoy adult conversation, rest, shop. We loved it all. And, now that we are home, back into our regular routine, said crazy-person has returned to his good-old self. Whew.










I'll post a link to the rest of the pictures soon.