Swim Team

We have started a new adventure this summer.... Swim Team!

Its a huge time commitment (daily practices & swim meets 2 to 3 times a week), but so far its paying off, as Zach has turned into quite the competitive swimmer. We are just so proud of him for trying this new adventure as it was scary in the beginning as we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into. He is working on mastering all 4 strokes but is really excelling at the freestyle & backstroke.

Its been fun to watch his skills improve & his confidence soar during this past month. We are trying to just make this a fun experience for him with less emphasis on the winning part of it.

Lined up with a buddy in the 'Bull Pen' as they call it, waiting for his event to be called.

Ready, Set, Go! Getting ready to dive in for the Butterfly!

Walking at 16 plus months!

I haven't blogged about Lindsey in a while because I was waiting for her to hit that next milestone of walking. And finally at 16 months we have hit it!!

Its been a long road but she finally has her stability and trunk strength to get her going. Now of course we have to watch her even closer as she is a safety hazard with bumping into things and taking numerous falls.

She continues to receive weekly PT sessions which help her with her stability and recently she also qualified to receive Occupational Therapy and Speech services. In the past few months her personality has really taken off and has been fun to watch. She continues to bring us much joy and is a blessing to our family.

Cameron's 4th birthday

Cameron has turned 4! Although he seems to think he's going on 7 like his older brother. We had a fun time celebrating with my parents & their friend Precy who was visiting from England. Cameron also had his first sleepover with his friend, Brendan. He's getting so old!

Middle Child

At the tail end of last summer, Cameron started riding a bike without training wheels, at the ripe age of 3. It was the craziest thing to see.

Of course, with him being the middle child he doesn't seem to get a much camera time as his older brother did when he accomplished such milestones (at age 5), I finally captured it on camera & video this past weekend.

Cameron continues to amaze me with this gross motor skills or his ability/need to do whatever his older brother does. I haven't quite figured out yet which one it is. Either way, I am trying hard to make sure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle as I think he is struggling to find out where he fits as the middle child. So here is a post giving hims some equal camera/blogging time.

So proud of himself!

Easter weekend

The mandatory 'after church, Easter photo shoot'

These are the best 3 of the bunch!

We were on our own for Easter and enjoyed a nice family day together. Both of our parents are busy traveling the world and enjoying some relaxation. We are only a tad bit jealous....

Cameron & Lindsey

Lindsey

Letting go

Zachary had his first 'friend sleepover' last night. Is my oldest boy really ready for starting this new phase of his life now that he's almost done with the 1st grade? Or more importantly am I ready for this next step?

I kept asking myself those questions all evening long as I was wondering what he was doing? Was he missing me? Would he be sad at bedtime? Would he be able to tuck himself in?

Well, he came home this morning as happy as a clam, completely unfazed at what a momentous event this was for me, and jabbering away about what a fun night he had and how he stayed up till 10.30.

I am just so proud of the young boy he is becoming. He continues to impressive me with his academic achievements, positive leadership behavior at school, participation in his church Pathfinders program & sports.

It also melts my heart the endearing way Zachary dotes on his little sister. In the morning he wants to be the 1st one to go see her, always wants to be by her, help her, play with her, and makes sure she's safe as she explores her way around.

With all that said about the way he is maturing, I still don't know if I am ready to accept the fact he is close to going into 2nd grade & sleepovers are becoming a part of his social calendar!

spring

Has it finally sprung? My kids seem to think so and I sure hope so!

We had our first official weekend outside as yesterday we had a balmy high of 85! Unbelievable for April. But today we are back to our normal/seasonal high of about 60.

This past weekend was Lindsey's first real adventure outside, which brings with it all kinds of new things to eat (dirt, sand, grass), choke on (rocks, wood chips, leaves), puddles to sit in, etc...

Within a few hours of being outside she had taken 3 major tumbles, as a result of her trying to pull herself up on things that really weren't suitable. Which essentially means I can't turn my back on her for a minute.

Phew... I forgot what a hard age this is!

I sure hope this girl starts walking soon or its going to be a long summer!

Lindsey discovered our play house for the first time. She loved hanging out in there.

Zach playing around with two of his buddies after his first soccer game of the spring season. Mark has taken on the roll of head coach, which I give him credit for, as maintaining control of 10, 7 year old boys is quite the challenge. But Zach loves it that his dad is the coach and seems to be quite proud, so that makes it all worth it.