Good news

Just found out that I passed my aforementioned boards.  Yay!  I'm good for 10 more years.

Summer goings on.

The kids are having a great time with August swimming lessons.  Spenser took the level 1 course in June and has stepped up to the level 2 course.  Harper made the age cut off for the level 1 course by 2 weeks.  She is by far the youngest and most "baby" of the 5 kids in her group.  She also has the least amount of fear.  She already kicks and paddles underwater.  She freaks out the teachers because they can't tell if she is struggling or not.  She is also freely jumping off the diving board, something Spenser is just starting to do.

Meanwhile, I'm having a big dose of mommy guilt.  My board exams are due this year.  (How could 10 years have flown by so fast!)  I'm taking a review class for the next four days.  The class is only an hour drive away, but because it is an 11 hour day, I've chosen to stay in a hotel where the class is being held.  I miss my babies and my sweety!  I know that if I were driving back and forth that I wouldn't see much of anyone anyway, but I would still have the options of snuggling Spenser while he sleeps.

Worn out

A long day of eating pancakes, playing at the park, setting up a tent in the backyard, and swimming resulted in this while watching the Muppet Movie this evening.

Swimming Lessons

Spenser is currently enrolled in swimming lessons.   This is the same class he took last summer.  We figured it would be good for him to have a refresher course.  He'll take the next class up in August when Harper will be old enough to take the class he is in now.  He's doing quite well, though he's usually busy telling the instructors all kinds of stories that have little to do with the subject at hand.  When he is wearing goggles, he is all about getting his head under water.  He's still hesitant to jump off the diving board, however. 

Typically, Harper will go to preschool in the morning and Spenser will stay home until swim lessons at 11 am.  After lunch, Spenser will join Harper at preschool.  The other day, as Harper was leaving, Spenser gives her a hug and tells her to learn things at school so she can get smart.  You have to get smart to turn into a grown up according to him.

Phone dump

 Spenser figured out how to take a selfie on my phone.  Now he is perfecting his douche bag pout.

Our beloved neighbors are moving down the road a few miles.  Ms. Diane is always thinking about the kids.  She found them this awesome Kettler see-saw at a garage sale and gifted us with it.  The kids love it and are pretty perfectly balanced together on it.  Now, just to teach Harper that you can't get off when you are at the top.

 Harper making some miniature fruit tarts made of jam and premade pie crust.  They stuck to the pan and had to be soaked off, but she had a lot of fun putting them together.

 Nothing like warm Krispy Kreme for a breakfast treat.  Spenser loves the doughnut holes and can plow through an entire cup of them in one sitting.

 Harper likes the hats and balloons, but is not as big a fan of doughnuts.  She probably took three bites out of the one she picked out before declaring herself done.

Harper modelling the nightgown I made for her from a pretty pillowcase.

Sunshine!

When I'm working evenings, I will frequently not get home and to sleep until 2 am or later.  C learned early on to not wake me up in the morning.  (He threw open the shades and turned the lights on at 9 am once, telling me not to sleep the day away.  He only did that one time.)   The kids, however, don't know to respect my sleep yet.  The other morning,  Spenser came in to our bedroom and opened all the shades, letting the glorious May sun shine in.  He then came over and poked me in the nose, saying, "Rise and shine, sunshine!  Time to wake up!"  Hard to get angry when he says such cute things.

Mortgage payoff sent!

No more house payments!

Spenser woke me up the other morning by poking his fingers into my mouth.  He was pretty devastated when I refused his morning gift of feeding me his boogers for breakfast.  Sigh.

As I last updated, we had made it through Thanksgiving and Spenser's birthday.  Christmas has whizzed by as has the New Year, Ground Hog Day and the Superbowl.  A couple of weeks ago, we realized that we had missed out on Spenser's 4 year check up in all the chaos.  We scheduled it and figured it would be an easy visit, chat the doc, no shots, and on our way.  Poor boy ended up with 5 (!)  booster shots all in the same leg.  I wasn't there to witness it, but C tells me that Spenser was very brave.  He said "ouch" with the first two shots, but finally started crying with the third one.  He stayed home from school that day, but was motoring around on his scooter like a champ by that evening.  He told me that the shots hurt and his leg was a little sore, but he was OK.  So proud of my big boy!  He's currently in the 70th percentile for height and weight and is very articulate according to the pediatrician.  He says the funniest things lately, though there is some teenager seeping out.  When he doesn't want to do something, he usually replies, "Booooring" or "Not interested" with a laconic wave of his hand.  He also told me he was 18 years old the other day.  Not sure where that came from.

He and Harper were playing with their Legos, which includes two people and a little canoe from a Little Mermaid set.  We could hear him admonishing Harper to leave the people in the boat because they were being "mantic".  Curious, we asked him what "mantic" meant.  He replied that is what people do when they were in love.  Awwww....my heart melted.