Swimming Lessons

At the end of last summer Jeremiah had started dog paddling without his life vest on. Nathaniel was fearless in the water, which was actually a matter of concern because he seriously thought he could swim even though he sank like a rock. So this summer I really wanted for the boys to start swimming. I wanted them to at least be able to keep their heads above water should they fall into a pool or something.

A colleague of Aaron's used to be a swim instructor and he agreed to teach a swim class with 3 of our friends. It was a cold week, but the kids did great. Jeremiah is confident in the water now, as long as he has his goggles on. He went from trying desperately to keep his head above water while swimming to swimming under water. Nathaniel can swim under water, and can keep himself up a little bit with his head above water.

I am so glad that we did the swim lessons early in the summer so they now have all summer to practice!

A busy weekend

Father's Day 

Goo Goo Dolls concert at Riverbend

Baby shower decorations

Yikes! Taking a deep breath this Monday as we try to recover from a weekend full of festivities. It was a weekend full of exciting events (seeing Jeremiah's favorite band the Goo Goo Dolls live), parties (a baby shower at our house, a big birthday party complete with swimming and creek splashing for the boys), and family (Father's Day lunch and playing with cousins).

This week we are wrapping up swimming lessons. I am so proud that both boys are swimming independently now! We are also working on more projects around the house and hoping to do our annual blueberry picking. Fun summer times!

New Project

The room on the back of our house gets used a lot. It is always an unorganized mess of all kinds of randomness. One of the projects on our summer list is to paint, deep clean, and organize this room. The plan is for this room to not only be our play room but also our main school room. We already have the furniture picked out for it, but it doesn't make sense to go get the furniture until the painting and cleaning is done. We have lived in this house for 3 years and this room gets a lot of traffic and not a lot of cleaning (since it is out of sight it is easy to let it go). So let's just say that new paint and some deep cleaning were much needed. 

Instead of going and getting a new color I decided to save a buck and go with left over paint from our rental property. It's not a color I would normally pick out, Parisian Taupe by Behr, which to me just means "boring tan." But it is a neutral color, I had a whole gallon of it, and it is the kind that already has the primer in it (love that!) so I decided to just go with it. I've decided I like it in this room because there are so many windows and so much sun that the tan doesn't get too dark. It also helps that there is really only one large wall to cover, all the other walls are broken up with windows, closet doors, or a pass through window. 

I spent the day painting while the boys entertained themselves for the most part. Jeremiah did want to help paint a little bit and did a great job. It feels good to have the first part of this project done! I always put off painting because it seems like such a hassle, but then when it is done I love how fresh and clean a room feels and I wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Now we just need to do the deep cleaning and go get the furniture! Did I mention that we have swim lessons this week, are taking the kids to a Goo Goo Dolls concert on Friday night, and I am hosting a baby shower at our house on Saturday? I will probably get the cleaning done, but the furniture may have to wait. 

God's love made visible through a bike

Saturday was a gorgeous day! After the ball game, pizza party and a short rest we decided to make the most of the cooler temperatures and head to the Chickamauga National Battlefield and let the boys ride their bikes. 

Jeremiah has gotten a new-to-him bike. It's a cool story really. The kind that is easy to chalk up to coincidence but when you stop and take a minute you realize that God's extravagant, generous love is made visible even in bicycles. Jeremiah has needed a new bike for a while. He loves riding and his knees were knocking his chin on his other bike. We just didn't have it in the budget to go and buy him a new bike. So we were asking him to be patient while we looked at yard sales and tried to find a bike for him at a price we could afford. He was being patient, but it was the topic of much conversation. We even stopped and looked at a bike that he really liked, but it was used and they were still asking a lot of money and so we asked him to wait a little more. Last week Aaron found a bike on Craigslist. The man was willing to sell it for $10 so Aaron and the boys headed up there. As they were leaving with the bike the man ran out of his house and gave Aaron the money back. He wanted to give Jeremiah the bike. I am amazed how God used this situation to show Jeremiah how much He loves him! And maybe Jeremiah even learned a lesson about waiting and honoring God with your money. 

So I watched Jeremiah take off on his new bike. Peddling hard down quiet roads. Flitting through shadow and light. I know I could feel God's smile. 

Last Baseball Game

 On deck.

Getting in batting position. 

He took this part very seriously. He was methodical, precise and completely serious. 

It was like he had a checklist in his head that he completed every time. 

In this at bat he had a really good hit that got a runner home and tied the game. 

The boy at 2nd got the 3rd out though out so Jeremiah didn't get to run bases, which is his favorite thing.

In the dugout. Aaron was a helper in the dugout. 

Trying to keep thirteen 7 year olds paying attention when they are waiting for their turn to bat is quite the task.  

 The final at bat of the game and season. Jeremiah is up, 2 outs, a few kids on base, our team down 14 to 6. Jeremiah got a good hit, but was thrown out at first. That ended the season. 

 Last coach pep talk. 

With coach Bradford at the pizza party. 

Nathaniel and I sitting in the bleachers.

Well, our first baseball season is over. It was a gorgeous spring-like day with cool temps and a nice breeze. A perfect day to spend at the ball field. Jeremiah had a fun season, but I must say that I much prefer soccer. However, he had terrific coaches who focused on having fun, learning, and being good sportsmen not just on winning. The highlight of any sports season is the pizza party and trophy which now sits in its own place of honor next to the soccer trophies. Now we can take a deep breath and dive in to summer.