Houston, we have a problem...

I'm going to try to make this post brief (check back and see if that makes you laugh once you get to the end of the post...), for the sake of my 8 faithful readers.  But I just need to vent for a minute.  I have been mothering for about 8 years, give or take a few months depending on whether or not you consider being pregnant part of mothering.  I've experienced it all - all the first milestones, all the fun activities, all the trials and sleepless nights, all the potty training.  Oh, the potty training.  My youngest child is 3, and I thought for sure that I would be done with dealing with all child bathroom issues by now.  I'm not.  One child, despite cutting off all liquids by 5:30 pm still wets the bed like a champ, up to three times a night!  Another child, fearful of seeing anything unpleasant while potty training, has gotten so backed up that it has required x-rays and a daily regimen of measured laxative to keep things flowing.  Flow, they do.  All day.  And not in the potty.  Sorry to have grossed you out, but this is what I live with every day.  Ugh - I've had it!  Neither I nor my washing machine can take much more of this.

Well, today I was looking through some summer pictures, I ran across a picture that is changing my whole perspective.  There is a very simple solution to this if we just work at it.  From now on we are going to be focusing on intensive math and science instruction around here in addtion to their regular schoolwork.  We will replace trips to Disney with weeks at Space Camp.  We will aim for perfect math SAT scores and science fair state champions.  We will petition the government to keep funding NASA and build bigger and better rockets to replace the Shuttle program.  Why?

THIS IS WHY:

If I can raise me some astronauts, my kids will enter a profession in which wearing a diaper is a-ok!  Perfect!

Decorated for Bravery

What follows is a story written by Hi-Hat, worthy of posting because it resulted from much bravery, courage and self-motivation.  I am thrilled to be able to share it with you!

[unedited]
My faverite ride is the Lochness Monster.  I rode it two days ago.  It had looptiloops and drops.  There was also a cave and it was very dark and there was nothing in it.  You went down a spiroll track.  It took eleven seconds to get out of it. On one of the looptiloops it takkes your picture.  I went on the roller coaster three times in a row.  Two times with mom and one time with dad.  It was very fun!  THE END.

This is the pitiful face of a kid who is next in line for the coaster.  I tried to keep him talking about fun things like Nerf guns (which he would earn by riding the ride), school friends, etc. As long as I could keep him talking, the nerves stayed at bay.  But as we got closer he got more and more nervous and upset and I actually felt I needed to tell several other passengers that I was NOT forcing him on the ride - he really wanted to do it, but he was really scared.  He was in the conflicted state of sheer terror and powering through.  He can be so self aware sometimes - he stated several times that he knew if he could just get on the ride he would love it when it was all over.  He's been in this situation enough times now that he knows that tends to be true.  What an awesome kid!

He knows himself!  Here's a much happier face after the last loop as we were pulling back into the station.  He loved it!

And here's the same kid, next in line for the coaster the second time around.  He couldn't wait to get on the ride!  Woo-hoo!

I should also note that he powered through the Busch Gardens fireworks display that night.  This is another tough situation for Hi-Hat, but he did it, and after it was all over I overheard him talking with Rella about how beautiful the fireworks were.  A day full of giant leaps for my cautious kid.  When it was time for bed, Hi-Hat declined to read (something he has been known to do for 2-3 hours a night in bed), saying that he had enough excitement in his head after the coaster and the fireworks.  He went right to sleep, I assume with visions of a new Nerf Long Strike dancing in his head. :)

catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world

Thanks to Water Country USA, I've got some Beach Boys songs stuck in my head these days.  But perhaps I should have titled this post Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity-Dog at the suggestion of my friend Beth, because I'm ready to do the Hot Dog Dance around here.  "Why," do you ask?  Because I finally finished my 2009 Disney scrapbook!  It's a project I started three times (yes, I have a folder on the computer named Disney 09 Pages with the subfolders "Pages," "Pages Take 2" and "Pages Take 3").  I finally landed on a style I can live with that was fairly streamlined and straightforward, and I plowed through and got it done.  All 80 or so pages of it.  Three weeks before our next trip.  And then it will be time to start all over again.  But in the meantime, I thought I would try to catch up on catching up on the old blog.  I may jump around a bit, but I'll start with the most recent stuff. 

Last weekend we took a quick overnight trip to Williamsburg to go to Busch Gardens and Water Country.  We have these passes and don't use them nearly as often as we should!  We had a great time at Water Country this year - 2 capable swimmers and a water-loving 3 year old made for a very different experience than we have known before.  All 5 of us rode just about every ride together - even the 700-ft. slides!  Rella was pretty much up for anything, Fancy is a born thrill-seeker, and thanks to his new-found bravery at Busch the day before (stay tuned for another post), Hi-Hat barely thougth twice about the big water slides.  We had so much fun that we're thinking of skipping Sea World in Orlando and spending the day at Sea World's Aquatica water park instead.  The light at the end of the preschooler tunnel is SO bright!  I'm basking in it. :)  Here's my layout for our day at WC.  My little camera battery konked out halfway through the day, but considering that I wasn't even planning to bring the camera, I'm pretty happy with the results.

We've Got Some Work to Do...

Wanted to pass along the conversation that just transpired in my house.

Little Rella wanted to play "moonin' sandin'" (Moon Sand).  She asked if she could play with it on the deck.  I looked out there and saw that the deck was still wet from the overnight rainstorm (lots of thunder and lightning, and we think there was a power surge that caused the main fire alarms to go off for a few frightful, panic-inducing minutes, causing me to resort to sleeping in the basement where there is a separate alarm system that doesn't tend to go off when you look cross-eyed at it. I'm pretty sure there is some clinical diagnosis for my reaction to our hateful fire alarms.  Remember that).  I told her no, it was too wet outside and we'd have to play at the kitchen table.  She took off running into the living room, looking back over her shoulder saying, "Come on!"  So I followed her to the window and she proceeded to tell me that when she first woke up this morning she looked out the window at her playground and saw that "it was raining . . . or the hose was left on."  I told her everything was wet from the rain and then I described the big storm with all the flashing lightning and booming thunder.  "It sounded like God was playing Hi-Hat's bass drum."  She then asked, "Does God live in the sky?"  Brief explanation for a 3-year-old on how God is everywhere with us, and how we can have Jesus live in our hearts."  She got a very serious look on her face and said, "Yeah, He has to live in our hearts se-cause we don't have room for him in our house."  Hmmm...I was about to address this, and then she piped up again, "Maybe He can sleep in your bed."  I gave her a funny look and she said, "Yeah, there's room there now because you sleep in the basement.  Se-cause of the beeps."

Swim [re]Cap

Oh, I am so behind on blogging.  I must catch up for the sake of you, dear reader, and for my next blog book.  Today has been a relatively wide open Saturday in terms of family activities, so I've spent the morning going though my mile-high digital stack of pictures.  I got through some swimming pictures, so I thought I'd post a recap of our summer swim team experience for your Saturday afternoon viewing pleasure.  I mean, if you're not at the pool right now, you may as well have a look at some great kids who were at the pool this summer!  Quick overview of our experience:

- Late spring: I still had 3 non-swimming kids (unless you count sort of gliding under the water and moving with random body motions)

- Late spring: Had enough of our crazy neighborhood pool (with it's lack of shallow area and abundance of glass-bottle beer-drinking swimmers and prohibition of swim diapers) and joined a nearby swim and tennis club

- Late spring: Forked over the money for my two non-swimming kids to spend their summer competing against able swimmers.

- Beginning of Summer: Spent every morning at the pool, watching my two non-swimmers become sort-of-swimmers during 6 And Under practices. Hi-Hat was allowed to "swim down" during practices so he could learn to actually swim...

 - Early Summer: Experienced the nail-biting drama of time trials, praying that my kids could make it 15 meters without me having to toss the camera to dive in and save them.  I didn't have to.

- Early Summer: Got over myself thinking that writing "Eat My Bubbles" in black sharpie on my kids' bare skin was weird and somewhat rude and went searching through my office supply drawer for markers.  For the sake of team spirit (honestly, it occurred to me that my kids would probably be last in their heats anyway, so nobody would actually be there to eat their bubbles...;)

- Early Summer: First swim meet.  Hi-Hat opted to sit out until he felt confident that he could swim the full length of the pool with other 7-8s.  Fancy experienced the thrill of earning swim ribbons and became completely hooked on the sport!  And, she successfully swam backstroke during a meet after having never tried it before.

- Summer: Discovered that meet nights run VERY long, and that summer storms only occur on nights when we are at a meet, causing excruciating delays and very late bedtimes.  And realized just how hot summer nights can be!

(thought it's not so bad once the sun goes down)

- Summer: Had Hi-Hat do a week of one-on-one lessons with one of his coaches, and by the end of the week he was swimming full laps no problem.  Also proved to be pretty good at butterfly!  Hi-Hat decided to participate in the third swim meet, swimming two events and feeling quite confident.  Nobody was eating his bubbles, but I was thrilled! :)

- Mid-Summer: Strokes are getting smoother, times are getting faster, and Fancy started winning her heats!  The lure of a tie-dyed ribbon increased her love of the sport! Hi-Hat increased to swimming three events.

(The face of a heat winner)

- Mid-Summer: Diving skills have not yet taken off, but we have two confident, capable swimmers!

- Mid-Summer: Summer evening storms cut a few meets short, so Hi-Hat never got to swim all 4 events like he wanted to, but Fancy accomplished her goal of winning all three of her heats during one meet.   

- Mid-Summer: Summer swim team season comes to an end, and we now have two great swimmers who have learned the lessons of overcoming anxieties and trying new things, practice and perserverence, and individual and team spirit.  I learned that my little kids are becoming bigger kids and am learning to have confidence in their abilities to do something on their own.  I appreciate how unique they each are - Fancy with her indominable spirit and drive to win, and Hi-Hat's cautious nature and his own growing confidence in his abilities to try and accomplish diffiuclt things. 

Go AQUABEARS!

Still Here!

I promise I have not completely forgtten my blog! I actually have lots to post about, from birthdays to vacations to baseball games to museums to swim meets. My digital stackof pictures is quite high! We've just been so busy that I've gotten behind. AND, I've been working on a very exciting project - I'm doing scrapbook pages for last year's trip to Disney. I've done about 50 pages so far, and I think I may actually be done before we go on our next trip! So stay tuned. I will start reposting soon. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from this weekend's events. Both Hi-Hat and Fancy decided to be baptized at our church's outdoor baptism service at a local camp. Despite the threat of a looming thunderstorm, we had a great day! Hi-Hat was baptized before the lifeguard blew the whistle to clear the pool during some thunder, and then we stayed for dinner, fellowship and testimonies. Later in the evening the storm cleared up enough that we could go back to the pool for Fancy's baptism. I'm so glad they could do it together in the presence of so many friends and family.

Candidates for baptism

Waiting to go into the pool

Pastor Horner invites Kellen into the pool

Buried in the likeness of His death...

... and raised in the likeness of His resurrection.

Hi-Hat with his Auntley, and Fancy had to sneak in there, too! :)

So many great kids that we love - some being baptized, some already baptized, and some coming out to watch their friends.  As parents, we are blessed beyond measure with these kids!

Waiting and watching the storm clouds, hoping she can get in the water!

She's getting excited!

Based upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I now baptize you in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost. Buried with Him in the likeness of His death, raised with Him in the likeness of His ressurrection to walk in the newness of life.

Family who shared in this day with us - Great-Grandma and Great-Granddaddy Motley, Grandma and Granddaddy B, Grandma H, Auntley Ashley and Uncle Phillip and Uncle Jordan.