Andrew's first swim lesson!

A couple weeks ago, Andrew had his first swim lesson! The lessons were offered through the POA on Mondays and Wednesdays for the month of August. I found out the week after they started so we only signed up for 3 Mondays. But I was excited for Andrew to get the chance to try lessons before the summer was over and the pool closed until next year.

There were around 6 parents and small children 3 and under that met in the mornings for the lessons. Andrew was ready to jump in the pool as soon as we got there!

We started in a circle singing all of Andrew's favorite songs and kicking and splashing!
Andrew was having so much fun!

They practiced kicking on the mat and then jumping off into the water. Andrew loves to jump in the water. He has no fear of the water which is why I wanted to get him started on lessons ASAP!

Wondering how I got pictures of us during the lesson? One of the lifeguards takes pics during the lessons and emails them to us. How nice!

Andrew did great kicking and paddling, jumping in and he even floated on his back!
Amazing! I so wished they offered lessons earlier in the summer but the instructor said she plans to do lessons at Metfield (instead of Kingsdale) next summer and do more sessions. We will
definitely be doing them next year!

A Police Bear is Born!

This past week, Christian "rediscovered" snuggling with his Mister Bear, a stuffed animal bear he made at Build a Bear when he was 5 years old. Mister Bear has been a fixture on Christian's bed for a couple years and used to go lots of places with us. But just like on Toy Story, Mister Bear, stayed hundled in a pile of other stuffed animals at the foot of Christian's bed waiting to be rediscovered again. The other night he asked if he could make another bear sometime. I replied with my common "mom" response saying, "Someday". ;)

Well, today the weather was much cooler than it has been in a couple weeks so we headed out for an afternoon stroll at the Promenade after school. I wanted to surprise Christian with the chance to stop by Build-A-Bear Workshop. When we walked near it, he asked, "MOM MOM!!! Can I build a new bear today???"

Christian is such a sweet boy for his age and I was delighted that he was so excited to make one again so I said, "Sure!" He picked out a sweet fuzzy white bear and got started!

I was kinda hoping Andrew would be interested in making one along with Christian, but he said no and just wanted to watch his big brother and be his "helper". That and run around the store saying "WOW WOW". I guess he is still a little young to understand the concept. ;)

We were the only ones in the store, so the Build-A-Bear staff was so sweet and helpful with him!
Christian put his foot on the pedal that controlled the amount of "stuffing" that filled his bear.

Christian testing out the fluff in his bear. Just right. :)

Christian picked out the heart for his bear and learning about making it special for his bear!

Now to give his bear an air bath!

When looking at outfits for his bear, Christian stopped right in his tracks when he saw the policeman uniform. Thus, "Police Bear" was born!

Christian putting on his uniform


Presenting "Police Bear"!

When it was time to make the birth certificate on the computer, it asked Christian to name his bear. Instead of picking a name like "Joe" or "Bob" he just chose "Police Bear". Makes sense.

Looks like Christian has a new deputy sidekick!

Grand Finale!

This past weekend was the last weekend before school started. I can't believe how fast summer flew by! I am so blessed to have been able to spend my summer with my sweet boys! We had so much fun together!

As part of Jim's birthday celebration and last weekend of summer, Jim's family came up to visit and we spent some time on Beaver Lake!

On Saturday, the family came to our house and we did gifts and cake for Jim's 35th birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!

Saturday night, we all went to the Greece wine and food tasting dinner at Petit Bistro! Jim loved the Italian dinner so much, he REALLY wanted to go to the Greece one too!
We all had a great time!

Sunday morning, we headed out to Beaver Lake to spend the last day of summer boating!

The boys were so exciting to go out on the boat. Andrew kept saying, "Splish Splash Boat!" the whole way there!

This was Andrew's first time to go on a boat ride and he was ready to drive as soon as he climbed on board!


Christian, Will and Alicia ready to go boating!
(Notice that Andrew still thinks he is driving)

Pops had fun letting Andrew be his co-pilot!


Christian and Will were ready to jump in the water!

GoGo said she was ready to go skiing!

Go Will!

I decided not to ski since I was more concerned with Andrew wanting to jump out of the boat! ;)

Jim relaxed with Andrew. ;)

Lookin' good out there Pops!

Good times!

We ended our boating with lunch at JJ's at the marina. Good stuff!
Christian called our boating trip the "Grand Finale" of his summer!

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

Yesterday, we went to Christian's 2nd grade Open House at his school to meet his teacher and see his new classroom! He was so excited!

Christian is in the 2nd grade and has Mrs. Whited for his teacher this year!
We met her and she is really nice and Christian liked her a lot already!

He really LOVED his desk! Instead of shared tables like he has had the past two years, he has his own desk with its own inside storage cubby and pencil basket. He thought that was awesome!

His classroom!

Christian loved the classroom library! Look at all those books! How fun!
Christian already made a new friend in his class, Lucas, who said he also wanted to be a policeman when he grows up. I see playdates in our future! haha!

Christian even has his own classroom "locker" where he keeps his books , backpack and coat.
Look at those school books! I see lots of homework in our future too! ;)

Christian's 2nd grade classroom is on the 2nd floor this year, which he think is "cool". He sure looked like a young man walking up those steps with his school supplies!
As soon as we got in the car, Christian said he wished school started tomorrow!
So glad he is excited about starting school!

Robert's 1st Birthday party and Elizabeth's Baptism!

This past weekend, our family traveled down to Plano, Texas to celebrate Robert's first birthday and see Elizabeth's Baptism. We were so excited!

The first thing I did when we arrived was hold Elizabeth. I absolutely love this precious little girl and was so glad to finally hold her!


Christian loved to watch Elizabeth while she was sleeping. He loves his new baby cousin. :)

The whole family came down for the events!

Robert's super cute birthday cake!

Robert is happy when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday!"

The boys waiting patiently for their cake. ;)

Andrew loves cake!

Pops and Robert are buddies!

Robert showing off his "Big Brother" shirt we gave him! :)

The next day, our family attended Elizabeth's baptism.


Grandmother with Bobby and Debbie Sharum and their kids, Julia, Mitchell and Sophie.
Christian and Andrew loved seeing their cousins!



The boys had such a fun weekend in Texas! Lots of fun---birthday party, going out to eat, staying in a hotel, and playing with their cousins! Wish we could have stayed longer! We looking forward to our next trip to Texas next summer!