All Star Meet!

We were up bright and early today for the All Star meet! The Moo did an AWESOME job, finishing second in her heat. Yay Moo (and yay for summer swim season being over - no more waking up at 530 am on a Saturday!!). Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Update on Bean's Swim Meet

So, as it turns out, the Bean won first place for four year old girls in both freestyle and backstroke at her meet! We didn't realize because they had combined ages in the heats, but today she was presented with two blue ribbons for her first place finishes! Way to go, Bean! She also helped entertain Ruby while Mom cleaned Ruby's cage today, as you can tell from the pictures above (they were just too funny not to find some excuse to include them on the blog!).

The Bean Goes for a Swim!

Today was the second mini meet for the littlest swimmers in t he summer league. As previously mentioned, the Bean's performance at the last mini-meet (or rather non-performance) was extremely distressing for us all. We went back and forth about whether to even take her at all today, but ultimately she decided she wanted to try so we decided that Dad would take her, and maybe have more luck. Of course, Mom could not stay away, and she and the Moo ultimately tagged along, but we stayed far away from the staging area so the Bean would not focus on us being there.

The Bean did awesome!! She swam freestyle and backstroke and is so proud of herself. The picture of her above is with Coach Z -- he has been her coach all summer swim season and has been awesome! He was in the lane with her when she swam today just in case and helped to make sure she got in the water. Coach Z's mom was also awesome; she took charge of the Bean and made sure that she was in Coach Z's lane for each of her heats.

We are so proud of you, Bean! And the Bean is super proud of herself. She says: "I was happy that Mommy was so proud of me and Coach Z and me got a picture and then I was very proud of myself and I was happy and I shared with Molly and I hope she has ribbons everyday."

All Star Swimmer!

We are very proud to announce that the Moo swam a 27.75 free at her swim meet today, which officially qualifies her as an All Star! She will be participating in the all star meet next week, so we will be sitting out Divisionals. She has shaved 6 seconds off her free time since beginning summer swim team in June. When they told her that she was an All Star she got very excited, jumping up and down and saying "I can't believe it! I made All Stars." Then, on the car ride home, she asked me, "Mom, what's am All Star?"

You are Moo!! Congratulations!!

To My Little Ones

Welcome to the human race
With it's wars, disease and brutality
You with your innocence and grace
Restore some pride and dignity
To a world in decline

Welcome to a special place
In a heart of stone that's cold and grey
You with your angel face
Keep the despair at bay
Send it away, and

Show me the meaning of the word
'cause I've heard so much about it
I don't want to live without it

Failures in Parenting

Today was not a great day. Mom took the day off of work in order to able to cheer the Bean on at her very first swim meet ever. We were so excited, especially since for the first time this meet would be all about the Bean and cheering for her; she has in the past expressed some resentment over the fact that Molly gets all the cheering. We got to the pool early, and the Bean got to swim around a little to warm up and was super excited. As more and more people started to arrive, however, she got more and more distressed. I will make a long story short here and simply state that the Bean has yet to participate in her first swim, there was much shedding of tears and screaming, and that Mom probably should have stopped trying to get to just try a lot earlier than she did, which would have saved us all some tears and embarrassment. Sigh - there is another mini-meet coming up next week, but we are not going to sign her up. I think the Bean is better off waiting for next year. The sad thing is that she is actually the one who loves swimming the most.

So, today was another not so great Mom day, and I probably should have handled it much better than I did. Nonetheless, here are some pictures from today's disaster and the Moo's meet last night, where she did an awesome job. Hope you enjoy.

Growing Up

The Moo and Bean have reached the ripe old ages of six and four, and the signs that they are getting older are impossible to ignore:

• When Mom dropped the Moo off at her camp classroom on Wednesday and Thursday, she refused to let me kiss or hug her in front of her friends.
• She has also requested that we not call her "Moo" in front of her friends. She informs me that it is an OK nickname to use at home, but an embarrassing one to use around others in her age cohort.
• I can no longer spell things out in front of her or let her look over my shoulder when I am typing; she reads everything.
• She is making value judgments on her own, rather than soliciting my opinion. We were listening to "Evangeline" in the car on the way to camp, and she asked me "Mom, what is this song about?" As I often do the 546 times a day I am asked this question, I way oversimplified and said "It's about a boy who wants a girl to spend time with him, but she wants to spend her time with God." The Moo thought about it and said "Well, isn't that more important?" Hopefully she keeps that mindset, as it will make it so much easier when Dad tries to stick her in the convent at age 13. :)
• The Bean makes her own lunch now. Peanut butter and jelly tacos, and she gets all the ingredients and puts the who thing together herself, leaving half on the counter.
• She doubts everything I say. All I hear is "Mom, are you sure you know what you're talking about it?" or "That's not right Mom."
• I kind of like that she questions everything, and there is a definite thought process behind it. The Moo told her the other day that people are animals and the Bean did her best Charlton Heston:" I am not an animal!!" I told her that yes, in fact, the Moo was right, and we are animals, and she thought about it and retorted, "But I can talk. Animals don't talk." A spurious argument, but a logical one, so I was proud of her.
• When I admit I do not know the answer to her questions, she tells me "Well, Mom, you will have to Google it up."
• She makes me books out of newspaper clippings. When I asked her what the latest one she gave me was about, she told me "It is about food, waterfalls, the tri-state area, and love." Sounds like a potential best seller to me. :)

They are also being AWESOME with me this week. I have been down for the count with fever and chills, congestion, and sinus pressure, and they have been so good about letting me rest. Thanks little bugs. In the words of the Bean, "You rock, dude."