Swim Lessons

Grace has been doing swim lessons for the last month and will next month as well. It's imperative that she learn to swim before she heads down to Grandma's house this summer. Grandma loves to spoil the kids by taking them swimming and to a water park. Mada, Reece, and Gracie all talk about this water park all year. It's the highlight of the summer for them.

So here are a few pictures of swim lesson.

A few weeks ago Grace was practicing her back float. She has a little backpack on her back that keeps her afloat. When she went to lay back the backpack didn't enjoy being put under the water and tried to come back up. Grace pushed her back back harder and in turn, really ticked the backpack off. It started to fight back and Grace got off balance and ended up rolling the backpack around to the front during the struggle. That pushed her under the water and she struggled to catch a breath. It really scared her and she has been very leery of back floats ever since.

Grace has never been afraid of a big jump into the pool. When we first brought her to the pool when she was 1 1/2, she did not hesitate to jump right in. She loved it! As you can see, it still proves good today. She is jumping in without her backpack, as you can see. A very big deal to her.

A Bold Cat

Today I was sitting at my desk working on our taxes. My dog, Rusty, was barking. I didn't pay much mind because we have an elderly neighbor that walks her dog on our property behind the house. A half hour later I glance out the window and Rusty is STILL barking and going nuts. He is bounding up and down by a particular section of the fence. Again, I just kind of laugh at his funny bounces and turn back to my frustrating taxes.

Another half hour passes and Rusty has not stopped his parade of frustration out by the fence. He is till hopping (yes, HOPPING, you know, like a bunny . . funny stuff), barking, wagging his tail and just dying to get to whatever is on the other side of the fence.

I finally decide that I have to go see what has caught his undivided attention. I walk outside and peek through the fence. Sitting but 2 feet away from the fence is a cat. This cat doesn't seem the least bit bothered by all of Rusty's attention, in fact, the cat seems to be enjoying it. Cat, is leisurely sitting there and meowing at Rusty. Not even phased that if Rusty could, he would have Cat in his belly in no time at all. It has now been about 2 hours and Cat and Rusty are still at it. What a cat!

Little Treasures

When Madison and Reece were younger, I used to go to the beach 3/4 times a week. Madison and I would just sit and play in the sand. Reece would mostly just sit and my lap and chew on my arm. I don't go nearly enough anymore. Now, my kids would much rather go and get wet and I hate wet, sandy kids in the car.

This evening we took a little jaunt over to our little beach. Yes, OUR. It feels like it is my spot. It's seldom busy and I usually never see more than 1 or 2 people there.

We flew the kite or at least tried to fly the kite (we need some new dollar store kites). The kids dug around in the sand. Reece found a big sea log and tried to get it to stand up. It was just fun to hang out with the kids and laugh at the funny things they tried to do.

Sometimes I love where I live.

Flu Season

I don't have much to write on this week. It was a busy week, even thought is wasn't supposed to be. I had plenty of homes to clean this week. I am enjoying a new home I picked up. The woman has lived quite an adventures life and has many stories to tell and doesn't need much prodding to share them either.

The kids went to school this week and did well. Reece has been having issues with his letters so we started a new rule at home that he has to do letter work before he gets to play his DS. It's a good motivation for him. He works hard on his letter for an extra half hour each day. I went and picked up some little beginner books from the library that Maddie had used when we were starting off with her. The books proved to be gold. Reece has been reading through them and it's given him a big boost of confidence in his reading. He has been so proud of himself and can't wait to show his daddy what he has done. His teacher has noticed a difference in his reading skill this past week too and sent a note home about how happy she is in his progress. I am so proud of my little dude working so hard. Reading has been really hard for him and he still has very far to go, but has really made a big step forward this week.

Grace and I have had colds. Been a miserable week for us both. Thankfully we are both turning the bend and feeling better. Of course, in true Motsinger fashion, Mada has come down with the flu . . . again. She came complaining to me this morning about feeling dizzy and not right. Low and behold, she is running a fever and her tummy hurts.
The sun is out and shinning. I'm itching to go outside and just feel the sun's rays on my skin. How I treasure this sun during the winter months. It doesn't usually like to come out so when it does it feels like such a blessing. My dear Mike has never understood my need for sun. He thinks I'm funny because I love my sunroof and will use it all year round when the sun comes out. It can be freezing out but I'll be driving around with the heaters on full blast and my sunroof open just so I can feel the sun on my face. I'm such a weirdo I'm sure!

The Mom Song

I've seen this before and got such a kick out of it. My sister-in-law sent it to me tonight and I just laughed because this is so my life!! ****Sigh***** Here I said I would never be one of those moms, but here I am, one of those moms. To all those moms I tisked at all those years ago, I humbly apologize for that.

Coughs

Awe, winter. Never fails that come the cool weather, comes the flu. This last week we have been passing the flu around our family. Actually, the kids have been passing it around. Reece and Maddie both got the fever, achey stomach and headache and then finished it up with a cough. Thankfully, they both had it pretty mild. Sick enough to stay home from school, but not horribly ill were they just laid around and didn't want to move. Grace, being the true individual that she is, decided to forgo the fever and do the cough. Of course she didn't just get the mild cough like the other two, she is doing it whole heartily. She has a voice that sounds like a frog and red eyes that look like she has been crying. She has the junk in her throat that gags her and she has been throwing up. She has had the lack of energy and been much more sleepy. As you can tell by the picture, I've been finding her all over the house in odd places taking a snooze.

This evening, Grace threw up again (due to the cough) and Madison asked her if she was all right. Grace said, "Just pat my back."

Maddie was happy to oblige.

First Day of the New Year

Our family spent the first day of 2009 playing games. It was a game kind of day. We played DS games, Rhino Rampage, Topple, Hi Ho Cheerio, and our family favorite, Mario Party. We spent the day in our pj's because that just much more fun. Of course Maddie decided it was her turn to spice things up and she came down with a mild flu bug.

It was a fun day. Again I say, I love that my kids are getting older. Days like this one are what keep me going through the busy ones.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2009 will be an amazing year for you!