*Picture of the Week*

These pictures were taken last week after we got back from a 9 day vacation. Posts about vacation to come later. Quinn was in her room for Rest Time because she knows that Claire no longer takes a nap so now she refuses to nap. This day I think the lack of sleep and non routine caught up with her. I don't even know how this is possible. She must have been tired.

Swimming Lessons

Yesterday the girls had their first day of swimming lessons. I am not going to lie I was full of anxiety. I did not want them to be scared or afraid and me to not be able to help them. I know it is necessary that they learn how to swim no matter how scared they or myself are so I signed them up at ORU.  I love to swim, when the water is warm...bath water warm, and I want them to love it to.

The girls were super excited to go especially since their friends Kaitlyn, Mathew, Alex, and Jaycen would be there too. I gave them the pep talk to make sure they listened to their teacher and that they just have fun.

They had us put them in groups by age but Quinn got moved up into the 3 year old class with Claire. I tell them how special it is to be in the same class and that they can have fun together. The first day the girls did awesome. Not many tears at all and mainly smiles. Claire cried because she got water up her nose and it hurt. They did everything the teachers asked and I was so proud. The Lord knows how my anxiety was and that I am an over emotional person and he knew I needed a good first day.

Today was a different story. Claire woke up and told me she was not going to swimming lessons. She said she didn't want water up her nose again and that she didn't want to be cold. (I totally feel bad for her and understand where she is coming from...I hate to be cold. Like I said I like to swim in bath water temperatures.) Once we got there and she saw her friends she was okay with being there. Sigh of relief for me. Once it was time to start Claire was fine but Quinn was crying. She did not stop crying the entire time. Today was dunking day. The first thing the teachers did was pour water over their heads and then they dunked them under. Claire came back up crying and continued to cry and yell mommy over and over until the lesson was over. They would do what the teachers asked all while crying. Those teachers are saints! I don't know how they do it. Claire tried to get away from the teacher and escape from doing what he wanted but he stood his ground and made her do it. Good for him! Saints I tell you, they really are. It was nice to see that my kids were not the only criers. It made me feel a lot better. Us mommies (Desiree, Allison, and myself) were all in hiding mode hoping our kids wouldn't spot us and cry louder. It broke my heart to watch Claire looking for me and crying but I knew if she saw me it would only make it worse. After it was all over Quinn seemed proud of the fact she got her head under the water. Claire was not too talkative about it. I made it through without crying. I know the girls can do it and I know the girls will have fun, eventually!  I am in fear for what tomorrow morning will bring. Praying for a better day tomorrow and that hopefully by the end of this two weeks they will like it.

Here are pictures from the first day.

Swimming Lessons

This is Claire's teacher, Price.

Quinn's teacher, Kelly.

I love this picture. I was actually looking at Quinn through the lens and didn't realize I caught Claire in the picture too. She had just got water up her nose and was upset.

All smiles the first day!

Look at all those sad faces. They promise us that it will get better. I sure hope so for every mother's sake.

 

Bible School Vacation

Jared and I are volunteering for Vacation Bible School, or Bible School Vacation as Claire calls it, this week. It started Sunday night, man that seems like a long time ago and it is only Tuesday afternoon! Jared is helping out in pre-school games and I am teaching the 1 and 2 year olds. I have Quinn's class and I am loving being with those little ones...they are so stinking cute! They can not stay in a straight line for anything but the cuteness totally makes up for it. The theme this year is Babylon and we are learning about the life of Daniel and how God is always with us. The girls are already learning all of the songs and the motions. I think Claire has them down. We stopped listening to last year's VBS cd a few months ago and I am sure this one will be in the car player at least that long as well. VBS was always the highlight of the summer when I was a kid and I hope it is for the girls as well.

The shirts this year are cute and as you can see a bit big on the girls. I grabbed the wrong size for Claire and Quinn's is the smallest they come. Aunt Megan had a good idea to use ribbon to tie them up a little. The girls picked out their leggings. I think they look adorable...I am not sure Jared was on board with this look.

Pool Time

We bought a little plastic pool for the girls. We figure it will be a fun easy way for them to cool off this summer. We let them get into it today and they played for hours. We are getting ready for vacation so I have already put their good swimsuits to the side to pack. These were what we had left and you can see why they will not be used again. Quinn's is a 24 month and it is way to short on her...it barely covers her chest. Claire's is a hand me down and is stretched out just about everywhere. They didn't care though, they would play in the water wearing anything or nothing if I would let them.

Quinn just got splashed in the face.

Love her smile!

Poser

Goofball but I sure do love her!

This is so Quinn!



*Picture of the week*

Claire loves to watch a t.v. show and come up with ideas on things to make. Crafty things. She is always wanting me to help her make something...a girl after my own heart. She wants to make a kite like Caillou or a telescope like Curious George. Well yesterday she wanted to be a pirate. They were watching Tangled and one of the characters had an eye patch. This is what we, mainly Claire, came up with.



Where did my baby go?

Quinn is just down right growing up too fast. She is getting too big. She is now swinging on the big girl swings and not the baby swings anymore. She still asks for the baby swing occasionally but always wants to swing in the big swings. When did this happen? Why is she already out of a baby swing?She has continued to climb things like she did as a baby so climbing ladders at the park are no big deal for her. She still wants me to hold her hand down the slide once and then after that she off on her own. She also is pedaling her tricycle by herself!!! She can do it without us pushing the back of it. I wanted to cry when I realized she could do this. I am so proud of her and I am so happy she is growing into a healthy young girl but man it sure is hard at the same time. Love that little monkey!

Finally....Haircuts!

The girls have been in need of serious haircuts. I had scheduled to have their hair cut 7 weeks after the last one because I wanted it cut close to vacation. It was WAY to long in between for their bangs. Yes, I could have moved their appointment up but every time I thought about it it was too late to call. Yes, I could have cut their bangs myself. I have done it plenty of times but for some reason turned into lazy mom and every time I thought about that the girls were not just out of the bath when I like to do it. Plus by this point they have gotten used to seeing through hair. They rarely even brushed it out of their eyes anymore. So sad, I know!! I finally took them in yesterday and they look so stinking cute! Claire wants her hair long like mommy and told Ms. Nikki she wanted to keep it long. So she just had a trim. Quinn didn't want to get her hair cut at all and for some reason kept asking if Ms. Nikki was going to cut her nose. I have no idea where that came from. She was fine once we got to the salon and we cut off quite a bit again. We are in the process of growing it all one length. She looks so cute in her bob cut and you can actually see her beautiful blue eyes!  I really need to keep up on their appointments because I know they and myself will probably be embarrassed of all the pictures with their hair all scraggly.

When we got home from haircuts we played outside for awhile because it was so nice. I will give you one guess what that led up to....pictures, of course.