I signed Andrew and Patrick up for swim team, something we have never joined before.
Andrew brought home his journal from third grade. His teacher took the time to answer his entries back throughout the whole year, and I’m sure she did the same for all the other students. That is a darn lot of work, and one very very dedicated and committed teacher we are lucky enough to have at our little school.
Janey and her bunny collection. When I set this little photo up, one of the kids said, “How does she already know she is supposed to put her arms around them like that?” I said, “Because she’s a girl and all girls are born loving stuffed animals. It’s a natural instinct.”
Working on reading before kindergarten. I use Bob books and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We usually only need to get to 20-30 lessons and they are off and reading.
Speaking of reading, this is what I am reading now and have been reading for weeks, and I have a stack of others from the library but I just can’t find the time to sit down much during the day, and stay caught up with everything and everybody. This might not be the summer from plowing through novels but heck I’m not giving up.
My days are busy and will be for a long time, but sometimes, as weird as this sounds (and it does sound weird), sometimes I just think about how much I wish I could just live on this planet Earth forever. It’s a pretty darn good existence for me, and I love it here.
Ditto with the swim team thing! I've been reluctant to sign my boys up because of those early morning practices and the swim meets every Saturday, but I took the plunge this year. So far so good, it is going to be so good for them and I am loving the routine. My two youngest do lessons right after swim team practice so it works out great!
Pool every morning, ball field every night, yikes! June is crazy!
My hubby was on swim team when he was younger! He has the best memories! Also, I use to be a Kinder teacher before I had my little girl and I love the BOB books!
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Oh I wish we could make a pit stop on our way out to Indianapolis this summer, it would be so fun to visit with your family!! Janey is just such a girl, so cute!
You little one is so sweet … such a cute smile!
And, my girls are big swimmers … it's a great match for cross country as well;)
i still cherish the day you "pit-stopped" on your way to the cape and visited us!!
and oh that janey!! she is just too cute!!
have a great summer sarah!
xo
We were involved with our children in swim team. It is a time commitment, but more than that, it is a skill they will use the rest of their lives. I have great peace of mind knowing that my children know how to swim VERY well. It is a great sport that promotes both individual and team efforts. Good luck this summer! There is nothing quite as exciting as those relays at the end of a meet!
We've been doing summer swim since my youngest was 5 – and I've loved it all. Great way to meet families from the neighborhood and great exercise and skill learning for my kids.
I had to leave a message after seeing the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons! I have twins entering Kindergarten this Fall and have that book to help us prepare. I hope it's as "easy" as it claims! 🙂 Enjoy your summer!
My boys are in Cross Country and Swim for those exact reasons. I love the families and the not so crazy competition. (Except for Tiffin Carnival-a huge CC meet)
If you enjoy the book you're reading, you HAVE to see the movie made from it. So, SO utterly sweet! We found it at our library. Committed love. We get it from the library several times a year. Not sappy sweet…..real, true love.
🙂
Love the Bob books–though have only used them once so far! Here's to using them this summer in prep for Kindergarten for our #2! Worked like a charm last time around!
We were long term year round swim team family from the time my youngest was 6, the next started at 5 and finally the baby was in at 4. Love swim team and cross country families. Also taught all three to read with 100 Easy Lessons.
I saw it on Saren's blog that you got to hang out with her. You guys are so lucky!
Janey is just a doll baby!
You are right on about Abbey having "nice" friends. Not to dredge up old wounds, but I was so saddened by how mean girls can be in middle and high school, and I'm so happy that my daughter has found some true NICE friends! Abbey and Sarah should cherish their friendship.
Great to see your summer is off to a great start! I, too, am doing the 100 Reading Lessons with my 5-year old this summer. I used the book with my two older kids, and they became avid readers. Love, love, love the book.
I love the third grade journal! What a wonderful teacher! I'll have to look into that book as my daughters entering kindergarten this fall :*(
I used Teach Your Child to Read… with all four of my kids and it gave them such a great start for Kindergarten and first grade. Thanks for the reminder. I hadn't thought about that book for a long time. 🙂
I'm so glad you discovered summer swim for the kids! My kids started around 4 years and although my oldest stopped around 13 my youngest still LOVES it! I usually don't start them up until July though because where I live June is a cloudy (sometimes rainy) month with highs in the 80's…perfect for almost everything, but not morning swimming outdoors. We have tried a variety of sports but have always found that swimming, cross country, and martial arts to really be the best for the same reasons you mentioned. This year I'm trying something new with my 9 year old: adventure camp! It's a day camp (8 AM to 4 PM) for just one week that includes swimming, hiking, kayaking, rafting, outdoor cooking and a ropes course. I'm a little nervous, but I know this will be an experience that will be remembered forever! 🙂
I have a love/hate relationship with swim team….it's exhausting! But so good for the kids.
Saren is coming through Kansas City I am missing her! Really bummed.
Hope you are having a great summer – and be safe in the storms this week! yikes!
This is our second year of swim team and I love it, too! I like the early practices that get us an early start to our day. And it is amazing to see how the kids improve over the summer! Good luck to your boys!
We have done swim team for the past 4 years but not this year. Our particular pool has practice Tuesday – Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon and swim meets on Monday. This lasts for 8 weeks. There are many, many things we love about swim team. However, I have to mention that I live in Fort Worth, TX and it's already 100 degrees in the afternoons here and all meets and practices are outside. Our 1st meet last year was 106 and no shade so I'm done! Swimming is my favorite sport so this was hard to walk away from even with the miserable heat.
Janie is adorable!
Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons worked for us too. My son and I finished that sucker a few months before Kindergarten ended. It was hard, but I'm glad we did it. And swim team-I'd love to that someday when everyone's older, but I'm afraid of the cost! The neighborhood kids here in the DC area join a pool that costs $500 for the summer. $500!! I about had a heart attack. I wonder if it's that expensive for pools in different parts of the country.
I signed all three of my older kids up for swim team this summer because I was afraid if I didn't have some early morning up-and-at-'em structure going on, I'd get sucked into making goo goo eyes at the baby all day and the big kids would be bored and restless and watch too much TV and rot their brains. I was TERRIFIED, but two weeks in and they are loving it! And they've already learned more in two weeks than I ever believed possible.
Ooh, the pizookie! Was it from Oregano's? I'm an AZ native and that's my favorite restaurant, we go there all the time! Now BJs makes them and took the name, but they are nowhere near as good as Oregano's 🙂
Oh man, I wish I could have been there with Saren! She said she had so much fun visiting with you.
I love love your blog and never commented, but, I'm in AZ and that is my favorite place for dessert too.
Thanks for all your tips on mothering. I share your posts on my FB all the time and every time I get lots of my friends saying that your message "hit the spot" for them too!
I owe you BIG TIME for mentioning the Teach Your Child to read book. My youngest was stuck and could not put her letter sounds into words no matter what I did! We're in the 30s of the lessons now and she is a reader! That book made it so easy that I wish I had known about it with my other two! Thank you!!!!