Well, today was swimming lessons---MUCH, MUCH better, I might add. My girl was a perfect little angel. (I guess that is what happens when they know you mean business!)
Anyway, before we left the house, Tayva said, "Mom, I want to wear my goslings to swimming lessons."
I said, "What??"
"Mom, I want to wear my goslings to swimming lessons."
"Oooooh, you mean you want to wear your GOGGLES to swimming lessons?"
"Yes. mom, I want to wear my gossles to swimming lessons."
"Ok, Tayva :) "


Another story:
The other day I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day, and I had to leave the bathroom to go get something. (Our bathroom is fairly large, so I have lots of toys in there for the kids to play with, and most of the time, I just have them come in the bathroom with me when I get ready) So, I said, "Tayva I will be right back-stay with Siri so she doesn't get lonely."

So, I went to go get what I needed, and while I was gone, I heard Siri cry a bit, but by the time I got back, she was fine. As I was walking back into the bathroom, I heard Tayva saying, "and Jesus, please help Siri so she isn't scared, and make the lions go away. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!"

So I said, "Tayva, what are you doing?" She said, "when you left, Siri started to cry because she was scared, so I prayed to Jesus asking him to make Siri not scared." It was so cute, and I loved to see that Tayva turned to Jesus for comfort for her sister. It must have worked because Siri wasn't crying anymore. (either that, or Siri was wondering "who in the world is she talking to??" :)

One of THOSE days....

Well, I have always read about mom's having those "horrible" experiences where they are in the store, and for whatever reason, their child has a meltdown etc, and they have to rush out of the store. I had yet to experience that until today.....

So, today Tayva had swimming lessons. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES swimming lessons. She did such a great job, and was listening so well to the teacher. They were about 25 minutes into the 30 minute lesson, so I went inside the pool area with Siri in the stroller to be ready for when Tayva she got out of the pool. One of Tayva's favorite things is at the end of the lesson where the teacher has them line up on the side of the pool, and they each get to take turns jumping into her arms, then they swim back to the edge. Well, while they were doing that, the little boy in her class would say, "My turn" when it really wasn't his turn. So, Tayva, being the spirit-filled child that she is, started saying, "no MY turn"--even though it wasn't either of their turns yet. Anyway, this started out as a joking/kidding thing, until the little boy hit Tayva and said, "NO, MY TURN". Of course, Tayva wasn't going to let that fly, so she responded in kind, by returning the hit, and saying, "no MY turn". Immediately, Mary, the teacher, said, "no hitting, you two take a time out." I, of course, went over there right away as well, and reprimanded Tayva. By the time, I got back to the stroller, I saw Tayva get up from time-out to go play with a toy. The teacher was trying to get her to put the toy down, and stay in time-out.(in all fairness to Tayva, we really don't use "time-outs" that often with her, so she isn't really all that familiar with this method of discipline) So, because she didn't listen to the teacher when the teacher put her in time-out, I went over and told her she was done with swimming lessons for the day. I said, "Tayva, if you can't be obedient to the teacher, then you will be done with swimming lessons for the day." (Also, I wanted her to know that hitting is not ok under any circumstances)

OH BOY!!!!--she did NOT like that! She started screaming, and I mean SCREAMING! She was yelling, "I want to go to swimming lessons!!" So, I basically had to grab her hand and take her into the shower room--all while trying to maneuver the tight corners with the stroller. We stopped at the showers, and I put shampoo in her hair thinking that maybe the shower would distract her--NOPE. She continued to scream. At that point I thought to myself, "Desperate times calls for desperate measures." So, I didn't even finish washing the soap out of her hair, and turned off the shower. As we were walking out, the mom and the little boy who hit her came up, and the little boy apologized--all while Tayva is screaming. (I don't even think she heard him apologize) We went to the locker room, I patted her off with the towel, threw her pants on, and put her flip-flops on. EVERYONE was fully aware of Tayva screaming. One little girl even came up and tried to offer her a cookie to make her feel better. So, we left the locker room, and had to walk through the main lobby (where EVERYONE exits and enters). I am sure I was a sight to be seen--I was walking out with a screaming girl, (still trying to maneuver the stroller, who had shampoo running down her back, swimsuit still on, no shirt on, and only pants and shoes on. (thankfully, Siri was cool as a cucumber through all this)

Fortunately, I found humor in it all, and really didn't get too worked up over it. I realized that sometimes these things happen, and I really did need an experience like this to really truly experience motherhood! HA! Ok, so now I have had one of THOSE days, I don't need any more, thank you very much!! :)

p.s. I am sure that Tayva will have pristine and perfect behavior next week at swimming lessons :)

What's up...

Well, we are in full swing of our summer camps! Bob is busy, busy, busy. We are in the middle of trying to add an attached garage to our house. It seems like we have already got a lot of things done in preparation for it, but yet if you look at our house, there is really no visible difference..yet. We have had all our utilities moved, one tree moved, and one tree cut down. That was a project--the tree took 3 days to cut down--it was a HUGE cottonwood tree, and it was RIGHT by our house, so it had to be done very carefully. It provided good entertainment for me and the girls though! Hopefully, the concrete will be poured soon...

Tayva is currently in swimming and gymnastics lessons, and LOVES them both. She loves being at home and playing, but also loves to go and do things. Most nights, she says, "Mommy, where are we going in the morning?" She is always looking forward to the next thing to do--what a zest for life she has! She also thinks that everyday is a good day to don her swimsuit and do "WATER BALLOONS!" Most of the time, this is ok, except when it is cold and windy, it takes some convincing that it may not be the best day for water balloons! :)

Siri is growing like crazy and is coming up on her 1st birthday! I can't believe it! She is really starting to show her spunk. She wants to crawl everywhere. She has the cutest little crawl--she puts one leg up to "step" forward, then drags the other leg behind her. She loves to eat--some of her favorites are bananas, cherries, blueberries, peaches/nectarines. If she sees me preparing food, she will squawk at me until she gets some--so funny! She is starting to know what she wants, and will let you know it! :)

I am continuing to chase after these 2 little blessings. They keep me busy. I love every minute of it (well almost every minute...) :)