The beach week has come and gone again. The memorable parts were rain, clouds and jellyfish. But, we did have a good time. Samantha really enjoyed the pool more than the beach and wanted to spend all her time there. Ellie enjoyed both.
Tag: 2012
Swimming Lessons
Samantha is deeply afraid of getting her ears wet. In the bath tub and, now that it is summer, in the pool, this presents a problem.
We started swimming lessons last week, and she made significant progress in the 3 days of lessons. We will continue this week in hopes of solidifying her independence in the water. Let’s just hope the weather holds out.
Playground
Well, once again, I am woefully behind on pictures and updates to the blog.
At the end of March, we decided to make use of the slide that Santa brought to us. It had been on the back porch since Christmas morning, and it was getting plenty of use there. However, the slide was propped up on the arms of a rocking chair, so it wasn’t very stable. The girls loved bouncing and going down it every sort of way possible. But, we have a great place for a playground and I wanted to give the girls more reasons to go outside and enjoy the outdoors. The prep work was not without some drama, but we did the majority of it during one weekend, with a little bit before and after. I’m very happy with the end result, and I think the girls are too.
Bringing home the posts:
Posts in the ground:
Some singing helpers:
Working on the roof:
Finished:
Easter 2012
We had a great Easter this year! We stayed at home and did Easter crafts on Good Friday (both girls were out of school). We dyed eggs, made Easter Egg Hunt cookies and decorated a tree on Holy Saturday. The Easter Bunny hid baskets this year, so after some early morning hunting (for Sam at least), the girls dug through their baskets then we skirted off to church. We had to take the obligatory family picture (which I think had some tears) then we hunted for Easter Eggs all day. And I mean all. day. It was relaxing and fun to spend the day outside playing.
Taste the Rainbow
It’s nearing the end of Lent, and I’m running low on no meat ideas for Friday dinners. I’m fine eating a bowl of cereal (yum!) but I don’t think my meat-eating family would like that every week.
In an effort to jazz up the lunch box when Samantha started taking her lunch to school last fall, I started reading a few lunch box blogs. It takes only a little more effort to make lunch special, which then means, it will get eaten. I have to admit, these days, Brian usually makes her lunch. However, Samantha has always been pretty good about eating vegetables and fruits of all kinds. (Her favorite vegetables are peas and beans. My least favorite!) The common theme in getting kids to eat healthier is fun. We had some discussions about superpowers. For example, carrots make you have super sight. I make Ants on a Log and arrange food playfully on the plate.
So, last week I decided that a hot meal was out since it was so hot outside. Samantha loves rainbows, and I’m trying to instill that we need to eat food of all colors, so I had the idea to make a rainbow dinner. Nothing fancy. It received great reviews though. It even inspired Sam to eat her squash, which is her absolute least favorite veggie (and one of my favorites!).
Ellie on the other hand is trickier. Her diet consists of dairy, fruit and crackers. That’s about all she’ll eat. I’ll keep working on her.
strawberries, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, asparagus, blueberries and purple grapes