I Was Accepted

Dear L :

Congratulations! You have just been accepted to Niagara University for August 2009!

An official acceptance packet will be on the way, but I just wanted to let you know so that you can plan accordingly.

I just turned in my application late in the day on Tuesday. Three days later I am accepted. I just finished school supply shopping for the kids and now I have to shop for me. I actually might need a backpack. I can't remember the last time I used a backpack. I have less than a month until orientation and classes start.

I just might panic. Not really but I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. I managed to do well at business school and graduate near the top of my class, I know I can do it. I know I have what it takes to do well in school.

Oh no I have to buy books too. I had forgotten about that horror. I wonder if the store at Niagara is more student friendly than the one from Buff State.

Okay so I am not going to over think this and I won't panic, at least not until classes start.

My Night at the Beauty Salon

Last night I received the royal treatment from my children. We were all snuggled on my bed, watching tv and just having fun. First I picked up the brush I leave near my bed and to be funny brushed P's short hair. Both found this funny and soon we were all giggling loudly. Near the brush was a pink nail file. P saw it and picked it, he asked what it was.

I told him it was for my nails, like sandpaper on wood, this fixes rough spots on my nails. So naturally he then starts doing his nails. Oh I bit my tongue and watched him carefully check his nails and make sure they all were nice and smooth. B now had the brush and was brushing her hair. Then P asked if he could do my nails. B announced that she was going to do my hair. Oh oh I was in trouble now.

P is filing my nails one at a time and talking to me about his day. B is acting like a hair dresser and tilting my head just so, so she could style my hair. I had to look down and look to the side. P meanwhile moved on to my other hand and is really studying my nails. He announces that one nail is done and moves on to the next one.

B has moved to the other side of my head and I can feel my hair going in all sorts of directions. P now naturally moves on to my toes. I was not expecting that. Luckily he must have thought my toes needed less work because he zipped right through them. Both children proudly announced I was done. I praised their work and we all went back to snuggles and tv.

My nails are filed diagonally and flat. Not one was spared this fate. Before P went to bed he touched each and every nail and asked if I liked them and without telling a lie I proudly said that I did love them just the way they were. As I type this my nails still are diagonal and flat and they will stay like that for a while longer. I loved my night at the salon and couldn't ask for a better beauty treatment ever.

The Agony of Swim Class

The weather this summer has been a little chilly. Of course I have both P and B signed up in swim class. Well, the pool water is not as warm as it could be. Today was swim class and the sky even looked cold.

B did well. She started moving around the pool on her own. She was in her swim vest and holding onto a pool noodle. After she realized it was fun there was no stopping her. Her lesson ended and she was so excited that she was "swimming".

Next was P's lesson. He has a private lesson with a lifeguard and now I get in the water to help if he freaks out. Right after he gets in he starts shivering, his teeth are chattering and you can see the goose bumps on his skin. I know it is going to be a long swim lesson. He is doing okay but the cold is getting to him. I don't know if it the asperger's that makes him so sensitive to the cold in the water? All I know is he is plotting anyway possible to get out of the pool.

He is fast too. He can just climb out of the pool faster than I can catch him. I feel bad making him get back into the water, though I don't find it nearly as cold as he does. Of course he is all skin and v=bones and I definitely have some extra layers to me. I also am moving around much more in the water while he is doing all he can to not participate.

He is crying and the expression on his face is heartbreaking. I feel like a horrible parent. Why am I keeping him the water? I want him to be able to swim, but I don't want him to hate swimming. Why can't the weather be warmer so he can enjoy swim class. I hate seeing this expression on his face and we do manage to get some things accomplished in swim class.

Finally we are near the end of class. I see the desperation in his eyes, he need the class to be over and I relent. He is out of the water in a flash and is soon surrounded by the warmth of his towel. We only have more week of swim classes left, one more week this year. He is slowly figuring things out. He would be doing so much better if the water was warm. I think we might be looking for an indoor pool soon. I don't want him to lose any of the comfort he is getting.

The Thorn in my Side

Today I went to Niagara University and turned in my application for graduate school. I could have mailed it, but I chose to walk it in. While I was there they reviewed my transcripts and recommendations. I had everything I needed and they told me I should hear from them within a week.

The woman going through all my documents seemed to indicate to me that I would be accepted. Orientation is in less than a month. I am so looking forward to going back to school. Almost everyone, including my husband is encouraging me and are excited for me.

Sadly my mother in law is the one thorn in my side. She is already saying I won't be able to get a job and I haven't even started school year. I have to say it really bothers me that she is always trying to talk Dennis into not supporting me and she wants him to talk me out of it.

I fear that this will be a huge issue between us. I will be going to school for 15 - 18 months. I am not going to let her discourage me. Still every chance she gets she complains to Dennis about me going back to school. I am doing this to better prepare myself for the job market. When both children are in school full time I want to go back to work and I need to know I can support myself if it comes to that.

I know I can do this and I will get this degree with or without my Mother-In-Laws encouragement. She may not have faith in me, but I do and so does D.

No More Golf in the Backyard

Crash, followed by the sound of breaking glass. You know the sound it makes your shoulders bunch up and propels you towards the source. Is someone hurt? Will I find a child covered in blood as I turn into the room? Is someone breaking in? These are some of the thoughts that ran through my head.

The next sound I hear before I even get to the bathroom (which is where the ominous sound originated) is a scream and crying from outside. It is getting louder and is identifiable, it is P. What happened, though I can now cross a break in off my list. He comes running in and I look into the bathroom. The window is broken. In the center of the break is a suspicious circular pattern, It looks like a ball was thrown through our bathroom window.

So far there is no blood. P comes running in and he is hysterical. All he can say is he broke the window. I can see he is uninjured and I go into mommy mode. D is on site and is starting to clean up all the glass. The glass is all over the bathroom and into our hallway. That must have been some throw.

P and I move into my bedroom where he just wants to be comforted. Now B is upset because P is upset. It is a crying chain reaction. Both children are scared and P is just beside himself. He is so upset that he broke the window.

D is still picking up glass and P finally calms down to tell us what happened.

Earlier in the day D took the kids to the driving range. P absolutely loves to hit golf balls and is pretty good at it too. He hardly ever misses and the balls go far. We are (were) toying with the idea of getting him some golf clubs because it is something that he really enjoys. Well, they ran out of balls at the driving range and P was so upset. They came home and P still wanted to play golf.

I am still a little fuzzy about this part of the story. I am not sure if D let him use his driver and a practice ball or if P just took it upon himself to use Daddy's clubs. But he managed to shoot a lightweight practice ball at the bathroom window with Daddy's oversized right handed golf club (P golf's left handed). The result was a huge hole in our bathroom window.

There was some silver lining to this. P knew he did something wrong and let us know he did it. He didn't make up a story, he didn't try to get out of it. He owned up to his actions. I was so proud of him for telling us the truth. Even hours later he was upset and wanted to know if Grandma (she is our landlord) would be mad at him for breaking the window. We assured him that she wouldn't.

Tonight the window is taped up with duct tape. I have no idea how to take it down so we can get the glass replaced. I am sure there is a way. The golf ball bounced off the window as it broke and we have no idea where it is. I suspect that we will be going to the driving range a lot this summer. There is no more golf allowed in the backyard.

Reclaiming a Room

This week is the week I am hoping to take back my kitchen. It has been months since we have eaten in there and I have done all I can to avoid the room. I haven't really done much complicated cooking, nothing like I used to do. I used to make meals from scratch all the time. Now I just open a box and heat it up in the microwave.

Last week I acquired a dishwasher and have found myself doing more dishes willingly than I ever have before. Today my brother came over and assembled my corner bench for the kitchen. Finally I have a table and chairs in my kitchen that I like. Because the bench is in the corner the table is out of the way, but still easily usable by the family.

Tomorrow I will have the drill charged and I can hand up the wall pot holder. It will let me move the pots and pans out of a cupboard and hang them from the wall. Then The cupboard can be used to store some of the things that didn't have a home before. My goal is to get the kitchen organized by the end of the week.

I am getting the urge to cook again. I have found myself buying ingredients that I haven't used in months. I watch the cooking shows and have started gathering recipes that I want to try. I walk into Wal-Mart and find myself in the cleaning section of the store.

This happens to me every so often, I all of a sudden get a cleaning urge and start cleaning. Then the urge goes away and the job isn't done then it just gets worse. This time I am somehow going to work past the urge and get one room done. I want my kitchen back.

When we moved into this house the kitchen was the selling point. It was huge. I knew I would finally have a room that I could cook in without being cramped for space. In the beginning I managed to keep up with it. I don't know when I lost control, but I did. I found myself having a kitchen that I was ashamed to let people see. Now I am going to have a kitchen that I can be proud to show off through my back door.

I figure that I will start with the one room and once I can keep it nice and clean I will branch out to a different room in the house. I will have people over to visit soon. I just need to reclaim one room at a time.

My Dishwashing History

This is a fantastic day for me. I finally have a dishwasher that works. It has been about 15 years since I lived somewhere that had a dishwasher. Back then I hated doing the dishes. I hated loading and unloading the dishwasher. I lived at home with my parents and it was something that was forced upon me. I resented the chore and I was focused on obtaining my freedom.

Well, I got my freedom and I moved into a house with no dishwasher. At first washing dishes by hand was a novelty and I gladly did it. Lets just say that didn't last long. My loathing of doing the dishes allowed them to slowly pile up. It was the beginning of a huge issue between Dennis and I. Neither one of us wanted to do dishes. But who really wants to do them. It was always something that we did grudgingly and only what needed to be done.

I am ashamed to say that sometimes I would just throw away a dish that was just not going to get cleaned. There were months we used paper plates so we wouldn't have to do many dishes. In short we took any short cut to lessen the chore of washing dishes and putting them away.

We have gotten a portable dishwasher as a gift many years ago, when we lived in our old house and Dennis would find excuse after excuse to not use it. I used it but it was a tight fit in our small kitchen and it soon stopped working. About four years ago we got another one for free, it leaked. For the last three years I have been begging for one every year at income tax time. It was something we could afford with our tax refund. Every year something else was put in front of it. It was becoming a quest for me. I was growing up, I wanted a dishwasher. And I wanted it NOW!

Finally this week things were going my way. We went looking at prices of new portable dishwashers as I expected they were too highly priced for our budget. We looked at a used appliance store and the portable dishwasher's there were not in the best shape. That night I found two dishwashers on craigslist that seemed like good ones. We managed to see them both without the kids and even managed to have some much needed talking between us.

I don't think we ever actually agreed to buy a dishwasher between the two of us. I can only hope that he too saw the wisdom of the purchase. We did put a deposit on one of the dishwashers

"TouchTap controls provide a modern look and are easy-to-clean. A 4-level PowerScrub wash system with PowerShower directs water precisely for a quiet, efficient clean. The 100% triple water filtration system maintains clean water for clean dishes. And the Piranha™ hard food disposal grinds leftover food into small particles that are easily washed away. Pots and Pans cycle - tough food stains are scrubbed and scoured clean. Deluxe silverware basket - basket holds multiple pieces of silverware for thorough cleaning. Woodgrain laminate top - attractive surface provides a durable work area"

and we picked it up today. I couldn't wait to use it.

Yes, I was excited to do the dishes. The same job I would dread while living at my parents house. I loaded that first load with glee. My daughter helped and she too was excited. We filled up the machine and hooked it up to the faucet. We had a couple errors and the water would shoot all over the kitchen. B and I giggled and cleaned up our mess, then it happened again. Finally we got it hooked up right and working. The dishes were getting clean and B and I watched a movie.

The too of us unloaded the dishwasher when the cycles ended. The dishes were put away and we put pots and pans in next. I finally had a working dishwasher and I was starting to get my kitchen back. One step at a time and eventually the house will be ready for company. Dennis is not happy with the dishwasher. I can see that for now it will be me who uses it. I can accept that. After fifteen years of hand washing dishes I am ready for the machine. I embrace the machine and I have it all ready for the next load.

*Warning, Warning* This about a Four Year Old Who Loves Her Tarantula

It all started two Halloweens ago. My daughter, who was not yet three at the time fell in love with spiders. I know, I was surprised at first. She found stuffed spiders at our local dollar store. They went with her every where she did. The crossing guard at my son's school still remembers how protective she was with her precious stuffed spiders. She still has them and still plays with them.

At first I thought it was just the stuffed spiders, but soon she would see spiders on TV and we just had to watch them. I learned more about spiders that winter than I ever had before. By the spring we would find spiders in the yard and garage. We would watch them build their webs and admire how pretty the webs looked.

Then we went to the zoo. Nothing special we go to the zoo all the time, this time we found a children's play room. It was set up for the kids to play, explore and learn. In the room was a Hexagonal tank that housed the zoo's tarantula. Her name was proudly displayed for all to read. Her name was (still is) Madonna. B fell in love with this spider. She announced that she wanted to bring Madonna home with us.

Some little girls go to the zoo and love the tigers, monkeys, maybe even the zebra's. Not my daughter she goes to the zoo and wants a pet spider. Of course I had to break her heart and explain that Madonna lives at the zoo and the workers at the zoo would be very sad if she went home with my daughter. This worked for a couple visits.

B meanwhile must have been watching secret spider shows on TV. She still insisted that she wanted a tarantula for a pet. If you haven't heard a two year old ask for a pet tarantula it is just too darn cute. That little voice saying such a big word. She knew that some people had spiders at pets and for months she kept bugging us for a tarantula.

Now I try to be a cool mom, I am willing to get dirty with the kids and I let them get dirty. I try to be open about letting them try new things and experiences. I even arranged a tour of a water treatment plant when my son (who was three at the time) wanted to know what happened after the toilet was flushed. He just had to know where the pipes under the ground went and how they cleaned the water. So after about eight months of pleading for a pet spider (almost a third of her life) I started finding out more about people and pet tarantulas.

I found out they were pretty good pets. Some species of tarantula were more docile than others and made very good pets. They rarely bit people, often giving plenty of warning before they would lash out. I was warming up to the idea. I know, what was I thinking? So I figured it would be a while before I would get one for her, then I walked into a pet store. Yes, they had tarantulas and they took one out and let her see it up close.

Oh the joy on her face, the giggles were priceless. She was so happy. Then I noticed the price just $12.95 so being the impulsive mommy I am bought one, with cage and set up. I swear I made her lifetime that day. She couldn't wait to get home and hold her spider.

I still was a bit hesitant about letting my daughter old hold a spider so I picked up Hannah Montana (B named her) first. She was soft and fuzzy, no weight to her at all. The tips of her feet kind of reminded me of velcro. She explored my had and arm slowly and not once was aggressive or fast. I then let B hold her spider (the photo is above) and she loved it. I think she would have kissed the spider had I let her.

We have had Hannah for almost a year. B takes good care of her. She makes sure that Hannah has water and food. She feeds Hannah live crickets and has no problem grabbing the crickets to put in Hannah's habitat. She handles her spider occasionally with adult supervision of course. She is a fantastic mommy to Hannah.

Today we went out to buy the crickets. We came home and went to Hannah's habitat and we saw what looked like Hannah in a tight ball and motionless. B was horrified. She was crying, she thought her beloved pet had died. I had to take a double take, I was expecting this. Hannah, like all spiders molt. They shed their skin as they grow. Hannah was alive and well on the other side of the habitat.

It took a few minutes for B to calm down, and it took a few hours for her to really understand what happened. We explained as Hannah got a new outfit to wear.

This is the top view of the Molt



This is the bottom view, If you look close you might see her fangs. They are near the red coloring.



The spider literally pops out of her old skin revealing a nice shiny new skin. This is a very stressful time for a spider and they are very vulnerable so we can't feed her for about a week. So I guess this was an eventful stressful day for both peat and owner. We have saved the molt so B can bring it to school for show and tell in the fall. I am sure the teacher will like that more than the real live spider (which B did take to show and tell last year with permission from her teacher, that was a great show and tell, lol).

Little Pieces of Joy

I hated going to Junior High. It was two years of torture. I was the picked on kid and had few friends at the school. One of the things I remember from that time was stopping at a local deli we called "Joe's". I am sure it had an entirely different name, but we called it "Joe's". There was always a variety of candy to pick from and I loved talking with the cashier and picking put my candy. The candy that was my usual choice was Zotz.

This was a hard candy with a tangy fizzy center. I loved the sensation of the fizz in my mouth as I ate this candy. Is it sad that one of my only good memories of going to Junior High is a candy that I would buy on the way home?

That was 25 years ago. Zotz was a candy of the 80's. Now there are sour patch kids and other sour candies of choice. It has been years since I have thought of Zotz or had them as a treat. I guess I would casually look for them when I saw a store carrying retro candies. Once about 6 years ago I found them at a local theme park. Ah the memories.

Today we went to "The Cracker Barrel" for lunch. The food is always fantastic and they have a small store to occupy us while we waited for our food. As we were about to leave we browsed the store one last time and I browsed the wall of candy that they had on display. I looked down and then I saw them, ZOTZ. More then one flavor, I believe there were four flavors, lemon, watermelon, grape and cherry. I bought four strips of cherry.

Usually I spend a few dollars on a useless trinket at the store, today I bought four strips of memories. I remember shopping at "Joe's" and how these candies were a little piece of joy in an otherwise dreary day.

She Does Not Like to Play Soccer

For months this last year our daughter announced that she wanted to play soccer. She was looking forward to being on the same team as her brother. Every time we signed P up for a team we had to tell her that she was too young. The crocodile tears would well up in her eyes and she would be inconsolable.

This year she was finally old enough. When I signed her up she jumped up and down and gave me a huge hug. She would practice her kicking skills in the back yard with her brother. She was so happy when she found out that she would be on the same team as her brother. When we got to her first practice she was literally jumping up and down from the excitement.

Well, that has all changed now. She might play one shift in a game now. She has no desire to play. If the weather is a bit chilly or uncomfortable she divas out on us and will mope, whine, and cry. She absolutely wants almost nothing to do with the game now.

Today she had to be picked up by Daddy (who was the substitute coach) and placed on the field for a couple shifts because they didn't have enough players. She would curl up into a ball on the field and just stay there until her shift was over. At times I was worried that the players would fall over her because she wouldn't move.

She did finally participate and might have even had some fun while she was playing.


Yes, she is a diva and no, we will not be signing her up for soccer again. Luckily she really seems to like her dance class. She showed up some of the steps she learned today. We have learned one thing for sure, she does not like playing soccer.

Penguin Feet

Today my daughter started dance lessons and she is in love with them. I was so trilled that she wants to dance. I wanted to dance so much when I was a little girl and know I took many classes. I have seen the photos of me in the cutest costumes — bunnies and bears and a china doll. I just never was good at it. I would get my left and right mixed up and I found it hard to remember the choreography. So I am living vicariously through my daughter I guess.

I am being so good and making sure that I am not making her dance because I want her too. Daddy wanted P to play hockey and he has really focused on soccer instead. I had B in another class last year and she liked it but her eyes sparkled when she saw Irish Step Dancing so I found her a class in that. A sport is a sport and dancing is dancing. Of course B had to pick a dance style that has costumes that can cost in the thousands of dollars.

The first thing they learned was they need to have penguin feet. Heels together and feet turned outwards. B once she got home had to practice her penguin feet. She also showed her swim teacher and daddy and at least a half dozen people at the pool.

The first clue I had that she was liking the class is she participated in the class. When she plays soccer (she begged us to let her play soccer like her older brother) she puts her head down and refuses to participate. Her first game she wouldn't let go of daddy's hand and he ended up being on the field for part of the game.

The moms had to leave the room and B didn't reach for me or cry or freak out. She was perfectly okay at the lesson and she gladly participated. I know because I peaked. Some of the moms camped out in the hall outside of the room they had class in. We would take turns holding the door open a crack and spying on the girls. We even took a couple photos. The teacher caught us too, oops.

B was following the instructions to the letter. She was having so much fun and I was glad to see the biggest smile on her face when they started putting a couple steps together. She has homework this wee and I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of dancing, listening to a lot of irish music and seeing a lot of penguin feet.

The Case of the Missing Wallet

It is close to dinner time and I admit it I am in the mood for pizza. Not just any pizza I want a nice thin crust pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. Only one pizzeria will do and I am so focused on my craving that I almost miss what is going on with Dennis. He is agitated and I when I do finally notice it I thought he just didn't want to spend the money.

I was wrong. He is frantically looking for his wallet. I then made the mistake of trying to help. I should know better when he is in this mood he is so focused on what he is doing he doesn't want the distraction of someone else butting in with help.

So now he is mad and frantic, not a good mix of emotions. I still try to help by finding a timeline hoping to narrow down the places that it could be. He lost it after swimming so I ask him where the towels and suits are. MAybe the wallet is there. WOW! He is not happy with the questions and he explodes. He yells and you can see the aggravation pouring off of him.

I decided to look in places he has been (but places he is not near at the moment). I need to look for it too. He has a lot of necessary cards and ID not to mention the money in it.

Finally he starts to calm down, he is accepting defeat. The wallet is just gone he announces and he walks over to where he left the towels. He puts his hand on the towels (remember I asked him about the towels a while ago) and looks down to see his wallet. It must have fallen when he put the towels down and it fell into a bin. The mystery is solved and I learned that I need to let him be in times like this. He is not going to change. He is loud and like a volcano when upset. You don't know what will trigger the explosion but eventually the pressure will build enough for him to erupt and then he calms back down again.

We did end getting the pizza I craved and he even apologized to me about how abrasive he was while looking for the wallet. Of course it helped that the wallet was where I originally suggested that he look for it. The rest of the evening was nice and we spent it together as a family.

Fun, Family, and Fireworks

Yesterday was the Fourth of July. Of course we spent the later part of the day at a family picnic. On the menu was the usual hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and macaroni salad. Luckily I had been craving grilled hot dogs so I was trilled. The kids had a relatively new audience. These were family members that we hadn't seen since Christmas. P showed off his soccer skills.



B at first wouldn't talk to anyone. It is funny that my drama queen gets so shy around new people. It took her a little while to warm up to her godmother and al the other "new" relatives. Once she figured out that they were okay people she would move from lap to lap and would prance from person to person. It was nice not having her hang on me all day for a change. She was too funny at times especially when the camera would focus on her. She would strike a pose. I think she was the source of much of the laughter last night.



Of course the big even of the night was fireworks. We were talking so much that firework time just snuck up on us. The kids had their hearts set on the fireworks near our house. Of course it was 9:30 p.m. and we were no where near our house. So we all went out to the black yard to watch the fireworks surrounding us.

Anyway we looked we could see fireworks. The children were trilled. P was running from person to person looking for the best view. He finally settled on the deck to the pool (I agree it was a great view).



B is a cuddler so she settled on a lap all snuggled and warm. It wasn't mine, and I missed holding on to her and snuggling while the fireworks were exploding in the air.



Finally the majority of the fireworks ended, the children were both sleepy and we started our journey home. By the time we pulled in the driveway P was down for the count. B however was still looking skyward for the rare firework display. As we set her in her bed to go to sleep she reminded us that "it was the states birthday" and she wants fireworks on her birthday too. I reminded her that Santa visits the day before her birthday and that is probably special enough. Happy birthday to The United States of America 233 years strong,

Swim Suits, Swim Classes and Mocha - Oh My

What to do on a day that has on and off rain? Well, you sign your children up for swim class of course. Not only sign them up but the first class is today. Even better you find out two hours before the class starts that your son's bathing suit is broken. So begins my frazzled evening of swimming and rain.

We signed P up for private swim lessons this year. Last year he was just overwhelmed in his large class because of his asperger's. Luckily I found out that our city offers private lessons for the same cost. We bought his resident pass and paid for the swim class, then we found out classes were starting in just a few hours.

Off we went home and tried on his bathing suit, it still fit but the zipper was broken. He loved that bathing suit and would wear it last year all day long if let we him. He has even slept over night in them (the sneak would change into them after we sent him to bed). He said he was okay with the zipper being broken and he wanted to swim in it. I figured well one class and this weekend we would shop for a new one. After all we only had a couple hours before class started.

So we decided to do some errands. The drug store was first. Daddy's prescription wasn't ready but I found bathing suits. I know who goes bathing suit shopping at a drug store? Unfortunately the suits were too small for P.  But I could see he was uncomfortable with the zipper being broken. No matter what he said we knew that he needed a new suit sooner rather than later.

We still had some time before the lessons, poor P was in tears because he couldn't be in the pool NOW. The pool shut down in the late afternoon for a couple hours. His mind was set on being in his broken swim suit and go swimming before his lesson started. There was no consoling him, unfortunately his tears and mourning of his swim suit combined with him not being able to swim was too much for Daddy and he started to get upset. Another case of when asperger's clash.

It took some calm talking to convince the men in my life to go suit shopping. How do you get a boy to pick out a new swim suit when he only has eyes for the one he was wearing? The one with the broken zipper that is unzipped to his tummy. Let me tell you it takes some clever thinking.

Of course he needs to fall in love with a new suit and I relied on his old suit to help us pick out his new one. His swim suit is a one piece that covers his upper body as well as the traditional truck area. Luckily they had swim shirts and swim trunks. "Look P, they have swim shirts so you still can have your chest covered." This hooked him, but he still wasn't reeled in. Then I saw that one of the swim shirts has a hood attached. Please don't ask me why. I can only report that it was a black and yellow swim hoodie, who knew?

So we managed to get both children a new bathing suit today. B was easier, if it is pink she wold love it. Mommy of course can't find her suit so I think this week end it is the dreaded swim suit shopping trip for me.

Now swim class was at 6:30. There was a nip in the air okay a nip for July, if this was in early spring we would have been tickled pink. Both kids wanted to get to the wading pool (It reopened a half hour before his class) early to try out the new suits. B had a floaty with hers and she wanted to see if she would float in it. We got there and the clouds started to get darker.

It has been on and off rain for the last couple days and simply put the water was not warm. In fact I think it is safe to say that the water was COLD. Swim class was about to start so he got out of the cold water in the wading pool only to wait in the cool air (in a wet suit) for the lesson to start. Then he had to stretch before he could get back into the water. He was cold.


Of course it gets better, once he gets in the pool it starts to rain. B is out of the water and we walk over to the big pool to watch P's lesson. I felt bad for him, he was shivering and after about 20 minutes he wanted to quit. Nothing would motivate him so I told him if he finished the lesson I would buy him a mocha. That motivated him, he started to do what his teacher asked him to do.

By the end of the lesson we were all cold and wet (remember its raining) and were ready to go home. All P wanted was a nice hot bath. So we went home to warm him up and Daddy went to fetch the promised mocha. P meanwhile started his bath and jumped in (still in his swim suit) the tub to warm up.

He has accepted his new suit (though has insisted we keep his beloved red swim suit). His teacher is the same teacher as last year so he is trilled about that. We all are warm, dry and cozy tonight. The day may have been chaotic but we spent it together as a family. Who could ask for anything more