Samanthaism

"Mom, I always listen to you. Sometimes."

Yes, Sam. That is how I feel too. =)

Swimming Lessons

Today was the last day of swimming lessons for the girls. Neither passed their level but they were both closer then I would have every thought possible.

Samantha's Teacher said: Great job at your elementary backstroke. Remember to take big breaths on your front crawl. Super Job!

The thing that she didn't pass was Jump into deep water from the side, swim front crawl for 15 yards, maintain position by treading or floating for 30 seconds and swim elementary backstroke for 15 yards.

Tori's Teacher said: Victoria that was some great swimming. Your breaststroke was great! Make sure you keep working on having a really good kick on that front crawl it will help a ton. Have fun in the next swim lessons.

The things that she didn't pass were 1.Shallow-angle dive, glide 2 body lengths and begin any front stroke (in water at least 9-feet deep) 2. Pike surface dive, submerging completely 3.Backstroke flip turn while swimming 4. Perform a shallow-angle dive into deep water, swim front crawl for 50 yards, change direction and position of travel as necessary and swim elementary backstroke for 50 yards. 5. Swim breaststroke for 25 yards, change direction and position of travel as necessary and swim back crawl for 25 yards.

As you can see Tori's is much more complex. I don't think I could do any of what the expect her to do to pass this level.

They both are doing well. Samantha can swim for the most part. I think her biggest issue is her ability to stay focused and listen to the teacher. When Sam's in the water she wants to play. Tori swims better then I do. Her biggest issue is that she forgets to kick. I do the same thing. I would rather use my arms then kick. Weird I know.

They are signed up for another session starting next week. Hopefully Sam will pass since she only had one thing she had to work on. I hope to see Tori build her stamina.

Today's goings on

I walked out the door to go to Jason's ENT appointment today, when I got a call from Duncan. "Mom, I just threw up." So I had to turn the car around and go check Duncan out of school. I had a nice little helper to get Jason to his appointment. Duncan seems to be doing well, so I don't think I have to worry about him.

Jason will be having new tubes placed in his ears on the 3rd of November. After that we will be having him sedated to have another ABR done, so we can hopefully get a conclusive result on his hearing. More about that when the time comes.

I took Jason to preschool the other day and the first thing he did was run over to the computer. I'd seen a few other kids do this but I knew Jason doesn't know how to run the computer, so it surprised me a bit. The teacher explained they have a touch screen and Jason is VERY good at running the schools computer. INTERESTING.

So Samantha's new favorite thing is to get on the computer and play a game that Jason would like with him sitting next to her. She's a sweet thing.

I bought a black sweat suit and some orange duct tape, and Brett made Jason's costume. I've said all along that he is "My Little Caged Tiger", I think it's pretty darn cute.

Swimming

Last night I was feeling generous, and thought it would be fun to take the kids swimming. Tori had asked me on Saturday if on Tuesday she could practice her strokes so that she could work her way up to being on the swim team. We all went together and had a wonderful time!!!



After all of this fun, Brett took the girls over to the lap pool and worked on their swimming with them. He sure knows a lot more then I do about swimming! All I can say is it's a good thing that I float.....=)

Just as a side note, Jason slept through the night. We are going to have to invest in a rec pass if he is going to do that after swimming.

This kid made my day

Look at this cute little face!!!

I got back to pick Jason up in time for the goodbye song. They came to open the door, and who was the first one there? My boy! He looked at me and smiled and jumped up and down. He ran over to me and wanted me to lift him up. I can not express how much I love this little guy!!

Crazy Hair Day

It is crazy hair day at school tomorrow. We did their hair tonight in the hopes that I won't have to do it in the morning.

Tori wanted to be Pippy Longstockings.
Samantha said she wanted pig tails all over her head.
Duncan had Brett shave the top of his head and is going to fluff up the sides for good measure. He was due for a hair cut anyway. =)

Satruday Insanity

Jason was once again in the window. Instead of taking pictures from the inside, this wonderful Mother took pictures from outside.



We went to Grandma and Grandpa Siddoway's house to watch How to Train Your Dragon, and have dinner. The kids have truly missed their Grandparents and are glad that they are home.


Jason ran between me and Papa Siddoway. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see that Jason's friend is home.

Swimming Lessons

The girls are taking swimming lessons. The goal is to get them onto the rec center swim team, and Tori's coach said she is a strong girl and could do pretty well. She just needs to work hard because swim team is HARD.

Samantha likes to play too much. I'm not sure how long it will take her to get out of level 3 but she is enjoying herself......so.......


They took Sam's class over to learn dives.

Last soccer game of the season

Duncan played his last soccer game on Thursday. I'm relieved the season is over, since it was more travel then we are used to. We drove to Lehi, and the game was at a fun little park. I was able to sit at the park and watch the game. Quite a rare experience.

Here are a couple of highlights from Duncan's game.


Tori as always was my helper. She really helps, even though there are times I know she doesn't want to.

I love this picture!!! Jason is such a cute kid!!!


Tori is learning to be a little braver. She figured out how to flip off these bars.
I wish Samantha would have some of Tori's caution. She is always on top of the play ground.
Or under it. Whichever tickles her fancy.

Pottying

Jason has started being interested in the potty. He will not keep his diaper on, especially if he has the remote possibility to have it off. So I think he will be wearing underpants at home. The biggest problem here, is that I'm a scatter brain. I'll probably forget that he has underpants on, and then he will have an accident. He is my first kid, that will go to the bathroom just about every time I sit him down.

I advised his pre-school teachers of this new development and they said they would start working harder on this at school. One of the aides said she had potty trained more kids in the last two years then she would have ever thought before. That's LOVELY!!! Any help with this is a joy to have. I am not good with potty training. They better want to do it, because I won't push that. It's easier to change a diaper then scrub up the floor.

Keep your fingers crossed for me! =)

The in-laws are home

Janice and Dick got home from their mission yesterday. I got video of the boys seeing grandma and grandpa for the first time, but the girls saw them before I even knew they were back. They stopped at Duncan soccer game.

Jason was Jason and although I'm pretty sure he remembered who they were, he wanted Mom.

Duncan however was my sweet boy, and got all emotional on us. He really does have such a big heart!!!!

Wednesday

Today was pretty cool. Jason usually throws a huge fit if you turn of his "stories". I started getting him dressed and told him about 3 times we were getting ready to go to preschool. When it was actually time to leave, I turned off the t.v. and said, "It's time to go to Pre-school. Come on." Believe it or not, he walked to the door without a hassle! It was priceless!!!

I started out on the wrong side of the bed, but my SWEET BABY BOY let me take a nap. Well, he took a nap, so I got to. So when the kids got home I was amazingly well rested.

Brett got home from work, and we ran to soccer practice. After the last soccer game, I told Brett I'd be happy to coach the goalies a little. At least, I would be happy if their wasn't anyone else to help them. It was quite fun. The little goalie I worked with first came out of his shell pretty quick. Then, one of the other kids that wants to be goalie started begging for his chance to be trained. It was kind of cute. Duncan seems to be picking up on defense quite well. If he really wants to continue, I think he has a future.

We finished up and got home for dinner and homework. Duncan practiced his violin. He's only on lessons 3-6 right now, but he was keeping time and everything. The book comes with a CD, that they can play along with, so I think he might end up being able to play. Way to go Duncan.

Samantha and Tori did their Braille homework. Marcia has started the girls bringing home actual readers and stories. Samantha told me she had to read the book with her eyes before she used her fingers. I smiled and told her we needed to try it with just her fingers first. I told her she could see the pictures when she was finished reading the pages. She was so proud of herself. She got a big grin on her face.

Tori is AMAZING! She just shocks me with how she is picking this up. She reads beautifully. I also love that I don't have to watch her eyes getting visibly exhausted as she reads. She is so AWESOME!!!!

Visiting Teaching Workshop

Tonight was the visiting teaching workshop. We had a lovely dinner, of soup and rolls. I could have gone back for seconds and thirds, but decided that would be a bad idea.

The talks were given by Vinnie Feller, and Brenda Stephenson. Vinnie is the Visiting Teaching Coordinator. She talked on using the Attributes of Christ in our Visiting Teaching.
1. Christ knows me=we need to get to know our sisters.
2. Christ loves me=we need to love our sisters.
3. He allowed himself to be sacrificed for me.=We need to serve, and sacrifice to help our sisters.
4. He helps me learn the gospel, through the spirit=We need to teach with the spirit, so that our sisters can learn more of the gospel
5. He fortifies me and my home=We need to help protect and fortify our sisters and their homes.
She also stated multiple times, that His hands are our hands. We always need to remember to be the Lords instruments.

Brenda is the Relief Society President and she talked on Visiting Teaching on Five Fingers.
1. Partner=you need to have a good partner and be a good partner.
2. Prepare=make sure you are prepared to visit your sisters every month.
3. Pray=Pray with your partner when you visit your sisters. Pray to know what they need, and to bring the spirit into their home.
4. Present=Present the lesson in the Ensign. Be quick and to the point, so they will want you to come back. =)
5. Plan=Always remember to plan your future visits when you are finished for the month.
She also stated that we need to listen more and talk less. Be upbeat and happy, try not to drop your burdens on the sisters you visit. Help carry theirs instead.

I was asked to sing with some wonderful ladies, the song In My Sisters Hands by Sally De Ford. You can listen to the real recording HERE. I believe you will need to actually download it. I don't think you can just click on it and here it through the web.

We've practiced a little bit, and I think we did ok. The ending was muddled a little bit, but it was fun.

I put it to some pictures of me my, sisters, and mom; my sweet girls; and a picture of Christ. I know it's supposed to be about our Visiting Teaching Sisters, but you work with what you've got. Besides, my girls are WAY CUTE!!!

Preschool

Jason let me put his backpack on today. He's such a cute little bugger. He's doing well. He has started giving five. He's waving bye-bye more frequently. He was clapping at the end of the good bye song. He's enjoying school quite a bit!

Jason's Futon

We're still planning on getting Jason a water bed. However, I drove past our neighbors and they were selling this Futon. It's one of those that folds in thirds, instead of just in half. I made Brett go buy it so that we can maybe get Jason used to falling asleep in his room, without filling the space. He seems to really enjoy it.

Brett's Projects

Brett is building me a jewelry box. It is huge!!! I'm excited!!! It will be absolutely beautiful. Thanks babe!!

It's almost finished. I think he just needs to lacker it.

Friday's Soccer game

Duncan had a bit of a melt down Thursday and Friday. His buddy was going to go to Lagoon, and had some discount tickets. He really wanted to go, but he had a soccer game. Brett and I both decided that he wasn't going to Lagoon, he was going to the soccer game.

We had a long discussion about commitment. I can't tell you how hard I argued against soccer this year. Not that I don't enjoy soccer, I DO! But, the time commitment increases every year. When he wanted to try-out, we talked about how much time and effort he was going to have to put into this year. He was all gung-ho, until he had a conflict that he thought was more important.

He went to the soccer game, and enjoyed the time with his team. We'll see if he ends up playing next year though, he really struggled with this lesson.

Jason fell asleep on the way to the game, and slept through the whole thing. It was quite an enjoyable game. I actually got to watch it.