Emily's Swim Class

Emily really really wanted to learn how to dive for rings today, so Miss Julie helped her learn how after swim class tonight since my hands were full with Luke begging to swim. She did great and figured it out in just a couple of tries. She is so proud of herself!

Today during swim class Emily worked on her back stroke. She's getting really good. Miss Julie keeps telling me that she wishes she could be a fly on our wall watching us practice our strokes on the carpet (called carpet swimming) or in the air (referred to as air swimming/dancing). We mostly do it for the giggles, but secretly for the practice.

Swim class pictures coming soon.

Emily rides her bike to the pool for class

Yesterday Emily rode her bike to the end of the street and back with a little encouragement from mommy. Tonight at dinner she announced that she wanted to ride her bike all of the way to the pool for swim class. She struggled a few times with the slight incline, but made it! She even rode all of the way back, peddling as fast as she could. Luke enjoyed his usual seat in the jogging stroller. Mommy and Daddy are very proud of her!

The weather was perfect too. We had some light showers (sprinkles when riding) and cool temperatures for the evening ride.

Here are her pictures... as she posed for her congratulations pix!

On another note...

Emily has had a fascination with wanting a pet pig and spider ever since we introduced her to the movie and story of Charlotte's Web. She intends to name them after the story, as Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider. She's also quick to let us know that she wants a pet spider that is nice and doesn't bite. Recently she called the Hekking's to ask if she could keep a pet pig and spider at their house, in an attempt to solve the problem of where to keep her pet pig. Since our neighborhood doesn't allow pet pigs to live in our yard, she thought the Hekking's might have room on their property in the countryside. Needless to say, Mrs. Hekking had a huge laugh and found the request to be very creative and entertaining. She agreed to ask Mr. Hekking if a pig would be okay but warned us that he has already vetoed her request for some chickens. :-) Emily is still hoping to find a home for her future pets Wilbur and Charlotte.

Luke's Room/Nursery is finally painted!!!

Luke's room has finally been painted. It took a long time since I decided to paint a border all of the way around. Next we plan to put all of the decor back along with the furniture. Then Keith plans to put up a shelf (hopefully finished with crown molding to appear like a mini mantle) for a train (Disney theme). It should be amazing when we are done. Hopefully we will finish all of it before we decide to move! Here are some pictures of my master piece. Note, I gave up 4-5 hours of sleep for nearly a week to get this done!

After losing another night of sleep last night (6/13/07), the room was finally ready for decorating. Here's the finished look... complete with Baby Luke.

The Florida Aquarium ~ June 8th

We went to the Florida Aquarium with some friends last Friday and had a blast. The kids did terrific considering the fact they were in the car for almost 4 hours in one day. Our friends have a super mini (mini van with DVD player, etc.) enabling us to carpool for the ride. It was great! Here are some pictures of Emily and Luke playing at the waterpark near the end of our visit to Tampa.

High 5s!!

Luke learned how to give High 5s today! Of course he loves it... it's another Bam-Bam activity and it's acceptable.

Note... he's a huge outdoor guy already. He loves the outdoors and begs to be let out to play in the dirt, etc. When he sees daddy each day, he screams and begs to be taken outdoors. He's also a huge water fan and begged Emily's swim teachers yesterday to let him be in a class. They found it very funny. The poor thing just wants to be let go so he can swim... except he can't entirely float all on his own and needs help. He just cannot wait to grow up!

Emily's first day of ballet...

Today Emily had her first ballet class. Ms. Suzanne showed Emily some basic steps. DOXA Dance Studio is a Christian based dance studio with the motto "Let them praise Him with the dance."

Emily learned the First Position, the Second Position (À la seconde), plié, Bras bas (or preparatory position), and a version of the promenade or Pas de valse (waltz step) wearing masks.

Ms. Suzanne is expecting a baby girl in August, named Elana. (The girls were delighted to hear about her during class.)

When I asked Emily what she thought of her class she said it was good and that she liked it. She then asked if I would practice her steps with her. I promised we would do it every day! I then asked her if she liked having other girls named Emily in her class and she told me that she was only going to be friends with girls named Emily who have brown hair like her. (Don't worry, we talked about that. She was reminded that it's not Christ-like to not be friendly to every girl in her class. We then talked more indepth about some of the girls whom she was concerned about their behavioral choices.)

Emily was super excited about starting dance class and kept asking me all day long if it's time yet. Enjoy the pictures!

This is the picture Emily made for her teacher. She said it is a birthday invitation for her. Ms. Suzanne was thrilled to receive it following class.

PS - When she's asked whether or not she's taken classes before, she says, "Yes, the Genevieve dance class from my video. I've taken it several times."

Too Funny!!!

Emily gives advice to Luke during one of his screaming phases

This morning, as we were going about our normal morning routine, Luke began his screeching screams. They are so shrill and so loud that they pierce through your ears and hurt. Well, big sister had some very practical (and super funny) advice for him. She looked him straight in the face and very matter of factly said, "Luke, if you want to scream then you need to go and get married and live in your own house." I'm sure she got this from my numerous comments regarding the rules of our home and how we all have to be able to live with one another under the same roof... thus we must make wise and considerate choices. Needless to say, we all had some really big laughs after that one... and the screaming stopped with the laughter.