New Milestone! No Floaties

I decided that I needed to get the girls some swim lessons.  Then I realized I had not given them much opportunity to swim without their floaties. So I started with Violet and I took hers off.  Well, apparently Violet knew how to swim.  Then it was Abby's turn.  Apparently she knew how to swim too...now with one week of lessons under their belts, both girls can swim the length of Nana & Grumpy's pool!  Its so crazy to me that these little girls can swim! But it sure makes this "coach" Mom very proud!

Historic Swim Meet

I have been involved in the Suburban Swim League since 1988 when I started on the Sea Otters. I swam with them until I graduated from high school.  Then I coached with them for almost 7 years.  Now I coach with the Barracudas-same league, different team.  During this entire time, there has been 2 teams that ALWAYS dominate--the Taz and the Penguins.  They have only defeated each other and no other teams have beat them--save the Sharks maybe?  Anyways...that all changed and as you can see from the score board, in the most intense showdown swim meet of my life-we WON!  It was nerve wracking, and all of us coaches were on the edge of our seats, shaking as each relay swam and the score was updated.  I LOVE competition and this was what its all about!

Visitors!

The best part of living where you grow up is that most of my old friends folks are still in town and so when their kids come back to visit, I get to see them too!  This week, Valerie was in town so she and Ivy and I got together and went swimming...always fun!  LOVE friends!

Playdates

A good friend invited Eliza & Violet over and they had a super awesome playdate!  I got a text from her that she would bring the kids home right after her son & Violet finished getting married.  And then I got these pics...

SCORE!

We finally were in the right place at the right time! We got an Elsa doll!  And not just any Elsa doll-a 2ft Elsa doll for only $12.99.  NO JOKE! It was a good day at Target!!

Fun in Town

We had another fun Tuesday "Mom's Day off" excursion!  Xander earned some free tickets to the zoo so we headed over to the zoo to check out the animals.  Upon getting the kids into the car I noticed that Violet was wearing sweat pants and told her I was concerned because it was going to be a hot day.  She said, "Thats ok Mom! I can just roll them up, see! Now I'll be ok!"  I love their logic.

 As a special treat, I also let the kids ride the train.  After all, it is the only one left in its class!  It's the longest mini steam train left.  :) That should totally justify that it cost $15 for my family to ride, right?

 

Aren't we so stinkin' cute!?  Once I did one, all the kids wanted to join in!  Love my kids.  After all that excitement, we walked over to the library and got enrolled in their summer program.  So much fun!

Fathers Day

 We made our Daddy a silly little picture to remind him of us while he is at work.  Each kid picked a reason why they love their Daddy and we took a picture of them doing that...

Abby-Because he sleeps with me
Violet-because he gives me hugs
Eliza-because he reads with me
Xander-because he works hard

We spent the day trying to make our Daddy happy-but Eliza was sick so he got to take the other 3 kids to church while I took care of her.  But when he got home-we let him take a nap...how many people do you see?

A little shout out to my Dad! Love this guy and all that he sacrificed for me and my siblings while we were growing up (and he still continues to sacrifice for us!!)  I am so grateful that I had someone who taught me to work hard and learn from life, to get up and keep going and not give up!

And i am so grateful for my father-in-law too--for the man he raised, for welcoming me to his family and for being such a great example to his grandkids.

Recycled Art

Every once in awhile I try to do fun things ;)  Today we turned soup cans into utensil holders for picnics.  I forgot to take a picture of the final product...I will eventually :)

Clean-up Day

It took over 20 helping hands, lots of food and drink and lots of muscle but we cleaned up a lot of our trees!  Check out our pile

We still have a little ways to go but we are clearing our "land"!  SO EXCITING!

National Doughnut Day

We picked the one doughnut store that did not give free doughnuts for the celebration...at least we had a coupon and got to enjoy some amazing doughnuts! Creme Brulee doughnut anyone??

Swim Team!

We are pool nerds around here!  We missed the first few meets due to weddings and baptisms so we were revving to go -- and our first meet was against my alma mater- the Sea Otters! We did a fabulous job and both Xander & Eliza had fantastic races.  It's going to be a great season!

Xander's New Look

We got our regularly scheduled eye exams in November 2013.  In April of 2014 Xander's teacher Ms. Barajas contacted me to tell me that Xander was squinting really bad.  He had reassured her several times that his allergies were just acting up and that was that.  But she just wanted me to know. I politely told her that we had just been to the eye doctor and he had 20/20 vision.  Then I went and spent the day teaching the kids about the Solar System and I couldn't believe how badly he was squinting. So I called our optometrist and asked if his vision could have changed so quickly.  The doctor said it was possible so we got his appointment scheduled and sure enough, his vision had changed drastically and he needs glasses!  It took a couple weeks for the glasses to arrive but he's so happy he can read street signs and other far away things again!!!

Summer Begins!

We raced home from San Diego to host our annual Pancake Party--sorry no pictures but about 500 pancakes were served! PHEW!  And then we played...

 

Nana & Grumpy's new house has a pool and we are trying really hard to make sure it gets used!  Grumpy works hard to get into the pool and we sure love and appreciate Nana chasing the kids all over!  :)  Life is good

A San Diego Weekend

 My little sister is fleeing the state of California and her son was getting baptized so we decided to race down to San Diego for the weekend!  (I'm super crazy!)  My dad and I woke up early the day after school finished and drove the kids down.  It took us longer than it ever has!  But we arrived and were reunited with COUSINS! Life was good...

Callie & Violet--2 wks apart

 

 I asked the kids to find some quiet toys to play with...they put together a band. MISSION FAILED

 Violet & Jak (Can we tell Violet loves her cousins?!)

The baptism was on Saturday evening so we went swimming and played and had fun all morning. The baptism was awesome and we got to see Mitt Romney!  His grandson was also being baptized.  It was so hard not to go and shake his hand or something...but we let them be.  

On Sunday we went to the Mormon Battalion Museum.  If you are ever in San Diego, I highly recommend it.  (Even if you are not Mormon!)  It is a great, interactive museum that teaches a lot about American history.

 The Carter 2010 models: cousins born in 2010

 Sisters always & forever: Kayley, Me, Tara & Emily!  I am so blessed

 Carter cousins minus 1!  We had a great picnic at a park on Coronado.  Fun was had by all!

 Dad wanted to recreate a picture we took at a daddy Daughter dance...so we did...

This trip was TOTALLY insane but I'm so glad we went.  I LOVE my family and don't get to see them nearly enough so I was grateful to have 48 hours with them...even if that means 20hrs of driving.  :)  Thanks Ethan for getting baptized so we had an excuse to get together