Sweating Bullets

Yesterday, Abby began four weeks of swimming lessons. Yes, you heard me right, four weeks. She's going to learn how to swim this year or we're going to die trying. And by we, I totally mean me. Because while Abby is holding onto a kick-board in the pool, blowing bubbles in the water, I'm standing on the edge of the pool, fully clothed, sweating so profusely people are looking at me funny. And y'all, I don't like to sweat.

I never had an issue (Ahem.) with perspiration before having kids, but now, put me out in the sun for 5 minutes and it's flowing like a fountain. I had a feeling this could be a problem for me, so I totally dressed for the occasion. I had on my little cotton dress with my flip flops. But even with that, I had a moment where I was worried about the decency of my attire. Really, how much sweat does it take to render a cotton dress see through? Because I had buckets of it running down my back. It was bad.

And all this in only 25 minutes. Thank God it's only 25 minutes. Any longer and I might have left a puddle where I was standing. And that would have been embarrassing.

The upside: only 3 weeks, 3 days left. The downside: it's not even summer yet.

Summer Fun...or not

After an unusually cool day yesterday, today the June heat kicked back in. So, I thought it was the perfect day to get the kid's new sprinkler out. I had found this really cute sprinkler several months back at a local discount store. It's a huge plastic mat that's shaped like a turtle. You plug the water hose into it, it fills up with water and the water sprays up from the edges of the turtle.

The kids loved it! Abby was running through it, getting soaked. Grayson was a bit apprehensive at first, probably because the water was a wee bit chilly, but he got over it quickly. They were having a grand time! So, why don't I have pictures to show you what a great time they were having?

Once I got everyone situated in the sprinkler, I was headed in to get the camera to catch all this family fun on film. All of a sudden, there was a pop and the water spray started slowly going down. I went to check it out, and the entire bottom of the turtle had blown out! Water was gushing everywhere.

Yep, it lasted all of fifteen minutes. Perhaps the local discount store is not the best place to buy water toys. After all, what can $5 really buy you? Apparently, 15 minutes of water fun and then 2 very disappointed kids.

Baptism - Abby's Way

This past Sunday, Abby's BFF's sister was baptized at our church. I immediately thought, "Oh, teaching moment!" Now, before you think I'm all high and mighty, "teaching moment" is not generally my first thought. Usually, I yell and then I think, "Yeah, that would have been a good teaching opportunity." Oh, well. Parenting is a learning experience too.

Anyway, I did think it might open up some communication about baptism and its meaning if Abby actually saw a baptism. So, she got to go to "big church" Sunday morning, as opposed to staying in the preschool department during the worship service. And she did ask some questions, which I answered to the best of my ability.

And the experience has obviously stuck with her. So far this week, she has baptized all the Little People in the house. Animals included. Perhaps my explanation left out a few things...

Grayson Antics

Have you ever wondered what is going on when your 19 month old gets very quiet? And someone (I don't know who that could be...) left an ink pen within his reach? It might look something like this...


And in other Grayson antics, I was working on my scrapbook the other night in the dining room when I heard Burge ask Grayson why he was naked. That is not a question you ever want to hear. After a house-wide hunt for the discarded diaper, I finally found it. And I must say, it was pretty smart thinking on Grayson's part. He put it in the dirty clothes hamper. Clever boy!

An Epic Fail

Burge has been off several days the past few weeks. That's what happens when you get three weeks vacation time, and you wait until your year-end to take the majority of it. We've gotten some much needed stuff done around the house and gotten to do some family stuff. Yesterday was one of those days.

We headed out yesterday morning to Scottsboro to Unclaimed Baggage. Now I've lived in Northeast Alabama most of my life, but I've never been to Unclaimed Baggage. It might have something to do with this, what Scottsboro is famous for that has absolutely nothing to do with Unclaimed Baggage. After checking out the store on its website and reading how people all over the US come to Scottsboro to visit Unclaimed Baggage, I was pumped.

Burge and I were thinking that we would probably leave disappointed, because there would be so much awesome stuff that we wouldn't be able to purchase all that we wanted. We were disappointed all right, but not for that reason. We left with nothing. Zip. Nada.

Let me say, as we were discussing this little excursion, I was thinking that a whole store filled with the contents of luggage that the airlines had lost might not be a stunning recommendation for the airlines' competency. However when the luggage was obviously lost somewhere near 1983, the blow is softened a bit. I have never seen so many pleats in all my life. And just a note to whomever prices the items at Unclaimed Baggage: Even if the item still has tags on it that read $60, if it was obviously first sold over 2 decades ago, you cannot sell it today for $40. I don't care who the designer is.

And as a public service announcement, these items are not cleaned before they are put out. I had gone through several racks of acid washed jeans when Burge came back from the men's department. He said he had found a couple of pairs of athletic shoes that he liked only to find out that they were $60 a piece. And then the blow that sent me digging for the antibacterial hand gel, "And they still had grass in the treads." Eeeewww! I am not opposed to wearing clothes once worn by someone else; I just want them to have a go or two in the washing machine first. And let me say, I openly cringed when I saw all the people fawning over the swimsuits.

So, in review, we drove an hour, bought nothing, drove back to Fort Payne, ate lunch and went to Big Lots. Fun times!

Family Vacation 2009

We spent this past weekend at the beach....Okaloosa Island, Florida to be exact. It was Abby's second time on the Gulf, but the first time she can remember and Grayson's first.

The beach was a huge hit, especially with Abby. She is definitely well on her way to being a beach bum!
Grayson, being blessed (or cursed, as the case may be) with my blue eyes had better get used to squinting. Or learn to keep sunglasses on! It would have helped, I suppose, if he actually had a hat that fit his big noggin. And he does now...
Sand was not his friend. As was my suspicion, he did not like the sand on his hands. As you can tell from the expression on his face. Whining soon followed.
Abby, on the other hand, loved the sand! Up until it made its way into her swimsuit. That wasn't pleasant for anyone involved. Here is her (and her dad's) first sand castle.
She liked the water too, as long as it didn't get near her face. Can't blame her there. There's nothing worse than a big wave to the face.
Grayson had several firsts...He learned to say "Cheese" when getting his picture made. Can't you tell?
He also became obsessed with kissing things. Here he is laying one on a plastic crab.
Abby is definitely her mother's daughter. She loves her some crab! She would've eaten it three meals a day, if we had let her (and could've afforded it!).
And finally, the whole family at The Back Porch, which I think might be my favorite restaurant in the Destin area. It was a great trip! We think we would've liked to stay longer, but we were all glad to be home, sleeping in our own beds. There's nothing like leaving for a few days to make you appreciate coming home...

Randomness

Here is some randomness for your mid-week...

1. I did not fall off the face of the bloggy world. I just spent a few days at the Gulf of Mexico.

2. While my OCD tendencies might have calmed a little since I left the workforce, they are still there, as it took me a week to plan and prepare for a 4-day trip.

3. I realized last night that this is the first season of American Idol that I have not once voted in. I just didn't feel passionate about it. Am I outgrowing AI? I hope not.

4. We got caught up on the 24 season finale last night, and I was highly disappointed. I was glad to get some answers about Tony, so my extreme dislike for him is tempered somewhat, but everything else was a bit of a letdown.

5. I'm already getting sucked in to The Bachelorette. Did anyone else think Jillian is watching this now and is really creeped out by Tanner and his foot fetish? Ewwww!

6. I did something this weekend that I said I would never do: I read Twilight. I have thought it was a bit strange that grown women were swooning over a teenage book series about a hundred year old teenage vampire. I might have even made fun of it. But, y'all, it's a good book. I'll be reading the rest of the series.

7. Seeing as how I didn't post about AI for the last two weeks, here's my rundown. I think Danny's better off not winning because now he can make the kind of album that he should make. Not the kind of album that AI wants him to make.

8. I predict this will be the closest vote in American Idol history. I initially thought Adam had it wrapped up, but he did not do so hot last night. Kris had a few cringe moments too, but his songs, once again, showed what kind of artist he is. Beautifully.

9. Why are they still having these cheesy, inspirational, original (and I use that term loosely. All these songs are really interchangeable, no?) songs? They stink. And I love it that all the other judges obviously hated it, but couldn't pan it because Kara wrote it. And didn't she look all smug with her "cat that ate the canary" look on her face while they were singing it? I hate to be the one to break it to you, Kara, but it stinks.

10. I don't really have anything else to say, but I can't leave the list on an odd number. Darn that OCD!