A Regular Fish

Luke asked me several weeks ago if he could start swimming lessons. I agreed somewhat hesitantly, wondering if this was a passing fancy or just genuine interest. He is 5, it's probably time to get started because it's really difficult to keep him safe in the pool. Today was the BIG FIRST DAY. I reminded him last night of our agenda for this morning and he was immediately anxious. He couldn't go to sleep, kept calling me back into his room to talk about it. That's never a good sign. Steve tried to give him a pep talk at breakfast. That was met with much scowling and head-shaking. I started a 60 minute countdown, which led to even greater anxiety. I would put his swim clothes on, he would pull them off. I would get mad and start raising my voice, he would furrow his brow and glare at me. Gosh, this is so fun. Steve called and I immediately burst into tears. How can one little 5 year old send me over the edge so quickly?
Five minutes before it was time to go, I found him naked in his room, building something with Legos. I put his swim clothes back on and then he got up and calmly got in the car. He was sweet as pie the whole way there. He told me in the parking lot that he had changed his mind. He was ready to swim.
Thanks be to God!
His classmates didn't show up, so he had one on one instruction with his teacher. That was a major bonus. She taught him the basics very quickly. He loved it and tried everything with enthusiasm. After 30 minutes, she had him jumping off the side of the pool at 4 feet without any flotation. A regular fish on the first day. Lets hope this trend continues...

That's A Wrap!

Luke finished preschool last week. We went to the grand finale on Wednesday night. He lined up politely, put on his cute little graduation cap, processed down the aisle, sat in his chair on stage...and refused to sing. He didn't cry or misbehave, just clamped his little mouth shut and parked in his chair. Hmmm. I tried smiles of encouragement, he just stared right back at me. Steve and I just looked at each other in bewilderment. He loves to sing. He sang the songs and recited the verses all stinkin' year. What's up with this child?

Just when we were ready to give up, he leaped from his chair and began singing. Loudly. At the top of his lungs. Then he would shake his head and sit right back down. He had to go to the bathroom at one point, so we took him and tried giving him a little pep talk. He would have none of it. He informed us he would only be singing the songs he knew. Alrighty then.

Andy, meanwhile, kept himself amused by pulling all of the hymnals and Bibles out of the pockets and stacking them on the chair. Interesting.

Luke, as you can see by the photo, did not seem traumatized by his evening on stage and was back to his normal self the next morning. He eventually told me he didn't like all the cameras and the people looking at him, that's why he didn't sing. I suppose we can predict that a career in the spotlight will not be his thing.

Keeping 'em busy

The best part of this photo is the expression on his face. He wants so badly to have one of his Lego creations published in Lego magazine. He loves to look at the magazine each month and see what the other kids have built. He made this train the other morning and spent most of his free time driving it around the house and creating imaginary events. So precious. And very serious.

Every year, about this time, someone who lives here decides to tackle a yard improvement project. Long about August, it becomes a crapshoot to see if all the effort was worth it: emerald green lawny goodness or dry, dead crunchy stuff. One never knows what you are going to get around here. Anywho, last weekend was the first installment of 2009's lawn makeover. Thank goodness for the little boys and their lawn mowers or Steve might still be out there slaving away.

I have noticed that little boys mimic almost everything they see and hear. Sometimes that can be very, very funny or terribly embarrassing. In this case, it brought a smile to my face. Luke even mastered the full body crank-the-lawn-mower pose: pulling his imaginary lawn mower starter cord a couple of times to fire up his bubble mower. Even the neighbors saw him and laughed. What a hoot.

The cousins wanted to get the water slide out this weekend. It was the inaugural run for the season. The grown-ups were happy to oblige if it meant they would all be occupied. It wasn't particularly warm, but at least it wasn't raining. I made Luke get out when his lips were blue and he started shivering uncontrollably. It was fun while it lasted. This is our attempt to take a group picture. It's more like a 6 kid pile-up.

What a cutie. He has the best time playing t-ball.

Luke wanted to dress Andy up in his Halloween costume. The one he refused to wear last Halloween. Andy was a willing participant this time. He's dressed up as Diego the animal rescuer, for any readers who aren't familiar with the show.

Mother's Day Tea

Luke's preschool hosted a wonderful "tea" on Friday. The children presented us each with a necklace, then escorted us to the indoor play area, which was miraculously transformed into...a place to have tea with 5 year olds. Our placemats were decorated with fun little factoids our children had dictated for their scribe. Apparently I am both 49 years of age and 49 inches tall. Hmmm. Each child took our order and brought us our food. I believe that was a first for Luke. It was just fruit, cheese and crackers and Milano cookies. We chased it with some lemonade. Perfect. The children sang us a song or two, we played a game and listened to a story. The grand finale was a gift bag containing 2 juice boxes and a bag of microwave popcorn. We can use the enclosed coupon to redeem our "special snack" at a later date. So cute. We also received a petunia in a flower pot, carefully decorated by our little cherub. I really enjoyed hanging out with Luke and seeing all the hard work his teachers and classmates had invested in making the day special.

The Lukester

This little fella cracks me up. He started talking to me at about 6:45 this morning and I don't think he stopped until I dropped him off in his classroom for MOPS at 9:30. I had to go and turn on the hair dryer just to get a brief reprieve. I just don't have that many words available first thing in the morning. He looked up at me from his cheerios and said, "How come you don't live with your dad anymore?"
Huh? I told him grandma and papa were welcome to move in any time, but right now they like having their own space. Their nice, quiet, space.
He was quizzing me in the car about the names of all the people who drive emergency vehicles. He has an issue with the word, paramedic, I guess. This transitioned into a monologue regarding his future career plans. "Mom, I want to be a police officer when I grow up. I will have a police car. And a police dog. I also hope that I have a son. I should better ask my wife if we can have a son."
So funny! We went to kindergarten orientation tonight. It wasn't very exciting but we were still nervous. The world seems so much bigger and intimidating when you have to send your first born to "the big school", as we call it. Luke was a little disappointed that we have to wait until the end of summer to find out our teacher's name and assigned classroom. We did get to ride on the school bus. That seemed to be the highlight of the evening. It's a curious thing, the mind of a 5 year old boy.

Calling All Amy Grant Fans!

Raise your hand if you still have Amy Grant cassettes sitting in a box somewhere. Remember her leopard print jacket on the front of Unguarded? I thought she was such a rebel. A Christian singer wearing leopard print. No way. She released some new material this week. Pop on over to itunes and check it out. Her new release is called She Colors My Day. Quite the catchy little diddy.