How many licks does it take

to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
A ONE. . .
A TWO. . .
A THREE. . .
Happy 3rd birthday to our tootsie pop loving little {s}.

replace tootsie pop with the word gum in that last sentence.

and just for fun, here she is with her sisters.

Racer

Decidedly not speed racer though. {r} decided she wanted to be on our pool's swim team this year. She has never been on a swim team. She doesn't even know how to do the required strokes (aside from freestyle) but, luckily, this is an entirely 'for fun' league. Her first swim meet was this past Saturday. She came in last (including relays) in all but one race (finished 3rd out of 4) but she had a great time (she swam 25m free, 25m butterfly, 25m backstroke for the medley relay--no one wanted to swim backstroke so she said she would--, and 50m free for the 4x50 free relay). She was afraid to go off the blocks but Tug worked with her later on dives and I think this weekend she might give the blocks a go. She is in lane 4.

{l} didn't want to do swim team but I made her sign up so she could get the workouts in (I make her go to the half hour daily practices, but told her she didn't have to do the meets if she didn't want to). After seeing this meet, she has decided to give it a try next weekend (I think she was nervous she wouldn't do well but after seeing people cheer on even the last place straggler, she now realizes it is just for fun).

And, just to give you some pool relief, here is {c} sleeping. . .
Back to the pool we go.



This is where we are spending most of our days (in between breaks to go to gymnastics--and breaks due to rain). Hope you are all having a great summer!

Fourth fun

Happy 4th of July! Here is {c} in her bouncy seat while the others were outside (too cold to take her out there). . .
having lots of fun with sparklers . . .
pretending to play the guitar (notice the flag that she drew and taped on her shirt). . .
or fly rocket ships. . .
and imaging herself playing drums. . .
and it was all great fun. . .
until daddy lit a firecracker that made noise. . .
and then two decided to watch from indoors.

Decade

not the bead kind, the age kind. In my blog negligence, i neglected to wish our daughter {l} a happy 10th birthday.

good thing i did in real life!

Don't wait until the primaries. . .

Vote now

click the box then, once on the page, click 'vote for this charity' on the right **EDIT-oops, click the green 'vote now' button which is just above the 'vote for this charity' on the right. for those who don't know, ggyr is a nonprofit horse ranch founded by tug's sister and her husband (i think most of you know her blog but, if not, click here to be taken to it).
much obliged.

Things that make you go

YIPPY. . .

{c} has slept from midnight until 8ish for the past three nights.

{s} has kept her pull-up dry at night for the past few nights and last night she was dry again just sleeping in regular panties. no more buying pull-ups.

today is supposed to be nice so we are hoping to spend it poolside. . .

after getting the house clean (not yay) because tug gets home tonight (super yay).

Smile

or toot. . .
or perhaps poop?. . .
or give an old man impression. . .
or say, "Whatchu talking about Willis?". . .
or smile. . .

yes, smile!

A long, long time ago

i can still remember when

i used to update this blog.

and i knew if i would just write

and share with all in my delight

then maybe you'd be happy

for a while.

anyone know the actual lyrics to the song i changed up there? i think i mentioned long ago that i had actually completed a knitting project. i never came back to show you what i made. they aren't really suspense worthy, but they are cute. {r}'s First Communion teacher gave me around 4 pairs of booties and a hat that her mother had knit for her future grandchildren. unfortunately, she knit them in pink and the teacher is expecting a boy. i thought i would make her a pair, to share the hand knit love.

aren't they cute? now, if i was a good blogger i would tell you where i got the pattern. i am a bad blogger. i do know though that i originally saw them on throughtheloops. perhaps if you go through some of her posts you will find the link to the pattern. or, if you are patient, i might update this post in another month or so with the link.

now, i am off to don the coat that i borrowed from james dean to sing for the king and queen since i am a jester--stay tuned for a post with pictures of {c} smiling.