Summer is winding down

It is hard to believe we will be meeting John's teacher tonight and dropping off his school supplies. The 8 weeks of swimming lessons went by so fast. I don't think I ever had the feeling like we have been doing this forever - maybe because this year I did not have to get a stroller out of the trunk! John passed to level 4 in swimming and James and Patrick know how to swim the front float and some back float. They both are not afraid of jumping in the water. Tommy isn't either and he hasn't been to a lesson yet.

Last week John and James went to Bible School. They enjoyed it very much. As always the closing concert on Friday evening was jammed pack with family members watching their loved ones sing songs they learned from the week. I'm actually enjoying the post concert as we continue to play the CD in the car. I hear both boys sing the songs.

This being the last week of summer, I've jammed pack the week with fun for one last time. Monday we went to the Farmpark and Captains game at night. Tuesday James had bus safety class at school and in the evening I took them to Cleveland Browns Training Camp. They seemed to enjoy watching it. I was a little disappointed we couldn't be a little closer to the action. We ran into two areas of heavy traffic and that delayed us. Not to mention I needed to stop and put gas in the car and then we needed a potty break at a gas station. We finally parked the car and walked down the street to the practice field. I can't believe Tommy never complained because I know I was walking fast trying to get to the practice. He was probably happy to be out of the car after being in it for over an hour. Yesterday I took the boys to the Zoo in the morning and the Lake County Fair last night. They enjoyed looking at most of what the fair had to offer. Patrick did not appreciate getting to close to the cows that were laying down. They did like the caged birds - turkey and chicken. Of course they loved the rides. We were lucky one ride worker was in a generous mood because he let the boys ride 2 rides for free (without giving up our tickets) The last ride was very cool. It was a line of trucks linked together like a train. The lady let the kids ride for 3 or 4 minutes. They all wanted to do a fast pitch game which I nixed because I didn't want to blow all the $ I brought with me. Today was "get ready for school" day. The boys got haircuts, we bought jeans for John and James, and everyone got tennis shoes. They probably can start the school year in their old shoes but the store had buy one get one half off and then I had a 20% coupon to use on top of it. So I got 4 pairs of tennis shoes for $60. James talked me into some non-tying shoes which then led to John getting some non-tying shoes. They have elastic shoe laces. Both promised to continue to practice tying shoe laces. James' are pretty cool as they are Star Wars. John used to not untie his shoes half the time so I figured might as well be able to get the non-tying ones too. I'm not sure what is on tap for tomorrow in the morning. I am thinking Penitentiary Glen and then in the evening we have another Captains game.

Our Fall is going to be another busy sports filled time. James and Patrick are in soccer. Both have enjoyed practices so far. They should be starting games in 2 weeks. John is going to play Fall Baseball. Games so far look to be Saturday mornings. He will play double headers. First game at 9am and the next at 11am. I hope he doesn't get too burned out but he has had a month off. I'm not sure how long they will play. I'm guessing maybe to the beginning of Oct? That will put a wrinkle into their leisurely Saturday mornings.

Patrick will start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. I think he is anxious to go and see his classroom. They moved the location of the preschool to be in the same building as the K-8 kids. I'm anxious to see how drop off will go. I just got the bus schedules for John and James and they moved up their pick up time by 3 minutes. I'm definitely going to have to have my act together 3 days a week.

This is one HOT Summer!

We hit the pool or splash park a lot this week because it has been so hot. Poor James had a terrible accident at swim lessons on Thursday. His swim teacher wraps him & Patrick up in their towels. When they get close to me they get excited and started to run. I just finished saying walk when James lost his balance and fell face first. His hands were under his towel so he couldn't use them to break the fall. He face is pretty scratched up. Because we are going to the pool it seems to be healing fairly quickly.

I can't get over how well all the boys are doing in their swimming lessons. James & Patrick both can do the front float and they are now working on their back float. In the beginning of summer they were afraid to jump in but now there is no fear of that. Tommy still has no fear of jumping in but likes me to catch him. John is just amazing to watch when he does the front crawl or elementary backstroke. Two more weeks and lessons are over. Its hard to believe!

John is going to be in the city's Swim Show again. James said he didn't want to and I wouldn't let Patrick. Its a long night so I'm fine with their decisions.

Apparently size matters

Well - at least to Patrick. For the past month he keeps asking me either before or after him using the bathroom or the tub if he has a big penis. I tell him its the perfect size for a little boy now leave it alone! He has even bragged to his brothers that he has a big penis. Gosh, can't wait till he hits puberty!

In other news.. Baseball season is wrapping up. James had his last game last night and John is almost finished with their season ending tournament. John's team made it to the championship where they will play at Captains Stadium. I think more than anything he is really excited about playing on their field. I regret not asking for a new coach for James this year. Not once did they play catch before a game. She really didn't have much control over the kids. I don't think James got to be the home run hitter once but he got to play first base almost every game. I really have to think about putting Patrick in t-ball. I think he will enjoy the social aspect but hope that he will learn a little bit about the game. James is to move up to baseball next year and I'm not sure how ready he is. It will definitely be a learning experience for him.

John going off the dive

He did this on Wednesday and then Thursday when I didn't have my phone he did a cannon ball! Friday he wouldn't do the cannon ball again so I couldn't film it.

The joy of raising boys - not!

Let me tell you how much summer fun I was having yesterday. After swimming lessons Patrick & James inform me they both have to go the bathroom before I know it they are running into the boys room which was great for me. They both finish and because they had on a wet suit they came out with their pants around their ankles just like they would if they were at home looking for some help. I had to explain that not everyone wants to see their privates. So then we headed to the other park in the city that has the Splash Park. We have fun and before we leave Patrick has to use the bathroom again. Before I know it he is in the boys room again. Fine. I open the door - Patrick anyone in hear with you? No. What's this? he asks me. Don't touch it. He continues to ask so at this point I need to be in there with him so he doesn't touch it - too late. Patrick its something to make it not stink in here. He pees and wants to touch it AGAIN!! No Patrick don't touch. Let's wash our hands. Yea me!

The good news from this week is John gained enough courage to jump off the low dive in 12 feet of water. It took 3 days but he did it. He is doing amazing at swimming the pool. I'm quite impressed with his backstroke. James & Patrick are actually getting along great. They have a different teacher than James had last year and I can see they are enjoying it a lot. She is getting them to go under water a lot of times. Tommy has become more attached to me. He won't put anything in the garbage can for me. I think he would rather be with his brothers but for now he's my baby.

James, James, James

As I mentioned earlier this week, James turned 5. He had a wonderful birthday full of presents and love. On Tuesday I sat him down to start writing thank you notes an idea he rejected. So I said we only have to one a day to help ease the pain. I want him to practice both capital and lower letters but I was getting a lot of resistence so I said fine write in all caps. That helped move things along for us. I am here to write things I noticed. First, James will write with either his left or right hand. His right hand writing is much better. Hopefully this left hand habit will leave or come in handy should he break his right hand. Second, he thinks of a story for EVERY letter you tell him to write. L – Luke from school, O – Owen from school, V – Olivia from school, E – Just like me. Then he would throw in a few jokes when I would tell him to write a “u” he would reply “no you”. When he focused on writing and not associating a letter with something we were moving and grooving otherwise it was like I had to hit him upside the head to refocus his attention. Luckily he has his 5 year old check up Tuesday so I can talk to the Doctor about it. Not sure if this is a sign of ADHD or just a 5 year old’s mind wandering. He doesn’t know yet about the doctors appointment. I don’t want him to start fretting about the shots he is about to get. There will be plenty of time for that later. I am planning on James and John doing some sort of school related thing during the summer. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week so they retain what they learned and continue to improve.

It's been a long time

I can't believe how long it has been since I had an entry. I have been microblogging with Twitter. Sometimes its just easier to write down a few thoughts on the go rather than finding time to sit down at the computer to type.

Today is James' 5th birthday! He was up at 4:50am with birthday excitement and the need to use the bathroom. I remember the adrenaline rush I felt after he was born after spending the whole night in labor. Needless to say I wasn’t feeling the same rush especially after Patrick was up at 5am .
I can’t believe I’m about to type this but I think Patrick decided he wants to be a big boy. It started off last week by him using the bathroom more and more. He has been in underwear for just one day and he has had no accidents. I signed him up for swimming lessons that start in July but if this keeps up I think I will see if they have room for him when the lessons start in June!
John had Opening Day for his baseball league on Saturday. The league had everyone go to Classic Park for player introductions, the National Anthem, and a baloon launch. It was a very neat experience. We then had his first game at the ballfield in our city.
Tommy is making a funny noise that we are not sure what prompted it but it cracks us up. Matt got it on video. Speaking of videos I was looking at some old ones when James was a baby and John was 2 or 3. I was tearing up at how cute they were and how I miss having a little baby. I don’t miss it enough to have another one but it was nice to enjoy them when they were little. It was also funny to see Patrick and Tommy’s reaction when they weren’t there!