Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish I could post photos more quickly and easily...I would post some pics of the crew gathered at our house for this great holiday. But I can't take the time, and I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you out there! I am grateful every day that my family's situation is stable, healthy, secure and, really, majorly luxurious compared to many people on this earth. Much love to all of you...

M4

It may seem like I'm neglecting our younger child with all this talk about M3 and her swimming, but I'm not. Life is just so much simpler with him right now. Give him a few Playmobile knights and he can play for hours making up complicated adventures. (Usually involving someone getting their head ripped off, but anyhoo...) He was thrilled about making his first snowball of the year last Saturday. He loves loves loves games right now...particularly Rush Hour (thanks PPSN!!):

Every day he asks if he has school tomorrow. It's not that he doesn't enjoy school, because he does! But he likes being home to play better...can't say I blame him!

P.S. Nana and Boppa arrived safely yesterday for Thanksgiving! Yay!

Bring Your Earplugs...

Well, the meet was very fun, and M3 did very well. She came in first in her heat in the freestyle and second in the backstroke. I was totally surprised! She beat her friends who have been swimming "competitively" much longer. So the competitive streak in me yells, "Woohoo!! Way to kick their butts!!" And the rest of me is just glad she had a blast, despite the fact that we were there for a total of SIX hours!! Not counting the two hours it took to drive there and back...ugh. And she had a fever over 102 on Saturday, so I thought we wouldn't end up going at all.

Unfortunately, she was disqualified in her freestyle because she touched the floor when she tried to flip turn, but she really didn't seem to care which is good. The relays went well, too, and it's just so fun to see them out there splatting into the water one after the other. Here's one of the main parts of the fun for her:

P.S. I need some major yoga after sitting on those bleachers for the better part of six hours!! Ow.

First Swim Meet

M3 is participating in her first swim meet ever this Sunday!! She's in four events: 50m free style, 50m backstroke, 100m free relay, and 100m medley relay. She's pretty excited, so I hope she has a good experience. I'm sure she will; she gets to hang out with her friends for four hours straight or something like that (and I think they kinda give ribbons for everything). I get to sit in a pool room with its outstanding acoustics! (I'll bring the earplugs...and my book.)

This was her idea, by the way. We weren't as excited about the huge time commitment for an 8-year old, but she is really having fun. So as long as it stays that way I guess we'll stick with it!

Uh oh...

I think I need reading glasses.

I shoulda known

Since I am apparently one of the only people in the world who liked Michelle Obama's dress, how funny that the woman who made it is actually from around here!

Alien beings have invaded our house!