Summer Updates

Um, yeah, so I've basically abandoned the blog this spring and summer. It seems that as Libby and Drew get older, our lives get busier exponentially. Now, our weekends are booked with birthday parties, shopping for clothes since they are growing like WEEDS, and just trying to keep cool in this heat.

So, to bring you up to speed, we have had a "no commitment" summer meaning no travel plans or anything major planned. Libby and Drew had a few swim lessons with a sweet college student/swim coach at our neighborhood pool. They did GREAT with her. Drew was putting his face in the water during his first lesson. Libby was after a couple of tries. They were so ready for lessons this summer compared to last summer. They walk around the shallow end pretending to "swim" and kept telling me they wanted to be like the big kids in the big pool (we started out in the baby pool). I have to admit that seeing how tall they were in the baby pool compared to last summer made me tear up a little. My babies aren't babies anymore!

Libby and Drew went to a week of Vacation Bible School at a church down the street (not our regular church) and had so much fun. I actually had a great time having my morning coffee all to myself and even hitting a few thrift stores in that 3 hour "break time". It was great and they came home every day singing songs and showing me the 10,000 craft projects they did. I will definitely sign them up again next summer because they loved it.

So, we got into the new full-day preschool we applied for a few months ago! We are so excited because it is a fantastic place plus we won't have to juggle getting Libby and Drew transported between preschool and daycare like we did last year. The new program is a non-profit center which receives funding from businesses and the county, so there are lots of supplies, materials, and events for them. For example, the local nursery planted a flower and vegetable garden with the children. We got to see it and Libby and Drew were excited since we have a garden few pots on our deck, too! They are going to be in the same class, The Rainbows and we just can't wait for them to start. We found out that Pull-Ups are not allowed, even during naps (when Libby and Drew wore them), so we went home that day and had nap from then on in underwear. And only 1 or 2 accidents in about 6 weeks isn't too bad at all! I just bought an extra waterproof mattress pad as back up and it's been easy. So, we are ready to go!

The saddest part about their new preschool is leaving their babysitter, Ms. Brenda, that they have gone to every day since they were 4 months old! I dreaded the day I made the phone call to tell her. She has always been there for us and helped me so much as a new mom myself. She is one of those special people we won't ever forget. It's hard because her mother, Nela, whom her grandchildren (and daycare children) call "Mita" passed away very suddenly last November. Mita took care of the children along with Brenda and was such an amazing person. So helpful, caring, thoughtful, and a sweet woman. Brenda has really, really missed her for obvious reasons, so now that we're leaving Brenda, it almost feels like another loss all over again for me. So, it just means we need to keep in touch and visit every once in a while.