Swimming Lessons

Andrew takes swimming lessons with his buddy, Jon Ivan twice a week.  I teach with Jon Ivan's mom, and these two were in the same daycare class for several months.  He calls him, "Ji Ji."

The class is a mommy and me class, so I get in the water with him.  We use an indoor, heated pool which is very nice. 

So far, Andrew has been working on blowing bubbles in the water, kicking his feet, "walking" the wall, holding his breath when he (briefly) goes under water, and waiting until he hears me count to three to enter the pool. Jon Ivan also works on floating, but Andrew absolutely refuses to do this.  When his teachers asks him to try, he will tell her no and uses sign language to tell her that he is finished with floating. 

Andrew likes to practice his new skills in the bathtub.  He blows bubbles in the water when he takes a bath, and kicks his feet.  We were driving to his lesson yesterday, and I asked him if he was ready to go swimming.  He said, "kick, kick, kick."

I was in my bathroom putting on my bathing suit yesterday morning when Andrew came in the room. I told him that we were going swimming and he said, "suit."  Then he left the bathroom and quickly returned with his bathing suit.  I keep the boys' suits in a totally different place from their other clothes, so I was pretty impressed with my little buddy,

Because I have to get in the water with Andrew, I always take Joey to daycare during the lessons.  I did not think this would be a big deal, but I was SO wrong.  Whenever Andrew and I are riding in the car (after dropping Joey off) to the pool, he gets so upset that Joey is not with us.  He tells me over and over again that I do not have Brother.  I try to explain to him that he is with his friends and that we will go back, but Andrew is convinced that I have forgotten and left his beloved brother. 

Follow the Leader

My boys play this game all of the time.  Andrew will crawl all through the house, and Joey will follow him. Andrew turns to make sure that Joey is still there.  When he sees that his brother is still following, he will giggle. That giggle makes Joey giggle.  I just love hearing them both so tickled.  Andrew never crawls except when he wants to play this game.  As soon as Joey is able to walk, I am sure that they will create many more games together!

First Black Eye

Andrew hit the corner of Paw Paw's pool table. He was a tough little dude! Then, our poor buddy tripped on the way to the car.  That's why his face is so dirty.  We decided that he deserved an ice-cream cone!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

I have had some requests lately to put more recipes on the blog.  Here is one from my friend, Jill.  I made it a few nights ago, and it was good--not healthy--but good!  The pictures are not very good because they are from my phone.



Take a pack of chicken tenders and wrap them in bacon.

Mix a cup of sour cream and a can of cream of chicken soup together. Spread that mixture over the chicken.

Top with crumbled Ritz crackers.

Bake (uncovered) at 350 for 1.5 hours. 
The lengthy baking time is the only thing that I don't like about this recipe, but it is worth it.

Small Problem

Andrew has started going to the pantry and helping himself to snacks. Cookies for breakfast:)

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Busy Spot

I can normally find my buddies at their book cabinet.

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Puzzles in the Crib

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Relaxing in Wetumpka

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Quickest Way To Make My Husband Mad

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Bayball

Andrew has recently become interested in baseball, or "bayball" as he calls it.  We pass a softball/baseball field on our way home each day, and he always points to it and yells, "bayball."  After supper last night, we went out to the field to let him play.

 This is how he holds his bat when he swings. 

 Dada has started to work with him a little on holding the bat the correct way.

 Dada showed him how to run the bases.  Andrew thought that was so much fun, and he carried his bat with him the entire way.

 Tagging all of the bases:

 Next, they worked on fielding the ball.  This is my favorite picture from  the day. 

 We went around 6:30 because it has just been way too hot to do much outside during the day.  Andrew took some water breaks.

 Andrew is such a sweet sharer (most of the time, and unless it is a book or puzzle) with his brother.  He kept bringing the balls to him.

Sleepy Boys

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

First Ice-Cream Cone

Who knew that McDonald's served free, tiny, kiddie cones?  We decided to let Andrew try one out, and he devoured it in about 2 minutes!

Nothing left:

The obvious next step was to steal Dada's cone!

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Desoto Caverns

Joey took a day off earlier this week, so we went to Desoto Caverns in Childersburg, Alabama.  Most of the activities are for older children, but we did some of them.  They have a splashpad that I knew that Andrew would love, but it was broken on the day that we went. 

Joey and Andrew rode the paddle boats.  At first, Andrew was not really sure about the noise that the water made as the wheel turned.

 Then, he decided that it was fun!

 Next, we rode the bumper cars.  I wish that my boys would wear sun hats.  Both of them yank them off immediately, so once again you will have to excuse their sunscreen covered hair/heads.  Joey and I dominated the bumper cars.

 These two didn't have a chance against us!

 Finally, we toured the cave.  It was a one hour guided tour.  I have done the tour several times with my students, and I thought that it would be too long for our boys.  They seemed to enjoy it, though.  There was a light show with water in the cave, and Andrew loved it.  He yelled out each color in the light show, with the exception of green.  For some reason, green stumps him every time. 

 Pictures from inside the cave:

New Hobby

Working puzzles in a box

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

First time to pull up

This is actually his very first time pulling up!  It is so rare to catch a moment like that on camera!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  We spent the day relaxing at home, eating BBQ, and watching Mickey Mouse.  We did grill out with friends this evening.  Once we came home, the boys played with this funny hat.  Joey's onesie said, "I Love BBQ."

 When we told Andrew to put the hat on, this is what he did.

 Look how strong Joey's legs are!

After Joey went to bed, we took Andrew outside to watch fireworks.  There were so many being shot off in our neighborhood.  I thought that he might get scared, but he LOVED them.  He called them "bireburks."  He was absolutely mesmerized.  He sat without moving for about 20 minutes.  Whenever there was a pause in fireworks, which there were many since it was just random neighbors shooting, he would say "more."  Then, he would say, "hmmm" and hold his hands up like he was confused as to why there were not any fireworks.  We promised to take him to a real show next year.