Blessings in the form of friends.

You know those kind of friends who just make you feel good when you are with them...

This is one of those families.

This is the family that without "talking me into it", talked me into Home schooling. Cassie's outlook on life is so similar to mine.

It was her blog about why she was going to start homeschooling that pushed me into the home school world. I was already on the fence but this was definitely the final push. The blog expressed how they were less concerned with how smart their kids were and more concerned with how spiritually sound they are. 

She also emphasizes the importance of a strong sense of family. Something I can't say enough about.

Each time we hang out I leave the day feeling uplifted, encouraged, and... well... just good about the direction I am going in life. 

Matching bathing suits! Thanks guys!

Watching our kids play so well together is great. They are just like pea's in a pod. For the moms, we always have the best conversations. And every time I express discouragement or frustration with any thing Cassie encourages me with her natural positive outlook and knowledge of scripture.
Everyone needs a Cassie in their pocket!

On this day their crew came to swim... and of course like every other day this summer it was raining with rumblings of thunder. The kids were all in their suits ready to swim but neither Cassie nor I wanted six giant french fries so we entertained them with snacks as long as we could... Then we had to pull out the hose!

The boys naturally LOVED this as can be seen in the following pictures.

Finley decided to try and join in the fun..

Before you knew it the older girls were contemplating joining in although I don't think they ever actually committed to the festivities.

One can only be entertained by the hose for so long... soooo they headed to the playroom and...

yeah the boys thought they would be comedians! They raided Maylin's dress up clothes and came out for a great laugh!

Finley didn't think they were all that funny.  :)

Then thankfully/finally the sun started poking through and the thunder subsided!

Now it was SWIM TIME!

Slip and slide!

Chicken fight without the fighting... They kind of just walked around each other and laughed uncontrollably.

Either way they were having a great time.  It was an afternoon that went way too quickly. I cherish days we spend with these guys and always hate for them to end.
I am not sure what we are going to do when they move to Costa Rica next year. We will definitely miss our home school buddies.

Look what I caught!

Why did it take me all this time to think of this game?

All afternoon in the pool the kids say "Mom do this...", Mom go under", "Mom play with me!"
Now I can sit on the steps of the pool cast  and play 'cat and mouse' with the kids! They'll play for hours. They are entertained and getting worn out. I am playing with them and I get to relax!
BRILLIANT!

Just doing what they do...

Pierson being all boy and riding as fast as he can

and turning corners as hard as he can.

Maylin being as graceful as she can. "See how I can hold my leg up and point my toes!"

Pierson playing a little basketball...

and throwing as hard as he can!

Maylin doing what she does...

with legs as

straight as she can!

TA DA!

Sky High: Wonderful Wednesday

Now this was a fun place! 

What is better than a giant room made entirely of trampolines?

The answer... not many things!

This is one happy girl!

New meaning behind "Bouncing off the walls!"

Maylin sat on this 'motor cycle' for about 15 minutes even after I told I was not going to pay for this..."we are here to jump, not play video games."

Pierson asked what she was doing and I told him she was just sitting there because she really wanted to ride that motorcycle but I told her I wasn't paying for it. 

Her sweet brother used his only dollar to see his sister's dream come true. How could I say not to that?

He thoroughly enjoyed watching her have fun!

Ok Ok... I gave him a dollar now so he could play a game too... Yes I know... I AM A SUCKER.  But seriously what would you have done?

Jump Jump Jump!

Flip

Flip

Flip!  Ooo that one looked like it hurt!

Climb the walls!

Bounce off the walls!

Flip for the fun of it.

Oh yeah, they were having fun!

This is an awesome, fun place! There was even a trampoline room to play dodge ball and another with a foam pit... I may or may not done a couple flips from trampoline to pit? ;)
Even the grown ups can feel like a kid again.

After all that fun...

Ice cream was in order!

Dig in guys!

May all of your days be filled with trampolines and ice cream!

When Your Sunny Day Turns to Rain...

You build a fort!

Mayllin and the Pre-team

Maylin is a funny little thing. She is PAINFULLY afraid of being in front of people.  She is nervous about new situations and terrified that people will look at her or worse laugh at her. Yet almost inexplicably she can and will talk to ANY perfect stranger as if she has known them her whole life. She will ask anyone their name and their life story. I honestly think talking to people is her way of controlling her environment and the 'unknown'. 

All this to say... On her first day of her new gymnastics class she was nervous. It was an environment she was not in control of. I didn't know if there would be any girls she knew from her previous class... I didn't even know who was going to be coaching this class. 

As it turned out there were no familiar faces and there was only one other 7 year old in her class. The rest of the girls were all older.  On the way there she told me her belly was nervous and she asked me "What if I can't do what the big girls can do and they laugh at me?" 

Of course I assured her that this class is only for girls on her level!

As she walked in the gym and quickly scanned the room for familiar faces one would have never known that she was nervous. 

She had her game face on. She walked right in put her shoes and water bottle in her cubby and lined up without flinching. She started asking other girls their names. 

I was glad that the class started with her original coach. There were a few other coaches in the room whom she had never met. She kept an eye on them and as one of them passed by while she was stretching she asked him his name. He enthusiastically told her and asked her name. That seemed to satisfy her and make her more comfortable. 

 As it turns out that same coach worked with her class on the bars and vault. I was glad Maylin already had made that interaction with him before he took over her class. I could see that made it OK for her. She even looked excited and asked him if he remembered her name. Her eyes lit up when he did. From that point on she had a friend and she became her spunky self... afraid of nothing.

During the rest of class she had a blast and enjoyed trying new things!

I think she is heading in the right direction! Gymnastics is going well too. ;)