Entrepreneurs!!

As we have begun to talk more specifically to the kids about our China adoption, the kids have had lots of questions!  Good questions like "Can she learn about Jesus in China?" and "How old will she be?" and "Can we go to meet her with you?"  The girls have really expressed a lot of interest in traveling to China with us.  We thought it would be a great way to instill in them a love for missions and orphans at a young age, so we began to do a little research to see what the added expense would be.  We found out that together, they could travel with us for about $4,000- $6,000.  Initially, we decided we would just have to say no and not let them go.  Then, we thought that if they could help raise the money to go, we might consider it. 

About 2 weeks ago, I asked the girls if they would want to make sleeping bags for American Girl dolls to sell at GCA's annual Barn Boutique to start raising money for their potential trip to China! Of course, they were ecstatic about going and about sewing! We got busy sewing over Thanksgiving and in one weeks time, the girls sold 17 sleeping bags over Facebook! That meant a whole lot of sewing and I had to step in to help them add more inventory for the Barn Boutique! Normally, the girls do about 85% of the sewing themselves; but, over the last week.  I have helped out more since they had homework, play practice, basketball practice. 

Yesterday was the Barn Boutique and Hambone (who was the mail saleswoman at our booth!) sold 21 sleeping bags!! All in all, the girls have now raised $700 towards their trip to China to meet their baby sister! They still have 15 sleeping bags left if you are interested in purchasing one for a Christmas present! They are $15/ each plus $5 to ship them  priority mail!   You can leave a comment below, email or find us on Facebook!  To God be the glory great things He has done!!

I didn't have a picture of the blue one :(

PAK Time - Friendships

"PAK Time" or "Parent and Kid Time" is my acronym for all things involving parents and kids.  This post is one that has weighed on my heart for a couple of years now and seems to be a much greater issue in girls than boys.  Friendships.  Friendship issues seem to arise so young in girls and usually involve lots of drama.  Recently, my girls have seemed to have more to talk about in this department which has made me evaluate how to model friendship and how to teach them to be a good friend to everyone in the class.

First, let me say that in my evaluation, I realized that I don't do a very good job modeling how to be a good friend.  Whatever my excuses are, be it shyness, my husband's job, intimidation or whatever, it still means that I have a lot to learn and grow in these matters. 

Secondly, what I have figured out is that, as parents, we tend to teach our children the easy parts of friendship, the parts we feel most comfortable with.  For instance, we teach them how to share and how to be polite, make sure they know not to bully others and so forth. Almost how to reciprocate friendship but not how to initiate it.

Initiating friendship is where my heart has led our conversations over the past few weeks.  By initiating, I am talking about looking for others who may not have a friend.  Seeking out those girls in class who never get asked to sit with the others or who may never get asked over to play at some one's house.  They aren't the girls we moms normally want our children to gravitate toward.  We, I believe very consciously, push our daughters towards the girls who are pretty or well groomed.  Girls who seem to be popular with the other girls.  If you don't think this is true, how often have you asked your daughter about playing with a girl who might not be so popular?  Do you ever encourage her to reach out to the girl who doesn't get invited to other people's house?  Do you encourage her to sit with someone besides her best friend at lunch or are you just thankful that she has a best friend and you don't have to worry about it. 

I believe our girls learn from us as moms.  So, the questions naturally have to turn to us and our friendship practices.  When I am in a group setting, do I stick like glue to the women I know or do I look for that mom who may not know anyone in the group?  Do I go out of my way to make conversation with the mom who I know feels uncomfortable here or do I stick close to those who make me feel comfortable?  If we moms don't have a heart for loving others well, how can we expect our children to do so?  If we don't practice esteeming others as better than ourselves, how will our children learn to? 

It would have been easy for me to have a pity party with my girls as I listened to their friend issues, and trust me - I really wanted to, but I have a job to teach them that this world does not revolve around them.  Society wants them to believe it does.  Satan sure wants them to focus on themselves.  But, God's Word teaches us something totally contrary to this self-centered worldview.  In Romans 12:9-16, Paul teaches us how to behave like a Christian.  He says:

"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another . . . distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you . . . do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble."

And in Philippians, he tells us . . .

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.    Philippians 2:3-4

So, when my girls want a shoulder to cry on, I will be there to cry with them for a bit, but then the time comes to teach them how to focus on others rather than themselves.  We have to start with God's Word when giving them instruction and then find a way to apply it to our life.  Here are some ideas on how to overcome the hurt of rejection through thinking of others.

1. How about you ask someone to sit with you who never gets asked.
2. Why don't you ask someone over to the house who rarely gets invited to others' houses.
3. You can make a card for someone else in the class who has had a bad day.
4. No matter what, always show kindness with your actions and your words, even when it's hard.
5. Pray for those who have hurt your feelings and repay unkindness with kindness.
6. Give thanks to God that you have a sister, because she will always be your friend!

Happy #10, MV!!

WOW!!  Our first is now in double digits!  It feels like we have hit a milestone and those early days are just a blur.  I was trying to remember her baby talk the other day?  You know, what cute words did she say, what did she sound like?  It sure makes me want to pull out Flip and make sure I have #5's baby talk on camera! How can she be old enough to want to go shopping instead of the park?  Old enough to put herself to bed and pick out her own clothes?

Each age has something special about it, but this age seems especially important to me for right now, my firstborn is entering into uncharted waters.  Where innocence can begin to slip away if one is not careful.  Where the world can begin to look more inviting than the security of home.  BUT, at this age, she is talking.  Talking to us, her parents, about what she sees and hears and reads.  She has questions; some are hard questions that I think she is not ready for.  But, she's talking.  And I want to capitalize on the moment for I know she may not always want to talk.  She may soon find someone else in whom she prefers to confide.  I pray she always feels safe coming to me and her daddy, whom she adores.  I pray she always adores him and listens to his wisdom and advice as she encounters life.  I pray she learns to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit to guide her and not her "heart' as the world would have her believe.  I pray she guards her heart with a diligence that comes from loving Jesus.  I pray God would give her a heart for loving others as she prepares for the teen years that can be so warped by a love and obsession for self. 

We love you, MV and pray that during these pre-teens years, you will deepen your roots in Jesus Christ so that when the world starts to pull on you, you will not bend to the pressure, but stand firm in Christ!

  And look what Miss 10 Year Old got for her birthday!  Glasses!  Not really, but she did have to get them right before her birthday!

Halloween

Have you ever wondered what evil really does take place on Halloween?  Or do you naively believe that the ghosts, goblins, witches, and vampires your children are intrigued with during this time of year are all part of innocent fun?  Do you believe that it is a coincidence that trick or treating and fall festivals take place under the cover of darkness?  Have you taken the time to study the meaning of the traditions that take place on October 31?  If you ever thought that the darkness associated with Halloween was for an age long ago, please read this short excerpt from a story about a Christian man who encountered Satan right before Halloween: The Day Satan Called.  And this video from a Doreen Irvine, who was once the ruling witch of western Europe and says of Halloween, ""If Christian parents had any idea of what Halloween is really all about, they wouldn't even mention the word in the presence of their children."
I fully believe that demons are real.  That angles are real.  And that we are in a battle for the souls of our children.  I don't want to have any part in festivities that reflect the pagan rituals of satanic cults around the world.  Like . . .

1.dressing up in costumes (The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them - according to Wikipedia)
* Did you know that, "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" 2 Cor. 2:14? I don't want any part of a tradition where people dress up to look like evil spirits. Instead, as a Christian, I am told in Ephesians 6:1 to "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children."
*Who will you imitate?  Ancient pagans who serve Satan, or our God, who is the Father of Light?

2. Carving images into pumpkins - During the Irish Samain, Festival of the Dead, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.
*And, who really has the power to overcome evil?

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants." Hebrews 2:14-16. 

*Why would I want to mimic people who falsely put their hope in a carved image when Jesus is the only one who has the power to free us? Again, we have a choice to follow the pattern of pagans before us or obey our Father in heaven who very clearly told us in Exodus 20:4,

 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

3. Trick-or-treating? -  This tradition, too, has its origins in the Celtic celebration of the festival of death.  On the night of the 31st, the druids would go door to door demanding strange foods to offer Samhain (their god of death) or for their own consumption.  Homes that complied and gave the food demanded, were passed over in silence.  Homes that did not comply were cursed with sickness, death, and trouble .  Some were even offered as human sacrifices.  And today, we let our little children dress up and imitate these pagans of old who served the god of death, not our God of Life.

"the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons,³⁰ not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.³¹ 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy?³² Are we stronger than he?" I Corinthians 10:20

4.Waiting till dark to participate in the "fun" - Darkness has always been associated with evil and sin.  And people who committ evil and sin love to do so under the cover of darkness. Darkness gives a cover for the adulterous woman in Proverbs 7 to lure men to her house.  The same was true for the Festival of Death and now for Halloween.  We are intriged by the darkness and lured in by the "innocent" activities that occur during the night. John 3:20 tell us that "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." There is a reason why Halloween activities occure at night, in the dark.  And, it is because these activities are not glorifying to the Father of Light, our Lord and Saviour.  "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness." I Thessalonians 5:5
As Christians, we do have something to celebrate on October 31.  What a wonderful time to teach our children about the Christian martyrs who have gone before us, or the Christian martyrs around the world today.  How many martyrs can you name?  Do you pray for the persecuted church around the world?  Here is a great resource to use in learning more about Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus: The Voice of the Martyrs

And, here are my posts from the last 2 years about Halloween:

Is Halloween really a Holiday? 2010
October 31 . . .  for us- 2009

"It is important to know the historic background of holidays. While almost every major holiday has been tainted with some form of paganism, none are so deeply immersed in the occult as is Halloween." - Rick Branch, Watchman's Fellowship

CR Turns 7!

I'm super sad that I had some fun pictures of CR's 7th birthday party and can't find them!  I think the card they were on got erased or something crazy like that! With or without the pics, he did turn 7 and had a fun army birthday party to celbrate!  He invited all the boys in his class, plus a few others to participate in "Boot Camp" training.  A couple of the boys told CR that this was their most favorite party ever, which thrilled him to hear!

This was a special birthday for us to celebrate with CR recovering so well from his recent Kawasaki Disease diagnosis.  We are so thankful that the Lord saw fit to bless us with an early diagnosis and an incredible team of doctors to treat CR! We are so thankful that his heart is perfectly healthy and are diligently praying that God will draw his spiritual heart into submission to His calling on CR's life.  We want so much for his little heart to beat for Jesus and to know and follow Him.  We pray, CR, that you will chose to die to your self and live for Jesus each and every day.  Serve and follow Him so that you can lead others in the way everlasting!

Grandparents and Sailing!

Friday was Grandparent's Day at GCA! The kids always love performing for their grandparents and showing them all of their special work!

And, it was a day for us to take off and go sailing!  Robbie has wanted to go sailing ever since someone graciously gave him a Sunfish sailboat a few weeks back.  We finally carved out some time on a windy day to take off and enjoy the lake from a sailboat. 

XC Meet!

Last Monday was MV's first ever cross country meet!  She is a 5th grader who is really a 4th grader and running on the Middle School team! Poor girl didn't really want to run this year, but wanted to take ballet instead.  Seemed pretty easy to me to see which one would serve her better in life - especially since her Daddy is coaching XC!  Practices have been hard on her, but she finally smiled when she crossed the finish line of her first race and realized that she wasn't last!  Wasn't even close to last! Her race was 1.5 miles and the only thing her Daddy told her was, "Whatever you do, DON'T WALK!" I think he might have told her a few more things about starting slow even when the pack takes off in a sprint, but the "Don't Walk" command was the most important part!  She ended up in 34th place out of 50+ girls, which was so impressive for her age and ability! We sure were proud of her will to finish strong!!

This was it for our team today.  Huddled up for a prayer before running!

Staying in the back of the pack like her Daddy told her!

MV had a huge kick left in her run at the end! 

And Hambone, got to show her stuff as well!! These meets are for the smaller area private schools and most of them have elementary run teams as well.  When we saw that a good number of 3rd and 4th graders were running one mile in that age division we asked Hambone if she wanted to run as well!  She gave a very enthusiastic, "Sure!" and slipped on a jersey over softball uniform, laces up her running shoes and took off with the herd!  Now, she hasn't been running like MV has or training at all.  Plus, the girl had just come from ballet, the same one MV had to miss, and had a double header softball game to get to at 6:00.  Let's just say that her buns and thighs were burning just a little bit when she woke up the next morning!  BUT, she came in 12th place with quick little legs!  We have another meet today, and ballet and softball, but she doesn't want to run again.  We'll see - Mom and Dad want her give it another try since she did so well!!  I think she could probably skip ballet, don't you?!?!  (kinda kidding!)

 I love this with Coach Daddy giving her a pep talk!!

 She is in the zone! Can you see the softball socks and uniform under that jersey!

She was booking it down that hill!!

He's Back!

Saturday, we made a last minute decision to let CR dress out for baseball.  His team had another player that was not going to be at the game, so we thought we would let him stand in the outfield to help his team out.  He certainly did a lot of standing, but he also was one of only 2 players to get a hit!  I have to tell you that this league is machine-pitch ball and the machine throws the ball at 38 MPH.  He struggled to even get a piece of the ball before he got sick, so I was not expecting him to hit the ball at all.  But he did!  And he got on base! This mama was smiling just a little bit to see her recovering boy hit a line drive!!  Way to go, CR!! And thank you, Lord, for healing his body so quickly!  We give you ALL the glory for this boys healing and the abilities You have gifted him!

Hambone Plays Ball!

Hambone had her first softball game last week! She really did a great job fielding, hitting and running.  Now, if we can just think of a way to motivate her to "hit the glove" when she throws the ball, we just might have a ball player on our hands!  She loved the competition and had a blast learning new cheezy cheers in the dugout! I love her heart and how hard she plays! She really gives it everything she has to give!  She sure made this mama proud!

Our journey to KD

Most of you probably know our CR story, but here it is for my remembering!

2 weeks ago Sunday, CR went to bed with a rash that we thought was an allergic reaction.  When he woke up on Monday morning, the rash had spread to his whole body and he had developed a fever.  We quickly realized it did not look like an allergy (mainly because his face was not swollen) and took him to our family doctor.  While I was driving, Robbie called from school to say that someone told him it might be Scarlet Fever.  I called my sister and my friend, Mendy, to get them to do some research while I was driving.  It sounded scary without knowledge, but with a little information, I realized it was completely treatable. 

Our doctor looked at CR and said it certainly looked like a case of Scarlet Fever and Strep Throat, but our rapid culture came back negative. At this point, he had a fever of 101, sandpaper rash all over, and one huge swollen lymph node in this neck and all of his joints were beginning to swell.  We went home with no meds and just were treating him with Motrin for the pain and fever.  His symptoms continued to progress with more swelling and fever of 104. 

On Tuesday, CR awoke with still 104 fever, red and swollen feet and hands, and the rash now making his face swollen and eyes sunken in.  We decided to go to a pediatrician for another strep test and had a friend call her ped. to see us.  We got in first thing and she took a rapid strep test that was positive.  We felt so much better to be going home with antibiotics this time. 

Much rest was in order for the rest of the day and CR literally slept all day long.  He wasn't eating much, which was understandable with strep throat, so we tried our best to get him to drink as much as possible.  I went to the store and bought three different types of Popsicles and plenty of Gatorade.  By Wednesday morning, he was still having high fevers of 104.5 and the whites of his eyes were now red.  He also began to complain that his feet hurt so bad he couldn't walk on them and wanted me to carry him when he needed to get up.  I assumed he just needed to let the antibiotics work their magic in him and he would get better.

By Thursday, his symptoms were still not getting any better.  His eyes and swollen joints were my main concern, but so was his high fever.  He was now complaining of light sensitivity and was keeping his eyes covered at all times.  I called the pediatrician's office with my concerns and they told me to wait at least 72 hours after his first dose of Amoxicillin for him to be fever free.  That would be on Friday at noon. 

Friday morning he woke up with 103 fever, but all the other symptoms were the same.  Not worse, but not better either.  His lips had started to crack and bled, but I thought this might be from dehydration.  I gave him a dose of Motrin on Friday morning and he keep a low fever all day, never more than 100.  By 4:00, his fever was up to 101.5 and I decided to go ahead and call the pediatrician to see what we should do.  They said to give it some more time, but to call if there were any changes or if his fever continued to climb.

Well, around 7:30 Friday night, we took his temp again and it was back up at 103.  I didn't really know what to do, but called the doc to see what she recommended.  She called me back and said that she suspected he might have Kawasaki Disease and that we would need to get him to the ER either tonight or tomorrow morning.  We initially decided we would wait until Saturday morning to take him, but changed our minds and decided we would rest much better knowing that he was at a hospital getting the treatment that he needed.  As we were getting ready to leave the house, CR threw up, confirming we needed to get the ER.

We made it to the ER around 10:00 Friday night and were immediately taken back to the critical care unit to run tests and start an IV.  He was scared and didn't really know what was going on or why he had to go the hospital.  He fought the IV and tried to take it out - oh how it breaks a mother's heart to see him scared and in pain, but knowing the pain from the IV will eventually help him.

 CR in the ER

We waited in the ER till 3:30am when were taken upstairs to a room for the night.  The nurses and doctors kept coming in asking the same questions and all poking around on CR who tried to sleep through it all.  We ended up getting just shy of 2 hours of sleep before the 7:00 shift arrived to do the same things over again - same questions, same poking, same everything.  By the time the 3rd infectious disease doctor arrived around 10:00am, my weekly time line was just a rote recording playing back the same timeline I had repeated close to 15 times in the last 12 hours.  This doctor was very confident that CR did in fact have Kawasaki Disease and would need to have another EKG and Eco of the heart along with an IVIG treatment that would drip for 12 hours and a high dose of Asprin .  We were told that he would probably be in the hospital for a minimum of 48 hours, but might get to go home earlier if he was drastically better. 

CR getting Echo cardiogram - Praise the Lord, it all looked great!!

CR got a visit from a 4-legged friend!

CR was fever free the whole time we were in the hospital and we were looking like we would get to go home Sunday afternoon.  Right before we were scheduled to leave, his fever spiked to 103 again.  The Docs came to tell us that he would need to stay and spend the night for observation at least one more night.  By Monday, he was drastically better.  There was virtually no more swelling, no fever, very little red left in his eyes and he was beginning to eat and drink more.  We left the hospital on Monday around 4:00 and felt very thankful that all his tests were clear and showed no damage to his heart.

CR controlling the remote in the hospital!



Hambone couldn't wait to come and check on CR!  It was so sweet to see her loving her brother, especially since these two have the whole "sibling rivalry" thing going on!

Playing a little PS2 on Monday before we left the hospital!  He was feeling so much better!!

That was a long week, but it was so much better with the community of support from our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We had family keeping the boys and dear friends keeping the girls.  We had prayers and encouragement coming from all over and meals galore when we arrived home.  Thank you all for loving us so well during this time of healing for CR!  God has richly blessed us with each of you in our lives!

Celebrity Spelling Bee

MV had the opportunity to participate in a Celebrity Spelling Bee last night to benefit a local organization called Finding Balance.  There were ten 5th graders who went up against ten celebrities in a fun spelling competition.  The contestants could choose from 5th grade words (1 pt), adult  words (2 pts) or zinger words (5 pts).  MV spelled all of her 5th grade words correct, but another boy who spelled an adult word won the bee for some pretty cool prizes! 

MV's favorite part of the bee was hanging with the celebrities.  She got to sit with Tenth Avenue North, who sang "You Are More" and "Healing Begins" for us.  And, her favorite part was meeting Jamie Grace !  We all had a fun time watching the friendly competition on stage and listening to some pretty cool music!

NOW!

False alarm!  The blog was in the making, and still is, but now it's live!
apurereligion.blogspot.com

Adoption Journey

We have finally submitted our application to pursue adoption through America World Adoption Agency. We have prayfully decided to pursure their China "Special Needs" program and are waiting to hear what the next step will be. Still, we are open to any new road the Lord may choose to lead us down instead of China, but this is where we feel lead to begin the process! The agency is currently reviewing our application and my fears have begun to give way to a fresh and energetic excitement! I feel confident that I will continue to encounter all kinds of emotions through each phase of adoption and I know fear will try to creep back in again, but it feels good to leave some aprehensiveness behind and grab hold of the JOY of the Lord in this stage of the process!

I have decided to start a new blog just for the adoption process called A Pure Religion and now running updates on the side board of this blog! Eagerly waiting to see how God transforms this family as we seek to mirror His heart through adoption!

Gone Fishin'

Oh, God is so good to give us gifts that we don't even know to ask for! He has given us such sweet friends in the midst of this crazy move! Hicks family, I don't know what we would have done without you! You have been so amazingly kind and shown us brotherly love that we didn't even know we needed! Thank you, for loving on our family and making this transition so fun for us and the kids!

Here we are on a night out in our "borrowed" pond (really the Hicks' neighborhood pond)! All of the kids got to fish, but these two brothers wanted to do nothing else BUT fish! Forget the four-wheeler or bikes, just give 'em a pole and these two were happy!

This was little man's first time fishing and Brian made it so much for him! He wasn't giving that pole to anyone!!

2011 Florida Trip

Despite the mess in our crazy home, we decided to take a last minute vacation to the beach before school began. I love how God works all the details out perfectly, even in spite of our lack of planning! Here is a video clip of the kids on a Pirate Cruise Ship in Panama City. We never ever do the commercialized things at the beach, but this 2 hour trip was recommended and we decided to give it a try with some of our friends from school who were at the beach too! The kids had a blast pretending to be pirates

Still catching up: Man vs. Woman

After moving in our new and very humble abode, my niece came for a short visit. It was a little crazy around here, but I knew that if we didn't do it now, it would be a long time before we had another opportunity. While she was here, we had Little's friend over a boys vs. girls water balloon fight and swim night. The girls took the "tower" play station and the boys took the ground and tried to invade the "tower" without getting wet. Looking forward to more play times with our sweet neighbors!

Cathcing up: Little E Turns 5!

Little E turned 5 the weekend we were moving out of our house and the day CR had his first All-Star baseball game! I knew it would be a crazy time, so we decided to celebrate with him starting on Wednesday. Wednesday is $1 bowling night at Thunder Alley in Dickson, so we took one of Little E's friends along with his parents and sister for a fun night of bowling, glow-in-the-dark putt-putt, and pizza. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures here (I just gonna say my camera was probably already packed), but they all had fun playing and eating!

On Thursday, our friends from Georgia came for a visit with their 6 kids and we went to the Fishes house for dinner and dessert. I made Little E dirt cake at his request to celebrate with all 18 kids at dinner (the Fishes were minus 2 or it would have been 20!)but I left it at home! Thankfully, his real birthday was Friday and we had plenty of time to eat cake and cinnamon rolls before we left for the baseball game (followed by ice cream, of course!).

Happy Birthday, Little E! You amaze me with your spiritual sensitivity and insight into the simplest things in life. I pray that God will continue to grow your desire to follow him and that you will use all that energy you poses to seek hard after Jesus! You are such a blessing to us with all your hugs and kisses and snuggle time! We love you little, big man!

Championship Videos

I had to post each kid in one event from championship! They swam their hearts out and we had so much fun watching them improve!

Here is Little E swimming freestyle with no support from the rope!

CR beat his time, won his heat and came in 18th place (out of 91 swimmers) overall!

Hambone worked really hard to improve her breaststroke and it looks beautiful! Notice the intentional glide after each stroke - way to work!

MV is a natural breast stroker! She had to move up in age division this year and still was in the top 2 for her breast stroke! Looking good!

Catching up: Swim results

We moved one week before our final swim meet, Championship Meet, and hardly had the energy to finish, much less finish strong. We were staying at a hotel that week, which was 45 minutes away from our practice pool and decided that the kids would have to get in their practices at the hotel since we didn't have any desire to drive 45 minutes to practice all week in the midst of packing, closing, painting and moving and unpacking.

The girls were fairly consistent all summer long in their swimming and ended the season right about where they started with their times. Both swam very well and took time off their IM's which look hard to me!

The boys made huge improvements, especially Little E, with CR breaking 30 seconds on his freestyle at championship with a time of 28.98. Little E swam the whole 25 yards without touching the rope for the first time at championship and went from starting the season with a 3 minute swim to finishing with a time of 1:22.47! It was so fun to watch him improve and learn to swim this year! We almost didn't let him try it, but I am so glad we did!

In addition, CR also was the high point winner for the boys in his age group on our team. He didn't always enjoy swimming and would rather have been playing baseball, but once he saw all the medals and ribbons he won, he changed his mind and said he wanted to swim again next year!