Handsome Dude

I sure hope this little guy doesn't steal Unkie Dew's thunder on his wedding day!

A Timely Surprise

In spite of  the insanely hot temperatures and the recent bear attack in Eastern Kentucky, Eric had the idea for us to go camping while we are home in Kentucky next week at the lake. Oddly enough, even though I detest trying to sleep when I am hot, it sounded like a lot of fun to me, so I agreed.  Eric pointed out that we would be on the lake all day and we would get a shaddy spot near the lake, so hopefully the heat would be tolerable by the time we went to sleep. The boys love camping and we haven't gotten to go in a year, so next week, we are hoping for some cool nights (and no bears) as we head to the great outdoors.

Granny also arrived last night for a couple week visit.  We will get to hang out with her for a few days before we head up to Kentucky and then she will stay on at Hotel Workman while we are away.  Then we get to spend a few more days with her when we get back.  Right as the boys were going to bed last night, without knowing our camping plans for next week, she whipped out the perfect surprise...

Buzz and Woody sleeping bags!!

Now, when you are three and nearly six, the occassion for needing a sleeping bag presents itself more often than you would think.  There is the obvious need for one when camping, but sleepovers, fort days, and just lying in the living room watching a movie affords the opportunity to snuggle up in a sleeping bag to make the event a bit more rugged.

It isn't that the boys haven't had sleeping bags of their own.  Our very generous friends passed down their sleeping bags to us about a year ago.   However, the passers-down were girls, so the sleeping bags were not...how should I say this...the most masculine or mature (well, the characters would be at Seth's age level, if he didn't think he was at least two years older than he actually is).  The bags were functional and served their purpose well, so the boys, just being grateful to have sleeping bags of their own, never complained about zipping up in Elmo and Winnie the Pooh.

But now, they have the perfect sleeping bags for two adventurous big boys.  How did Granny know?

The boys had to test them out last night! 

Caleb made it the entire night on the floor, but after Seth came out of his room three times, he lost his camping out on the floor priviledge.  It didn't seem to disturb his sleep, though, as he just tucked himself into his sleeping bag on his bed.

Thank you, Granny!

A Reward So Sweet

Caleb has become quite the money man over the past few months.  He keeps his allowance and earnings safe in his billfold and counts it at least twenty times a day.  Just in case.  He was so excited yesterday when I offered to trade him a twenty dollar bill for his twenty ones.  You would have thought that I had given him a million dollars.  He told me his wish had finally come true.  Obviously, he had never had such a large bill take up residence in his little wallet.  I think he checked his billfold twenty-one times yesterday to make sure his twenty was secure. 

He has learned a lot about saving over the past few months, which brings a smile to this frugal momma's face.  We raised his allowance at the beginning of the summer to $5 every other week.  After he tithes and puts some savings in his piggy bank, he gets to put the rest in his billfold, which has also become a little savings account.  I really thought Caleb would be a kid who would take his money and run, spending it before it had time to hit his pocket. He has proven me wrong on that.  He learned pretty quickly, that unless it was his birthday or Christmas, Momma and Dada were not going to be supplying his Star Wars Lego collection.  So, he knew that in order to leave the toy aisle with a prize in hand, he would have to save the money and buy it himself.  And those things are costly.  The first few he bought were in the twenty dollar range.  Steep for a five-year-old, but doable after a few months of saving his allowance, birthday money, extra chores and a grandparent slipping an extra buck or two his way. 

But his last goal was a whopping sixty dollars!  Honestly, I didn't think he would save up the money until after his birthday, when he might have some birthday money to give him a boost, but again, he surprised me.  He did extra chores and jobs for anyone who would throw some work his way.  He even asked his buddy, Elliott, for a dollar and of course, his generous friend obliged.  Although I wasn't too happy about that, it was hard to refuse with Elliott's enthusiasm to give toward Caleb's cause, so I let him keep it with the promise that he would not panhandle his friends anymore.  He worked and saved for over four months and I am still not quite sure how he earned all of that money, but he did!  And boy was he proud.

His final job came from Aunt B, when he only needed three more dollars to reach his goal.  Aunt B offered him the job of cleaning out her car and with a little help from Dada, he tackled it and did an outstanding job!  Oh, the joy of finishing a job and realizing that your hard work has paid off.  He got his Star Wars ship and as an added bonus, Aunt B got to help him assemble his little beauty!

Caleb's initial reaction when he found out he had met his goal.

Viola!!  The finished product!

Little Fish

Guess who is swimming now?

Mr. Sethie, that is who!

This isn't exactly new news, but I haven't had a chance to share Seth's big accomplishment on the blog yet. 

So, today is the day!  We now have two little fish in our family!

Seth began swimming with his ring at the beginning of the summer, which has made going to the pool a much easier and enjoyable experience for all of us!  And with the crazy heat this summer, we have spent A LOT of time at the pool.  However, we think that the kicker that catapulted our little guy right out of that ring and swimming around the pool happened on our vacation to the lake.  Seth spent the week in his life jacket, which freed his little arms to move around more (as compared to the ring) and lo and behold, he figured it out. 

I didn't even realize he was anywhere close to learning to swim.  Caleb took swimming lessons the summer when he was three, but really didn't begin swimming on his own until the next summer when he could touch in the three foot end of the pool.  From then on, he was all over the pool.  I thought we would put Seth in lessons next summer to begin the process.  Since Caleb is much more of the daredevil and lacks any fear (except bugs) and Seth is my more cautious child (it is nice to have a cautious child), I really thought it would take him a bit longer to learn to swim on his own.

How many times have my children proven me wrong over the last six years?

The week after the lake, we were at the pool one day.  Seth loves to hang on the ladder and go under the water.  All of a sudden, he said, "Momma, hold your arms out like this."  He stretched those cute little arms out to show me.  Then, he just let go of the ladder and swam right to me!  No coaxing, no practice...he just let go and swam to me.  Wow!  I was quite surprised and VERY excited!  And so were he and Caleb.  Since that day, he has been quite the little swimmer!

We are so proud of our little guy and totally give the credit to him for teaching himself how to swim.  I don't feel like Eric or I really had anything to do with it.  Again, it proves that you can't always gauge what your second born will do based on what your first born did or how they did it, even when their personalities would make it seem obvious.  Those little second borns will surprise you!!  And we continue to thank God for giving us two little boys who love the water.  It seems like a minor request, but since Eric and I have always loved the water, we really hoped God would give us children who love it, too.  I laugh, because Caleb came into the world loving the water and never shyed away from it, while Seth could really take it or leave it, up until this summer. And then he goes and teaches himself to swim and can't get enough of the water.  God really cares about the desires of the heart!

I don't have a picture of him in action, since I haven't taken the camera with me to the pool lately.  I know, so unlike me.  But I will have to get one on here soon. 

Here are some shots from the pre-swimming on his own days:

For Those of You Who Were Concerned...

...that baby now has a head band of his own (courtesy of Unkie Dew) and some wrist bands to boot (courtesy of Granny).

BIG Boy

On the phone tonight Caleb told me, "Mom, you may be expecting me to be shorter when you see me, but I have grown at least a foot or two while I have been away."

WOW!

I CAN'T WAIT to have my big boy back tomorrow!!!

Lake Crash

Even the most energetic boys in the world run out of steam sometimes

And a Few More Family Lake Shots...

Our Week at the Lake...In Pictures

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

This vacation must have a been a novel series!

What a great time we had at Kentucky Lake with our family!