Saturday in the Park

The weekend before last, Josh and I headed to the park with the Martin family after soccer for some play time and a picnic.  Unfortunately Emma had not felt well that morning so she had to miss out on the fun.  The boys had a great time and Ross's little sister Avery loved climbing all over the playground equipment.  She was so proud of herself at one point that she let go of the bars to give herself a hand.  She is going to be off and running soon!  Scarlett wasn't able to get many photos of the wild boys but did capture this cute one of Josh.  We're looking forward to another play date at the park with Emma!

Wordless Wednesday - Engrossed

Swim Lessons

Josh had his first swim lesson through school last week.  Unlike when Emma took lessons last year, all the kids are required to wear swim caps.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how that would go over with a group of 3-5 year olds but they all wore them without complaint. 

After some initial instruction including the rules of pool, it was time to assess where the kids were in terms of skill level.  They started by showing the kids how to safely climb into the pool by rolling to their side and going in face first towards the wall.  Josh didn't feel much need to participate in this activity.  Then they asked who would get in and get their face in the water.  The kids that did got to stay on the wall while the kids that didn't went to the steps.  One coach asked Josh if he wanted to get in and he shook his head no.  Thankfully the next coach that asked, he happily got in and put his face in the water moving him to the bubble blowers group.

They got to practice some spider walking, climbing in and out and then got to swim with pool noodles.  Josh had the biggest smile on his face the entire time he was in the water.  Finally, they got to practice floating on their backs with the coaches.  It was a great first lesson for Josh and hopefully he'll gain more confidence over the next five lessons.  We're officially looking forward to our neighborhood pool opening especially after the 90 degree weather today!

Josh Soccer

Josh still enjoys soccer for the most part although I think he might be ready for a little more of a challenge since they are doing the same types of drills that they did in the spring.  Another issue might be the fact that there are so many kids.  As they move between stations, the coaches are different so it is more difficult for the coaches to follow individual kids and give them instruction where needed.  The most important thing is that he is having fun and getting out to run around!  Let's face it though, soccer isn't his first love, basketball!

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Would you Hire this Babysitter?

Easter

Our Easter plans had a last minute change this year due to the flu hitting the Barnard homestead.  Mrs. Anne did not think it would be wise to host Easter nor did she think we would want to come over and be exposed; she was correct!  The Easter bunny did make a visit and left baskets filled with goodies.  Emma received two movies, a Barbie movie and Cinderella, lip gloss and stickers.  Josh got a set of dart guns, a Hulk mask, and a new Razorback t-shirt.  Of course, they both received some candy as well.  The morning started off with another rain storm since we hadn't had enough rain all weekend.  After church, we decided to go to brunch and then it was back home to have a relaxing day.

 
After nap/rest time, Brad and I hid eggs in the house so they kids could have an Easter egg hunt.  Unfortunately with all the aforementioned rain, an egg hunt outside was not on the schedule.  Emma and Josh didn't mind and had a great time searching for eggs.  Afterwards, Emma hid them so Brad and I could search too!

As a snack, we made some Resurrection rolls.  The crescent roll represents the cloth they used to wrap the body of Jesus after he was crucified.  A marshmallow is wrapped up in the roll and the edges sealed to represent the tomb.  We then dipped the rolls in margarine followed by a cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Then it was off to the oven where they baked for ~12 minutes.  Once they were cool enough to handle, we cracked open our rolls to find an empty tomb.  So much fun to do with the kids and definitely a tasty treat!

 

Easter afternoon turned out to be absolutely beautiful but everything was so wet that we couldn't really enjoy being outside.  In order for the kids and adults to get a little fresh air, we did go for a nice walk.  Emma and Josh did great over about a one mile walk with no strollers!  Overall, even though we had to change things up, we had a great Easter Sunday!

Two More Teeth

Emma recently lost her top two teeth.  The first came out Friday, March 15th.  Brad was in Boston at a conference and Emma was working that tooth like crazy.  I tried and tried to tell her to leave it be until Daddy got home but the minute I looked away, she was back at it.  During bath time, I walked out and not one minute later, she is yelling that her tooth is out.  I grabbed her a wet washcloth and told her to hold it in there until the bleeding stopped and then we could talk.  Have I mentioned that I don't like dealing with blood.  We both survived and the tooth fairy made her third trip to our house in the past year. 

Shortly after losing the tooth, Emma started working on the second one since it was loose as well.  Again, we told her just to let it be and let it come out when it was ready but did she listen, not really.  On the way home from school the Wednesday before Easter, Emma told Brad that she was going to have the school nurse pull it out the next day.  He didn't really take it too seriously thinking that she surely would not pull Emma's tooth.  Well, he was wrong and the next day, Thursday, March 27th, Emma was waiting him with a big old toothless grin.  I must say it is a little cuter with both teeth gone but any minute now, she can slow down with the growing up!

Dyeing Easter Eggs

I would call this year a big success when it came to dyeing Easter eggs for three reasons.  One, nobody's hands, arms or face were dyed along with the eggs.  Two, the eggs actually had distinct colors; they did not get dipped in every color.  Three, no eggs were cracked during the dyeing process.  Josh's best buddy Ross came over to play so he got to join in the fun with us.  They boys enjoyed dyeing the eggs and four each was definitely plenty but they didn't really care to partake of putting stickers on afterwards.  Emma was more than happy to adorn the eggs they left behind.  We may have to dye more next year since they did such a great job and it was fun having Ross with us!