Swim Lesson Blast from the Past...

Way back in 2003, just after my freshman year at BYU, I took a job in Newark, CA teaching the summer school GATE class. My mom and I directed an operetta (in traditional Grandma Wightman style) of "Safety Kids." We did a parachute dance with them, taught them to play the recorder (or tonette, if you prefer) and made them all super stars... sigh... good times...

Last week Larry started swim lessons. He didn't show much fear of the water once I pointed to his teacher and said, "Larry, this is your teacher. She'll swim with you." That's all it took. No crying, no whining, not even his ever famous, "No. No thank you." I was very proud of him. His teacher's name is Bree.

Dawna has continued to enjoy swim lessons. She's learning to use her arms and kick at the same time. She has become a star ring-diver and jumper. She's gained a lot of confidence (almost too much, as she learned last week as she tried to take Larry for a dolphin ride in the pool... not the brightest idea ever...) Her teacher's name is Ahalya and she's awesome!


Ahalya... not a very common name. I only knew one other Ahalya. She was in my summer school music class back in 2003 in Newark... she was in 4th grade then... which means she'd be 16 or 17 now... wait a second.... !!!!!!!!

I looked at Dawna's swim teacher again and then I realized... I don't know any OTHER Ahalya's... IT'S THE SAME ONE!!! Woah! Small world... ok, so it's not THAT surprising since it's actually in the same tiny town... but still, it was fun to look and see her all grown up... and doing good things... maybe the Safety Kids had an effect? Eh, probably not, but ya know...

4th of July Fun!

Our fun Fourth of July actually started on July 2 with the A's game, complete with tailgate party and fireworks. Xochitl continues to be our bravest kid--even without earplugs, she didn't even flinch at the loud bangs and booms of the fireworks. She even "Oohed" and "wowed" and pointed. Actually, it was the most still and quiet she was for that whole night. During the game, she liked to climb over and back onto Nana and Papa and then back to mom and dad... over and over again...

Then, after church on the 3rd, we headed up to Sacramento to visit Uncle Weston. He had steak and potatoes waiting to be grilled when we got there (so awesome!). We relaxed and played games all evening.

The next morning, we went to a parade. Larry loved all the cool cars and fire trucks. Dawna loved collecting candy from the various groups represented in the parade. Then we came home and I remembered to get my camera out for the first time all weekend...

Weston turned on his sprinklers and let his niece and nephew run wild in his backyard. They also enjoyed feeding the squirrels out there by leaving peanuts in the plant pot.
In this picture, they are all pretending to be alligators... as in... they are all about to chomp down with their big jaws... I think Weston is the best alligator.

Then Uncle Lynn joined us! Yay! I pushed Weston into making his house a little less bachelor-pad-esque by requiring him to purchase baking soda and vanilla extract. Jon and I wanted to make donuts in our deep fryer. They turned out perfectly delicious! and very beautiful!

We didn't actually have a donut cutter, and they don't carry them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond either (go figure...) so we improvised with a giant mug and a baby bottle. Seemed to work out very well...

The yummy food continued throughout the day with another barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner followed by pie for dessert! Jon is cooking in the background, the kids are playing in the dirt... I know... appetizing...
And of course, the fireworks! We got a pretty late start on them, but they were lots of fun! Naomi seemed a little more wary of these close-up fireworks... she actually cried a bit, but overall I think she liked them... as long as Lynn or Mom or Dad was holding her...

We got home very late... or early, depending on how you look at it... but we still had 9 hours before swim lessons started! But that is another story for another time...

End of Part II of blog ketchup.

Upon arrival home...

So, about a month ago, we went on this fabulous vacation (which I will blog about later... I promise!) and upon arrival home, we had a couple adventures... namely...

Pre-K Testing!

It has been determined that Dawna is ready for Kindergarten (no surprise there...) I thought I'd pass along some of her "creative" answers...

First, they had her write her own name (which they don't usually do, but she informed them that they had spelled her name wrong--not Donna, DAWNA). Then she counted to 20, named some letters, and then came the more conceptual questions and the "reading comprehension" section...

Ms. G: Dawna, what's the difference between a mouse and a cow?

D: Well.... a mouse... like... it drinks milk, but a cow... a cow HAS milk.

Ms.G: ok.... Now I'm going to read you a sentence and then ask you some questions about it.

D: ok.

Ms G.: The cat slept in the park yesterday. (repeated twice). Dawna, where did the cat sleep?

D: hmmm... probably... I think... on the slide.

Ms. G: The slide? Ohhhh.... ok. Dawna, when did the cat sleep?

D: hmmm... after all the kids left and it was all quiet and dark.

Ms. G.: Ok...

Is it bad that she misses the obvious answer or good that she thinks outside the box?
I thought they were pretty creative answers...

Out with the old, Yay for the new!

While I was attempting to wash all our nasty camping clothes, I noticed a large puddle forming under the washing machine... drat... I hate puddles in the garage! But, bless you Rob and Jon, for moving the washer and dryer to the garage so that this did NOT happen in the hall closet... It was a bit annoying, but to be honest, I was pretty excited to have the excuse to get a new washer... and then my darling husband said that we might as well get the matching dryer, since the start button never worked on our old dryer (we just turned the dial past the starting point and shut the door to start it... ghetto...) But Now, I have these beauties:

I LOVE them! They are LG top load, no agitator and very big! Awesome! We got them for a good price, but not the absolute lowest price because we wanted them the next day... but it was totally worth it! AND, since there's a window in the top of the washer and the door of the dryer, we certainly don't need to buy a TV!
The first day we had them, they literally were out there for the entire 2 hours that it took to wash and dry the load... followed by chants of, "Mom, can we do more laundry?" Not to mention the excitement over the two giant boxes that they get to play in now! Score!

Oh, and did I mention that they sing to me when the load is finished? It's awesome!

End of Part I of blog catch up.