One fish, two fish

Mack is still loving swim class! She gets more and more excited with each week. Last week after class, she proclaimed that she no longer wants to be a marine biologist. She wants to be a swim teacher! That's a big compliment to the teachers she's had! She and Mike even went over to the pool today so that she could practice her skills during open swim.

Excited!

The classes are kept small, only 6 child max. Mack is, by far, the most excited
fish in her class

Little brother came along last week to watch

Mack isn't the only water lover! Mason had his first swim in the horse trough at
Gram's and Papas! He was a *little* excited.

Sweet Mackenzie

With VBS this week along with her other activites, I feel like I haven't seen much of my girl! I suppose it's a good test run for when school starts ( August 14th as Mack proclaimed when she noticed the sign at school had been updated with the start date)

Mack, daddy and I are playing Chinese jump rope, a favorite
of my sisters and mine growing up.

Jelly beans!

Wild and free

Or at least trying to be!

Happy Father's day!

Mike had to work on Father's day but that didn't stop us from celebrating him! We woke him up with lots of goodies and cards and snuggles before we all headed off to my parents for dinner.  Among Mike's favorite gifts was a box of bacon flavored popcorn, a composting bucket and three bottles of BBQ sauce made with beers he's tried.

I could never imagine a better father than Mike. He is gentle and understanding but also understand the importance of discipline and consistency. He's always ready to go and our kids are so, so lucky to have him as their daddy. We love you, Mike! Mx3

Daddy's side kick

We got a good chuckle at this card made by Mack. If one didn't know Mike,
they'd think he was all about pills and alcohol.

That was easy!

Mason has started answering " yes" or "no" to questions. This is really helpful and has cut down on so much fussing while we try to figure out what in the world he wants. He sometimes speaks his answers, sometimes shakes his head or points and sometimes all three. On top of that, he's gaining understanding. Here are a few examples:

Mason had overstuffed his mouth and before he finished chewing what was in his mouth, said " OUT." , wanting down. I told him he could get out as soon as he finished what was in his mouth. Before I could fully understand what was going on, he'd spit the chunk of pb&j sandwich into his hand, tossed it to the floor to a waiting Ellie and again said " OUT." Ok boy, out you go.

Each night before dinner, we join hands and say prayers. From the time Mason sat atop the table in his bouncy seat to now, we've always just touched his arm while we prayed to included him. We always giggled at what he must have thought was the strangest occurrence ( They touch me, then they close their eyes and talk to someone I can't see and then it's ok to eat?) To our surprise , two nights ago, we prepared to pray and Mason stuffed his little wrist in Mike's hand, shoved the tator tot that was in his other hand into his mouth and put that hand into mine, then looked at Mike, waved and smiled. I think even God got a chuckle at the sweetness of our proud boy.

Flarp!

I came across a recipe for homemade Flarp on Pinterest. Flarp is sort of like the slime played with by my generation  but less messy with an added bonus. When one stuffs the flarp into a small container, it sounds like a fart. You can imagine the excitement.

The real appeal of Flarp. This silliness lasted for well over
an hour.

It slipped OUR minds

Mack is so good about doing her chores with out being asked...that is when she remembers...and when I remember! Between the two of us, things can get a little hazy when we're trying to remember if things have been done. That's when I remembered seeing chore charts that Chantel made for her kiddos and I knew this was a great resolution to our problem:

In case your wondering, I just made two since I knew Mason
would need one eventually. If he had a chore, it'd be to try his hardest to
reach his chore chart, pull it from it's spot on the wall and eat the magnets.