Tuesday, July 6, 2010

June left and July is upon us and finally I am updating. The kids are having a very busy summer which means I am as well. We are having

lots of fun but I could use a rest. Landon and Ella went to a VBS for a week, Landon attended sports camp for a week, we went to the beach for a week, and we have been going to playgroups, the pool, and lots of family activities. We have been to Tweetsie to visit Th

omas the Tank Engine, a bluegrass festival to hang out with some friends, Fairy Stone State Park to swim in the lake, and Old Salem to enjoy learning about how history, and to Waverly, VA to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. My kids seem to be taking it all in but I think we nee

d to slow down a little and enjoy the downtime or at least make some downtime. They think a day at home with nowhere we have to go and no specific friends

coming over is so strange. Where are the days of running around your backyard and free to roam the neighborhood with other kids during the summer? I know times have changed but it's sad to me that I can't let them play outside for 10 minutes without worrying that somehow they have been snatched from our fenced yard hurt themselves and I didn't hear them. Maybe as they get older these

things will change a little but for now we will keep filling our days with too many things to do and places to go and I will love eve

ry minute of them having fun in all of the activities that keep us running.

On a grand note - Eli had his cast taken off almost a week and a half ago. The actual event of taking it off seemed to be torture and then after they took it off they noticed that his skin had gotten a bit wet on the bottom of his foot. That meant no walking

for while and no pool for a couple of days. It was very hard since we were trying to keep him e

xcited about the removal of the cast by telling him we would get to go swimming. He was a tro

oper and managed to stay relatively calm for a day or two before we made our way to the pool. H

e is still limping a bit and

still wants to be held a lot but hopefully that will all resolve itself over the next week or so.

For Ella, she celebrated her 5th birthday with lots of fun. She is also on some new medicines for her allergies and for her eczema and seems to be feeling much better. Her skin is really getting better and she seems to just feel better overall. She is enjoying activities that she would have just sat out on before and seems to not be so dramatic about a lot of things. She is really enjoying swimming this year and loved the waves at the beach. She roams around a pool with a lot of confidence and even enjoyed going to swim in the lake at Fairy Stone State Park. Oh how it tickles me to see her having so much fun and feeling well.

Landon is maturing by the minute. He is really grabbing hold of sarcasm recently and we are trying to enjoy it but keep it reigned in so he doesn't go too far. He really has a sweet heart and is having a lot of fun teaching both Ella and Eli new things on a daily basis. He is loving the pool and especially the diving board and the freedom to go anywhere in the pool that he wants. It is our first summer with knowing that one of ours is capable of swimming without being right beside them 100% of the time.

Oh how I love being a mom and spending the days with my family. It fills my heart to hear them laugh and play. Even though it seems that the summer is flying by I am making a big effort to stop and take it all in.