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First Weekend without Ethan

So this weekend Eric and Uncle Ryan took Ethan and went camping in Flagstaff. This is the first time I have been away from Ethan for two whole nights. It sounded like a great idea while they were planning it, but as it came closer I was not so sure about it. It ended up turning out just fine. They had a great time camping and I had a great time hanging out with friends and my mother and sister-in-law. Friday night I went to the big Mom’s Night Out for the MOMs Club that I am in (which I am currently President of for the next year). It was so much fun. It was an Italian catered “Mommies” awards night. We gave thanks to the outgoing board members and all the volunteers from the past year and also welcomed the new boards members. There was drinking, dancing, singing, and a great time had by all. I was able to sleep in until 11:15am on Saturday. It was fantastic because I have not done that in a long time. I then headed to the Pointe Tapatio Resort to meet my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to swim and enjoy a few tasty beverages. We spent a good 4 and a half hours in the pool. Our fingers and toes were fairly prunny so it was time to get out and go to a movie. My sister-in-law and I saw My Sister’s Keeper (a little disappointing after reading the book so I vowed to not read the book first again). I came home and hit the sack. Sunday I watched TV in bed (a favorite pasttime of mine), cleaned a little, and spent time with Matt, Stephanie, and their adorable twin baby boys They were having a photo shoot and I cannot wait to see the pictures. All in all it was a fabulous weekend, but I am glad to have them back home. Eric can blog about his camping trip. I will tell you Ethan had a great time camping with his daddy next to the cows.

Ryan vs. Computers

I don’t know what it is about Ryan and his computers, but he has an uncanny ability to ruin them. It may be his magnetic personality or his lack of showering, but he is very capable, if not the most capable of any person I know, to screw up his computers. And today is no exception. Ryan called me today claiming that every time he hits the “e” button on his keyboard, the “My Computer” window opens. After dropping my phone due to laughter, I google his problem, easily finding the solution. Apparently, his Windows key was stuck low, “Windows” + “e” is a hot key to open “My Computer”.

I don’t know how he does it.

Cope House Zoo

At 3:30pm today, as I was working from home, my house turned into a zoo. Here are some pics. I am sure Aubrey will share more later.

Stop Scaring Our Kids

I found this article over at Reader’s Digest regarding how parents over react regarding their kid’s safety. It’s general theme aligns very well with my opinion regarding parenting these days. When I was a kid, I played in the AZ-51 construction zone, after midnight, during construction. Do you know what it taught me? Tractors are very fast! It also taught me that consequences exist for all actions. I like to think of parenting as setting boundaries around our kids actions. There are boundaries that included behaviors include from “anything that doesn’t kill you” to “you can’t do anything without my direct supervision.” I only see value in preventing long term pain and death. Every thing else must be experienced to learn why. Parents can’t answer the question why, yet they still enforce their rules.

What do you think?

Day Trip to Sedona

Last Tuesday, May 19th, Angie and I took the kiddos for a day trip to Sedona. We had a great time and it was nice to get away for a day. We left Maricopa at about 9:30 and arrived in Sedona at about 11:30. We proceeded onto Oak Creek Canyon, Slide Rock specifically. We took the kids down to the water and let them play around. They were so cute together as always! They would sit on the rock together and they loved being in the water. After playing in the water for about an hour and a half, we had a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, potato salad, and cookies. It was yummy!! We then went to the Downtown area to look in the shops while Ethan ad Hannah napped. We had some fabulous peppermint chip ice cream at the Black Cow Cafe.  It was then time to venture home. We stopped and had dinner at the Olive Garden close to Anthem. Then we were homeward bound. We made it home at about 8:30 p.m. Ethan was out for the night and I was ready to relax and watch American Idol. It was a long day, but the kiddos did great and it was super fun!! I look forward to future day trips and the upcoming 2nd annual Fourth of July camping trip.

Photos will be posted soon! I am not good at that part yet.

Cougar Hunting

It turns out Onyx would not be a good cougar hunting partner as previously thought.

D-Backs game with the kids

Last night we went to see the D-Backs take one San Diego Padres, or Pears if you ask Holley. The game was alot of fun. The D-Backs had a 6-0 lead until the 7th or 8th when the Padres got 4 runs. Luckily, the D-Backs only gave one run, a homer, in the top of the 9th, winning the game. It was a lot of fun to take all three kids to the game. We took alot of photos. Ethan liked putting the popcorn bucket on his head, and then on Eddie’s head. After the game, we stopped by the organist, who let Eddie and Holley sit on the organ bench for a photo and signed autographs. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Ethan’s swim lessons

Ethan started swim lessons today. He did fantastic! He cried which is expected, but he grabbed the bar as he was instructed to do. He also has great breath control. He takes a breath before she dunks him under the water. He would be under water for three to five seconds before grabbing the bar all by himself. He also was faced away from the bar and he would turn to grab the bar. It was so awesome to see my little guy learning a new skill (He’s not my baby anymore. He is learning to swim. That is crazy!!) I may be a little biased, but he did such a phenomenal job this morning. He is going to have ths swimming thing down so quickly! I strongly recommend Infant Swim Resource to all parents that are looking for swim lessons!! The website is www.swimisr.com . Pictures will follow soon.

*Edit: The main national website is www.infantswim.com, while a group of Tucson ISR instructors operate www.swimisr.com.

Ethan’s Swim Lessons Started Today

Ethan started his swim lessons today. He is not a big fan right now, but its totally worth it. These lessons are swimming survival lessons. That means the goal is to teach him how to survive falling in the pool if by chance he were to end up in the pool area without an adult.

His instructor is named Erin, and his lessons are 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, just him and the instructor.

He is learning to control his breath (not breathe underwater) and grab for the pool wall, instead of depending on other people.  I will try and have some video later this week.

The party at Erics

We had a party at Eric’s house. Sean, Matt were  the only two guys there. Monica, Ann, Heater, Mindy, and Glenda also joined us. The kids were Me, Holley, Jack, Ethan, Mckenize, Briaana, Maddie. First, we hopped in the pool. After a while of that we got and had dinner. We had hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, watermelon and a fun time. After that, I played baseball on ps2. I won. Then everybody left arounnd 7:00. That was a lot of fun. I can’t wait for another party.