Backstroke Beauty

Well, Caroline set to prove me wrong from what I wrote last week.  She had not read what I wrote about her swimming skills being a little rusty last week.  However, when we went back to the pool this week, she blew me out of the water with her backstroke.  She went many lengths of the pool with a good, solid backstroke.  I even heard one lifeguard say to the other lifeguard that she had a good backstroke.  So, I was wrong.  The girl still has skills.  But she does need to work on her freestyle, so the lessons will still be helpful.  The kids each have their own stroke.  Henry does freestyle the best and always choses that when he swims.  Josiah does the breaststroke.  

Two weeks ago, Caroline sat herself down at the computer and went suitcase shopping online.  She wasn't satisfied with my old flowered one.  She wanted rainbow colors.  She sought.  She found.

Caroline has completed her giant stack of Cam Jansen books.  At one point she had 16 books stacked high on her desk.  She has continuously read at least one a day, but there have been quite a few days when she's read two or three complete books.  They have been the best transition into chapter books, because they have captured her interest so well.  She is now going to take a stab at Charlotte's Web.  It's a bit more advanced, but such a good story that she should hopefully be able to read it without trouble.  This is a really exciting thing to witness, because it is one thing to be able to read words and sentences.  It is an entirely different thing to be able to read fluidly and with comprehension.  I feel like she has jumped over a major hurdle in the reading department.  

The kids decided to fish with Benson.  They tied one of his favorite sticks to the end of a rope.  The other end of the rope held their pole.  I think the fishermen had more joy in this pursuit than the dog that they fished for.

Every third week, our jiu-jitsu school has a 'no gi' training night.  It is more of a self-defense night because typically you wear tight clothing so the 'attacker' cannot get an easy grip.  Our kids were interested in going to see what it was like, but as the time got closer, Henry said he just wanted to observe.  We encouraged him to at least try it.  If he didn't like it, he didn't have to do it again, but at least try.  We think part of his issue was that, though he had on a tight shirt, it was not rashguard-tight.  That ended up being a non-issue as the other kids were dressed similarly.  His siblings came as curious spectators.  Another kid requested to work with Henry and it was the kid who is a really serious student and a very good partner.  (The heavyweight champion from a few weeks ago.)  Henry ended up really liking it.  Now Josiah wants to give it a go.  

Henry put his foot in his mouth at dinner the other night.

Henry - "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love me?"

Me - "10."

Henry - "I love you 9.  But I love the way you look 1."

Me - "Thanks...."

Henry - "Well, 5 and 5."

Me - "Keep digging."

This weekend Todd took Caroline out to eat.  He has always wanted to try this hot dog place - James Coney Island Grill - and Caroline likes hot dogs.  Todd got chili dogs, while Caroline opted for a corn dog.  The bonus was that her kids meal came with ice cream with sprinkles.  Todd said they had the friendliest person take their order.  When he brought her ice cream out to her, he whispered, I gave you extra sprinkles.  Then she came home and slept it off - she took a two hour nap.  

While she was sleeping off her lunch, the boys cooled off in the backyard.  They desperately wanted Benson to join them, but he had zero interest in participating in their shenanigans.  They started off playing with the sprinkler, but then felt the hose nozzle would be more fun.  They sprayed each other a lot, then set the nozzle to lock allowing the water to rain on them.  While it rained, they took their wet shirts and smacked each other on the chest producing big, red spots.  Sometimes when I watch them play I picture myself having to explain their injuries to an ER doctor and wonder if they'll believe me.  I promise.  I am not beating my child.  But they sure like to inflict pain on each other.  

Josiah has created a puppet.  Last year he had made a pillow out of a piece of felt, sewed together and stuffed with polyester fill.  He took that old pillow, pushed in the corners, and glued on ping pong ball eyes.  Then he took another piece of felt and made it into a dress shirt.  It is a shark.

We have finally started going back to church.  It has been a slow transition over the past three weeks.  First we did big church only.  Then we got Henry and Caroline into their classrooms.  Today was Josiah's first day in the KSM - the student ministry.  This is where the 6th-12th graders go on Sunday mornings.  During the school year, the kids are assigned to tables when they first get together so that they have consistency and sit with their grade level.  However, they scrap that during the summer since there are so many kids in and out.  So, today, after they called everybody together to sit down for the lesson, Josiah found an empty table and sat down.  He said a group of really big teenage boys sat at his table.  One commented on the suit Josiah was wearing.  Oh? What did he say?  Josiah said he couldn't say because he cursed.  What did he say!??  I told him not to say the word, but just the letter.  Josiah, "He said I looked bad-A. "  And welcome to student ministry.  

For Father's Day, the kids picked out a jiu-jitsu shirt for Todd.  Henry has the same shirt and he wants them to wear it together, but both were not clean today, so we'll get a picture later.  Here's an oldie from last year instead.

Josiah wanted to share a few comics he made:

Lightweight Champion of The Grove

Josiah has been tasked with cleaning his room before we do our travels this summer.  He is the type that likes to look at and play with everything as he cleans.  This week, as he sat on his disheveled floor, he went through an old Highlights magazine and found a recipe for strawberry bread.  He decided we needed to make it this week, so we went out and bought strawberries and whipped cream (since the magazine suggested it).  While Caroline helped dice the strawberries, Josiah took control of the bread making process.  It only made one loaf, but he really liked it.  There's nothing like hearing him cut a slice for breakfast at 7 a.m. followed by the pfshhhhhhp of Redi-Whip.

The kids were very happy that we finally made it to the pool this week.  We were the first ones there because we were under the impression that they were only open for 90 minutes and then would close for 30 minutes for cleaning.  That is what the sign at the gate indicated.  But they never closed, so we ended up swimming for two hours, which was about all our pale skin could handle.  Our fellow neighbors were there in force making up for their loss of swimming last summer.  Henry has maintained his swimming skills.  He can traverse the length of the pool back and forth without issue.  Josiah can swim like a dolphin and get where he needs to go.  And then there was Caroline.  I signed her up for swim lessons as soon as we got home.  Because of covid, they didn't get their lessons in last summer, so she's gotten a little rusty.  BUT they had a great time.  Our neighborhood finally fixed the water slide, so the kids went down that a lot.  (It has been broken for two summers now, so this was a big deal.)  We will probably frequent the pool more often just so they have a chance to work on their swimming skills.  

I had to go to a CC Practicum this week, so the kids were home doing media all day long.  I told them I would text them every hour to check in on them and I wanted them to check in with me, too.  Yeah.  Three hours later they finally got back to me with a smiling face emoji that they were fine.  The Practicum ended with a panel of two CC graduates and two CC high school seniors.  They spoke to us about their CC experience and then we were allowed to ask them anything.  They sat there for probably an hour answering all our questions and it was so, so encouraging.  One of the things we really like about the CC high school program is how well it teaches the kids to think well, speak well, and debate well.  These kids were not just brought in from a different area because they spoke well.  These were the kids of two of the moms that live right here.  The one family is in our CC group.  We are looking forward to Josiah moving up to the Challenge program and seeing him grow.  

Because I knew they were doing media the entire time I was gone, the next day we did not stare at screens and the kids made their own fun.  They went old school.  They gathered every blanket, every stool, and every folding chair we had and hauled them all up to the playroom.  There they made a multi-room fort.  Caroline had her own room.  The boys shared a room.  Then they had an open living room in the middle and a garden in the rear.  We're not sure if it is an English garden/backyard or a vegetable garden.  They played in there for quite a while.  

Todd typically takes the kids to Saturday morning jiu-jitsu.  They're competition classes to train the kids for tournaments.  None of ours want to enter tournaments just yet, but they enjoy the class.  Todd said the instructor divided the kids up into lightweight and heavyweight divisions.  At first, he had put Josiah in the heavyweight division, but then moved him over to lightweights.  Todd saw the disappointment on Josiah's face.  When they came over for their water break, Todd asked him what was wrong, but Josiah just said, "I'll tell you later."  Then the competition began.  Josiah won his first bout.  Henry, in the heavyweights, won his first fight.  (Caroline lost her first fight, so she was out.)  Josiah won his second round.  Henry won his second round.  The third round began.  Henry was up against the toughest guy there and, though he put up a good fight, his opponent won.  Josiah was up against the girl version of himself - lanky, but scrappy.  He fought.  He won.  He became the Lightweight Champion.  The last battle was the Open Weight fight.  It was between the heavyweight champion and the lightweight champion.  The parents chuckled in the audience, though they were rooting for Josiah.  He fought hard, but ultimately lost that battle.  When he went back to Todd at the next water break, Josiah told him there wasn't anything wrong anymore.    

Josiah's Championship Round

Lightweight Champion! (he didn't get to keep the belt)

And the Open Weight.  Champion vs. Champion

Unrelated to his championship win, Todd took Josiah out to eat at a barbeque place after jiu-jitsu.  It was the same restaurant where Henry had his memory master dinner, and Josiah wanted to try it out for himself.  He ordered a barbeque sandwich.  What he didn't realize was that it would have barbeque sauce on it.  He wasn't a fan.  He and I like our barbeque the same.  Dry.  He did enjoy Todd's sausage sandwich, though.  And he enjoyed three rolls because the waitress kept bringing them around.  

Todd has been walking Benson in the early mornings and Benson is loving it.  He jumps up and down and his tail wags a mile a minute.  They walk for about 45 minutes and when he comes home, he drinks all his water, and then passes out on the cool wooden floor for a few hours.  

And we finally have a night owl in the family.  She's keeping me company as I write this.

Earning Stripes

Caroline has been asking for a Girl's Day for some time now.  Since last weekend was a long one, and Todd was able to stay home with the boys, we made Monday our girl's day.  Her first stop was to Monkey Joe's.  I wasn't sure she would have as much fun without the boys, and she was hesitant at first, but she got into it and had a good time going down the slides and bouncing in their bounce houses.  After that it was lunch at Chick-fil-a (in the car, because the dining room wasn't open yet) with a milkshake.  Then we went to a store and she was able to browse the toy section at her leisure.  She also browsed the shoe section at her leisure.  She's a shoe girl through and through.  She was in need of a new pair of flip flops so she picked some out as well as water shoes for when she goes to the beach.  She also smacked all the light up shoes (so they'd light up) because she cannot wear them.  Wide feet she has, wearing regular shoes she cannot.

As a consolation prize, Todd took the boys out for lunch, too.  

Earlier in the week, Caroline was due to earn her third stripe in jiu-jitsu.  She went to two classes that day because she prefers the small size of the lunch class, however the stripes are given during the evening classes.  Todd and I noticed right away that the man who usually works the desk was not there that particular night.  He is the one that checks their attendance cards, notates their stripes, and hands it back to Professor Mike so the stripe will be given.  So at the end of class when they bowed out and she received no stripe, we knew the waterworks were coming.  Prof Mike saw her break down and told her he knew she earned a stripe and she'd get it next time.  Everything would still count.  Those were comforting words coming from him, but she was still disappointed.  Meanwhile, the boys, who knew none of this, had created her a congratulatory TV screen to welcome her home.  

Two days later, Caroline received her stripe.  She had sparred really well that night, so it was well-earned.  She was also quite pleased that Prof Mike had spaced all her stripes equidistant from each other.  

That same night, Henry earned his fourth stripe.  One of Henry's favorite things about getting a new stripe is moving up in the line.  When the kids line up at the beginning of class, they are to line up in belt-rank order.  So, getting a stripe moves them up in the line.  Obviously, you always start at the end and so far, Henry's made his way to the middle.  Josiah did not go to class that evening.  He was busy at home creating more decorations for Henry.  Streamers and Saran wrap and hanging stripes and Henry's face on the TV.  

Mid-week, Caroline had a friend from CC over to the house.  All the kids played really well together, so we'll be doing that a few more times this summer.  It was good they had a fun time because Caroline was not too happy that we didn't get to the pool this week.  For much of the week it was raining and in the 70s.  She would not believe me that it would be too cold to swim.  Plus there was just enough thunder most days that the pool would have been closed anyway.  This week we are supposed to have true summer weather and I am definitely on the hook to take them to the pool.