A Slow Starter

Sam started taking swimming lessons two weeks ago today.  I’ve learned a lot about Sam through this experience.  I wouldn’t call Sam a shy or timid child…especially when we’re out shopping.  Lord knows he’ll usually talk to anyone!  However, I’m learning that he definitely needs a few minutes to warm-up to new people or new situations. As evidenced by his first swimming lesson.

His very nice teacher Miss Abby arrived and met Sam. We talked a little about how she likes to get to know her students during the first lesson.  As a teacher and a mother, that sounded great to me!  I hopped out of the pool and got the camera ready. What I thought would be a very slow-paced lesson quickly turned into a very fast-paced lesson.  Sam hung on for the ride the best he could!  I figured Miss Abby needed to get through a lot of things in order to evaluate whether or not she thought she would be able to continue working with Sam or not.  It was one thing after the other. Doesn’t Sam look like he’s having fun?

But what he’s really thinking is “Lady! What are you trying to do to me?”

What you don’t see in those photographs is the storm that was brewing. 

  

After the lesson, Miss Abby and I talked about what might have made Sam cry throughout the lesson.  I really felt like he may just be the kind of kid the really needs to start off very slowly.  She said there are some parents who sit there watching the clock and counting the money thinking “I’m paying you to teach my kid how to swim so…”  I told her I was NOT that parent.  We talked about taking it VERY slowly for the next lesson and she agreed to try again.  Thank goodness!

Lesson #2—Better! Not Great, but much better.  For the first 10 minutes, I was in the pool with Sam and Miss Abby and then sort of gradually released him over to her. She went a lot slower this time.  He did everything she said and seemed to bond with her, but still cried a little wanting to get out.  However, the cause this time appeared to be the growly, scary sounds coming from the pool.  I spent the last half of the lesson trying to control the scary sounds by pushing water into the drains.  So, while not a great lesson, better than the first. Luckily, Miss Abby agreed to keep seeing us!

Lesson #3—Yay!!! Third time’s a charm! What a great lesson! Sam cried to get out of the pool for about 3 minutes, then all of a sudden he realized he was having fun.  I talked on the phone the whole time and listened to him laugh with Miss Abby as they played games all around the pool.  It was a great lesson!  Thank God! I was worried that Miss Abby might give up on him! I was happy when she told me that she found out after Sam’s first lesson that she also cried when she began taking swimming lessons! And look at her now!  Swim coach extraordinaire!

Thank you, Miss Abby!

Eternal Sunshine

How optimistic am I? Well…

Every other morning Sam, completely potty trained during the day, wakes up soaking wet. (Doggone it! Won’t someone invent a pull-up for boys who like to sleep with their bottoms stuck up in the air?) And every other day, I pull all the pillows, sheets, animals, toys, books and blankets off the bed, throw the wet items in the washer and then make the bed again. Animals in place just so. Basket of books at the foot. Pillows just right. Everything ready for another night and my fingers crossed. Ah, the audacity of hope!

It is getting a little old though. So, tips, advice, and suggestions are welcomed!

Now, a little eye candy, because I can’t stand the thought of posting without just a taste!

“Let’s Hear It For the Boys” Adults Entry I ♥ Faces Week 24

I ♥ Faces is honoring the men in our lives this week with a special theme! No girls allowed! Not that any of my pictures ever have any girls in them…considering I’m always behind the camera! Anyway, here’s my entry for the adults category. I posted this picture on Father’s Day with the following explanation:

This is one of the most,if not THE most, intimate portraits of my husband that I have.  In fact, when I took this picture, I had no intention of sharing it with anyone.  I have a few pictures that I don’t share, you know, hold close to my heart instead. Surely you have some too. Somehow this one got out a long time ago (probably during that sleep deprived stage) so I feel it’s ok to share it with you here.

 

I took this picture the day we brought Sam home from the hospital.  In this moment, I knew that Scott would be a great Daddy and a great protector.  I was right.  He is a great Daddy. I like to think this is their bonding moment and I’ve never asked Scott if that’s true or not because I like believing that.

Please head on over to I ♥ Faces and check out the other entries.  It is so much fun to see all the wonderful photographs and leave them lots of comments!

“Let’s Hear It For the Boys” Kids Entry I ♥ Faces Week 24

I ♥ Faces is honoring the men in our lives this week with a special theme! No girls allowed! Not that any of my pictures ever have any girls in them…considering I’m always behind the camera! Anyway, here’s my entry for the kids category.

One of Sam’s “chores” is to bring in the paper on Sunday mornings.  I stand on the porch and watch, of course. This particular morning I had to grab the camera, though, because Sam insisted on sitting and reading the paper before bringing it in!

Yes, he’s in his underwear. Stick around this blog long enough and you’ll find out that he’s often in his underwear! He’s three. That’s how he rolls! :)

Please head on over to I ♥ Faces and check out the other entries.  It is so much fun to see all the wonderful photographs and leave them lots of comments!

An Intimate Portrait

Just a quick note to wish Happy Father’s day to a few of my very favorite fathers.

First, one of the most,if not THE most, intimate portraits of my husband that I have.  In fact, when I took this picture, I had no intention of sharing it with anyone.  I have a few pictures that I don’t share, you know, hold close to my heart instead. Surely you have some too. Somehow this one got out a long time ago so I feel it’s ok to share it with you here.

I took this picture the day we brought Sam home from the hospital.  In this moment, I knew that Scott would be a great Daddy and a great protector.  I was right.  He’s a great Daddy. I like to think this is their bonding moment and I’ve never asked Scott if that’s true or not because I like believing that.

Here are my guys today.  Sam recorded a message for his Daddy in a card that played the song from The Jungle Book called “I Wan’na Be Like You” which is so appropriate lately!

My other favorite father is my very own Daddy.  Here’s a picture of us fishing together when I was young and thin. He’s a great dad, too! Except for the time he put hot sauce on my french fry and told me it was ketchup. Not so great then. But he’s made up for it since.  Me? Still not a hot sauce fan. And I still have a scar on my lip from the incident. Anyway… My Dad couldn’t be here when Sam was born but came as soon as he could.  Here’s the very first picture of them together.

My dad held him all weekend just looking at him and smiling.  It didn’t matter how much Sam cried, Dad just kept on checking him out and smiling! I loved watching that!

Happy Father’s Day also to Pop, Scott’s Dad.  He’s pretty cool, too!  I love him because for 19 years, I’ve always felt like his daughter.

Happy Father’s Day to my Granddaddy!  I miss him terribly and don’t get back home to see him nearly enough.

And finally, Happy Father’s Day to my Granddaddy Murray who watches over me from Heaven. Much love to you and I still miss you everyday!

My Action Movie Moment

The second day of our cruise last week found us dropping anchor just off the coast of CoCoCay, home of my happy place. The four of us, being just about the first passengers to set foot on the island, quickly claimed two hammocks in the perfect spot. However, Scott and Ryan decided to look around just to make sure we indeed had the best spot. Ten minutes later, as Missy and I were settling in for some good book readin’ and hammock swingin’, the boys came back and told us that they had just signed us up to go parasailing in 30 minutes! What a surprise! They had been planning this for weeks! I was shocked that Scott had kept it a secret and so over the moon excited! I am not a daring person. I have no interest in bungee jumping, water skiing or anything else that I consider scary, but I have always said that I would love to parasail. I can’t explain why and it seems so out of character, but I just knew it was something I wanted to do. Missy felt the same way. The boys, however, did not. They didn’t sign themselves up. Just us. They did however, get to ride out with us because there was enough room on the boat. Lucky for us…unlucky for Scott!

Meet Ari and Omar.

They took very good care of us. VERY good care of us. In fact, I developed a little crush on Omar when he was helping me get dressed to go up. He was pulling the harness up my legs, stopped halfway, pulled it back down and reached for the other one. I turned and jokingly said to me friends “Great, my butt’s too big!” He got very serious and in his thick beautiful Jamaican accent said “Big is beautiful.” I’m tellin’ ya, it took my breathe away! (And in my defense, he actually got the smaller harness!) Then, as Omar was getting Missy and I strapped in, he was paying such close attention to us and being so thoughtful and gentle that I just looked up at him and said “Will you marry me?” Without skipping a beat, he got right in my face and said “Are you sure?” I am not kidding, it was like a movie. Like the action star asking the hot girl :) “Are you sure you want to do this?” just before they jump off the top of the building or something. I blinked and replied very seriously “Yes, but my husband’s right there and I don’t think he’d be too happy with me.” So, oh well.

Anyway, back to the parasailing. It was, quite simply, one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done. We are sure some of the “younger folk” on the boat were disappointed because there was nothing thrilling or high-energy about it. I was very gently lifted off the boat and just glided up. I was so overwhelmed by the quiet, peaceful, serenity of it all that I just cried. It was amazing. Here are just a few pictures.

As Missy and I were coming down, we made the comment that we wish Scott and Ryan could experience this. Well, lo and behold, they were harnessed up and ready to go! My man Omar had talked them into going! Of course, being off the books, Omar and Ari made big fat tips on that deal! Ryan was all over it…Scott was a little nervous. But he was very glad he went!

What an adventure! Thank you Scott and Ryan for the surprise of a lifetime! Trouble is, you’ve spoiled us and we are now parasailing addicts!

One last picture of me and my new never-to-be-see-again boyfriend, Omar.

My reaction? He’s telling me he’s on Facebook. But doggone it! I didn’t get his last name! I guess I’ll be heading back to CoCoCay!

Wordless Wednesday 6/17

Because sometimes there just are no words…

                        

And finally, happy birthday to My Honey!  That would be My Honey on the right, not the little squirt on the left who suddenly wants to be just like his daddy…both are my dream guys!

Back From Unreality

Well, we’re back from our Bahamian cruise and since we were repeating the same cruise we took in January, I had no intentions of blogging about it. However, I do have a few new stories to share so really, my hand is forced.

On day two of the cruise, we spent the day on CoCoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. You may remember that I found my happy place on CoCoCay in January. We took the very first tinder over to the island and were almost the first passenger to set foot on the island.  Early in the afternoon, a very dark storm cloud loomed on the horizon and scared almost everyone else off the island.  We stretched out in our hammocks watching all those silly people stand in line waiting to get back onto the tinder and back to the ship. By 3:00, the island was nearly deserted of passengers and the storm cloud breezed right by, never even reaching the island. The last tinder was scheduled to leave at 4:30 but around 4:10 we  were asked to board and found out that we were indeed the very last passengers to leave!  That was very cool! Even cooler, on the way back to the ship, we got to watch this:

We were perfectly safe and it was actually far away.  The sky all around this and around us was beautiful and blue, except for this one storm at the end of the island.  We watched the waterspout all the way back to the ship and it was awesome!

More stories tomorrow! Here’s a preview:

Memory Lane

I am posting these pictures simply because I was charged several days ago with a mission.  Jennifer Juniper posted her high school prom pictures and practically dared the rest of us to do so.  What’s a girl to do??? 

I remember nothing about the theme or any important details, only that my date was a very good, sweet friend, Charlie.

And here are my senior pictures which I can’t complain too much about.  I’d give anything to be that size again! And, no, I don’t have some weird tan line across my shoulders.  This was actually a proof shot, but it was all I could find.

 

My Sentiments Exactly

Friday was the last day of school for me and my students and as if fate knew exactly what I needed, I found this in the paper that afternoon:

Just to make sure that my summer of not missing school starts off on the right foot, tomorrow we depart bright and early for port to board our ship for our 4 day cruise through the Bahamas. 

I will NOT be taking my computer.  :)