Cuzins Camp

Brenna has been at "Cuzins Camp" this week. That consists of she and Tanner spending a week with Mimi and Poppi. By the sound of it, the week has been crazy busy and fun. Mom had all sorts of activities planned for them. I am sure the kids will be exhausted by the end of the week. Well technically, I think the week has officially ended. Aaron picked up Tanner yesterday, but we decided to leave Brenna with Mom and Dad until we come on Monday. Anyways, I have no pictures of the week to share, but it sounds like they had fun. They went to the Children's Museum, the pool, shopping for a special toy, the library, the beach, water time outside, and they did lots of crafts at home. I hope my poor parents recover sometime in then next few weeks.

Not sure if that recovery will actually happen. We are trading Brenna with Annie and Westin and heading to Georgia on Tuesday. Hopefully the pets well will be a little better than Brenna. Not that she was a bad girl, but she did have a few issues with being away from us. She also likes the push the limits as most 3 year olds do. I will be interested to see what limits she pushes with us when she is back in our care. It should be loads of fun.

Nathan and I have had a good and uneventful week. We have eaten out several times, seen a movie at the theater and watched several movies here at home. It has been nice to just be together with no other obligations. The week has gone by quickly, but I am ready to see our little girl again.

Happy Father's Day

I just wanted to wish all Fathers a Happy day. I especially wanted to thank Nathan, Dad, and Keith who are the specific fathers in my life. I hope your day is very special.

Nathan, I love you so much. Thank you for working hard to provide a home for Brenna and I. Thank you for putting up with me when I am grumpy, tired, or not feeling well. Thank you for loving me though all and for being patient with me. Thank you for loving Brenna and being patient with her. She is requiring a lot of patience from you right now. I'm sure that too will change in as the months pass. It seems like all she does is change. I hope you day is filled with the knowledge that you are appreciated. I love you dearly.

All Good Things Come to an End

This year Brenna had a wonderful experience with swimming lessons. Abby and Kelsey did a great job teaching her even though she was significantly younger than most of the other kids. She was introduced to the basics of swimming and loved her time in the pool. Her teachers were able to teach her to float on her back with help,

jump from the wall without holding Kelsey's hand (She was doing that before she started lessons, but somewhere along the way she decided she needed help. Now she will jump on her own.),

"swim" with scoops, kicks, and bubbles,

and jump of the diving board with help.



It has been fun to watch her expand her love of swimming. I look forward to the years ahead when she will learn even more.

Kelsey and Abby had "prizes" for all the kids at the end of the lesson. Brenna was quiet excited about hers, but she didn't really have enough hands to hold them all. She posed with them when we got home. You know I had to document the day with a final picture.

Swimming continues

What a funny girl we have. She was resting after the lesson was over. I could only laugh as I took the picture. She really is growing up now.

Brenna had another great day at swimming lessons. Although we talked about "froggy jumping" all day Wednesday and on Thursday morning, she wouldn't do the dive for any coxing from Kelsey.



It did give her another chance to actually jump without help. She did a great job doing that, but no Froggy Jump. Well, maybe tomorrow will be better.

She is doing a good job kicking, blowing bubbles, and scooping with her arms. She does sort of look like she is drowning, but she has a great time doing it. She is getting much better at kicking to me from the stairs too. She won't be ready for the olympics at the end of tomorrow, but she has had a good introduction to swimming lessons. Hopefully she will look forward to them next year.

She also "jumped" off the diving board again today. She is loving that even though her head doesn't even go under water. Just look at her smile as she kicks to the ladder after she just jumped.

Summer Continues

Well, VBS went well. We were all exhausted, but the outcome was completely worth the exhaustion. This was Brenna's fist year to be in a VBS class. She couldn't stop talking about going to class each night. She also talked about Peter all day long. She is still asking to learn about Peter. I am amazed at what a little sponge she is. I really should be talking to her more about the bible. I should look for some material that might be fun and spiritually educational for her. Any ideas?

This is week two of swimming lessons. Brenna is doing great at those too. I'm not sure what she will have learned by the end, but she is having a great time doing it. My hope is that she will be able to kick effectively by the end of the week, but not sure if that will happen. We aren't really practicing outside of lessons right now. I will probably be working on that all summer. She has also mysteriously stopped jumping off the side of the pool. Not sure what that is about. Before lessons, she would do that over and over until my arms were too tired to catch her.

On friday Brenna "jumped" off the diving board. I was so proud of her and mad at myself for not bringing my camera. We talked about it all weekend. I kept talking about doing it again on Monday so that Mommy could get a picture. Well, yesterday rolled around and she wouldn't go off. That would figure. See if I'm ill prepared again. I guess my camera will now be a permanent attachment to my body.

I did however get a few cute pictures yesterday. And since I will have my camera now for the rest of the week, I'm sure there will be more to follow.

"Froggy Jump"

"Splash"


One more funny swimming lesson story. There are many spots of down time for the kids as they are waiting for their turn. Brenna deals with the down time a little differently than the rest of the kids. She brings her "puppy" with her to swimming lessons. While all the other kids quietly wait for their turn, Brenna has a great time playing with her puppy. She talks to it, feeds it, and laughs with it. When it is her turn to jump she hands the puppy to one of the other kids. They open their hand and give her a very confused and quizzical look. It is quiet funny to watch. I think the other kids think she is crazy. Most of them are several years older than her. I don't think they really understand what she is telling them or doing. While she was waiting to do the froggy jump, the lifeguards caught her laughing and telling the puppy to stop licking her because it tickled. She is a very creative and imaginative little girl.

Ode to Mr. and Mrs. Bird

Oh, my little friends, how glad I am that you have returned to my porch this year. You flew south for the winter, but are back now. Oh wait, we are south. Where did you go? No matter. You are back now.

I love to see you sitting on the phone wire close to the porch. You guard your home so faithfully. You are hard workers and you work together to build the "Best Nest". And it is a lovely nest. I can't believe that a week ago it was only a shadow of what it is today.

I am so happy to share my porch especially since you don't dive bomb me when I come outside. You only soar off to high branch of the tree in our yard. I am sorry that Annie barks at you. She really would love to come out and get you. You have my permission to dive bomb her if she ever gets out. Only, try to just scare her. I wouldn't want her to get hurt. She too is just trying to protect her territory.

I love to hear you sing through the day. You both have lovely voices. I would love to know what you are saying. Your tweets remind me to enjoy the simplicity in life.

Most of all I love to see you at night. The two of you must love spending time together. You settle in to watch over all of us as we sleep. You cuddle in your small space and look so "nice and cozy" (borrowing one of Brenna's favorite phrases). This calm time of the day is the only time you allow me to come close enough to capture a picture. I can't wait to see the little babies that can call my front porch home. I'm sure you will both make great parents.


I hope you don't leave too soon. And when you do leave. Please come back and make me smile again next summer.

Summer Craze

I feel the need to update everyone. We are still here and kicking in Karnes City, Texas. This week has been crazy busy. Brenna is in swimming lessons in the morning, then we are off to VBS in the evening. We barely have time to catch our breath. I will post more about VBS and swimming soon. It has been fun watching her do both of those things. She is having a great time being a "big girl" now. What a great summer for her. She is talking about the upcoming highlights of her summer all the time. Unfortunately, she wants to know if we are doing all the events "tomorrow" or "after my nap". She can't wait for camp with Tanner at Mimi and Poppi's house. Multiple times a day we talk about the animals we will see with Nonni and G-daddy. Then yesterday she added going to Billy and Stephanie's house and seeing baby "Lisha". July will be a good month for her.

Pictures coming soon.

Musical Days

We have always said that Brenna has music in her blood, but she has proved that for the past few days. She has been singing and dancing her little heart out as Nathan and I learn the VBS music. I love to watch her. This year she will be in a VBS class and not just the nursery. I think she is going to love it. I am a little worried about her doing well in our class, but hopefully it will go well. She has a little head start over the other kids with the music. I will be sure to update our progress through VBS next week.


Amy sent me some songs that Krissy (her daughter) really likes a little while ago. Brenna loves these songs too. She is really cute when she asked for that CD. She calls it, "the music that Amy and Krissy sent me." It is basically adult praise and worship music sung by kids. One of the songs is "Awesome God". I think she is combining her favorite TV show with this song. She loves to watch Little Einstein's. The show uses music all through it. One of the little characters sings in a microphone which Brenna loves to mimic. (Thanks Amy and Krissy for the microphone.)


She also has practice with a real microphone. There have been several days that Nathan needs to practice something on the piano at church. Brenna loves to stand on the stage and pretend to sing into the microphone there. I was lucky enough to have my camera handy for that moment. Sorry for the bad coloring. I'm not sure what she was singing this time.


Here is one more unrelated event I wanted to share. We had corn on the cob the other night and I decided to see if Brenna would eat the corn straight off the cob. It was a hit. She ate every bit of that corn. She hasn't ever really eaten can or frozen corn, but apparently it is so much more fun off the cob.