Monday nights in the summer

This is how we spend our Monday nights.  I wish I had a telephoto lens to capture the action better, but I am fairly pleased with the shots I got.

Julia swam her 25 free in under 17 seconds.  I think she would have done that in the last meet, but there was a false start.  Julia finished the race anyway and had to get out of the pool and redo it.  

This was Julia's relay.  She anchored the team and entered the pool half a body link behind another team and chased that girl down to bring her team a first place ribbon.  It was an exciting race that had the whole crowd going.

It is harder to photograph Wyatt because his age group mostly swims 50s, so he starts at the crowded end of the pool  Wyatt reached a PR in his backstroke and really shaved a lot of of time off of his seed time.

Hopefully, I can get some better shots of Wyatt later.  His favorite stroke is the breast, so maybe he will get a chance to swim that at a meet where I can get a good angle on the pool.

This week Monday night was lots of fun and brought success.  I love our summer swim team.  It's great people, great coaches, and fun for everyone.

Have you seen the Chaco Reversiflips?

Okay, folks, I am about to share with you another product I love.

Last summer at the pool, a friend told me I had to try on her Chaco sandals.  Oh my! They were so comfortable, and I am always on the hunt for comfortable shoes.  However, Chaco sandals also come with a hefty price tag.  I spend my summer in flip flops and somehow lost one of my Okabashi flip flops from last summer- my first mistake was buying identical pairs for Savannah and me.  I went on the hunt for something affordable and cute this year and came across the Chaco Reversiflip.  They are both comfy and practical.  You can buy additional straps and basically make one pair of flip flops become several.  So here's my review:

Pros:

•  different looks, and the straps are super fun patterns
• They have arch support - a must for me!
• They will clearly wear for a long time and were reasonable on Amazon - especially when considering that I generally get two or three years wear out of a pair of flip flops.
• If you need tighter straps, you can always go down a size on the straps.
• The straps are reversible, so you get two sets for every one you buy.  
• The base is rubber, so these are great for the pool.  I really like the Nike flip flops, but they are                   not the best for poolside or the beach because they smell awful if they get wet.  Furthermore, they wear out quickly.
•  I throw the straps in my washing machine if they get nasty.
• The straps are easy to change

Cons:

• I wish they had half-sizes.  That would really be better for me.
• You really have to watch for deals on the straps.  I bought my extras for $6 a package,  but I can't find them that cheap right now.
• They need more neutral straps.  I would love to see a navy/red nautical look.  Nautical always comes back into style, and it is one of my favorite looks.
• Although I could find Chacos locally, it was in an inconvenient area of town, so I could not size this brand before ordering. However, I found them true to size.  If you want to consider Chacos, I do recommend reading the reviews first.

Go ahead and check them out.  I could not get pictures to load, but suffice it to say, this is one splurge with which I am very happy.  I did get better deals than Amazon is currently running.  I think I caught them just in time before the summer season kicked into full gear.


Amazon Reversflip sandals

Amazon -Reversiflip straps

Honoring dads

My dad loves his ten grandchildren.

He's generous with his six children and their spouses and children.  He's also quite funny and loved very much.

From the moment Andy walked into fatherhood in the delivery room with Zachary, he has loved his children well.  He knows them, protects them, provides for them, coaches, teaches and leads them.  He takes their personalities into account.

Savannah and Andy have been known to do calculus together just for fun.  What?!  They both enjoy art and are incredibly smart.  She's a daddy's girl.

Andy has spent countless hours volunteering in a variety of roles to support Zach's passion for football.  Admittedly, Andy shares that passion.  When Zach runs short on cash or desires his favorite meal which includes grilled salmon, Andy delivers.

Julia challenges Andy to races in the pool.  She's competitive, and he supports her athletic endeavors. He admitted to cheating last night so that he could beat her in a free style race in the pool.  She's another daddy's girl.

This is an older picture of Andy and Wyatt, but it's a classic.  When Wyatt took a dip in the pond and did not realize he could stand in it, Andy had to go in after him.  Wyatt once called Andy his hero, and when Wyatt needs encouragement, Andy is usually game for a trip to Smashburger or an Asian restaurant for a little comfort food.

A little side note regarding Andy's new role at work---he's discouraged, and we are still adjusting to the difference in family life.  Just before starting this post, I was searching the web for affordable bed sheets.  We are on opposite schedules, and I only have one set of sheets for each of the beds in this house, so I usually pull them all at once to wash.  I cannot find a time to wash the sheets in the master bedroom now, so that's just another expense and adjustment that comes with this new schedule.  It's amazing how the little things differ and pile up.  We are still not sure what we will do about church.  I think we will eventually switch to another service, or Andy will stop attending.  We can't switch the kids, so they will likely go at a different time from us.  It's just more work all the way around.  Andy has longer hours, and he's exhausted.  He's not new to this schedule.  He worked it more than a decade ago, and it took a big toll on his health.  After two weeks we are already seeing some of that return.  I expected it.  He's not as young as he was the last time he worked this schedule and has admitted that he's not sure he can sustain this, but he's stuck.  So life is not all peaches and cream, but  we've never been promised that it would always be good.

Happy Father's Day to two great dads!  I realize that this day is not a celebratory one for many.  Even as I type this, I know that there are men who long to be fathers, children who are fatherless, and families in Charleston, South Carolina who are facing terrible and raw grief over a senseless crime. It's great to honor dads, but for those who cannot celebrate today for whatever reason, you are not forgotten, and my hope is that you can find joy today.

New Looks

Julia has spent the last three weeks adjusting to contacts, and Wyatt has had new glasses for a full week now.  We are getting used to Julia's new look, and despite Wyatt's initial amazement over how well he could see, we've only seen him in glasses for two days.  I have to say that Julia really made over him stating how adorable he looks in his glasses when he came home with them.  You never know what she will say as she has very little filter, so coming from her, that's high praise.  We made the contacts official today when we visited her ophthalmologist for the follow up and placed the order for a one year supply of contacts.  Once again, I was impressed with our insurance as I went in expecting to pay $130 more than I ended up paying.

Both attended camp over the last two weeks.  Julia loved her first experience with middle school camp, and Wyatt came home without a voice because he screamed so much.  I am glad they had such a great time.  One more week until we get Savannah back home.  She's been having a love/hate relationship with her time on a college campus.  We've had some concerns over the things to which she has been exposed, but overall it appears to be a good experience.  I am anxious to hear all about it beyond our limited text conversations.  We have quite a drive home next weekend to get all the details if she/we can stay awake for them.  The driver will stay awake.  I just can't guarantee that the rest of the vehicle occupants will ;)

Finally Summer and Gotcha X 2

Yesterday I walked out of my school for the last time until early August.  As any slightly OCD person will do, my mind has been filled with tasks at hand and replaying whether or not I locked everything, unplugged everything that needed unplugging and turned everything else off.  I left feeling overwhelmed.  I still have to withdraw Julia from one school and let that cheer coach know that she will not be a part of the team.  She has a friend wanting to get together today, and I am open to that, but my house is not sleepover ready, so she will be heading to this friend's house when we really owe them the hospitality.  I paid bills this morning and started laundry with much more laundry arriving from camp with Wyatt this afternoon.  I really want to catch up, really, but I want to have a little fun too.  I have yet to figure out Father's Day for Andy, and with Savannah away, I may delay that celebration a couple of weeks to include her.

So this is what our week has looked like:

On June 7th, we celebrated our 10th Gotcha day with Julia.  She spent the day away from home, so our celebration actually consisted of ice cream from the Dollar Tree freezer on Sunday.  I stopped giving the kids their gotcha day gifts and should really get back into that habit.

Since she started wearing contacts, she thinks she needs make-up to make up for not having glasses on her face.  She has no idea how cute she is and how unnecessary make-up is for her.  I put my foot down with a firm "no" on that one, but she does push it.  I took the picture above when I returned from work one day, and she walked past me in the kitchen causing me to do a double take - yes, she was fully made up, and I may bend a bit on this if she will work on a natural look. You can't tell it in the picture, but that was not a natural look.

Julia had her school choice, and she chose the school with the less gifted cheer team. When I asked about that, I loved her response, "I love cheerleading, but it's not my life."  

She spent her birthday money on a gymnastics mat and is now practicing aerials and back tucks in my living room - it's a little scary, but she almost has them both.

Julia still fills my phone with selfies.  This is a stoplight selfie she took with me.  She's been home this week while Wyatt is away at camp, Savannah is away at school, and Zach is working, so she and I have had lots of laughs.  Julia still has the best laugh in the world. If it doesn't make you laugh, you might need to seek professional help and medication.

Swim team started the season with a win.  Wyatt looks really good in the pool and still loves the breast stroke.  He's not as successful as a swimmer as Julia, but he has no idea how proud I am of him.  He had never been swimming before when we adopted him.  He was 5 and a half and terrified of water.  He worked so hard to conquer that fear, and he fell in love with the water.  I see improvement every season in the pool for him.  

Julia took third place in the free and butterfly in her first meet of the season after two weeks of very inconsistent practices because of cheerleading.  She landed behind two girls who swim year-round in the free.  This girl is super strong and athletic.  What can I say?

Watching her free relay team was like watching American Pharaoh take the Belmont.  Really, there was no question on that finish.

Wyatt went to camp on his 7th Gotcha Day.  I pick him up today and am anxious to hear all about it.  I hope he had an amazing experience.

Savannah texts me almost daily.  She loves college life half the time and hates it the other.  She's normal!  I have a feeling that saying goodbye will be hard for her when I pick her up in two weeks.

Encouragement for today

As I mentioned in a previous post, I often pray for encouragement on any given day. While I did not specifically pray that today, God sure delivered.  Wyatt had an eye exam, and while I was disappointed to hear that his eyes are much worse, his new glasses and the exam where completely covered by insurance.  That's about $500 saved.  I went into that appointment hoping he would not even need new glasses and that I would not even have to spend $30, so the grand total of $0 was huge relief.

Several days ago I was encouraged in a different way.  During the race to get Julia to school for her fifth grade celebration, I failed to correctly snap my bracelet.  I did not realize my mistake until getting ready to exercise that afternoon when I removed my bracelet and realized that half of my double happiness charm was missing.  A few days later Julia wore the bracelet to school to ask if anyone had seen the missing half of my charm.  I had been to so many places that day that I finally figured it was lost for good.  Earlier this week I was leaving work and noticed the missing charm in a cup holder in the van.  I was very surprised as I am sure I checked the van pretty thoroughly.  I found that one to be another smile from God.

Happy Birthday Julia!

She's 11 today!  This week she attended her first major concert and started wearing contacts.  It looks like this will be a big year for this girl.  This also marks a decade of parenting Julia.

This is my absolute favorite niece. She's amazing!😇

Julia posted the picture above on my sister's Facebook page, and she came up with the caption herself.  She still makes us laugh.  It is good to laugh.