Park Time Photo Shoot

After their first swim meet we were in Daddy's car by 9:00 AM. I didn't want to head home just yet as I know the Flock will want to be WITH Daddy and that doesn't work well when Daddy is doing something anal, like clean my car with a toothbrush! (NO LIE..toothbrush is a required tool to get those little nooks and crannies) SO- instead of trying to keep them away from Daddy we headed to the park for some play time (actually were there an hour) AND since I had the camera with me for the meet....I decided to try to take some pictures. (wish I had thought about that ahead of time and dressed them all matchy-matchy) Anyway- here are some of my favorites:

This may very well end up being one of my all-time favorites of Bdog. (you don't usually know that until a year or two later) PERFECT typical expression!!! He's proud of himself for climbing up the pole steps without any help. SO SWEET!

Then they headed to the slide...for this smile train!

Here's a favorite of Evan. He SURE is photogenic!

He's not typically the adventurous one....but he wanted to hang upside down for a picture! Now for Sweetie Petie!She loves to jump on this bouncy thing...I captured a TRUE smile of Coly's!!! LOVE IT.

Here's the more posed smile I typically get.

Then there's the caboose...can we say WHAT A CHARACTER?!

And I think he knows he's cute!

He's not usually on the swings very long (too boring for his fast-paced-feet).

Then the two youngest headed back to the merry-go-round where Braxton and Colson enjoyed pushing it around and around together. FINALLY, Braxton got tired and let his Big Brother do the pushin'. Colson is surely the Energizer Bunny...never runs out of energy!

One final slide-train from the whole Flock before we head to the car.

It was a fun time at the park!

First Swim Meet

Nothing like a 6:00 AM wake up call to start off your Saturday morning. Uh...so, it's Father's Day weekend and I agree to take everyone to the first (of three) swim meets of the Summer Novice Swim Program. We need to be there at 7:15 AM: at a pool I've never been to, in NE Gainesville, loaded with snacks and entertainment for all. (this sounds like a job for Super Mom)

LOVE the nav app on my phone...we arrive without a glitch. I park and head in to what appears to be one of the City Community Pools. OMGosh...this place is crawling with swimmers and parents from Gator Swim Club, High Tide Aquatics, Haile, and Makos (the team the Flock swims with). WOW...we LOOK like we're incredibly late (instead of the 10 minutes we were late) as the pool is COVERED with all sorts of swimmers warming up. We quickly (well, as quick as one Mom and 4 small children can navigate a crowd) find a spot for the chairs we brought and go to locate our Team/Coach. Julia (Colson's teacher) says he doesn't need to warm up just yet, but takes Ashlyn Grace and delivers her to Ms. Joy, who quickly directs AG to hit the water. After a few 25 yd. laps here is Sweeite Petie: warmed up and ready to go! (she looks SO pleased with herself....excited and relaxed right)

Well she WAS until she had to line up for the first real competition. I delivered her to her Coach (Coaches' Aide in picture) and at the starting line she let the tears loose. I go over to comfort her and inquire as to WHERE the big smiles went (honestly, I had turned my attention to the boys and thought for a second that she could have hurt her foot or something). She said, "Mommy, I don't want to do it." Mommy, "Do what Ashlyn Grace?" Gracie "I don't want to swim." Ohhhh, thank you Lord that Daddy isn't here...was my first thought. Then out of my mouth came, "Oh, Ashlyn Grace, you CAN do this. All you have to do is swim to the other end of the pool. You can SO do this. Don't worry about anyone else and just SWIM." Then I promptly mouthed to her assistant that she will be OK and walked off to take pictures. If there was sound in this picture you would still hear her tender cry.

But she jumped in, despite her anxiety and fear (GO GRACIE) and swam to the other end (25 yr. Freestyle).

Overall, out of 12 swimmers ages 5 and 6 she placed 6th place with a time of 32.31 seconds. She looks much happier now...and SO proud of herself. That first lap was the last of the tears and the rest of the meet she was engaged and eager to do her next event.

Shortly afterwards, she did the 25 yd. Backstroke. She placed 7th out of 9 with a time of 47.75. Not bad for her FIRST time. (here she is with her hand up out of the water and in the second picture with her head slightly raised in the lane closest to the left)

Everyone warms up a second before the next event. Evan was SUCH a help at the meet. AND we were a great cheering squad for the Fleming Swimmers!

Now it's Ashlyn Grace in 25 yd. Breaststroke and she placed 5 out of 6 with a time of 40.40.

Oh wait...in the FAR lane (close to that big slide) there is Colson lifting himself out of the pool. Just finishing his 25 yd. Backstroke.

He was the only 4 year old in the WHOLE MEET. He finished 4 out of 5 with a time of 55.15. He competed with 4 other 6 year olds (so that means he beat one of the 6 year olds)! GO COLSON. He was SO proud...as well he should be!

And here's his Ribbon. I LOVED the ALL participants got a ribbon RIGHT as they stepped out of the pool...such great positive reinforcement and immediate gratification!

One the way home Ashlyn Grace was reading her ribbons and said, "Mommy, I know why I got a sixth place ribbon (the pink one). It's because I didn't practice very hard. I'm going to practice more for our next meet." :) Here they are showing off their winnings.

Prologue: the afternoon of the meet we receive an email with the OVERALL placement of the racers. SO their ribbons were just for the actual heat that they raced...not their overall performance. (in case you're wondering why their reported statistics don't match their ribbons) It was a GREAT first Meet and I look forward to the next one when Evan can participate too. (He got to sit this one out because he was at Cub Scout Camp all week...see the previous blog)

It's all fun and games until it's YOUR daughter

Today I pick up Evan and Ashlyn Grace through the pick up line and, not unlike any other school day, there is a lot of commotion in the car. Colson and Braxton are with me for pick up all this week because Aunt Yvonne is enjoying a 5-day cruise with her Mom and Richard. So, there seems to be a lot of smiling and laughter about two special pieces of paper that Ashlyn Grace is holding. Take a look (I think that's TEXTING via notes...and this is only Kindergarten! LOL)

I'm hoping the iWTmu means I want to marry you...and not something super horrible or slanderous. (iLu = I love you, ILAGF = I love Ashlyn Grace Fleming)

So back to the story, Evan is taunting her with treats of telling the girls in his class that Ashlyn Grace has a boyfriend and she then retorts with some treat of telling his friends something (but I didn't catch what it was). As the conversation escalates, Ashlyn Grace is losing the battle and so I try to change the subject by turning up the praise and worship song playing on the JoyFM. All is well and we are belting out the lyrics to one of our favorite songs (I'm sure it was somebody's favorite).

Then we make it to gym (a make-up class) for Colson and Evan and Ashlyn Grace are passing the pictures back and forth (AKA fighting over them, as Evan would like possession so that he can use them as collateral). Then I actually get to hear some of the conversation (while acting like I'm NOT listening of course). And Evan says, "I'm going to tell everyone that you love Chase and he's in love with you." Ashlyn Graces "I'm not IN love with Chase, Evan, I just love him." (yeah- like you love your three brothers RIGHT) Ohhh...luckily I didn't get dragged into the conversation...and I wish my memory was better so that I could document it all...it really was innocent and precious.

THEN tonight we had to run to David's Bridal to pull together some info for our Super Nanny's Wedding and right when we got in the car (just the girls) Ashlyn Grace asked, "Do you have to have a boyfriend and then get married, Mommy?" I knew where all this was coming from and so I calmly responded that when she was much older that she will EVENTUALLY decide that she would like to get married and when she was ready for that, then she would pray for God to bring someone special into her life that she can date. Then they would date for a while and if it was that special person, get engaged and THEN get married. I hope she remembers this advice when she's "all growed up"!!!

Cornerstone Annual Walk-a-thon

Look at the crowd this year...ready...and waiting. (listening...we'll I'm sure someone in the crowd has their ears open)

We arrived JUST in time...before the Start Gun. What a greeting Ashlyn Grace gave Colson, without any prompting and then the proceeded to introduce him to those around her as "one of my brothers."

More waiting...they have their lap tickets in hand...come on already...

GO! And GO they went! See the shear excitement on their faces. (I love that she was holding Colson's hand, she is such a care-taker at heart)

After a lap or two I gathered them up for a picture. Kaleb basically spent the whole Walk-a-thon with Ashlyn Grace.

After some more laps Evan was prepared to buy some beads. This is serious business, cashing in his laps for beads! (He needs a hair cut, huh?)

Colson bailed on the Walk-a-thon to hang out in the shade with his Peeps and enjoy the cotton candy (even though he didn't complete the 10 laps it took to "buy" the yummy treat)! Great idea to bring the chairs Grandma...you're a life saver! Thanks for coming out again this year to provide extra hands (I can ALWAYS use them).

Now THIS girl earned her cotton candy...can't you tell by the RED face and all the white stickers on her card.

Colson and Braxton are done with their treat and they are off to see if they can beg any away from their very giving sister!

This is all I'm going to say "Chase and Kaleb" hum...
While the walk-a-thon is still going on, the Flemings overtake this cool tot-playground sitting RIGHT HERE!

And how cute can they be?!

Dirt and all!

Evan won this water gun and he thought he was squirting his classmate when the front was the back (apparently) and he got himself all wet! Glad he can laugh about it! (check out the beads...that's a lot of laps)

The annual walk is over and it's time to head home! What a blessing to be able to send our children to Cornerstone...and to be able to attend these events and cheer them on. Way to go Evan and Ashlyn Grace...Job Well Done!

Bees in the Hive

Mr. Chappy (who doesn't go by his real name because no Kindergartner could possible say it) brought a real beehive, honey, and lots of belly laughs to the Kindergartners of the K-5 Beehive today. First, he taught a lesson ...

and got the class really involved. (see Ashlyn Grace with her head resting on her elbow...hummm)

Then the hands-on part of the presentation started and they all got to TASTE a little honey...dipping a stick in the jar of honey, fresh from the bees' honey comb!

After that they got to get as close as one should to real-live bees with stingers...as demonstrated by the Queen Bee Herself- Mrs. Thompson.
And for the grand finale everyone got to pick a super yummy Bee Cookie!

Psalm 9:9b-10 The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.

The First Day of School

One way to avoid tears on the first day of school is to get there late! Not terribly late...more like the 'left-in-plenty-of-time-but-caught-EVERY-red-light-and-some-of-them-even-TWICE-so-that-makes-you-late' kind of late.

Of course I had to grab the traditional pictures at home...(but now we have 2 panel doors instead of 6 panel doors...so it's a little different reference):
Look how much Evan has grown (and matured) Noticed the hair is a little more chill-lax and the top button of his shirt it not buttoned. Those big-boy teeth age him by 5 years at least!!! Where did the Little Boy go???

Ashlyn Grace has grown with leaps and bounds and she's loving her long hair!

Super cute Fleming Flock as we're headed out to load up!

Here is the new 3rd grade class with 2 new boys (Jacob and Alex) and one new girl (Keegan)! It's alphebetical so Evan is in the front row!

Now it's time to deliver Ashlyn Grace. She too goes to the front of the class...table 1...and we're pleasantly surprised to see SIX girls in the Beehive....and she turns around while thinking...

Ok Daddy...you're there right...see my new desk and my new seat...

Yep Petie...got it...I'm coming at cha...

Daddy getting his good-bye kiss...

Bye Bye Evan and Ashlyn Grace. Mommy will pick up Gracie at 1:00 and back at 3:00 to get Evan (for this first week). Off and on through-out the day Braxton would say, "Evie?" and Mommy would reply, "Where is Evan?" and Braxton would sign and say "kool".

We missed you two today.