Sometimes Dreams Really Do Come True -or- Ethan is One Lucky Duck

Ethan wants a Kindle.  Desperately.  He put it on his birthday and Christmas list.  He has been saving money for one.  He reads all the time and is enamored with the idea of getting library books whenever he wants, not when mom has the energy to run everyone to the library.

He has been searching craigslist for affordable ones.  I decided to buy him one for Christmas.  I even emailed a guy a few days ago on a craigslist ad, but it was, alas, already sold.  I decided to keep looking.  I wanted to buy him an e-ink one so he could read all he wanted and I didn't have to worry about eyestrain or endless internet browsing.

Yesterday I checked my email and found one from the Boise Public Library.  I was expecting to read that I had an overdue book.  Instead it said:

Hi,

Ethan won Kindle Fire in the Summer Fest prize drawings.  Yay!  You can pick up his prize at the desk in the Children’s Room of the Main Library.

Congratulations!

Ethan almost made a hole in my floor he was jumping so hard.  After he finished his chores he asked if we could go to the library.  Unfortunately, no one else was as motivated as he was and I couldn't leave yet.  He asked if he was allowed to bike down by himself.  I thought this was reasonable and he shot out the door.

See how gingerly he's sliding it out of its plastic sleeve? He gets that from his dad.

He got more than he ever hoped for.  Now our family has to figure out some rules for his Kindle that allow him to read when he wants but not browse the internet all day.  I'm a little tempted to claim his Kindle Fire and give him my old e-ink one.  But I won't, because sometimes I try to be a nice mom.

Growing Up

Ethan, Sam, and I were biking to get the girls from a friend's house.  Ethan was complaining about biking.  I sassily asked him if he wanted to ride my bike where I was hauling Sam.  He did.

I rode his bike feeling light and free while he biked over a mile like this.

I was grinning like a fool.  I'm not sure if it was pride, humor, or overwhelming relief.

He wasn't as successful in transporting both Sam and Grace, but I will take what I can get!

The Problem with Vacation

When you leave for a week you come home with dirty clothes.

After being washed and dried, they still need folded.

Sigh...

McCall

Ethan wanted to go to Boy Scout Camp.  He is old enough to go but not old enough to spend the night without a guardian (according to church rules).  Michael wanted Ethan to be able to go.  He talked about taking the week off work and staying with him at camp.  The camp is in McCall.  We have access to a tiny little house in McCall.  I decided if the boys were going on a trip, I wanted a trip.  I suggested I take the three littler ones and stay at the McCall cabin.  Michael quickly decided the food would be better with us than at camp.  We decided to just pick Ethan up each evening, let him sleep at the cabin, and return him early the next morning.  Seeing as the camp was only a couple of miles away from the cabin, this worked out well.

Ethan went canoeing, rappelling, lit highly flammable things on fire, and even spent some time working on his merit badges.  He was returned to us euphorically exhausted.

Meanwhile we ate a lot of treats, went on walks and bike rides, and spent a lot of time playing in Payette Lake. 

Playing on a decorative train after a giant breakfast at the Pancake House.  The cinnamon roll was bigger than a standard dinner plate.

Climbing on rocks.  It seems to be becoming tradition to bike up to these rocks, climb around, and then speed down the mountain on our bikes.

Another favorite was the free bus.  We bussed even when it was more reasonable to bike or walk.  The kids adore this bus.  By the end of the week the drivers knew where we were staying and would drop us off without our even having to ask. 

 

Sam getting ready to conquer the water!

 

 Libby already had the water conquered.

A beautiful private garden called Charlie's Garden.  It took us awhile to find it but then we wandered around the garden for the better part of the morning.  It was amazing.

We found several playgrounds.  We did not know what this was or how to actually use it.  So we climbed. 

 Michael taking on the monkey bars. 

Libby being photogenic in front of the lake.

It was a great (albeit exhausting trip)!

Borah Barracudas

Last year Ethan and Libby heard about Borah Swim Team.  They desperately wanted to join but the season had already started.  I was a little surprised. I had never even considered that there was a city pool swim team and if I had, I would not have entertained the notion that my kids would want to be a part of it. My kids had different ideas than mine, which is not unusual.

They really wanted to join swim team.  They begged, they pleaded, they offered to pay for the team.  I told them that if they earned half of the money, we would enroll them this summer.  They pulled weeds, mowed lawns, cleaned houses, and sold lemonade.  When registration opened my kids gave me every penny that they had promised.

We enrolled and became Borah Barracudas.  The kids had second thoughts.  I told them to give it a chance.  They went on the first day (Ethan in the pool by 8:30am and Libby by 9:15am) and they both informed me they were never going back.  It was cold, they didn't know what they were doing, and all the other kids were so, so much better.  I promised them it was going to be hard, but it would get better.  They didn't believe me.  The next day was better.  The third day was worse.  It was like a roller coaster that we paid a lot of money for.  That happened every weekday for the first two months of the summer.  What had we gotten ourselves in for?

My kids started the summer barely able to swim 25 yards.  By the end of the summer they could swim freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly.  They were swimming 500 yards or more each morning in practice and competing in swim meets.  By the end of the year they were still among the slowest for their age groups, but they had improved immensely.  In Ethan's first race it took him over a minute and a half to swim fifty yards freestyle and he got disqualified because he took a couple breaks in the middle.  His last race of the season he swam 50 yards in 49 seconds and looked like a machine doing it.  Both Ethan and Libby can now swim better than either of their parents.

And sometimes they even talk about doing it next year.

Five!

My little Sam is not a baby, he is not a toddler, he is not even a preschooler.  He is now just a crazy big elementary-aged kid.  A kid who is unlike any other.  He makes me want to laugh out loud and spank his little butt, frequently at the same time.  I've had to master biting the inside of my cheek and just walking away. I probably have a callous.

This year he is obsessed with SpiderMan.  He got SpiderMan sheets, SpiderMan actions figures, SpiderMan hoodies, and even SpiderMan Mr. Potato Head.  He was in heaven.

Libby put her new sewing skills to work and made him pajama shorts.  He loved them and didn't even mind that they weren't SpiderMan.

  

 Happy Birthday Little Man Sam!

Swimming with Sam

Sam is very brave at the local pool.  He gleefully puts his face in the water and tries to doggy paddle.  He will use my legs to pull himself to the bottom of the pool.  He thinks he can swim.  He cannot swim.

He was crab crawling along the wall and decided to push off into water that was over his head.  I watched him for a couple seconds to see if he could "swim" to where to water was shallower.  Instead he kept bobbing in the water.  He couldn't push up enough to get a breath before going back under. After a few bobs and no swimming, I swooped him out of the water.

"Sam, you need to stay where you can touch! You were drowning!"

With absolute calm authority he replied, "But Mom...I was wearing goggles!"