Our newest Lil' Fish

I am a freak about children and water and drowning! Many years ago (shortly after Matt and I were married actually), a dear friend lost her 3 year old daughter in a drowning accident at their apartment. It really traumatized and frightened me. In a matter of seconds a child can go from having fun and playing games to death. As a lifeguard, I had more than one occasion where I had to tell parents that their kids 'floaties' were slipping down their arms. All too often the parents were visiting with their friends or reading books and not paying any attention to the kids....that was my job but I only have 2 eyes and there were lots of kids in the pool!

To this day, I don't go to a local park (without Matt) because they have a pond and I worry about kids falling in the water. I just get so nervous, it makes me crazy! The kids love to feed bread to ducks, then they run from the ducks....remember there is water....most of it without a fence or barrier of any type. Kids, toddlers especially, are top heavy and most often do not know how to center their weight and so they topple over...right into the water if that is where they are squatting. Have you ever gone to a neighborhood pool and watched how many kids run towards the water the minute they get there? How many parents have their arms full of all the 'pool things'? What about infants in baby floats? They can lean too far over (in any direction) and they are face first in the water. What about small inflatable pools in the back yard? Have you ever noticed how slippery the sides get...especially when you are covered in sunscreen? Imagine going under and trying to pull yourself up on a slick surface? It is hard! Last but not least (really I could just keep going and going) let's not forget the life jacket that doesn't fit! Hello folks...they have weight restrictions for a reason. Spend the money to get one that fits...even if you have to do that each and every season! It does no good if the kid is too small and their body goes down while the life jacket stays up! Okay enough of my rantings...I did mention that I am a bit crazy about this subject!

To help with my problem, we enrolled Porter in Infant Survival Swimming classes from the time he was 2 years old. This gave me tremendous peace of mind. He knows how to float and rest until help arrives or swim underwater to safety. Porter took lessons and this refresher lessons for the past 3 summers. He will start learning swimming strokes this summer but safety and survival are under control! It is like riding a bike, once the skill is learned, he will always know it!

We have started lessons with Dixon now. Porter's instructor isn't teaching anymore so I had to find a new one. We like our new instructor but wish she lived closer...like 30 miles! Again...did I mention I am crazy about water safety? It is worth my time and money to get Dixon these lessons...He is doing great and when he done with lessons, I will have peace of mind that he will know what to do in water whether he jumps in to play or falls in fully clothed by accident, he will know how to respond.

This is Dixon on his first day. He was learning to hold his breath and swim underwater.


Here is Dixon learning to float.
More floating after a 'roll over'.

It is hard to tell but here is was kicking his feet really good. That was something he had to learn also.

Great job little fish! We are going to have a great summer playing at the pool now! (Of course, I will just tone out everyone but my guys so we can have fun without mommy going nuts!)

Families are Forever

We lost my Aunt Shirley last week after her long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was 73 . My Uncle Ander (Dad's brother) had been her caretaker until her last 3 weeks when she required nursing home care. Aunt Shirley was a quiet, tender, special soul. We will miss her smile! It was sad to say good-bye but wonderful to see that her suffering was over.

The service was very special. I think one of the reasons for that was that Uncle Ander spoke. Prior to the funeral, we had lunch at Uncle Ander's house. We kept the kids in play clothes during the day and needed to change prior to going to church. We used Uncle Ander's room to change and he needed to get his suit coat and papers out first...so Porter was asking him what he had wrote down and Uncle Ander explained that he needed some notes to make sure he said the right things at the funeral. After he left the room, Porter looked at me with a very serious face and said, "Mom, all he needs to say is that Families are Forever and she is with Heavenly Father waiting..." I just hugged him and said that he was right!

The best part of funerals would be visiting with relatives we never get to see anymore. Porter met so many cousins he couldn't remember their names...they couldn't remember him either so everyone just called everyone "cousin" and Dixon was 'baby cousin'. It was great! We are re-committed to keeping in touch with our extended family. We are planning our trip to Virginia for Gina's wedding this summer.

The only downer for the trip was that Dixon got sick with an ear infection. We were not about to make him wait until we got home to take him for treatment. The local hospital had a walk-in clinic separate from the ER which is a regular co-pay with our insurance. That was great news until they told me they don't treat toddlers!! URGH....we go to the Empty ER and then an hour later, we are on our way to get 3 prescriptions filled....that took only 35 minutes at Walmart and then we were off to Uncle Ander's house in time for lunch.

Snow Day Fun Continues

The snow continued to fall into the night. We lost power around 6 pm and considered ourselves lucky...most of our friends has lost power hours earlier. The boys did pretty good with candlelight. Dixon had the hardest time and kept running into things. We were glad for bedtime to come. Our power returned during the night and we again considered ourselves lucky. Some are still without power even now. Have have some trees down in the backyard-woods area and our corkscrew willow tree took a beating.

Here is the backyard this morning. I could not fathom how our family just 80 miles away had no snow left and we have so much. I guess that it just how things work out sometimes.

Our area got a record 6.5 inches. Matt and Porter are both out of school today. Here is the front of the house. Porter woke up very early and was very upset and concerned that all of the snow would be gone. He was happy to see snow still around and his snowman had not melted...yet.

It's Snowing and Snowing

Here are some pictures of our snow! This first picture is as we were leaving for church.

Here is a picture shortly after we got home from church...you can see the snow in action.

Porter has wanted to make a snowman for weeks now. He finally got his chance without us having to travel. Notice the lack of gloved hands....I did send him out with gloves!

Dixon got in on the action. He LOVED playing in the snow and gets very upset when he has to come inside.