I was not super thrilled about pool ownership, but honestly, it is worth it.  These guys spend HOURS every day in the water.  Sure, their hair will probably fall out by the Fall, but hey, at least we will be able to avoid lice once school starts.  Oh, the joys of childrearing...  Seriously, though, they have pretty much taught themselves to swim.  We did two sessions of lessons at the YMCA this Spring, but mostly what you see here is self-taught right in our own backyard.  Swim, little fishies, swim.

Trick or Treat: The Kids living the American Dream

I am pretty sure the kids think that Halloween is what we refer to when we speak of "The American Dream." Jonathan went to Gma & Gpa's this weekend, so he did his trick or treating in Bismarck, ND with the Ressler cousins. After the first house, where he received three pieces of candy, he ran back to Gma proclaiming: "They gave me three pieces of candy. This is going to be a fun night!" The other four kids pillaged our new neighborhood. Franklin was a good sport, letting us dress him up as a pirate to escort the Lost Boy, Captain Hook, and Tinkerbell around the neighborhood. They pulled quite the haul. I promptly stole the one and only Heath bar in the loot! Happy Halloween!!

Look out Single Ladies...These gringos think they can dance

Jonathan and Benjamin figured out how to plug in and turn on Jimena's clock radio. This is what I found them doing. Look out, Single Ladies...these gringos think they can dance! :)

My kid might be a genius...

Besides the fact that Benjamin is 2 and a holy terror right now, I am mostly enjoying his being in pre-school because it affords me the time to not only do my job, but also allows me time to simply observe Jonathan in action. I admit that I don't really know anything about childhood development and what is normal for kids at certain stages, but I cannot help but think that Jonathan is a phenomenon. Today he was playing a reading game on PBS Kids. I just happened to walk by as he answered the question: "Which word best describes the setting at the end of the story." The answer that he selected, correctly: Forbidding. Seriously??? I figured it was probably just a lucky guess. I mean, there were only four options to choose from anyway. So I asked him, "Jonathan, what does forbidding mean?" "Um, kind of like scary." Okay, sweet, I'll just get my yogurt and go back to my desk. You're fine on your own.

Recommitting to the Blog!

So, Mom quit Facebook, which has re-committed me to the Blog. I wish I had been more faithful to it over the past several years, but alas, such is life. We'll see how long this lasts...

Jonathan woke up this morning. Stumbled around the house looking for me. When he finally found me, the first thing out of his mouth? Not "Good morning." Not "Where's Ben?" But rather, "Mom, can we go on a coffee date to Starbuck?" Matthew's Aunt Lisa was babysitting for us this weekend while I was in Nashville for the Women's Half Marathon (more on that later). Apparently, yesterday, she invited Jonathan on a coffee date at Starbucks, complete with organic chocolate milk and a cinnamon roll! How could I turn down such a sweet offer for a morning date with the cutest four year old in the world? Only problem, I don't actually know where the nearest Starbucks is. Never fear. Jonathan does! He proceeds to give me directions, correctly using his right and left ("Mom, right is NOT an L!") all the way there.

So now we are having our morning breakfast date. I am attempting to do some work (obviously, distracted by writing this blog instead) and he is practicing his numbers in his Winnie the Pooh counting workbook (apparently he learned how to write his numbers somewhere along the way). I am seriously astounded by how ridiculously smart this kiddo is. Must get it from his Dad!

Once I figure out how to get photos from my phone to my computer, I will add a picture to this post. Maybe Jonathan can show me how...

Now to get some work done!! Happy Tuesday.

Charlie's Go-Go Christmas

Jimena's Jingle Bell Rock