Back to Swimming

This is Patrick taking the helm again at Melanie's request.

Natalie is finally back to swimming with her club team, as well as the neighborhood team. After the physical therapist asked me to get her swimming a few times before our appointment with the sports medicine doctor Wednesday morning, I was fairly certain that she would be getting back in the water again. I didn't know what the restrictions would be, or what the plan would be to get her back to swimming at the level she was before.

Natalie's relief and excitement showed up almost immediately in the form of her being her chatty self talking about whatever random topic popped into her mind (she was hungry and cold at the doctor's office). The doctor got a chuckle out of it as I tried to keep her focused.

It is strange to think that we are relieved to again be driving her back and forth to practices, but we are certainly happy with the change in her mood. Right now she can swim her neighborhood practices (and join the neighborhood meet on Saturday) but she has a number of restrictions on her club practices (and other swimming too).
First, no breaststroke until she is swimming 100% in practice for all 3 other strokes (butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle).
No Dry Land training until she is 100% in training on breaststroke.
She will start practices at 50% in terms of time/distance. This means she needs to swim hard in practice but will only do half of the normal practice to build up endurance and to make sure she doesn't re-injure anything. This will slowly increase over time.
We are hoping that in 3-4 weeks she will be swimming full practices as she was so many months ago before the injury occurred.

I guess this is a fairly short update, but we are all excited that Natalie is back in the pool--it is much harder for her to be grumpy at us when she is in the water.

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

My weekend started with a day off on Friday, since I was on call for all of Saturday. As per the usual routine, I took Eric to the bus stop in the morning. Eric was in a funny mood, and not only did he feel like sitting down at the bus stop in the morning for whatever reason, but he also felt like clasping his hands together as if in prayer. He did something similar at church yesterday, but at church this is more normal.

After Eric was picked up by the bus, I took Natalie to Starbucks for breakfast. We used to go there together more often, usually before a swim meet, but of course we haven't had any of those for four months. She has done some swimming starting last week, so she is doing much better, but I'll have to write a whole update after she sees the sports medicine doctor this coming Wednesday. I'm crossing my fingers and saying some prayers that she'll be able to officially start swimming again.

Anthony's best friend Alejandro (on the far right) took his girlfriend Alexandra (middle) to her prom on Saturday. Anthony went with Alexandra's friend so they could go together. Apparently, Alexandra's friend wasn't that interested in going with Anthony, but at least Anthony got to hang out with Alejandro. They are really two peas in a pod. I asked him for pictures, but he thought putting the pictures on Facebook was good enough. I guess I should be happy with whatever I get, even if they are low resolution photos like this one. They are a good-looking trio, aren't they?

Eric had a baseball game on Saturday that I missed. He hit the ball for the second time during a game, and this time he made it to first base for the first time! I missed it because I was at work, but apparently he was very excited. Unfortunately he didn't repeat the performance on Sunday at the game I went to. He only has baseball practice left this coming Wednesday, and one baseball game left this coming Friday. He still hasn't found a sport that he really loves. He has said that he enjoys the baseball practices, but not the games. We might try some gymnastics and/or some karate this summer.

We had some thunderstorms and heavy rains last night and then for most of the day today. We had planned to go swimming today, but not with the thunderstorms. Going to the movies was perfect for a rainy day, though. Patrick, Natalie, Eric, and I went to see "X-Men: Days of Future Past" today. We would have taken Anthony, but he saw it last night with a friend of his. A couple friends of theirs work at a movie theatre, so they took the opportunity to see their friends and to see the movie. He wouldn't have minded seeing the movie again, but since he didn't get home until about 1am, he preferred to sleep.

We would have also taken Alex, but he was sleeping over at a friend's house. Anthony picked him up after we got home from the movie. He didn't tell me until later that we could have picked him up in the morning so he could see the movie, but of course he didn't tell us that before.

This afternoon, I made some stuffed jalapeños for dinner and Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars for dessert. After dinner we watched "Thor: The Dark World" with the whole family. We had offered up some other movie choices, but in the end, Anthony wanted to watch this movie since he had not seen it yet. We didn't get the outside time that we try to have on Memorial Day weekend, but at least we got the family time.

I'd Have No Photos Without This Child

Last night was Natalie's Spring Band Concert. I didn't even bring my big camera because during their Winter Concert, she gave me looks as if she was shooting daggers at me when I took out my camera--even my iPhone camera. Also, she is a percussionist and therefore she stands in the back behind a lot of other people, instruments, drums, music stands, etc. It's impossible to get a good picture of her being uncooperative. If it weren't for Eric, I would have nothing to take pictures of.

Here is my youngest angel climbing in the kitchen. He has been climbing everything lately. When we were at my sister Cynthia's house for Mother's Day weekend, he was constantly climbing on the outside of their staircase. When I saw him doing this on Saturday, I told him, "Just so you know, Eric, you shouldn't be doing this." I said this because I didn't want him to think that it was okay just because I was taking a picture. He has been more inquisitive lately, so he asked, "Then why are you taking a picture?" I accurately predicted he would ask that, didn't I? So I answered, "So I can show Papa what you were doing." So maybe that wasn't the best answer, but it was true.

Patrick and I are embarrassed to say that we let Eric wear these shoes. We bought these shoes less than two months ago. He wears them daily, even to baseball practices and games (because he prefers them to his cleats). As a result of the daily wear and tear, he also likes to kick at the ground and other such things that are bad for shoes. Finally, this weekend when we realized that how big the holes were in BOTH shoes, Patrick ran out and got him an identical pair, except in a bigger size 12 instead of a size 11. Even Anthony was shocked when he saw this picture.

For my final story (and picture), I was cleaning out Eric's backpack this morning when I found this. He has not more GT (Gifted and Talented) classes this year, so she sent home their work. They took a picture of him and he cut it out and glued it onto this piece of paper behind a clear plastic circle with small white circles inside. The caption says, "If I lived in a snow globe..." He filled in the rest as follows (complete with spelling errors): "I whoud always follow the orders from my minion dad." That answer is so typical for him right now. He totally relates everything back to minions and it just cracks me up.

Eric brings a lot of joy and laughter to all of our lives. Alas, I know that he won't stay little forever. Just last night when I asked him if he wanted me to sing a bedtime song to him, he replied, "No thanks." Sniff, sniff--it's the beginning of the end. This morning he still gave me a big hug while he was waiting for the bus. I had to ask him for the hug, but I was happy with that for now.

May Art a la Carte

On Wednesday of this past week, Eric had his last scheduled art class of the year. The lesson was about Eric Carle and his colorful artwork. They didn't use painted tissue paper like Eric Carle uses, but instead they used a simpler, faster method--crayons.

As you can see from the bulletin board teacher's example, the kids were going to draw seahorses. The teacher took them step-by-step through drawing the head, then the back/curly tail, then the belly of the seahorse. They started with using a pencil, then they darkened the pencil line with permanent marker.

The permanent marker made me a little nervous, especially in the hands of a couple of the more hyperactive children in the class. There is one child that almost always had an extra adult watching him. This time there were three adults watching his table of four kids. Two were teacher assistant-type people and one was his mother, who volunteered to help with this art class. Luckily, another mom was helping me with the other four tables (three tables with four kids and one table with five).

After they drew the eyes, they colored it in with white crayon. They then used colorful crayons to color in the body. One of the boys at Eric's table named Marcus (one of the kids that attended Eric's birthday party), colored his seahorse red and yellow. He has had an "Iron Man" theme on past art projects, so when I asked him if he was choosing Iron Man colors, he looked at me as if he was thinking, "Hey, how did you know that?" I had to laugh. Marcus also decided that he had to draw lightning bolts radiating from his seahorse (even though he knew that seahorses live in the water). Eric decided this was a good idea and therefore added some similar shapes to his drawing except in blue instead of yellow.

After the seahorse was done, they were supposed to draw bubbles and waves in white or blue crayon, and seaweed in green. Eric decided on red for seaweed for some reason.

The last step was to cover everything in blue watercolor paint. The crayon give a "resist" effect and the watercolor doesn't cover the crayon but instead colors the paper that doesn't have crayon on it. I couldn't convince Eric to paint over the crayon with the watercolor paint. Instead he sort of painted around the seahorse. As usual, Eric did what he wanted (as did most of the kids in the class), but in the end he was happy with his creation, and so was I.

The teacher gives each class points according to their behavior--if they line up quickly and quietly, if they raise their hands, etc. She usually cuts them quite a bit of slack, of course. She totaled up all the points from this semester, and Eric's class won for the first grade. That meant that they get an extra class. They got an extra class in January, and I didn't even know when that happened. It so happens that this time, I found out about it ahead of time. They're having the extra class next Friday when I'm off work. I guess I can volunteer for one more class, which I really enjoy, so I'll be reporting back on that class next week.

Lunch with Eric

I know I have way too many photos in this post, but I just love all of them. These pictures are just further proof that Anthony is HOME, and that Eric is really enjoying his company. I took these photos yesterday (Wednesday, May 14, 2014).

Anthony had just gotten out of bed when I left home to go to Wendy's, to get food for Anthony and Eric, so I got to the school first and Anthony met me there. Eric, of course, gave him a big hug and Anthony seems to enjoy lifting Eric up for a big hug.

Interestingly, Anthony commented that the school looked smaller than he remembered it. Alex said about a year ago that he remembered the school ceilings being much higher than when he went to school there. Obviously, both boys have grown quite a bit since they went to school there.

I had to take a picture of the two boys together--sort of a comparison shot of their sizes and what they were eating. Eric had his usual spicy chicken nuggets (10) and a small vanilla Frosty. Anthony had the Double Baconator and a large vanilla Frosty. He usually gets the chocolate, but that machine was broken .

Anthony likes to post photos to Snapchat, so I took a picture of him taking a selfie with Eric, a photo that Anthony then posted to Snapchat. They really look happy in this picture, don't they?

I also took a short video of Eric raising one eyebrow and then the other. He wasn't smiling because he was concentrating so much. I then cut to Anthony's face. Anthony is much more skilled at alternately raising one eyebrow and then the other. I posted the video to Facebook, so if you're on Facebook, go look it up--it's hilarious!

Of course, I had to take one close-up of the two boys. I love these two so much!

I had to go so I could help set up Eric's art class. Anthony stayed with Eric for a couple of minutes more before Eric rejoined his classmates. Tomorrow I'll post about Eric's last art class of the year.

Mother's Day Gifts

My sister Melissa gave me this card. The front of it says, "Have a Happy Mother's Day, Sis, and Remember", and the inside is show in this photo. "Your kids will always think I'm cooler than you are." When Eric read this, he just smiled sweetly and didn't say anything. Natalie flat out said that she agreed with that statement. Anthony was the one that laughed and said, "Of course not, Mama!" I didn't realize that Alex had not read the card until just now. When I showed it to him, he said, "That's what you were talking about." I guess he had heard me saying something to the other kids but he didn't actually see the card until just now. He quietly shook his head and then said, "Of course not, Mama." Anthony and Alex have gotten so sweet! :)

Eric had a Mother's Day card in his school backpack that I discovered in there when I was cleaning it out on Sunday. I'll have to describe that one another time when I take a picture of it. I thought it was funny that he didn't remember making it.

A couple or so weeks ago, I mentioned to Patrick that if he wanted to get me something for Mother's Day, he could get me an umbrella that I had seen at Barnes and Noble when we were there a few weeks ago, or a bamboo lap desk that I had also seen at Barnes and Noble. We haven't made it a habit to get each other gifts for many, many years, but I seem to be getting more sentimental in recent years, so I at least give him some suggestions. He never gives ME any suggestions, although he is much easier to get presents for than I am. I wasn't sure if he would take my suggestions or not, since, like I stated, we haven't made it a habit to give each other anything for birthdays and other special occasions for many years.

So, when I found the huge gift bag sitting on the sofa, I was surprised. I thought at first that it was one of the gift bags for Eric's birthday gifts that have been empty but still in the living room for a month now, so I peeked inside to see if it was empty and then I planned to put it away. I was truly surprised when I saw the umbrella, but having seen the umbrella, I knew immediately that the gift bag must be for me! I didn't want a plain photo, so I had Eric hold the lap desk and balance the umbrella on his head for fun. He makes a cute model, doesn't he? :) Thanks to my loving husband for surprising me with these fabulous gifts! They're exactly what I wanted! ;)

The best gift was later, when Natalie had gone to bed early but the boys were still up and playing the game Soul Calibur IV on the PS3. Patrick took this picture because I was upstairs at the time. They all took turns playing each other, even Patrick. Eric looked like he was in absolute heaven, being able to play with his brothers AND his father. He had spent some time discussing Pokemon with Anthony earlier and showing him his new Pokemon books that his Aunt Melissa had given to him for his birthday. He has really been enjoying having Anthony home again.

I've been enjoying having Anthony home again also. I missed my baby boy. What perfect timing for him to be home for Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day 2014

I'm currently sitting at our nearby Starbucks with Natalie, writing this post. We came home to no internet, no phone, and no cable. The worst part is that Patrick and I can't do our regular Sunday viewing of the new episode of The Game of Thrones. Tomorrow will be difficult trying to avoid all of those internet spoilers out there.

I had a long weekend because of a Thursday night call (and the accompanying "day off" on Friday), so we took the opportunity to go to Houston for Mother's Day weekend. We also took the opportunity to get a discount on a return flight for Anthony from Boston. The non-stop flight on Southwest Airlines only cost us $89 vs. his going to San Antonio for $210 on a plane with one or more stops. So, my dearest oldest son is home, perfectly timed for Mother's Day. I got a warm feeling when we got home from Houston this afternoon and I saw him coming out of the pantry with one or two mini Heath bars and another three or so in his hands. Yes, my dear son is HOME!

I got a chance to see my dear mother yesterday. My sisters graciously changed their plans for me. I wanted to have a dinner at my Mom's house (with takeout from a favorite restaurant nearby--Kim Son), so we could spend time with her in the comfort of home instead of fighting all the crowds for brunch on Mother's Day. I took this picture of my mom enjoying a video of Eric's first piano recital last week. I was playing it for her on my laptop and she really enjoyed watching it. I love that Eric is affectionate and came to watch the video with her. I love that she has a wonderful smile on her face while watching the video. I love that I was able to spend time with her and my dad.

Thanks to my dear sisters for taking time out of their own Mother's Day weekend to spend time entertaining me and my family. Thanks especially to Cynthia and John for putting my large family up at their house and feeding us. John grilled steak for us on Friday night and he was amazed at how much steak my family can eat. Of course, that was without Anthony's extra mouth to feed since he didn't arrive until Saturday. Thanks to Patrick for driving me to see my family this weekend and then coming home to prepare a wonderful steak dinner for us!

Happy Mother's Day!

Angry Birds Star Wars Telepods

Eric has loved the iPad game Angry Birds for a while, and when we got Angry Birds Star Wars, he was in heaven. He has been earning allowance for a year now, and he only spent some of it on the Lego watch he bought last year. The rest has been sitting in his drawer in his rather stuffed hand-me-down wallet. So, when Eric saw a toy called Angry Birds Star Wars Telepods Star Destroyer Set at Target a couple of weeks ago, I let him buy it. The retail price was $40, but it was on sale and we got it for about $25 after tax was included and after my Target RedCard 5% off.

Eric built this structure out of Jenga blocks, a structure something similar to the wooden structures that you are supposed to knock down in the classic Angry Birds game. He was so proud of it that he really wanted to show it to me this past weekend. He of course wanted me to take a picture to document his building. He used the launcher device to launch the telepods, just like in the game.

Telepods are sphere-like in shape, and look like the characters from the iPad/iPhone game. You can also use them to unlock those characters from the game, but Eric also likes to play with them on their own. They are almost always scattered about on his bedroom floor.

Later this past weekend, he used the Jenga blocks like beds for his telepods, to give the characters a place to "sleep". Here he is pretending to also sleep. I love it when he uses his imagination. His siblings don't show their imagination to me anymore, although I'm sure they use it in other ways, like in writing assignments for school. I also love that he still lets me take pictures of him and his toys. I know he'll stop allowing that in the near future, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Big Weekend For Eric

Wow, it's been two weeks since I've posted on this blog. I'll have to play catch-up this month, to include photos from Easter. For today, I want to talk about Eric's busy weekend.

Eric had a "soccer festival" on Saturday, where each team played 2 games, with each game lasting only 10 minutes. After the games, all the kids got a medal and a cupcake. This marked the end of his Spring soccer season. The kids all mainly travel in a pack down the field at this age, and all season, Eric has mainly been following all the other kids in the back of that pack. Once in a while the ball ends up right in front of him. He tries to kick it, but invariably another kid gets in front of him and takes the ball away--sometimes even a kid from his team.

For some reason, the kids on Eric's team usually don't show up to the games. For the last couple of weekends, only two or three kids show up, counting Eric, even when there are eight kids on the roster. There were only two kids from Eric's team this weekend, so once again we had to borrow players from the other team, which is why Eric usually ends up wearing a penny so that his team and the borrowed players match.

The ball was traveling toward the goal. Eric was behind the another kid when the other kid happened to fall down right in front of the goal. That gave Eric an opening and he kicked the ball right in. The last time this happened, he kicked the ball into his team's goal, but this time, it was the other team's goal. GOAL! Eric scored a goal, his first goal of the season! He got his first goal on the last game day! He had the biggest smile on his face.

Eric missed his baseball game on Saturday because of the soccer festival, but he had another baseball game on Sunday. His baseball team has a roster of 10 players, and they usually have 8-9 players show up. They need at least nine players, and with eight players they have to give up an out in the #9 batting slot, so we try to go to all his baseball games. The scheduling was tight on Sunday since the game was at 1:30pm and Eric had a piano recital at 3pm.

Eric usually strikes out during his turns at bat, and he usually swings at every pitch. Patrick has to give him a pep talk before each turn at bat to remind Eric that he doesn't have to swing at every pitch. He gave him that same talk on Sunday. This time, he seemed to be watching the pitches and didn't swing at every one. He took a swing and happened to make contact with the ball. He looked as surprised as the rest of us, so he didn't start running right away. The other team had time to field the ball, so he got tagged out on his way to first base. He didn't look disappointed at being tagged out, he was smiling. That was his first hit! It was nice because almost all the boys got at least one hit during this game. They're all getting better. Unfortunately, the other team was significantly better, and we lost 3-10.

To cap off Eric's busy weekend, we went straight from the baseball game to Eric's first piano recital. Luckily, the game ended a little early, because he was the first performer. He even had time to change clothes. When it was his turn, he didn't hesitate. He walked up to the grand piano at the front of the room, he took a bow, then played his first piece. He made some memory mistakes, but he didn't seem nervous. He almost got up after he finished the first piece, then he realized that he had one more piece. He played his second piece, then took a quick bow, and almost ran towards his seat. He sat still for all of the other performances. Later, he said he didn't like all the pieces that the others played, but did like some. We were so proud of him for being able to memorize his pieces and then to bravely go up there to perform them.

After the recital, I talked to Eric about how he had such a big weekend, with the first soccer goal, the first baseball hit, and the first piano recital. I suggested going out to dinner to celebrate, and Eric enthusiastically agreed. We were so proud of him, and he was pretty proud of himself too.