Backyard Beauty

As I posted previously, Kevin has been busy building the Putt-Putt course. Well, it is now complete and is a 4 hole course. It turned out great and the kids love it. As I also said before the yard is full of fun for the kids but it is also full of beauty. Kevin is constantly updating and improving the landscaping of the yard. So I wanted to show the outcome of all the hard work he has put into...although i'm sure its never going to be completely done :-))))

Now for the banquet pics..

Top Left, Brandon receiving Most Improved Swimmer, Shelby receiving Tarpon award, both kids with Assistant Dive Coach Zach Foster and each kid with Head Dive Coach Kristen Roth.

And let us not forget the...

Happy Parents,

glad that Swim and Dive Season is over!

A little video...

I have more of the banquet pictures to show but wanted to include a small video of each kid diving....

And now for Miss Shelby...

I know there is no picture in this video window and I'm not sure why but just click on the arrow and you still should be able to view the video.

Dive and Swim Season Comes to an End

Well, another successful season of swim and dive has come to an end. Saturday night was the Banquet where recognition and trophies are handed out. This year it was catered by Mama Lucia's and there was a DJ for games and dancing. We were especially proud of both of our kids, for not only having a great season, but each them got individually recognized, too. Shelby got a Tarpon Award for diving. Every year 5 kids from swim and 2 from dive are recognized for this award. Basically, she was recognized for always showing up for practice, doing what was asked of her, having a good attitude and being willing to try new dives when asked. Brandon was recognized for Most Improved Swimmer of the season. Coach Erin asked me at one of the meets what had happened to him. He just kind of took off and started shaving a lot of time off of his original times. He took 12 seconds from his 50 meter free from the beginning of the season and I think around 6 seconds off of his backstroke. Way to go Brandon! He thought they had forgotten his trophy when the announced 9-10 boy swimmers but it was because he was getting recognized for this. He has now told me that he "Loves Swimming!" and he is interested in doing winter swim. The rest of the banquet was a lot of fun--the kids had a blast. Towards the end of the evening they have a slide show of the season. There is a dad that comes to almost all of the swim and dive meets and takes photos of the kids. These photos are incredible and then he compiles them into a 20 minute slide show. I think he photographs every kid on the team at least once! Way to go Tom, it was awesome. I have some other photos but need to get them off of Kevin's camera of the rest of the evening, so I will try and post them later. Shelby and I had to leave early so she could dive at Divisionals at 8am the next morning. More to come on that.

Putt Putt for the Fun of It!

People always ask me what's Kevin doing these days in our backyard. Well, here it is. His latest addition to the backyard is a mini version of a putt-putt course. The kids are loving it! Shelby rearranges the bricks to make the shots more difficult. And here Kevin is adding another section to be completed in the coming week. So the Lee yard now consists of swings, tire swing, zip line, volleyball/badminton court, trampoline, tree house, trapeze bar, circle swing, basketball hoop and the Putt Putt course--Now open, come by for a try!

Robin Hood

Well, the swim and dive season is almost to the end. Yesterday, Brandon participated in the Robin Hood Dive Invitational. Robin Hood is open to all divers from all the pools in the Montgomery County Diving League that don't go to divisionals. It is a fun event where the judges score just a little higher than normal and the kids just get to have fun. Brandon, as much as he eats has always stayed so thin but after the first 3 weeks of swim and dive, he put on 5 pounds! He's still thin but I could tell that he was heavier by the height of his jumps on the board. He says he won't be diving next year (will see since he said that the last 2 years) so I'm glad that he participated yesterday. Here's a few photos of his dives and jumps.

He got 6th place. Way to go Brando!!

Esther Williams in the Making....

I would of never guessed that Little Miss Shelby would be picked to go to Dive Divisionals!! Way to Go!! At the beginning of the season both she and her brother were unsure of whether to even do dive this year but both decided to give it another year. I always tell them that dive is optional, swim is mandatory. Both kids were struggling to get their back dive down but after lots of practice, Shelby totally surprised us one day last week and did it on her own. The coach was up on the board but stood back and there she went!! Over the next couple of days she even added a push to the back dive and starting asking me which way she should do it at the dive meet. She is always surprising us. The meet went well (even though I got there too late to see her dive), and when we got home our neighbor called to congratulate her on making divisionals. No one was more surprised than me! Of course when I told Shelby, her response was "What's so great about divisionals?". Divisionals takes the top two divers of each age group and gender (so 2 8 and under girls and 2 8 and under boys, etc). Coach Kristen said Shelby worked hard all season and deserved it. On Sunday the divisionals will be held (very early), so keep your swimmer toes crossed :))) I'll let you know how it goes and post some pictures. I'm glad its early so I won't miss it by being at work.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!

Today is Kevin's birthday--I won't tell how old he his, but wanted to wish him a wonderful birthday!! Just wanted to let him know how much the kids and I love him. I think he has become more handsome as the years have passed-time has been good to him. It's hard to believe but this is the 18th year of us celebrating our birthdays together. We have been through bad times and good times--thankfully more good than bad, but one thing has never changed our love for each other and the kids. So happy birthday to my wonderful husband!! We love you, Elizabeth, Brandon & Shelby

A Mom Moment....

I'm sure everyone has had one.. or two or a million. When you just lose it with the kids. We're all tired and cranky and trying to get back into a routine and they decide to have a meltdown argument. Meanwhile I'm multitasking...talking on the phone and trying to go to the bathroom (sorry if that's TMI) and I hear this cry from Shelby that sounds like she has been injured. I run down and she is just sobbing. I think she's burned her mouth on the pizza and I keep asking her as the tears run down her face.."What is it?". Her answer, "Brandon looked at me and said I was shaking my head like this!" A pause......"WHAT?????"That is what you are crying over?? I ask. In disbelief, frustration and tiredness on my part, I just had a major moment too. I yelled at the kids and actually screamed in the air. I told them I could not believe that this is what they were fighting over and that here I am screaming at them like my head was going to explode. I saw Shelby swallow a smile when I said that but she held it in. Last night as I lay day with each of them to say goodnight, I said to Shelby, you wanted to laugh didn't you and she said maybe a little and then we shared a smile together. Kevin always says, "Isn't parenting everything you thought it would be?" I am thankful that we can laugh together at that and share in the frustrations and the achievements. Everyday I ask God to help me be a better mother and to give me more patience. Today especially I woke asking for help in that department.

But no matter what happens everyday, I love those kids with my whole heart.

Oops..

Okay let me try this again...

We're Back.....

We just got back from our trip to NY. My brother owns a home in Pinebush, NY. It is approximately 322 miles from our house to his. We actually had a relatively easy trip. The kids were great. I told them when we left Maryland and when we left NY today, that I was not stopping until I had done 200 miles, and they did fine. I was so impressed with their behavior. They watched 2 movies and then it was time to stop and they finished up the rest of the way with another movie or a game. It was a very pleasurable trip. We arrived and had a wonderful time. The kids spent the majority of their time in the pool and the adults spent our time reading, relaxing by the pool and just talking. For me it was especially nice to just have the time to talk to
Erik. So many of his visits to Maryland are for quick weekends and I have to work one day of every weekend, so there is just never enough time to spend together.
Here are a few pictures from our weekend. Happy 4th to All!!

What Am I doing?

This is a question I'm sure I will continue to ask myself. As if I don't have enough stuff going on, I have decided to enter the world of blogging. I really have enjoyed staying current with my niece, Nora's, life through her blog and now she has just become a mother, and I a great-aunt and her blog allows me to share her new adventure, so here it goes for me. I'm sure my scrapbooking will suffer but I'm hopeful I can balance them both. The days have been so busy since school let out-between the trip to Bermuda and the kids swim and dive schedule, it has been hard to get into a routine. Finally this week I feel like I can breathe again and we are getting there. The kids are growing up so fast and it amazes me how they change from summer to summer. They are both doing great in swim and dive. Brandon placed 4th in 50m freestyle and 4th in 25m backstroke at the last meet. He cut his time by 9 seconds!! Way to go!! Shelby, too, is improving her times and hopefully at the next dive meet will do her back dive, which she has been working on. The kids and I are off to NY this weekend to visit my brother and just relax around the pool. We are taking Mom (grandma) along with us also. Hopefully, now that I have gone digital in the last 2 years I will have plenty of good pictures to share when we return.
I will post later to tell about our trip to Bermuda a couple of weeks ago. We have some lovely scenic pictures to show.