I kind of always wanted to do swim team over the summer with my other kids, but Jack got weird about the water, Anna has bad ears that can't get wet, and I didn't want to take the other two out earlier than I get them up for school during the school year to go to swim team practice. So we never did it with the first four children.
But Lily is a really good swimmer, and she seems to have a nice stroke. Plus, I can take her, without having to wake up/drag other kids to go with me, keep them amused, etc. Basically, everything is so much easier with just one child, and the other 4 are able to take care of themselves. I think all the things my first 4 missed because of this....It was just too hard to take four kids every time someone wanted to go to a piano lesson. Lily is definitely getting a shot at more activities.
I didn't worry about being there on time, because it is the summer, and also because Lily is my 5th child, and I am not worrying about being on time for things anymore. The youngest group is Lily's group, 8 and under. By the time we got there, there had already been one water rescue. Seriously? I kind of thought these were supposed to be the good swimmers?!
Anyway, Lily got into a lane, and it quickly became apparent that Lily is good. She isn't good at everything, but she is a good swimmer. She overtook all the swimmers, and has a beautiful stroke. And then she got hit in the eye by one of the kids who she was overtaking, and then she was miserable, crying, and doesn't want to go back. Great. The one great thing is that we got home at 8:50, and she had accomplished something. A good way to start the day.
When I got home, the guys who are doing our landscaping were there, pulling out 15 years' of overgrowth, weeds, trees, and mismanagement in our backyard. Honestly, I cringe every time I go into our backyard. I don't have a green thumb, because I don't really have the time or inclination to do all the work that needed to be done, and Chris has so many things going on with him, that he can't do stuff.
So, I hired this kid who just graduated from La Salle, and who wants to do this for a living. It isn't a cheap thing, and my kids keep on telling me that if I had paid them $300 dollars an hour (what they think these guys are getting paid--they aren't getting paid that much), they would have done the weeding/pulling out/taking out trees that these guys are doing. But they don't, and they haven't, and we are starting working on our house, and I am starting on the lawn, because it is summer, and I want to be happy when I go outside.
I took Lily to the pool today. Anna was there with Grace and Gabby, and Grace met them there. Matthew went with Joey to his new pool, and Timmy went to Alverthorpe to play basketball with Amin. When Lily and I got home at 5, this is what I saw in my new, cleaned out backyard.
This is getting mulched tomorrow, but I am so happy that all the ivy that was covering this area is now gone:
This was covered in old pachysandra, most of which was dead, and lots of short trees, and weeds:
This is all along my back. Look at how pretty that rock is, that I didn't even know was there!! It fits in perfectly with my new, cleaned out garden. These hydrangeas are plants I received from each child being born, or for Mother's Day. The last few years, when I have gotten a plant for Mother's Day or Easter, I haven't even bothered to plant it, because the garden is so overgrown. Next year, I will find a place to put it in my garden!
I might even sit outside in the summer and read. I am really happy with the way this is going, and it isn't even finished yet.
I didn't worry about being there on time, because it is the summer, and also because Lily is my 5th child, and I am not worrying about being on time for things anymore. The youngest group is Lily's group, 8 and under. By the time we got there, there had already been one water rescue. Seriously? I kind of thought these were supposed to be the good swimmers?!
Anyway, Lily got into a lane, and it quickly became apparent that Lily is good. She isn't good at everything, but she is a good swimmer. She overtook all the swimmers, and has a beautiful stroke. And then she got hit in the eye by one of the kids who she was overtaking, and then she was miserable, crying, and doesn't want to go back. Great. The one great thing is that we got home at 8:50, and she had accomplished something. A good way to start the day.
When I got home, the guys who are doing our landscaping were there, pulling out 15 years' of overgrowth, weeds, trees, and mismanagement in our backyard. Honestly, I cringe every time I go into our backyard. I don't have a green thumb, because I don't really have the time or inclination to do all the work that needed to be done, and Chris has so many things going on with him, that he can't do stuff.
So, I hired this kid who just graduated from La Salle, and who wants to do this for a living. It isn't a cheap thing, and my kids keep on telling me that if I had paid them $300 dollars an hour (what they think these guys are getting paid--they aren't getting paid that much), they would have done the weeding/pulling out/taking out trees that these guys are doing. But they don't, and they haven't, and we are starting working on our house, and I am starting on the lawn, because it is summer, and I want to be happy when I go outside.
I took Lily to the pool today. Anna was there with Grace and Gabby, and Grace met them there. Matthew went with Joey to his new pool, and Timmy went to Alverthorpe to play basketball with Amin. When Lily and I got home at 5, this is what I saw in my new, cleaned out backyard.
This is getting mulched tomorrow, but I am so happy that all the ivy that was covering this area is now gone:
This was covered in old pachysandra, most of which was dead, and lots of short trees, and weeds:
I might even sit outside in the summer and read. I am really happy with the way this is going, and it isn't even finished yet.
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