First Grader

It was the first day of First Grade.

There was no "come see your classroom and meet the teacher" like in kindergarten (although I found out afterward that we could have dropped in yesterday). As a result, The Boy did not want to ride the bus today like the first day of kindergarten, but instead wanted me to drive him. He was worried about where to line up when the bell rang, and even though he was at the same school last year, he didn't know where his new teacher's room was. He had too many supplies to carry anyway.

So I drove him. We found the line for his class and went inside when the bell rang. He found his desk, I dropped his things off, and I left.

And I cried.

Time is going by too quickly.

Triple threat

We will have three 18 year old hockey players arriving on Sunday to live with us.

Two are permanent as long as they make the team.

One is temporary, unless they can't find other housing for him.

I don't have any idea how to cook for six people.

Yes, I have lost my mind.

Loyalty

The Boy is attending his final camp of the summer.

Hockey camp.

From 8:30 to 4:30 every day this week.

His best friend is in camp with him.

Today he came home and told me that somebody ran Duke into the boards. The Boy made sure Duke was okay, and then he took after the kid that hit him.

He said, "I had to make sure I knew who he was so I could give him paybacks. He made Duke cry."

The Boy is probably the smallest kid in hockey camp.

The smallest kid with the biggest heart.

I hate working this summer

I am missing out on so much.

Yesterday was The Boy's last swimming lesson for the summer. They have an evaluation on the last day of each session, so I go and see his progress and evaluate the teachers.

He can swim!

Really swim!

The "put your face in the water, use rhythmic breathing, and front arm crawl all the way across the pool" swim.

I was so proud.

And I missed watching it happen.

Miscommunication

In deep water

The Boy has been in swimming lessons this summer. The sessions consist of Monday through Thursday for two weeks, one half hour per day. He is midway through his third and last session this season.

He needs to be able to swim the front crawl and back crawl unassisted for the width of the pool before he can pass on to the next level.

The Boy is a little vertically challenged. I think he is average, but the majority of his friends are definitely taller than him. I look at this as an advantage in swimming, because he can't stand on the bottom of the pool and be above the water, forcing him to try harder to swim.

Case in point -

He called me after his lesson today, to tell me he made it across the pool. "I had to put my tippy toes on the bottom once, mom, so I could push up to take a breath and continue on. But I made it!"

"I tried not to put my feet down cause it's hard to breathe under water!"

Name Game

Here are my new babies.

I take naming pets very seriously. I try to get to know them first and take their personality or physical attributes into account.

After naming four pets in the past 12 months, apparently the well has run dry because I had a really hard time with these two.

The black and white is Stinky Boy - partly because they called him Skunky and partly because he has stinky gas and poops. I'm hoping that is due at least in part to the stress of a new family, and a new type of kitten food.

The gray is GiGi or GG for Gray Girl. Pretty imaginative, huh? I have to credit MFH with that one. I don't particularly love it - I don't hate it either - but since we've been together, I have come up with names for all of our pets. I was coming up empty on her, and had taken to calling her Gray Girl.

The two cats are getting along famously. GiGi is tolerating the dogs better, as well. She is not only brave enough to walk among them on the floor, but she also drinks out of their water dish. While they are in the room, hovering over her.

The girl rules the roosters.

One big happy family

She hisses and claws at the dogs.

She growls at the boy cat.

MFH thinks she is a bitch.

However, she purrs whenever any one of us makes eye contact with her.

The boy cat acclimated within 24 hours and now has the run of the house and the dogs.

By this morning she was warming up to him. I an sure she will come to accept the dogs within a few days.

Last night I walked in with her in my arms and MFH let the dogs in from their kennel. He then carefully unhooked each one of her claws out of my scalp.

Yeah, that hurt.