If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again....

If I had my child to raise over again, I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I'd do less correcting, and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less, and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I'd run through more fields, and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging, and less tugging.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd teach less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.
- Diana Loomans

Blastball Pictures

Blastball is over but here are our pics! I highly recommend Blastball if you can find a team. It is a great first organized sports experience for 3 year olds!

Ben

Kate

Our Team- Go Rangers!

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.  

~Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (introduction), 1982

Summer Brings.....

Summer brings....

SWIM LESSONS

Ben & Kate completed their second year of swim lessons with Mrs. Linda. They were already pretty good swimmers since she taught them so much last summer. This summer they learned to swim a little farther and dive deeper for rings.

FUN OUTINGS WITH FRIENDS

I worried we wouldn't have enough to do but it seems the summer is busier than the school year. I had to cancel a few activities so we would have a few days to lay low and decompress!

With our buds at Chuck E Cheese

RETURN OF THE AFTERNOON NAP

All these fun outings + staying up later a night = tired kids who have been taking afternoon naps more and more! These pictures were taken one afternoon when they fell asleep before I could get them in their beds. Kate likes to build "a widdle house" out of pillows on the couch. Notice she is also sporting her Ariel costume... but she looks like a little Sleeping Beauty to me!

Ben actually fell asleep in the recliner holding A BAG OF CHIPS. You know he was tired! Check out his tattoo and silly bandz- two of his favorites!

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.  ~Sam Keen