Swimmin' Wessons

I love 2 year old lisps. It's an ongoing lingo between me and my husband as well as me and my mom. Talking in Braden-isms has become part of our everyday talk! So he did 2 weeks straight of swimmin' wessons swimming lessons. Anyone who thinks it's a waste of time to have your little ones in swimming lessons...is just pessimistic. I've had Braden in lessons since he was 4 months old and this was his 4th set. After about half of the lessons it used to get old...walking around the pool in a circle with your baby singing songs. BUT, Braden has always loved the water, he's never cried or fussed, and he's learning tons of valuable lessons, not just about swimming!

Top pictures from April 2012 "Duck" lessons, bottom picture August 2012 "Sea Turtle" lessons.

This set of lessons was 4 days in a row, 1/2 lesson in the morning, we got August long weekend off, then it was 4 days in a row the next week. I loved taking him every day (with Jay's help when I had to work) and Braden looked so forward to it every morning. It was nice to get in a consistent schedule with him. He remembered his teachers name and just a few days in, I didn't even have to tell him what to do, he listened to his teacher and did what he said...most of the time! He is just 2 1/2 after all!

So why put your toddlers in lessons?

• learning structure and expectations of being in a class setting
• learning listening skills
• learning to follow instructions
• learning rules of safety (no running in the pool)
• learning how to wear a life jacket (which isn't new to him) and that they can float in them
• being comfortable getting their face wet, blowing bubbles, and submersion under water
• interaction with other kids their age
• learning the basics of how to swim

His next set of lessons, which we'll probably put him in in the new year, he has the option of non-parented classes in the shallow kid's pool. I'll have to see the closer he approaches the age of 3 if he'll be ready for non-parented classes. The parents can sit right at the side of the pool to supervise and watch, but I'm not quite sure Braden will be mature enough to actually stay in one place and do what he's told! I guess only time will tell, he's certainly not there yet, he ran away (in the kid's pool) from me twice during these swimming lessons!

Have you put your kid(s) in swimming lessons? How did they/you like it?

No Swimming For You!

So I was a "bad" mom and didn't but Braden in swimming lessons the last 2 sessions. I did 2 in a row, when he was 4 months old and then just over a year old, so he repeated the same class twice. Well, now that I've waited a full year to put him in swimming again, he's the "old guy" in his class full of little babies! But that's okay! He will pass with flying colors, so it's okay to miss one lesson...right?

Why are we missing class? I've waited over half a year it seems to take Braden to A Day With Thomas, which happens to be tomorrow! We are going with Laura & Luke and those little boys are going to FLIP OUT when they see Heritage Park transformed into "The Island of Sodor"! Okay...maybe I'm more excited than they will be?

So for now...swimming will have to wait until next Saturday!

Oh, and also...today the sun is finally shining, we're praying that it will stay so that the fields will dry up and the guys can get seeding again. But with the rainy weather, I took advantage of it, got my hair colored and cut yesterday...which also happened to be 14 weeks for me and Squishy! Crazy hey!?!?

Danika's 4th Birthday

My 3rd niece Danika turned 4 the day after my birthday. She reeeeally wanted Auntie Sarah to make her a chocolate ladybug cake. I didn't disappoint and this is the cake I'm probably most proud of that I've made so far!


See, not only have I had Danika reject to be born on my birthday, but now Abby didn't want to share my day either! Oh well! Each girl can have their own special day. Anywho, we went swimming for Danika's party and all the kids had lots of fun!








Danika loved her gifts, and loved her cake!

I hope Danika had a wonderful birthday and soon will be coming a very late Easter post. Work finally slows down for me now, I have one more shift booked next weekend and then I'm off for seeding - yay!

Maui: The Boys at the Park & Little Beach

I'm not going to chronicle every.single.day we were in Maui, but this just so happens to be day 1. Technically it was day 2, since we arrived on Maui the previous day in the afternoon...but really, let's just call this day 1. I rented a stroller (along with a crib and booster seat) for Braden from this amazing company so the first morning Laura and I decided to take the boys for a walk down the road. We couldn't remember if there was a park or not...but we walked a bit further and stumbled upon...

Then Braden figured we should check out the beach...walking in sand takes a bit getting used to!

Brace yourselves...this might be one of my favorite pictures ever...but definitely from Maui:

He was having a blast throwing these big seeds into the water...

And even though we didn't have their swim trunks with us...they decided it would be a great idea to go swimming! Can you blame them?

We actually only went back to the park once...it was a bit too far to walk and there was a much better beach, which you'll see tomorrow, about 5 minutes away from us!

Birthday Weekend

There's a lot of birthdays in our family and circle of friends in April...and I kicked off the birthday parade by celebrating my 28th birthday on Saturday. For my birthday...I got a blizzard. We had what seemed like a foot of wet and slushy snow that made for a lot of soft and muddy roads. I had intentions of going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner, but seeing as how it's downtown and whatnot we decided to postpone our reservation and went to Cattle Baron in Sunridge which was much closer. I had the salmon and it was AMAZING! We had a couple of drinks and then went to the movie "Limitless" with Bradley Cooper & Robert DeNiro. It was really good, very interesting and different.

Well, enough about me and on to the fun stuff! Danika had her champagne birthday yesterday on April 3rd. I made her butterfly birthday cake this year and I had SO much fun doing it. If any of my nieces or nephews ever want a cake, look no further than Auntie Sarah! I always throw in cupcakes too, just in case there's not enough cake. So enough blabbing, here are the pictures!

These next pics are kinda blurry, but just wanted to show you how happy Braden is with steering wheels...

After 1.5 hours of swimming, we headed back to the Rayton house...

Braden was being very gentle with Nolan and petting him...it was very sweet. This is the chair we used for Braden...but then Braden was trying to climb on Nolan...lots to learn!

Nolan smiles!

Grandma & Chaz

Nolan & Papa

The "Buwfday Gul"!

And a closer look at the cake:

Fondant cut letters...

And that's a wrap! Braden had a great day...it was very busy as we had to go to church in Standard at 10:30 for Tessa's baptism...got a bit of a nap in, went swimming...had a very late/long afternoon nap at Joy's...got up at 6:45 (when sometimes he's known to be in bed for the night!) ate supper, came home...had another snack and was in bed at 8:45 and asleep at 9:15! He hasn't been to bed that late since he was honestly less than 6 months old probably. It's nice that he can adjust and do that sometimes though. Some people's babies/toddlers can stay up all day without a nap and I have no idea how! Braden sure can't! :)

Also...hope you like the new blog layout! Bigger pictures and full-sized YouTube videos! Works much better with Flickr's new way to share pictures.