The Miraculous GREEN Swim Band!

Savannah is one determined little girl . . . and when she sets her mind to something she usually does it!  Yesterday after lunch she started feeling really bad and actually had a fever of 102.  She was pitiful and was complaining about her stomach hurting and a sore throat too.  She ate only a little (another sign that she was feeling REALLY bad), but seemed to be feeling much better by dinner time.  But, at dinner we talked about how our plans for today might have to change.  We had planned to go to the pool to play with some friends, have swim lessons at noon, and were planning to go to support Chick fil A's stand on  marriage for dinner since Dave had to work late.  I tried to explain that since she was not feeling well it might be a stay at home kind of day. 

BUT, she woke up this morning feeling fine and said "mama, I'm going to go get my green swim band today".  Well, alrighty then, Gracie Bell.  I was thinking that there was no way under the sun that she could possibly pass that green swim band test since it's the hardest one, but I didn't dare mention how hard it was going to be.  She was determined and I was definitely going to let her try!  To pass the test you have to tread water for a minute in the deep end and also have to jump in and swim from one end of the pool to the other.  Much to my amazement she DID IT on the first try this morning.  Now I have to say that her swim was more like a doggy paddle, but she did it non stop the entire length of the pool and treaded water like a pro!  I was (and AM) SO proud of her!!!  Of course, she has worn the necklace all day very proudly! :)

Being that it was the first day of the month, Dave had to work late so it is usually not a fun day for me.  But today has been awesome!  The kids were very well behaved, did awesome at swim lessons, and even voluntarily pitched in to clip the beginning of the month printable coupons.  Did I mentioned that this great behavior was without either of them having a nap too?!  While I was taking my shower, Savannah also neatly folded an entire load of laundry that was on my bed WITHOUT me even asking.  WOW!  I guess that little green band worked miracles in the Bachmann house today! 

A Visit from the Ballard Bunch!

I was so excited when my friend Laura called this week and said that they wanted to come visit us while they were passing through on vacation.  Laura, her husband Jason, and I all went to college together and now they live in Kentucky (where Jason is the senior pastor at a church) with their 3 precious girls.  I rarely get to see her and her sweet family so this was a huge treat!   I couldn't wait to meet sweet Ruby, who is now 5 months old.  The kids had a grand time playing while I loved catching up with Jason and Laura.  Preston was sort of a fish out of water with all of the girls, but they finally gave in and let him play dress up too. :)

Lost Tooth #5!!

Today at lunch Savannah suddenly announced that she had another bottom tooth that was loose.  She wasn't joking either!  I looked at it and knew it was about to come out . . .which is crazy because every other loose tooth loss has come with lots of drama prior to actually falling out.  Amazingly enough, when I picked her up from My Gym this afternoon she was proudly holding her tooth!

Someone else wanted their picture taken too . . . but no loose tooth here yet! ;)

Beach Weekend 2012

This past weekend we ventured down to Edisto Beach where the rest of Dave's family had been all week. The kids were super excited about seeing Grammy, Papa, and of course their cousins too.  We really only had one full day at the beach and then a brief time on Friday when we arrived.  Shortly after arriving and getting all covered in sunscreen the wind started picking up.  In a matter of minutes, a full blown sand storm was raging and the kids were all crying from the pain of the sand hitting their legs.  It was AWFUL!  We ran as fast as we could to get the kids off the beach and then hauled everything else in arm loads back to the car while watching the sand fly down the beach.  It was wild!  So Friday beach time was short, but we made up for it on Saturday by spending about 6 hours straight on the beach!

It didn't take Preston long to get right into digging holes in the sand . . and enjoy some grapes too!

Savannah loved flying her new ballerina kite

 Grammy & Papa with the grandkids

All of the cousins

Dave was the first one that wanted to be buried in the sand, but everyone was shortly behind him

Preston was content to bury sissy, but wanted no part of being buried himself ~ smart boy!

Family picture

It was an awesome, be it short, weekend.  We ate well, played hard and loved all of the time we got to spend with Dave's family!

A Visit from Singapore!!

Yesterday was finally the day that our friends, the Marions, came to visit us here in Charlotte!  They flew into the US a couple of weeks ago but have been going non stop catching up with family so we were so excited when they squeezed in a visit with us here in Charlotte.  We met yesterday for lunch and I wish I had my camera when Savannah and Anna Kate first saw each other; it was priceless!  After lunch we headed to Sky High Sports where the kids played and jumped for over an hour together.  We came back to our house and let the kids play outside for a bit. 

Then it was off to bed with the excitement of knowing we had one more day to visit with them.

Today the girls had a blast playing with art supplies and making crafts

While the boys enjoyed playing with trucks, cars, and leggos . . and lots of play food too.

Best friends!

It was so nice having them all back in town, even it was only for a short time.  I know my kids had a blast playing with their closest (in heart, not in distance) friends and I sure loved catching up with Kristin!  You know you have a special friend when you can pick right back up where you left off . . talking about speech therapy and diets. :)  Even though we know it will be a year before we can visit with them again, we are thankful we can Skype and will continue to pray that the next big move will be back to Charlotte!!

Savannah's Swim Necklace!!!

For weeks now (okay, really for years since we started swim lessons) we've tried to get Savannah to complete the first swim test at the YMCA.  She has been doing great with swimming and her distance is getting longer and longer, but there is just this fear that comes over her when she gets into the pool at the Y.  Anyway, thanks to a little encouragement from our friends the Grahams this morning, she finally agreed to do the test.  She completed the first yellow band test with no problems at all!  I'm so proud of my little swimmer!  She's worked hard and deserves to be super proud!

Pool Fun!!

Preston "helping" Savannah do her backfloat

At the end of summer last year I found this pool at Rite Aid for a whopping $4.28, including tax!!  I knew it would come in handy this year and boy has it ever.  The kids have been begging for days to get it out, but we just haven't had time to spend at home in the pool . . . but today after Preston's My Gym class, they talked me into it.  What a hit!  These two kiddos (who never do any activity longer than 20 minutes) spent over an hour and a half in the pool before I had to drag them out for baths and naptime.  We even started the bubble machine Pawpaw gave them for their birthday and had a bubble pool party.  It was the perfect day for me to sit under the umbrella and catch up on a few computer things too!

I see us getting a lot more use out of this summer time investment!