Quick 5

I'm dreaming of the day that laundry is no longer full of bulky jeans and long-sleeved shirts, but is the more manageable shorts and short-sleeved tees...

1.  Ta-Da!!  We are the proud owners of this lovely gem:

Some friends of ours from church gave us this baby for free, and we could not be more stoked.  We have big plans: a couple new swings, a baby swing and a can of spray paint and this thing will serve us well for a few years.  I love that they have a go-to this summer, and I don't have to feel quite as bad about not taking them to the park every day.

2.  In a very big Proud Mommy and Daddy Moment, Alaina spent some of her AWANA bucks on this bucket for Joya at the AWANA store this week:

I suppose it wasn't completely unselfish of her; she really wanted Joya to have something so she wouldn't keep stealing her pink bucket when they play outside.  Now they each have a bucket, so no fighting.  Right?

3.  In other backyard news, for the first time ever I let the girls play outside by themselves.  We've been debating on whether or not they were ready for unsupervised play, and after getting opinions from mommy-friends that I trust most, I did it.  Although, is it unsupervised if I sit inside next to an open window where I can hear them and can glance out at them every five minutes or so?  

4.  Bria has definitely taken a turn toward the fun side.  She can't do much yet, but she can focus and smile.  That's pretty huge.  I put her in the baby gym this week, and she finally saw the music-playing/light flashing kitty at the top.  As I knew would happen, they became instant friends.

5.  This week I locked down our only official summer plans: swimming lessons for Alaina.  She had such a good time last summer and has been asking about them at least once a month since then.  Last summer she was in a class with her good pal Avery, but this summer she'll be on her own.  I want her to repeat Level I again.  The instructor had told me that if she would work on her bobs (that is, putting her face in the water) that she could move on to Level II, but we haven't had any opportunity to do that.  And putting her face in the water in the bathtub doesn't count.  Since there are only four or five levels anyway, I didn't think that repeating a level would set her back any.  I simply told her that she had so much fun in the Goldfish class last year that she gets to be in it again.  Her response?  "Yay!"  Also we are going to try the pool that is literally a few blocks down the street from us this summer.  It's not quite as cool as the one last summer, but it's close and I thought we should give it a try.  She'll do great.  It's Joya and Bria that might not have as much fun during those two weeks, but we'll just have to play it by ear.

On to May!  I've got a big project lined up for May (besides restoring the swing set.)  Think we can do it?