School fun

I love when school provides fun activities to do along with the learning.  This week Eric had to make a shepherd's head piece and a Hebrew meal (of sorts.  Let's face it, we live in modern America, not quite gonna happen.)

We all had fun eating on the floor with our hands.  Although I did include one spoon for scooping out the yogurt initially.  I really didn't want to all be scooping with our hands out of it.  Yuck!

Gizmo was a little confused about us eating on the floor.  

He got a couple of pieces of cheese for his patience at staying off the blanket.  Cheese is his favorite. 

New fish

One of our neon tetras died right after Christmas.  The other one has been pitiful, moping around, so we wanted to replace his buddy.  We decided to get several new fish today.

We went with two more neon tetras.  What was adorable is they immediately swam over to the one we already had and the three of them just swim around the tank together.  Too cute.  We decided on two in case another one dies.  That way there is still a buddy system in place.  Here are the three neon tetras getting to know each other near the volcano.  

We got another algae eater.  We tried a few times before, but they die right away.  Hoping this one can survive.  Once they make it a few days, usually they are good.  Here's Dusk checking out our new algae eater.

We got two guppies.  Here is the orange one.  

And if you look in the reflection to the right, you can see the blue one in this picture. 

So, currently we have 9 fish including the other two tetras, which I did not get pictures of.  Here's hoping they survive the transition!

Amphitheater

We used to have an amazing field in front of our swimming pool.  The kids had lots of fun doing dry land in that field.  Unfortunately the city owned the field and decided to build an amphitheater on that spot.  The construction was a major pain with swim, but it turned out to be a great spot!  The kids use the stairs for dry land, and I try to walk it when I'm there.  I was walking yesterday and caught a picture of Eric running up the stairs with a medicine ball.  His partner had to hold a plank until he got back and then he would do the same.

My heart

This boy is my whole heart in one package.  I have told him that since he was born.

We went to an early dinner yesterday.  I was hoping that we could start eating before swim, but then we had to eat afterward too, so that didn't work out.  Neither of us ate much of our dinner, so leftovers for lunch today.  Yay!

We tried Pho in December in Huntsville, and I loved it!  LOVED it!  So, I have been wanting to have it again.  Eric and I decided to go have some after his spanish class yesterday.  We had a great time, and I told him that I hope when he is a grown up that we can get together once a month for lunch.

He laughed, an offended laugh, and said, "I was thinking at least once a week."

Man I love him!  I love that, for now, he adores and wants to spend time with me.  

For now. 

And I will cherish every minute.

I hope we can do lunch every week. 

I'd love that!

Even more than pho!

Soccer Camp

So, Eric is doing his indoor soccer camp.  This was the third week he went, and he was rocking it.  I have no idea how many times he scored, but it was a bunch.  He usually puts himself as a defender, but last night he moved to forward, and he was all over that ball.

Size matters

In case you haven't noticed, Eric has gotten quite tall.  We are constantly amazed at how big he is.  He looks big, that is, until you take him to swim.  The elite swimmers on the team he is on are so tall.  They all tower over him with the exception of a couple.

I snapped a couple of pictures in dry land yesterday.  It isn't quite as obvious in the water, because the kids are all standing on the bottom, and Eric is treading water, so you can't really tell.  However, when they are on land, it is pretty clear that they are significantly taller.

I pointed this picture out to Eric, because he can get disheartened at times.  He works just as hard as everyone else, but can't quite keep up.  I showed him that if he and the fella next to him are equal swimmers, the fella would be 10-12 inches ahead on every single stroke.  And the guy next to him is super good, so he has no chance of keeping up.  Eric is a great swimmer, but it is hard to be put in with such tall swimmers who are equally good or better.  He will get there.  He will grow and get stronger and faster.  His best buddy in the group is his size, and they swim about the same.  They have a lot of fun together.  

I'm so proud of him for working so hard and doing his best.  I have no goals for him with swim other than that he try his best and be the best Eric he can be.  

He is my favorite.  

2017

Well it's a new year.  Happy New Year to Ellen (and anyone else who happens to check it).

We got up early for swim of course.  Then we had a very late lunch at the Melting Pot.  We had never been there, and it was a fun experience!  They had a special for New Years Eve and an additional special for $15 off each person if you came from 2-5.  So we went for lunch at 2.  We were there for 2 hours and 20 minutes, but it did not feel that long.  Our meal consisted of 4 courses - cheese fondue, salad, meat course, and chocolate fondue.  It was all yummy and all fun to prepare.      

We came home and played the new game Eric got me for Christmas - Forbidden Island.  Very fun, cooperative game.  We lose occasionally, but not often. 

Here's our crew ringing in the new year.  We were playing an app called Psych.