Conquering Fears

Today turned out to be a great end to a busy week. This morning Jeremy and I slept in and the older kids were up watching a movie. By the time I got up both of them were dressed and had done most of their jobs (cleaning their room and the family room). What a nice surprise to wake up to. Price's comment was the best "we wanted to do our jobs without you asking". And I am all about doing things without me having to remind them.

On Wednesday we had another swim lesson for Brynlee. I don't know what happened, but it has finally clicked for her. She did everything her teacher asked and she had a great time. She was swimming like crazy and laughing with the other kids. She had such a great time. Now she keeps asking everyday if she has swim lessons. Hopefully she'll keep up the enthusiasm. I hope she realizes that this was a lot more fun for her (and me) than her screaming the whole time.

I recently finished 2 books that I absolutely loved and thought I'd share them. The first is "As Good as Gold" by Kathryn Bertine. She is a professional tri-athlete and she also is a writer. ESPN came to her in 2006 and wanted to see how difficult it would be to get to the 2008 Olympic games. So she tries to see if she can make it into some of the lesser known sports for the games in Bejing. It is really good and it shows that some of the seemily "easy" sports you see on the Olympics aren't quite what they seem. It's funny and you see how much determination and drive she has, I would have given up about 1000 times, but she keeps giving this quest her all.

The other is 'Summer of Light' by....Cramer is his last name, I forget his first. Anyway it's about this ironworker who loses his job and decides to stay home and help his 4 year-old son that has some sensory issues. Along the way he tries to find meaning in his new life and discovers some hidden talents. He prefectly captures how it is to stay at home and raise kids. It had me lauging and nodding my head saying "yup, that's about right".

This week has been one of those crazy Iowa falls. Somedays it's hot others it's freezing cold. You need a jacket or coat and shorts and flip flops all in the same day. I just wish the weather would stay about this temperature until March and then spring can come, but I know I won't be that lucky.