Summer is in full-swing around here.  Grace just told me that in two weeks we’ll be half way through our summer vacation.  What?!?  How is that possible that time is whipping away so fast?

I signed up my little girls for dive team this summer figuring that everyone who lives in the desert should probably get that little skill under their belt.

Somehow I messed up on when Claire’s team started.  When we got back from New York she had missed the first couple days so we got her all ready and sent her out 6:50 for what we thought was the 7:00 class.  She came back ten minutes later to let us know that whoops, that was the younger kid’s class…Claire’s class was at 6:00 sharp.  Oh boy.  That is early.

At first both Claire and Lu were mad as hornets at me for signing them up.  They both wailed their hearts out to me over and over again.  But it took Claire one day to fall head-over-heels in love with it.  Lucy likes it too, but is frustrated that for the life of her she can’t seem to make her body go head-first into the water.  It has been a long saga of working there with the coaches, and us working our little hearts out at our neighbors’ pool following dive team, sometimes with her friend or Claire trying to cheer her on and instruct her but so far no luck.

If anyone has any good diving advice send it right along!

So this is our morning schedule:

5:25 am — Max leaves for work (35 minute commute into the city where he works his tail off in a machine shop)
5:45 am — Claire leaves for dive team
7:10 am — Grace leaves for summer school
7:55 am — Lucy leaves for dive team

Oh and I forgot to add that at 2:00 am we usually get a few texts from Elle telling us highlights from her “junior summer abroad” thing I need to sit down and write about soon.  Miss her so much but boy oh boy it is turning out to be a pretty great experience.

After the early morning stuff we are working hard on our summer goals, then a lot of play which always rounds up to be a good summer in my book.

Lucy is working extra hard to try to earn some Legos before we head to Bear Lake.  She is one who does extra well with a chart. Love her diligence.

Grace finished a whole semester of school in summer school in two weeks (just finished last week), so it’s been mostly just me and the little girls…and a whole slew of their friends around here.

A couple weeks ago while Dave and Max were gone on the church group super activity we had quite a night.

First of all as I was backing out from dropping Claire off at her friend’s house I backed right into their brick mailbox in Dave’s car.

Ouch.  I was so frustrated at myself!  
A little while later Elle called from her friend’s phone telling me that her own phone broke…and we were leaving the next day for her to be out of town for a while…she needed that phone!
And then when she came in that night a little after curfew she explained in tears that she hit the gas instead of the brake when parking Jenna (our car) and hit her friend’s car.  Here’s how Jenna fared:
Oh boy.  
To top it all off, Grace started feeling awful and threw up just as we were trying to get ready to head out to NYC to visit my brother and his brand new baby. 
Luckily that was a fluky thing and she started feeling better quick, but sometimes when it rains it pours I tell you!
But despite those unfortunate events, we are all pretty happy about summer around here.

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26 Comments

  1. I would speak (email) her vision teacher about the diving. I must say I think she has the right idea not going into anything head first. I wonder if there is a way for you to simulate yourself what she can see at this point when she goes head first into the water? You made sure she knows her strokes. That is the life preserving skill and activity for life she needs.

    I think you really lucked out Elle having her first car drama while still a kid at home. They can happen to anyone. It's harder to handle an accident than learning to drive.

  2. I never could dive and found it absolutely terrifying to try. I've lived a great 66 years without having they skill. It's okay if Lucy doesn't want to. I would recommend that you honor her feelings just as my parents honored mine.

  3. We find that bad things seem to come in three's we had a month like that a couple of months ago. A phone broke, two toddlers threw something in the toilet that resulted in getting a new toilet and having to replace the ceiling below it. The kitchen sink colapsed with a sink full of dishes no mind you

  4. I hate to dive, it throws off my equilibrium and makes me feel nauseous. I can only imagine if I couldn't see very well. I don't think diving is a necessary life skill honestly. I'm 44 and haven't dove in a pool in probably 35 years and I'm functioning fine 🙂

  5. As you would say "golly wow" – your poor kids – signed up for all these things and you can't keep the times or dates organized – pathetic! Maybe by the time summer is over you will have figured out where everyone's summer activities were. Yep you sure do hard things – thanks for the laugh.

    1. mama saurus,

      i have found some of your comments lately to be very civil and your questions very earnest. i appreciate your thoughts! but when i read this extremely mean comment directed to my sister i could not let it pass by. if you have an opinion on how shawni schedules her own and her children's time, that is perfectly fine to voice in a public forum. but you really don't need to do it in such a rude way. you do not know anything beyond what you read on this blog, and as someone who knows quite a bit more than that about shawni and her life and heart, i'd like to respectfully disagree with the words and tone of your comment.

      i hope you have a better day!

    2. Why do you keep reading? You are nothing but a cyber bully. It does not take any courage to hide behind a screen name and say derogatory things about someone else. Its a free country to state your opinion, however no one comes to this blog to hear it. So please, just move on. Find a different venue to share your opinions.

    3. I don't usually post, but part of why I read your blog is I love that it is real. You are grateful for the life God has given you and try so hard to stop and smell the roses, but when it doesn't all work you talk about that as well. I can so understand trying to keep track of everyone and their appointments and making sure you are a good steward of your time and having days where it doesn't work. Shawni you are a great example of an extra-ordinary woman that needs a super hero God. No one needs to read about a super hero mom that can do everything – it's not true or real. The woman seeking after God – that is what your kids and your readers will remember and that is the farthest thing in my mind from "pathetic"!

    4. sorry if it was missed in my last comment, but I did say that opinions (definitely including disagreements or criticism that is delivered in a non-blatantly-unkind way) should absolutely be welcomed in a public forum. they just don't have to be mean.

    5. I have to say I feel discouraged by the general lack of civility all over the web. It’s not just here on blogs, it's everywhere. Yes they are good places to share different insights and get new views and opinions shared but it all comes down to the way in which we go about it. It seems it doesn’t matter what the topic of conversation is there is a certain thrill for people to contradict whatever is being said. You see new moms attacked for some sort of sleep training, or in this case people worried about kids summer schedules. If it was written here that kids were allowed to do whatever they wanted all day long for all of summer that would get contradicted too. I feel saddened by the constant cries of, “It’s freedom of speech” “Or I’m entitled to share my opinions too.” With those freedoms come a general responsibility. We should share our opinions in a respectful manner. I have to agree that people seem to think it’s okay to share whatever they want in whatever tone just because they are sitting behind a screename. As a general rule if you wouldn't share something in that tone face to face it's probably best left unsaid in that tone over the web. It would be interesting if the people who always felt the need to contradict in a unrespectful way also had public blogs with their beliefs and backgrounds posted, it would help us to understand their perspective better but it most cases there is not other identifying information about them. It doesn’t hurt anyone to be a little kinder, we’re all on this planet together with our many different backgrounds, belief systems, etc… we should all try to be a little kinder.

  6. Did your kids learn the really basic dives in swim lessons (kneeling dive, standing dive)? Anything beyond that (approach, forward, back, reverse, inward & twisting dives) really requires a sense of "seeing" where you are in the air relative to the water and the board. I don't think it's an easy to learn skill. I can see why Claire has taken to it with her tumbling background. Didn't one of your sisters in law dive? She might be good to ask. Good luck with this!

  7. I love how many constructive activities you have your kids in. Even though there's no school in the summer, kids can still learn and grow so much. And sorry about the crazy week with car issues, etc. We have all been there! 🙂

  8. I love how many constructive activities you have your kids in. Even though there's no school in the summer, kids can still learn and grow so much. And sorry about the crazy week with car issues, etc. We have all been there! 🙂

  9. Diving is tricky!! I think it might help if she had a closer visual to dive over. My nephew who has horrible vision, did better diving when he dove over a large pool noodle. Perhaps having her "dive" over the pool noodle on the tramp to help her perception would help. Just a few ideas. And way to go Charity!! Sisters are the best!! (I'm not quite sure why Mama Saurus keeps reading? Shawni is so kind to not just block her 🙂 Keep up the GREAT WORK SHAWNI!!

  10. I bet swimming and diving sports are ideal for hot desert summers. We're going to PHX this summer to visit family and plan to spend the whole time in the hotel pool

    Diving sounds so very frustrating for Lucy. Maybe it's not the best match for her? I image that being a parent of a child with special needs means you have to adapt some expectations in some situations while always remembering to keep your expectations high in order to not inadvertently limit potential. A very tricky balancing act. In the case of life skills, like tying shoes, persistence and practice, practice, practice are certainly commendable. . But is the same insistence appropraite for something entirely "extra" like diving? Seems to me like your sweet Lucy has plenty of hard things to accomplish already.

  11. it makes me smile every time because in the States you start summer so early compared to us in Europe! Kids here are impatiently waiting for next week to get their holidays!
    I can't wait to see how Elle is doing! I wish I could have offered something interesting for her (we live in France at the moment) but I hope to help anytime if needed 🙂

  12. Some of these comments are a little petty for such an uplifting blog. I will never forget the post Shawni wrote about Dave being the pusher and Shawni being the praiser. I truly believe every mother knows whats best for their own children. I think its fantastic to have Lucy in dive, it's inspiring to see her develop skills with the eye sight she has. I also think its a great opportunity for Claire to help out. Thank you Shawni for your continuously posting uplifting things and sharing your family with us!

  13. Shawni, your blog continues to inspire me with every post…even you're not so exciting ones! I just love seeing that crazy life just happens and it stinks, but we can get through it and move onward and upward. I know you don't take the negativity in your comments to heart (at least I hope you don't), but i hope you never let it deter you from sharing on this blog that inspires me and so many others. This motherhood/family thing is hard and crazy and amazing and I love getting ideas and seeing the joy that is had when we work hard at it. Thank you!

  14. Everyone is entitled to their opinion however I have to wonder why your mind always goes to a negative place. I read the same blog you do and my thoughts are never negative or rude and yours always are. Are we sure Madam Queen didn't just change her name to Mama Saurus?

  15. I can't help but feel a bit bad for poor Lucy, being forced to learn to dive.. My vision is just fine and I am not learning disabled and I cannot dive to save my soul. I can swim like a fish. But never could learn how to dive. They finally just gave up on me in swimming lessons. Maybe the poor kid just isn't meant to go head-first into the water.

  16. My son started swim team at 10 and had never dove before. It took him 2 summers of classes and lessons before he mastered that crazy skill but what a celebration we had!!! As long as it's not too traumatic and she wants to keep trying I say just have patience and it will happen.

  17. I feel for you and the little car mishaps. Oh boy, I backed my van right into my in-laws "new to them" van just a few years ago. It was just a little bump but, I about died having to come in and tell my father-in-law of 16 years what I'd done. Then I did the same thing again a year later and bumped my the vehicle my son drove. He was so mad at me and not very sympathetic until a few months later. I was letting him take my nice van for prom. He was all dressed up and ready to go get his date and friends he was driving when he backed right into his own vehicle. Just a little bump again, but it did take paint off my bumper. I think my little accidents helped me respond kindly to him. I just smiled at him and said, "I think you owe me an apology." He said, "I'm so sorry I dinged your van." I said, "no! for giving me such a bad time when I did that! See how easy it is to make that mistake!" He had a great time at prom and I still have my paint chipped bumper to remind me to be patient with myself and my children.

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