In Loving Memory...

of Ruby Johnson Thornley, my beloved grandmother.

We got word about an hour ago that she passed away. She has been quite weak and in a lot of pain. We were hopeful she could get strong enough to return home from the Rehabilitation Center, but the Lord had other plans.

We will miss her so dearly but are grateful she has returned home to be with her beloved Glen and other family members. We love you, Grandma!

These pictures are from our last trip to see her in September 2010.

Goggles!

Since swimming lessons, the kids have taken up "swimming" in the bathtub with their goggles on. I just think it's so cute, especially Skyler!

A few nights ago Spencer ran into the counter with his forehead and, naturally, wanted a band-aid. (It really is miraculous what band-aids can heal!) And also naturally, Kylene and Skyler wanted one to match. Who can resist such innocent pleas? Especially when the outcome is so cute! I finally took Skyler's off after 2 1/2 days of wearing it: every time I tried to, he wouldn't let me. LOL!

Swimming Lessons

Spencer and Kylene just completed six weeks of swimming lessons at the Kroc Center. Kylene has taken lessons a few times previously so was very excited, but this was Spencer's first shot and he was very nervous. The first day he screamed and gripped my arm the entire time, refusing to even go in the water with his teacher. (This is even with them starting in the beach area and walking to the 2' deep area.) The next day he mysteriously got a large, infected blister on this right foot so he couldn't go in the water for a full week. I still took him and had him sit next to the class (and me) and watch/listen to what was going on. When he was able to go back in the water, he was still scared and a little weepy, but he did it. But from there on out, it was smooth sailing! He has always been super cautious at new things, especially when it comes to water, so my primary goal was to get him comfortable in the water and I think we did it! I just hope he doesn't forget it all by the time we do lessons again this summer.

One of his favorite parts was showering off with the adjustable shower wand after the lesson:). He also loved the life jacket on safety day, and finally started enjoying walking in the lazy river. Thank goodness for patient instructors.

Kylene loved all of it! I didn't get very many good pictures of her actually swimming, but she is starting to float on her own and getting much better at motoring through the water.

Skyler wished every time he could get in the water. He was so patient through a full hour of swimming lessons, and found whatever he could to entertain himself. He loved the water "weights" and flirting with any bystanders or the high school kids practicing in the adjoining pool.

Catching Up

Although I don't know that I want to admit it, I did continue to age this past year. My sweet family helped me celebrate the big 3-4 last month. Kyle got me a yummy Coldstone ice cream cake and he and I celebrated by going out to dinner together and getting a movie. Thanks, everyone, for your sweet birthday wishes!

Kylene had her first official "sleepover" a few weeks ago with her best friend, Rachel. Every year our library celebrates "No Screen Week" by letting everyone who keeps their pledge to not watch TV or play computer games for a week spend the night at the library. Kylene (being the reader that she is) read all about it one day when we were at the library and totally wanted to sleep over. Me? Not so much. (I know, I'm a party pooper.) I decided to compromise and let her have a friend sleepover if she didn't watch TV for an entire week. She did remarkably well, even avoiding the TV when Spencer was watching and not complaining, etc. (I only wish it had lasted longer than a week!) Anyway, her and Rachel had so much fun giggling and laughing. They ended up getting scared sleeping downstairs (aahh, doesn't that bring back memories?!), so slept in our hallway right outside our door. It was fun to fall asleep listening to their giggling and whispers.

Kyle hit the books for his final stretch to get his MBA on January 12th. He only has three classes left and we are counting down the days until graduation on May 21st! Yay! Since he has class in Portland from 6:00-10:00 every Wednesday night, the kids and I have tried to come up with fun things to do: pizza, movie nights, lots of acting crazy, etc. A couple of weeks ago they were playing dress-ups right before bed and really started going crazy. I just love the pictures I snapped.

Kylene's Note to Mommy

Kylene of late has wanted us to write notes to one another and leave it under our pillows. I left her one last night and immediately after waking up this morning, she penned a reply. I saw her up in her bed working on it, so I was excited a short while later to find this note under my pillow:

"Dear mommy Thank you for the note. I like that you're our mother. I love you."

My heart melted! I was excited with how much she spelled correctly and how well she sounded out the words she didn't know how to spell. Later, she told me she copied some of the words from the note I had left her, then sounded out the others. I told her way to go on being resourceful! Anyway, I knew she could write, but this actually really surprised me. It is neatly written, includes proper spacing, has some upper and lower case letters, and mother is spelled remarkably well for being phonetic. (That is a difficult word to spell phonetically.) I was a proud mommy, not to mention feeling very loved!

(I didn't ever think she would "suffer" for being homeschooled in Kindergarten; however, moments like confirm it for me! Phew!)