Training wheels....or not?!

Both kids have repeatedly ridden for a significant distance without training wheels. Neither child has the confidence to just jump on and GO! They get nervous, then they get wobbly in the handle bars, and stop. They don't crash or anything, they just calmly put their feet down and stop. so HOW do we help them gain that confidence? I tried it with Belle today and all I did was hold on while she got her feet on and almost immediately let go and she was fine...until she would unintentionally turn and then stop herself. Keith goes as long as he doesn't know you've let go. As soon as he realizes that, he stops himself. He hasn't caught on to the "...oh...I was doing it...I can do it!" thoughts. Some neighbor boys recently had their training wheels taken off so under peer pressure they both asked for them off. I was a bit leery, especially of Keith. since then he's shown he CAN but does he want to badly enough? We'll see...

BIRTHDAY!!!! 5!!!!

I realize this is about two weeks slllooow. But...oh well. Birthday Girl Rainbow Cake Silliness Yes. We rented a cotton candy machine and fed all the neighbor kids at least two cones of the stuff each, a cupcake, and sent them home with a treat bag of candy. OH! And I learned to make a few balloon animals/shapes. Nothing fancy, but it was fun. So we also went through a package of 100 twisty balloons in a matter of days and also sent the sugared-up kids home with a balloon sword. go us! Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. These two love that place.

Hiker/Repairman/part fish

He's going hiking. In swimming suit, goggles, golf club (as a walking stick) and backpack full of various items. He randomly wears his swimming suit around all day and can't wait for swimming lessons the next two weeks where we will swim and swim and swim....(we have an 11:15 lesson time and the pool opens for swimming at Noon, so we pack a lunch and stay as long as the little fish want to.) The next day he wore the goggles out to the garage, armed with his toy crescent wrench to fix the lawn mower, weed whacker, 3 bicycles, and "your car Mommy, of course." I love the "of course" and the "SURE!!" he says when he agrees to something you ask him to do. which brings us to the crescent wrench line...."Daddy, why does my crescent wrench look like pliers?" (It IS a pair of pliers, he has dubbed his crescent wrench....)

Making it

It's no secret to you all that Keith has been protesting going to church lately. A few weeks ago after I had roused the kids out of bed on a Sunday morning and herded them down the stairs to eat breakfast, Keith was crying about church. "but I don't want to go to church." Belle took over. "But Buggie, Mommy and I are going." He wasn't convinced. "I want to stay home, and Mommy to stay home, and you to stay home Bella." "But Buggie, we are going to make it to the sun, remember?" Yes...... we HAVE had the Family Home Evening with the whole Plan of Salvation Diagram. I made a pretty nice one for YW and used it at home, too. So we are going to make it to the sun. Who's with us? :) YES!!