Easy Like Saturday Mornin’…

We sort of have a little tradition at our house.  Friday nights after a long week Erin sleeps with me and Tommy sleeps on the couch upstairs.  (All 3 of us do not coexist in the bed together.)   Don’t feel too bad for Tom, he loves it too.  He usually falls asleep to the baseball, basketball or football game.  He’s quite happy and that couch is super comfy.

Last night we followed tradition.  Erin and I slept well and then woke up this morning to make cinnamon rolls.  I always wake up super early and just chill until Erin wakes up.  She NEVER sleeps in when in our bed.  It’s funny  because she is such a snuggle bug.

We frosted the cinnamon rolls and then sat down to eat them.  I just love our little moments.  I let her watch her iPad while we ate.  I just couldn’t help but stare at her some.  I sometimes can’t believe this astonishing creature is all mine!  She amazed me daily with her sense of humor and brains.  She’s observant and misses nothing.

I hope we always have a special bond but in case we don’t, I’m soaking up all this togetherness!

Michael Phelps We’re Not…

I thought Erin needed something extracurricular in her life.  We tried dance and were a flop at it.  I really don’t think gymnastics would keep her attention for very long and she has no interest in soccer or softball. 

I put her in Girl Scouts a while back and 2 of the girls are in competitive swim.  Eureka!  That’s exactly what Erin would love.  I signed her up before talking to her about it and I was super excited.  I sat her down and told her all about it.  She was as pumped as I was.  I told her it was racing while swimming and they would teach her how to do it the right way.  She was all in! 

The night came to go and I had bought her the perfect Speedo racing suit and goggles.  I thought she would be nervous about going in but she waited with the other kids and when they called them to go she just marched off in line without a look back.  I was so proud and congratulated myself all the way to the bleachers to watch. 

She did fantastic for her first time.  They were teaching them the freestyle, backstroke and some other stoke on their back.  They went up and down the lanes about 5 times.  It’s a 40 minute practice and when it was over she told me how much she loved it.

Fast forward 3 weeks.  Instead of the girl coach she had been getting she got the boy.  Keep in mind these are all high school kids who coach them and most of them are on the high school teams.  She got the boy and was totally intimidated.  She freaked out on me on the car ride home.  She said she didn’t like having the boy. 

The next practice she told me her stomach hurt too bad to go.  They’re required to go 2 times a week but they have 4 practices.  I thought it wasn’t a big deal so I let her skip the next practice thinking we would just pick it back up.  Well, the next one came and so did the tummy ache.  Long story short, she flipped out on me and wouldn’t go back because she was afraid to get the boy.  If I didn’t know better and hadn’t been watching the whole time I would think something happened to make her feel that way.  Nothing happened.  She just didn’t like having him. 

I offered to talk to the head coach and see if she could just stay with the girl but Erin refused to let me.  In the end we let her quit because she was hyperventilating and really getting upset.  It was too the point that we took her to the doctor.  It’s apparently just nerves like we thought it was but I didn’t want to traumatize her into not wanting to ever do it again.

So, we’re washed up for now.  There is a non-competitive league I’m going to sign her up for this summer.  I think she’ll like it more.  No races and it’s year round.  We shall see.  She tells me she wants to keep swimming just didn’t want to go back to the Marlins.

Poor kid.  My little mermaid was so sad.

Why, Thank You Hulu…

I don’t have time to watch network TV anymore.  I used to use the DVR but then would let the shows stack up until they deleted themselves.  And, I had to fight Tommy for DVR space.  (I’m pretty sure they weren’t deleting themselves on their own…but had help!)

Anyway, I’ve started watching all my shows on Hulu or Netflix.  I’m much happier this way.  The only drawback is remembering to watch them before they go off but they’re on there for a long time.  I’ll binge watch all my favorites.

Hulu will actually recommend shows to you based on what you watch.  They recommended “Brothers and Sisters” to me and I was hooked after the first episode.  Where have I been and why didn’t I know about this show from the beginning????  It is incredible.  I love it.  I’m nearing the end of the show and headed to the series finale and I’m getting sadder and sadder with each episode. 

But, I know that when it’s over my friend Hulu will recommend something else for me to watch.

Mermaid in Training…

I signed Erin up for Competitive Swimming.  We practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night.  It’s a little on the inconvenient side but Erin loves it.

We have to miss every other Wednesday due to Girl Scouts but Erin is getting the hang of it.  We have a long way to go before she’s ready to compete but she’s learned more in these practices than she did in 2 years of swim lessons.

I want her to find something she really loves and so far our little mermaid is in love with swimming.  Maybe we’ve found her niche.  We are a ballerina drop-out and we have no interest in softball or soccer.  Swimming was the only other thing I could think of.  Good choice Momma.

I’ll keep you posted on the success of the meets.  I’m not sure if her age group participates in the meets.  She is not meet ready, but maybe by the end of the season she will be.  Fingers crossed.

It’s That Time…

I just love this time of year.  The weather is spectacular and everyone seems to be in good spirits.  It doesn’t compare to Christmas time, but it comes close.

The Astros are playing and I love it.  I haven’t gotten to watch a game yet because I’ve been crazy busy at work but I will!  I wish I could have been in NY for Opening Day.  It’s just the perfect time of year to sit and watch them play with the roof open at Minute Maid.

I think we may take Erin to a game this year.  I taught her “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” when she was about 2.  She still sings it all the time and loves it.  She doesn’t know that the real words are “root, root, root for the home team”.  I taught her to root, root, root for the Astros.

I was younger than she was when I went to my first Astros game.  I can remember sitting between my Grandpa and my Daddy.  I don’t remember eating peanuts and stuffing them in my cheeks while neither one of them were paying attention.  My mom said it took me hours to eat all of them.

Go ‘Stros!