Various Cottingham Happenings

So, as I mentioned we have been SUPER busy.
The kids had a week of swimming lessons. At the end of last summer Carys was jumping of the diving board and very confident. The first few weeks of swimming this year she was a little unsettled in the water. One week with Mrs. Jan did the trick! She is back to jumping in and swimming under. She loves to give underwater kisses!

Sawyer. Oh, Sawyer. When we opened our pool and when we were at the beach Sawyer still has his fear of the water. Even during his week with Mrs. Jan he was VERY hesitant to put his face in.

Something changed the week after lessons and he decided that the water was more fun than scary. He will now swim under with me holding his hands and he loves to explore how things look underwater.

Okay, since starting summer school we have been around the house a lot. The kids have been great to play in their rooms while I try and complete assignments. Many days, Carys changes clothes fifty times while Sawyer stays in his sleep shorts all day (with no shirt!)

Here, Sawyer on one of the rare occasions when he pealed the computer away from me. He was on Starfall.com and he was upset because he wanted to "save the planet" but he did not know what to do; again, shirtless!

For those of you who might wonder if the family you read about on the blog is our "real" family, her you go. This is what the scene normally looks like in Carys room. When I ask her how paper got all over the floor, she just smiles and says that the babies were learning to cut. She was sure to tell me that they are not very good at it yet. She thinks they are too young. Summertime means we (need to) vacuum every day and our rooms get cleaned at lunch, and then again before bed!

We consume an unbelievable amount of fresh fruit and veggies in the summertime. Here is a morning snack for the kids. Fresh peaches sprinkled with Splenda.

This is another "normal" scene in our home. We have a very strict no-kids-or-dogs-in-our-bed policy. It seems this rule only applies when we are IN the bed. As soon as Justin and I vacate, others take over. Carys is listnening to her "iPod." Which is not really an iPod, but a Phillips MP3 player. Santa brought both kids one as we decided they were too young to care for the iPods the requested, but these Phillips ones were great (spell that CHEAP) alternatives. I recommend them for young kids like ours. They are easy to operate and have adequate memory.

Have I ever told ya'll that Sawyer has some weird quirks? He prefers to sleep without a pillow case. I have tried to explain to him why he needs one, but I often find him like this (missing his pillow case) in the mornings.

Anyway, here are a few moments from our lives! God is Good!!