Carson's First Swim Meet...Ever!

So...Carson is now officially a member of the Singapore Fighting Fish swim team!!! He "tried out" the first week of school and made it! He is so pumped. He loves the idea of beating anyone at any sport or any thing; really, so he was thrilled to swim in one race in his first meet ever. He swam the 25 meter freestyle and came in 2nd place - out of 3 kids.

I love these photos of Bailey helping him out at his first meet. She was totally teaching him the ropes. She is an expert since this is her 5th year on the swim team! She really has a beautiful breast stroke!

That Dance Thing (Sammy)

Sammy is doing something called "That Dance Thing" this year. It's basically Cotillion if you've ever heard of that. It's held at the American Club here once a month on a Friday or Saturday night. First there's a dinner with a manners lesson. The boys have to pull out the girl to their right's chair for them when they get up, they eat a fancy dinner and have to hold an hour's worth of table conversation.
Then the second hour is a ballroom dance lesson. The girls and boys have to dance with each other and the only acceptable answer when you are asked to dance is, "yes." (You have to sign something before the program begins that you agree to these terms. You can imagine what middle schoolers would act like when asked to dance if they didn't commit to these terms! Ooh! Cooties!)
Mike and I were chaperones for the first one this year. Here's a photo of Sammy and I all dressed up and ready to go!



Sammy was hilarious because when it was time to switch partners she would freeze up. She looked like a lost puppy. Sometimes the girls had to choose the partner and she was usually one of the last to pick one which meant she ended up with whoever was left without a partner. Since I was one of the moms helping my job was to help the boys and girls pair up quickly - to avoid embarassment. Well, since Sammy was one of the last ones a couple of times I was trying to find a partner for her. She told me right then and there, "mom, I don't need my mom out here to help me find a partner."
She also asked me at the end of the night, "Mom, are you going to chaperone every month?" When I replied, "no." She answered, "good!" Too funny.

First Day of School 2009

So...it's 5:00a.m. and I've been awake since 2:00a.m. when Carson came into my room to tell me that his feet hurt. Not sure why but I got him an ice pack and put it on his feet. So, now I've been up messing around on the computer (note the new look of my blog!) until I get tired again...

Here's some photos of the first days of school for the girls and Carson. Sammy is in 7th grade this year, Bailey in 4th grade, Carson in kindergarten and Jack is in Joy School at home with me two days per week...hooray!

This is what I came home to after my Cambodia trip...

My baby Jack-Jack was missing...MY baby with the longish blonde hair was gone and this imposter baby was in his place. Next time I leave the country I need to hide the hair-cutting kit from Mike.