Jumping in the Deep End

The kids have been taken swimming lessons at the Y. Yep, the infamous Y, but trust me, it's more normal at night when they have their lessons.
S is doing really well. Swimming is fun for him and although he's rusty, some of his form is returning. It will be a while before he gets back to what he was doing over a year ago, but he's enjoying the lessons. Especially jumping off the diving board.
C, well, she's a bit of another story.
It started like this:
C: I don't wan to go to swimming lessons in the big pool. The water is way over my head. (Note:She can stand on the shallow end but it goes from there to over 12 ft deep on the other end.)
Me: You can do it! The lifeguard will be right there and you'll have a board or floaties to hang onto. She won't let anything happen to you, I know you can do this! Just try it, I think you'll like it and have fun. Trust the lifeguard, she knows what she's doing and she's there to protect you.
C: I don't think so. I'm scared.
Me: (Repeat previous statement about 10 more times, each time with a slightly different take but all very supportive).
Eventually, C says: OK, guess I'll try it (said very, very reluctantly)
See, what you need to know is that C doesn't like to put her face in the water. She'll do it but then wants a towel to wipe off her face. Not the most practical thing when you're in the swimming pool on the deeep end.
C went to swimming, shyly walked behind the instructor to the pool and presto, bango, she's off and having fun.
She does everything the lifeguard tells her, including kicking both on her tummy and back holding the board going from one end of the pool to the other. She floats, bobs, and has a great time.
Until...
Until the diving board.
She's all brave and laughing with her swim classmates.
Until it's her turn. That's when the 180 degree change comes, faster than a speeding bullet. One minute laughing, the next, utter sheer terror.
The girl goes to the end of the board and refuses to jump off into the arms of the lifeguard waiting for her with another noodle. Her little knees shake, she's sobbing and she won't let go of the railings to walk to the end. She has a serious death grip on the railing.  Mind you, there was also a lifeguard on the board with her holding her hand or at least trying to hold her. C just wouldn't let go of the rail. Sorta like when you try and put a cat in a carrier and they spread out their legs and refuse to go in. Just consider C the cat. She tried numerous times to go on the board and jump off. She'd be smiling when she got on the board but as soon as she got to where she had to let go, she just couldn't do it.
I felt so bad for her, really heart-breakingly bad. I was almost in tears myself watching from the bleachers. I could tell she was terrified and there is nothing like watching your baby girl freak out and not being able to do anything to help.
After patiently working with her many times, the lifeguards told her she could try again the next week. They told her how brave she was going up on the board. They pointed out that she jumps off the side of the pool by herself (and the noodle) and this was in the same amount of water. C just looked at them and said "I know I can jump off the side. But on the diving board, it's just too much. The walking off the board and dropping is really scary. It's just too hard to step out and trust that it'll be ok." 
I towelled her off and dried her tears. Assured her that it's okay. Gave her lots of hugs and support.
She was smiling when we went to shower. But she did give the diving board the evil eye when we walked by on the way out.
Wonder how next week will go??

Power (Con)Fusion

I have had a big summer. And, I mean big as in the 'we traveled a butt-load and I took it as my personal duty to try as many new yummy calorie laden foods as possible' kind of way. I mean, someone has to do it, right?!
Unfortunately, I believed my own propaganda. And the scale shows it.
My running has stopped as well. Another story for another day.
So, now that school is back in session, I decided it was time to get back on track. YMCA, here I come.
At least, that's what I said on Weds. But, then Weds was early release so I didn't have much time to go.
"I'll go tomorrow"
Then, on Thursday, I did all my things at home, it was hot, I was tired and thought "I'll go tomorrow".
As I'm on Facebook Friday morning, my friend (whose name begins with TR and rhymes with fish) emails and asks if I want to go to a class at the Y at noon.
'Darned Facebook' I grumbled but I decided there's no time like the present so I told her I would mmet here there.
I didn't know that the class was called Power Fusion and frankly, that should have been my first clue.
Holy Crap!
I was sweating, no, I was drenched with sweat within, no lie, the first 3 minutes. And that was the easy warmup portion!
We were strategically positioned in the back row. Which is a great place when you don't know the moves, are the plumpest one in class and don't want anyone to see what you're doing. Which was a great plan until the infamous jumping jacks began. First, I don't jump. Second, my arms were already tired and getting them up over my head in a repeatedly high energy fashion just wasn't happening. After the next few seconds, I glance over at my friend and she has a similar pained expression on her face. Ahhh, comrades in arms (or jumping jacks in this case). It's always nice to know that you have someone to commiserate with.
"Jumping Jacks, now turn a 1/4 turn!" shouted the drill instructor. With a big ol' smile on her perky little face.
"And another 1/4 turn!!" she commanded just oh so jolly. Uggh.
Cause now, of course, we are turned the opposite way around so we're in the front. My friend and I.
I continue to bounce in my sorta jumping jack stance. Grimacing and swearing that if we have to turn around again, I'm hightailing it to the opposite side of the room. But then, I glance over at my friend.
As soon as we turned so that we were the front people, she starts doing jumping jacks like she's in perfect condition! I mean, you could have taped it and posted it on You Tube as 'how to do the perfect jumping jack'. (really, I was chuckling inside just that those chuckles couldn't make it past my sweaty exterior).
About the time I was going to point this out to her, we turned another 1/4 turn, then another and we were back in the back row again. Thank heaven.
I did pretty much every modification you could in the class.
Eventually, I finished and it actually felt pretty good after we completed the classs.
Until tonite.
Owwwwwwwie!

Zoo Moments

We spent the last few days before school started doing some of the last things on our Summer 'to do' list. Things like visiting the zoo.  C had to take her standard pose by the flamingoes:

And, then C & S pretended to be giraffes:

It seems my little monkeys fit right in at the zoo!

First Day of School 2010

Here are my kiddos in the infamous "First Day" photo that proud Mamas across the U.S. take on the first morning of the new school year:

They had a great day and came home bursting to tell me about their teachers, class and of course, who they ate lunch with.
We celebrated by having root beer floats after school.
I love these days!

Futurama

I was sitting in my chair, checking out my favorite sites on the laptop.
C was playing next to me.
Suddenly, she handed me a little boy doll, some clothes and then asked/pronounced "Mama, can you help me? I cannot get this boy's pants back on!"
I paused. And, I swear, the very next thought that went through my mind was "Please Lord, do NOT let this be a foreshadow of the years to come!"

Family

We had a nephew's wedding last weekend. It was nice to see everyone and we did get a photo of everyone who was there except one sister and her daughter and family. Here's our good looking bunch:

Stuffed Zucchini

In an attempt to use up some of the yummy garden produce, I made Stuffed Zucchini. Hubster (from a website called Annie's Eats) and I loved it, the kids ate some but did not request any more. I think they just need more exposure to it!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

1 zucchini, about 12 inches long (or 2 6-inch)
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
½ cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup mushrooms, chopped
1 lb. turkey sausage or ground turkey
2 tbsp. dry white wine (I used sherry cooking wine)
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving a shell about ¼-inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides to the skillet and saute another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble in the sausage or ground turkey and cook until lightly browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cooked onion and mushroom mixture. Add the wine to the pan along with the tomatoes, basil and rosemary. Cook for 1 more minute. Drain of any excess fat, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Once the turkey mixture has cooled a bit, mix in the Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper. Fill the zucchini shells with the mixture. Fill a baking dish with ¼-inch of water. Place the filled zucchini shells in the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the zucchini from the pan and serve immediately.

From Annie's Eats