New bike, Rishaan and Nishka sleepover, 1st day of 1st and 5th Grade and more!

Phoenix has been riding her 16 inch bike for the past couple of years and managing to ride to school and summer camp with Daddy and Axel. With the longer ride of 25 minutes to summer camp we decided that she just needed a bigger bike with gears. We tried out Axel's 24 inch bike and she could ride it, but it was just a little too big. We decided to take the plunge and get the 20 inch, 7 speed bike. We got a steal of a deal at L.L. Bean. Yes, we bought a bike from L.L.Bean, but where else could we get 40% off and use a gift card and walk away with a new bike for 85 dollars?!

 Daddy put it together and I got to test ride it around the house at 10 pm at night. I had a lot of fun riding it.

 Great thing is Phoenix loves, loves her bike. It took her a total of 2 tries and a solid hour at Jack Fischer park to master the hand brakes, starting, stopping, shifting and tackling the up and down hill. she is extremely comfortable on her bike now. I love how much she loves to ride and how good and confident she is at it.

 Rishaan and Nishka spent the night a couple of weeks ago. Axel and Rishaan are very similar still. They are both book worms and enjoy computer games. I was amused that despite not seeing each other in a year they chose to read next to each other for an hour rather than play. Although Nishka and Phoenix were only 2 years old when they last were neighbors they got along splendidly. It was almost as if they had been friends as long as Rishaan and Axel. Saif and Zain also came out to the park to play with their old neighbors.

 After Hema and Mahesh left we took the kids to the pool.

 We enjoyed an hour of the pool just to ourselves. It was a nice treat.

 Afterwards they watched a movie while Keith and I prepared dinner.

 I made these great kabobs that Keith grilled up, but the kids wanted macaroni and cheese. Oh well, Keith and I, and Grandma Susan (when she came the next day) enjoyed the chicken and pineapple kabobs.

 Grandma Susan came Sunday to watch the kids while I worked and then was kind enough to watch the kids at night for Keith and I to go to Wicked to celebrate our anniversary.

 It was a fantastic show and we had such a great time. I was sad to drive Grandma to the train station on Thursday, but we were so happy for all of her help and the date night!

 Phoenix's sunflower finally bloomed the week before school. Here it is on the first full day it opened.

 Last Saturday we had 3 swim team families over. We had 9 children in the house. 6 boys and 3 girls. It was quite the fun filled night.

 The day before school started I made sure to get a picture of the sunflower to show Phoenix's Kindergarten teacher who gave her the seeds on the last day of school. Mrs. Sandoval was surprised at how big it was. We are all really proud of Phoenix for taking care of the sunflower and for Axel and Rubix for helping.

 Another picture of Phoenix riding her bike after she had showered for the night. The girl loves to ride.

 Wednesday, August 28th was the first day of school for the 2019/20 school year. Axel now has a backpack that can fit his big binder, his chrome book and his swim/ gym clothes.

 Axel's new locker is upstairs above the gym.

 His homeroom is in the locker room.

 Welcome to 5th grade Axel!

 To his surprise his best buddy Lucas is in his homeroom, along with Shamik and Selena who are also good friends. Unfortunately, he is not with any of his friends for the rest of the day, but by having homeroom together they get to be together during field trips. They have another 3 day field trip so that will be fun to be able to be with "Lukie" for the 3 day trip to the Marine Headlands and his other two day trips.

 Phoenix lucked out and got the small classroom. I love her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Wallace. She has been teaching at Harker for 15 years and is an alum herself.

 Phoenix only has 15 kids in her homeroom. She makes a huge jump this year as she now has science, social studies, Spanish, handwriting, character development, and creative writing in her curriculum, along with her other "specials" from last year, which are music, art, P.E. and library. The other big change by having a full on 9 period of "real" classes is 2 periods of language arts. The nightly homework with 2 nights of math and 2 nights of language arts is also a big jump from last year. Luckily, she had vocabulary and weekly language arts that she had to do last year so it won't be as difficult as other children who did not have any homework last year. She hasn't met her math or language art teachers yet. They spend the first week (3 days of school) strictly with the homeroom teacher to make sure they all bond and get to know each other.

In other news, Axel's spacers came in so he now wears his upper and lower spacers at night as he no longer needs the head gear. Rubix finally became interested in the pedal bike and started riding it this week. I actually took the training wheels off today and he rode a bit by himself, but he wasn't very happy about me letting go. He cried quite a bit when he realized that he did it by himself. He wasn't emotionally ready today, but I do hope he will be soon. I have to admit the early mastery of swimming and riding the bike makes my life easier :)

We are looking forward to a visit with Great Grandma Burgess, Great Aunt Cindie and Uncle Terry, along with the Jolley's this weekend. Until next time.... God Bless!

Rubix learns to swim!!!! Axel and Phoenix learn the guitar!

On August 4th Rubix took the plunge and decided he could swim without help. It was really cool to see the progression. He was trying to swim underneath a floatie, before I knew it, he went from me holding on with 2 hands to one hand to no hands! Here he is swimming back and forth to Daddy and Axel.

Here he is jumping into the water independently. Fast forward a week later he is now jumping off the edge of the pool with his arms overhead doing a full on belly flop, trying to dive head first, like his two older siblings.  

Axel and Phoenix did a music camp for their last camp of the summer. It ended up being a guitar camp. On Friday August 9th they invited parents to come and watch each child perform a song they learned. 

Phoenix chose Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Axel chose to play Bingo. 

I was home with the kids most of the last week in July. We went mini golfing which was a blast! I was so proud of how they all followed the rules (for the most part). Phoenix is quite the little athlete. Everything she does she is good at. She had quite a few hole in ones and 2 stroke holes. Axel is a good sport and has fun just trying his best. Rubix took most of the 18 holes to learn how to hold the club and "putt" rather than swing the club. He really enjoyed it and talked about going golfing for over a week after every day.

 Having children 3, 4 and 7 years apart doesn't always make for liking the same things or playing well together. Every now and then all 3 play together well. Here was one of the occasions where they were playing well together.

 Here is another moment where they were laughing running through the sprinklers at the park.

 And yet another moment where they were doing a search and find activity together in the Highlights magazine that Gma Sonia and Gpa Bruce so kindly get for the kids every year.

 With all of the time at home this summer the kids have done a LOT of reading. Here they are with their free book for completing their summer reading program at the public library. They also did their school summer reading program and they will receive a pin for reading more than 5 books. Phoenix gave some resistance initially to reading chapter books, but now she is unstoppable. Rubix continues to love books too. He chose a Pete the Cat Goes book.

 Here is a picture of the kids listening to me to please put their books away and walk to the car. Sometimes, it is hard to enforce rules when I am secretly happy how much they love to read. :)

 I noticed all three kids chose to wear tie dye on our way home from music camp so tried to capture a picture. I think it is really funny how Axel's love for tie dye rubbed off on the other two. Little Grammy really had an affect on Rubix appreciating and now asking to wear his tie dye shirt that she purchased for him.

 When Phoenix finished Kindergarten she was given two sunflower seeds. Now with school being two weeks out the one sunflower that made it is over 5 and a half feet tall. We keep waiting and anticipating the arrival of the actual flower.

 Owls seem to be a family favorite. Here is a picture of Rubix drawing his first owl. He was not as happy with his finished product so he asked Phoenix to draw an owl.

She ended up drawing an owl family. We have been really working hard at helping Phoenix thrive in being nice and sweet. I would say she is being more sweet than not these days. This was one of the very precious moments where she willing did something nice for her little brother without being asked. I love the person she is learning to become. 

 We have hit the August heat wave. It is hot, hot, hot. Here the little ones and I washed the car while Axel and Daddy were doing their weekend swim workout. The washing turned into a fun throwing game.

 I am not sure who thought of throwing the sponges at the car, but the car was washed and rinsed a total of three times. The bench and the bikes were also washed.

 Keith has been helping in our desire to fix all of the things that needed repair. The wash machine really didn't need repair but the drum seal thing was in a disgusting state with all of the poopie diapers we washed over the past 9 years. He graciously took the wash machine apart and replaced the part for me. He has also fixed the shower doors. They aren't completely stable because the parts are no longer made and he had to make shift wheels and parts, but the shower door is now attached and can open and close with one wheel working on the bottom of each door. We also have new screen doors that will be installed. Next we need to fix the screens in most of the windows with either new screens or frames. Eventually we will come up with a solution for our bedroom closet doors and our peeling kitchen cabinets, but for now I am very happy with the repairs we have done so far and most things in the house working now.

This is my last week off for the summer. I will be taking 4 kids to the pool today. Axel, Kristin, Phoenix and Saif. Rubix is at Angela's. Axel had a sleep over at a friend's house this past weekend and he has another tomorrow at his friend Joel's house and another at our house with good old Rishaan on Saturday. We have lots of other activities coming up and our weekends and days are full. I am so grateful for all that we have. Until next time....

Axel is MVP

Although Axel did not medal in the IM at Champs, he had a stellar session. Out of all the 9/10 boys he accumulated the most points for the team for the season, which made him MVP in his age group. We are so proud of him for trying so hard and being such a good team leader. Many of his teammates and parents commented on how much they appreciated Axel leading by example. Several parents told us how they were impressed with Axel's humbleness. They would say, "He is so strong, but you would never know it outside of the swimming pool because he never boasts and is always encouraging and supporting his teammates." Keith and I loved hearing the comments because they are very true. We just secretly laughed inside knowing that Axel isn't very competitive so although he tries his best, it really doesn't bother him at the end of the day if he isn't the best. I am going to cherish this trait because Phoenix has enough competitiveness for the both of them.  

Phoenix had a stellar session herself and came home with 3 medals from champs. She was really scared because of the business of the meet with all 5 teams there. When I arrived with Rubix she was crying and didn't want to get in the pool. I was really nervous for a second that she wasn't going to swim, but she overcame her fears and did all 5 of her events, placing in the top 3 for 3 of her events. 

 This weekend was action packed. We hardly saw Axel. He was at Bounce of America in Morgan Hill with Kristin on Saturday and on Sunday he was at Beibei's house for most of the day.

The world's largest inflatables were there with his 900 foot obstacle course that they are starting here. Apparently, they went as fast as they could through this 900 foot obstacle course in 90 degree weather which put him over the edge into heat exhaustion. The good thing is he communicated this to Carmen so they left after just 2 hours of play, rather than the 3 hours they intended. 

I took Rubix and Phoenix to the car show in downtown Saratoga. The first car we came across was a flashback to Back to The Future. 

 They loved the little race car.

 Rubix loved "the black car".

 And coolest car of all is this one built in 2016 which was the fastest car manufactured in 2016. I of course, forgot what it was called.

 Keith was so excited to come home from work and see the boys playing "ships" together. It hasn't been very often where the two boys play together. Axel plays with Phoenix and Phoenix plays with Rubix, but the 7 years often makes it difficult for Axel and Rubix to play together. This was one of those times where Axel is being amazing Axel and loving on his brother.

 I worked all week last week and yesterday getting my 6 days of work for two weeks all in a row. I now have Tuesday through Friday off with all three kids. I finally decided it is about time we do something fun heading into my 3rd week with them. So we went mini golfing this morning. I was so proud of the three of them. They were all very patients and took turns on who went first. I do have to say Phoenix has amazing hand/eye coordination. If I could just get rid of her perfectionism she would be a great sport. Unfortunately, she inherited that from me and it took me a long time to grow out of it. I pray that she will grow out of it sooner than myself.

 Tomorrow we have a mid week birthday party for Phoenix and Axel goes to his friends house for most of the day. We head to the orthodontist in a couple of hours for Axel to get fitted for his expanders. He had his head gear removed 2 weeks ago as he has full correction. After the expanders he will then have a retainer until all of his permanent teeth come in. The final stage will eventually be braces, but they will be only for 1 year to 18 months as most of the correcting is being done now.

Our Little Swimmers

I am not sure if I have shared this in the past. This is Axel's Spanish refrigerator project. He made 10 food items and then had to describe and talk about them in Spanish. It was really fun to see him make his fruit with clay. Phoenix and I were able to help. I took a picture because I just recycled it. We went through all of the kids rooms and tried to "tidy" up by recycling, throwing out and donating clothes, toys and books, etc. It was 2 full days of constant work, but we were able to get it done. I don't know how happy the kids are about it, but Mommy is super pleased!

 The kids are regularly watering the front of the house as Phoenix planted her Sunflower seeds a month ago. It has grown quite a lot. Here they are watching the water run through the rocks to the roots of this bush. I need to get a picture of her Sunflower. She is super proud of it.

 Rubix seems to be just like the other Szolushas and able to build and create things. Here he is holding a heart that he made. He is so proud of himself.

We have been deep into swim season and today we will be attending the end of year swim party. It is always bitter sweet. I love the kids swimming and having fun, but it is a very long 3 months for me to get them to swim practice 3 to 4 times per week. The 5 meets are really not bad so I can't complain about that, especially because Keith is the one who does all of the volunteering and work during the swim meets.

This year has been especially fun as the kids have really improved. The biggest improvement was enjoying going to practice and playing with their friends. I did not get very much push back or complaints about going to practice from either Phoenix or Axel, which was an awesome change. They also really improved in their swimming form and times, which is a bonus to the enjoyment of being apart of the team. 

 Rubix was also a champ on spending 5 hours on 5 different Saturdays cheering on his siblings. Here he is giving Phoenix a hug before her event.

After our swim meet on July 13th we went to Tyler's for a BBQ. His kids and Mike and Vanessa's kids were all participating in the swim meet. Jade and Zoe are on Westgate and Josie and Delinger are on Los Ranchitos. Here is a cute picture of Rubix on Tyler's hammock.

I love this picture of Rubix as well, because he reminds me of the other kids concentrating on completing this puzzle. I am so impressed with how all of the Szolushas like challenges like this.

Rubix was a champ with his swim lessons. He is now able to do front and back float. He can dunk his head and grab something in the shallow end of the water when in a crouched position (feet first) and he can kick, scoop and blow bubbles all at the same time. This means that he could swim if he was ready, but he is not. Since we stopped his 4 weeks of lessons he has decided he doesn't want to go in the pool at all. I am hoping he will get over whatever it is that took his excitement and enjoyment out of swimming so that he can enjoy the rest of the summer swimming with the family.