swim lessons

summer and afton are in the thick of round two swim lessons (last year here) with their friends maddy and cami:

both are enjoying the socks off spending time in the pool and learning lots of new moves.

#brothers

school's out for summer

yesterday was summer's last day of first grade. (next year, the girls will finally begin and end on the same day, hooray!)

topped off by root beer floats at the bus stop and oreos in the backyard.

here she is on the first day (left) and last (right):

hopping off the bus with her last day treats from her fun bus driver:

and now, for reading, playing, messing, eating, loudness, laughter,
sunshine, boredom, and everything else a summer should be.

kindergarten wrap up

today, afton wrapped up her kindergarten school year.

on the left is her first day, on the right is her last:

with her teacher, mrs. pearia

off the bus for the last time as a kindergartener.

the wind in her hair; the world at her feet.

lipstick on your collar

let's just say that the ruined tube of (new!) twenty-dollar lipstick was the least of my concerns after i tallied up the damage here:

not pictured: lipstick handprints all over the carpet, lipstick handprints all over the hardwoods, lipstick handprints on the walls, lipstick handprints on various hard and soft toys, lipstick handprints on me. you know, just your typical toddler-gets-a-hold-of-a-tube-of-lipstick-and-mom-thinks-he's-just-playing-innocently-in-the-next-room kind of stuff.

and also, before anyone goes around thinking that i'm a "cool mom" (ha!), rest assured that after assessing the scene, i stomped around and let out several good screams to the universe before stopping to take this picture to add to my ever-growing collection of "fond memories of toddlerhood" that i know i'll (blessedly) remember with nothing but humor twenty years from now.

until then, elbow grease, ho!!

walker, dallin wheeler

i know everyone has been waiting around, biting their nails, and checking the blog *daily* to see if dallin is walking yet.

and i guess the short answer is: sort of.

dallin is what we like to call "a baby's baby." if aliens were to come down from outer space and select a specimen of human babyness, they would most certainly choose dallin. he just really digs the whole being a baby thing. the snuggling, the soft blankets, the being carried everywhere, the cute babbling, the rompers, the screaming and getting whatever you want, the wispy curls that we may never cut off. the whole nine yards.

only, ready or not, his baby days are numbered, and he's bout to be flung into the not quite so tender loving arms of toddlerhood. 

but first: the toddling!

at 16 1/2 months, dallin is by far my latest walker. he's a darn fast crawler and so has not really been interested in the slow unsteadiness of early walking. i would say he took his first steps about a month ago and has been slowly, slowly adding on to the point where just yesterday at church, he began walking the length of entire rooms.

i wouldn't say walking is dallin's primary or preferred form of transportation yet, and we'll probably still carry him around and take in lungfuls of that pure sweet baby smell a bit longer, but he's getting there.

soon to rule and reign with caleb as the kings of utter chaos!

hooray!

is it summer yet?

because these kids are ready.