Busy and Social Bees

This summer has been just flying by! We have been very busy and have been enjoying ourselves tremendously. We had our VBS here in Clifton. We had Benjamin with us for 2 weeks and one of those weeks we spent at the beach and in College Station. The day that Benjamin left, we went to Dallas to go to the Prestoncrest VBS where I taught 3rd grade, Samantha had a blast and Jacob didn't spend all of his days in misery...just most of them. (I really felt bad for poor Ms. Leslie and her helpers who had to listen to him cry for most of the week.) I have all kinds of things to write about...such as finishing Jacob's 18 month post and actually posting it, writing about his first haircut, our beach vacation, 2 different VBS programs, etc, but for today, I am talking about making new friends.

We came back home after VBS and had a few days off, then Samantha started swimming lessons. (I will give you a post just about the swimming lessons later, too.) Those swimming lessons have been almost the best thing that has happened since we moved here! I am SOO glad that she was allowed to participate even though she is 3.5 and not 4. Not only did she make great progress, but we made friends!

You see, earlier in the summer...maybe about a month ago, I met a couple of ladies at the pool one day. They said that they have a playgroup and got my phone number and e-mail address and told me that they would let me know the next time they were doing something. On the first day of swimming lessons, I saw one of them, Amanda, again. Her younger daughter, who is about 6 months older than Samantha, was placed in the same class that Samantha was. So when we came back for the second day, Amanda and I talked during the lessons and Jacob and her older daughter played in the baby pool. Then during her older daughter's lesson, we stayed and the younger daughter played with both Jacob and Samantha. And the 3 girls were suddenly fast friends. Each day after swim lessons, they don't want to leave because they like playing together so much. And I really enjoyed spending time with and talking to Amanda.

They had a play group this past Tuesday afternoon, so after swim lessons, we went to Amanda's house and had lunch, then followed her out to another lady's house for the playgroup...which was an afternoon in the pool at Jill's house.





I met a bunch more ladies, and really enjoyed getting to know them. They are all so nice and so friendly! One of the ladies told me that they started the playgroup a few years ago because there were two of them who could not seem to find a friend when they moved to town...then they met each other. And now whenever anyone in the group meets someone new, the new person is invited to be part of the group as well, because they don't want someone else being as lonely as they were. It already feels like I am part of a group now, and although the individuals may be different each time, I think we will be able to find someone to do things with us fairly regularly. And they have a FB group, which I have been added to as well. That makes planning times and things for getting together VERY easy.

Then on Wednesday, we went by our new house, and met some more neighbors while we were there. They have a daughter about 6 months older than Samantha, a son about 6 months younger than Jacob, and a brand new baby. And they were also very nice and friendly. Our girls really enjoyed each other's company and were sad to say goodbye when we headed home for the night. We promised them that they would get to play together frequently once the house is finished.

Then some ladies from the playgroup decided to come to the pool on Friday for the afternoon. So I brought our lunch for the last day of swim lessons and my kids and I just stayed through all 3 classes of swim lessons, then got out and ate lunch during the 30 minutes that we had to wait for the pool to open. We were at the pool from 9:20am until 4:00pm. That was CRAZY! But we had a great time and once again I got to talk to people more and make more friends. And Samantha decided that she would rather jump into the pool to Amanda than me, and Jacob cried when Amanda tried to give him back to me, then stopped crying when she held him again...so I know that my kids are happy with our new friends, too.

I have to say...I am exhausted after the week and a half of swim lessons and I am grateful that they are over...but I am so glad that we went and had so many days in a row of making new friends and spending time with them!

First Day of Swimming Lessons

Samantha had her first day of swim lessons yesterday...and I missed it. Yes, I am completely serious. You see, swim lessons were supposed to start at 9:30 and I needed to meet with the cabinet guy at our new house at 10. So I called a friend from church and she came to be with Samantha at the pool. When I left the pool at 9:45, they were just beginning to get in the water. Then when I got back at 10:40, Samantha was already done and getting dressed. They told me that she did great, and she was excited to tell me so herself. I did get a couple of pictures as they were beginning to get into the pool...and you can bet I will be taking more today since I will be there for the entire lesson!

Morning Visitor

We had a new visitor this morning. When we looked out the kitchen window we saw a grey fox just looking around and sunning itself. It stayed around long enough for me to get the camera out and take several pictures through the window (hence the noise in the pictures, the screen was between the fox and me and I couldn't get quite close enough to the window to make it disappear) then it calmly walked up the road to Charles and Ginger's house, went across their carport and into the trees in their front yard. This is definitely one of the bonuses to living in the country. :)