september nineteen

This morning I picked up Sean to go to his swimming class, while leaving Mackenzie at my parents house. Today was our first swimming class. It's unfortunate that they've changed the rules at the pool. It used to be that if you were ready, you'd advance to the next level, unless you were really too young. Now, they have it by age.

Starfish - 4 months - 12 months old
Duck - 13 months - 24 months old
Sea Turtle - 25 months to 36 months old
Salamander - 3 years - 4 years old

Sean was in Salamander because he's excellent in the water. Fearless. This past summer he was jumping off the diving board at my parents house, swimming in the deep end. With a life jacket of course. Anyhow because they have it by age now, he's back in Sea Turtle, as registration online wouldn't let me register him in anything else due to his birth date. When I questioned them today about it - I was told it was new rules.

This class is WAY too easy for Sean. It's unfortunate, but we're stuck in it until January. January he can go back into Salamander, since he'll be 3 this Xmas. His 2 teachers told me that they would give me harder stuff for him to do, if we find it too boring. At least they're accommodating.

We had fun regardless, and we realized that my cousin's cousin and her son are in the class, so at least we know someone. Another kid looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. Maybe next week I'll ask the mom where we know them from. Maybe a mom & tot class. Who knows.

After swimming we went to pick up Mack back at my parents house. It was nice to be back with the boys, even though we did enjoy a nice evening of peace & quiet last night after we got home.

This afternoon my dad came over to help Jamie start putting together our new swing set. The instructions say it's a 2 man job, and 4-8 hours to put together. Well, they worked on it for at least 4 hours today - and it's no where near done. We'll see how long it actually does take them, but my guess is at least 8 hours, if not more! It's too bad it's getting colder, they won't get to enjoy it for very long before it's winter. Next summer!

While out in the backyard, I noticed that there was some activity going on in my garden! The cauliflower, which seems to be a cold weather plant, is finally growing! Hoping it grows nice and tastes yummy. I'm not really sure when to tell if it's fully grown, but I know right now it's not yet anywhere near that stage.

While the guys worked in the backyard on the swing set and Mackie took his afternoon nap (like clockwork), I took Sean out for a bit to do some errands. We needed more dirty diaper bags (aka dog poop and scoop bags that are vanilla scented and biodegradable) and a bathing cap for both boys for their swimming lessons. Sean loves to run errands with me, but I don't take him often anymore because he likes to touch everything. But I had to do these errands and he was touching everything in our backyard driving Jamie and my dad nuts because they were trying to keep all the pieces organized to put the swing set together, and Sean was just causing it to be hectic out there, so I took him out for a bit. Staying home he wanted to be outside where they were, so I knew that it would be a good idea to get him out.

Tonight we went to my in-laws (Jamie's dad & Step-mom's) house for Rosh Hashanah dinner. It was really nice and small tonight, the 4 of us, plus my in-laws, plus Jamies' step-sister, her husband & our step-niece, and 2 of Jamie's step-aunt's and one step-uncle. Nice & cozy and comfortable. While there, Sean sold some more chocolates for his daycare fundraiser. Family always buys chocolates for school. They rock.

Tonight, my in-laws gave Jamie & I the most awesomest anniversary gift ever:

A signed Carey Price (Habs Goalie) T-shirt

Here's the close-up with his autograph.

And a Habs hat signed by the entire 2008-2009 Habs team. (Last year's team)!

Boy is it super hard to photograph red, even in natural daylight (average day)...! It's just impossible! I took a LOT of photos and these 2 were the best ones. Jamie and I are going to get a tshirt frame and a keepsake hat box (see through for paraphenalia) to store these 2 items in.

I just love these 2 items. They're freakin' awesome. I thanked them over and over again for winning them in the silent auction that they got them from. What a nice gift! We love it!

Tonight after getting home, and putting the kids to bed, Jamie and I watched 2 episodes of Dexter. Then I watched an episode of Bones. I really can't keep my eyes open much longer, so I'm going to go hop into bed.