Chloe got her very first blue ribbon! We are so proud! She has made HUGE improvents in just one week.  The last two swim meets the highest she placed was 3rd, but last Thursday she got 2nd place in Backstroke, and today she got 1st in Backstroke and two 2nd place ribbons! She is liking the taste of victory.  She is so excited to race and compete and is having so much fun.

I found a disgusting ant village in my backyard.  I don't know why I find it so gross.  I feel tingles in my head whenever I look at it.  How in the world can ants move that much dirt?  I felt sort of bad destroying their city.  It always makes me think of a Disney movie when I kill bugs.  I picture them years down the road saying, "Remember the Flood of June 2013, when almost all of our ancestors were killed?"  Gee, I hope they can't talk.
But I am posting this video just because I love Macie's smile so much at 12 seconds.

"The Office" used to be my favorite show...I felt so nostalgic when it closed up shop.  This was my favorite line and so true.

Grandpa Joe was so generous to buy the kids a playhouse.  Don had to put the whole thing together from scratch. He said that the directions were one step away from just saying, "Go to Home Depot and buy some wood."  The directions were awful and nothing came preassembled.   But he did a great job.  And the kids love it.  We've turned it into a water slide because well, it is hotter than a stir fry here.   

Macie was looking through a Disney princess book and she saw the villain from Sleeping Beauty, and says, "Yuck!"
And then she turned the page and saw the evil queen from Snow White and said, "Uh oh!!"
The funny part is she has never seen Sleeping Beauty nor Snow White.

Yesterday Chloe said to me out of the blue, "Mom, how come I was the only one in my class that voted for Mitt Romney?"
And I said, "I don't know." (enter own's political affiliation joke here. For example: Republican-  "Because people are dumb."  Democrat- "Because people are smart."  Independent- "Who cares. They both were rotten."
So I asked, "Chloe, why did you vote for Romney?"
She replied, "Because I like the color yellow."
And I replied, "What does yellow have to do with Romney?"
And she replied, "Because! He has yellow hair!"

So...she must have written in Hilary's name.

I made a dress!  Correction. I tried to make a dress...and my friend fixed it.
I don't think I will be getting called by Project Runway anytime soon, but it's not a total lemon.

Chloe had her first two swim meets last week.  One on Thursday, and one on Saturday morning.  We are so proud of her.  She got 3rd place in both meets doing freestyle.  She's been doing that stroke the longest.  The other strokes (backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke)...hey at least she tried! I loved watching her do the butterfly.  It is hilarious watching little kids try to swim the butterfly. She is probably better than I am at it though.
I need to get a picture of her attire before the swim meets.  She looks more like a synchronized swimmer. She wears a pink suit and a pink cap. And she wants her hair in a tight bun, then she adds a couple bows.  And finally she puts on blue eye shadow and blush. She finishes her warm up outfit with a pink, ruffled towel dress and pink flip flops.
And these are the reasons I love Chloe.
Macie loves going to the meets as long as she has her bag of doritos and a bottle of gatorade.  Despite it being 106 degrees outside, she's got her snacks, and she is in heaven.
(P.S. I don't think you can see anything in this video...BUT you can hear me screaming like a psycho for Chloe)

Chloe wanted to make sure that I wrote this down:

In Chloe's words:
"I was looking for some tape and I couldn't find any! So then I said a prayer!  And I heard a voice say, 'go left...then right...then left...then right...now, go into your room!'
And when I went into my room, I found the tape!!!

I didn't hear the voice in my ears (points to ears)! I heard it in my mind (points to mind)!"


Also:
At Chloe's first swim team practice, it was a battle to get her to do it.
It involved quite a bit of bribing.
But she finally agreed.
By the time she finally agreed, the other kids had already lined up and were swimming their very first time across the length of the pool.
One by one they jumped in and raced to the end.
I sat nervously as I watched from the sidelines.  Chloe was very last and all the other kids in the lanes had already finished their swim.
Chloe hesitated (and I cringed a little for her, and felt the hesitation in my own heart)...and then...she jumped in!
I watched her swim that entire lane by herself with everyone watching, with a small pit in my stomach.  I remember being a kid and having moments like that- and I just hoped that this would not be one of those childhood memories (aka peeing your pants in the middle of the media center because you were too freaked out all day to ask your teacher if you could go to the bathroom).
But Chloe did it, and she got out, and she beamed.
I was so proud of her.
I loved seeing her doing something hard and overcoming her fear and seeing her confidence grow.
I also loved watching Macie act like she was also on the swim team.
She just got right in line with the other kids as they waited their turn to jump in the pool. And joined them on their towels for stretching time.
She loves going to the practices with me, and so far she has been too chicken of the water for me to have to worry about her jumping in unexpectedly.
As long as I have a bag full of snacks she is happy as a clam.
Speaking of snacks-she gorged herself on juice and fruit snacks last Thursday, and then threw up all over me as we were leaving practice.
And since Chloe had another one to go to, I just stayed in my throw up clothes.
I really enjoyed that day.