Family Day!

If an introduction to the concept of infant survival swim were the only thing that I took away from my time in Madonna's household - it was worth every minute I spent in her craziness! I can't begin to describe the feeling that I get when I see my baby girl, fully dressed, sliding down a slide alone into the deep end, swimming up to the surface, catching her breath, and swimming to the side of the pool and pulling herself out. I know that if she were to fall into a body of water, she would be able to give me the time rescue her!!! Even 30 seconds is enough to save her life. It also makes me incredibly grateful to the teachers who have devoted their lives to saving children (according to CDC, in 2005, 30% of child deaths were from drowning). I'm so happy to have found SwimBabes, and to have provided Ellie with the ability to enjoy an activity that is not only keeping her safe, but is also so much fun for her! We're so happy to be able to help them out whenever we can.

ellieSwim from jake carvey on Vimeo.

Ellie getting ready for her cold turkey run down the slide...

Down into the deep end of the pool she goes...

Swims up to the surface...

catches her breath, and floats...she then rolls over and swims to the side

Her big splash off the diving block...

and the recovery!

My brother Colin brought over his friend Amy's kids to play today...it's so wonderful to see other kids enjoying the farm! He took them down to the lake to go fishing and caught a HUGE bass...and when I say huge, I mean 16 -17 inches! I wish I had had the camera down there to capture the moment - they were so darn thrilled when they came running up the hill saying, "WE CAUGHT ONE!!!!" The rose garden also provided them with lots of entertainment - picking flowers for their mommy! Colin really is great with the kids - and it's so fun to see him rough housing and entertaining them!

Oliver, Colin, and Margo heading down to the boat for some fishing

And they're OFF!!!

Fishing poles? Check. Life Jackets? Check. Rain boots? CHECK!

Let's see if we can make it down the hill with all this stuff!

That's one lucky mommy!

We stopped by Babies 'R Us on the way home from the swim safety demonstration to pick up some socks and rain boots for Ellie. And, of course, Jeffrey couldn't resist taking a peek at the adorable Halloween costumes! I won't spoil the surprise, but we found a great one, and after trying it on Ellie, she didn't want to take it off...so we traipsed around the store with a little girl in full costume! She was waving and saying "HIIIIIIIII" to everyone! So freaking adorable. When we got home, we put on her little unicorn costume that we've had hanging and she loved that too! It's a bit small, but she wore it for about an hour. Sooo cute.

unicorn chasing girl!

just like mommy - EG loves her horses

Dinner tonight was a Moroccan style Chicken over Brown Rice. I loved it, but Jeffrey doesn't like "soupy stuff" (his words). Still, I'd make it for guests ANY day...I just have to be sure Jeffrey's not in town! :-) And, of course, the tomatoes, carrots, and onions were grown here...

"MOROCCAN STYLE CHICKEN"

1 tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 bay leaves

5 whole cloves, crushed

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground, dried turmeric

1/4 tsp cayenne (or more if you like spicy)

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (or fewer, or chopped, whatever works for you)

1 (16 oz) can garbanzo beans (or white northern beans, I use what I have)

1 pint (or so) of cherry tomatoes

2+ cups chicken broth

2 carrots, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook onion until tender. Mix in bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Place chicken in the pot, and cook until well browned. Pour garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and broth into the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 25 minutes.

2. Mix carrots and zucchini into pot. Season with salt. Continue cooking 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Serve stew over cooked couscous or brown rice

RANDOM PHOTOS OF THE DAY

They're working the fields again today...

Cucumber towers!

CRASH!

Waiting patiently for swim demonstration to begin