Catching up with Madison

The last few months have been incredibly chaotic for our family. Madison has had so much going on that the other kids and I are exhausted just driving her around! She's had school, swim lessons, piano, gymnastics and a few play dates. I didn't mean to over schedule us quite so much, but hey, it happens and next year I will be MUCH more careful in what I put the kids in.

Swim Lessons

She has been in swim lessons for the last month, she did 2 sessions and LOVED them. I'm so glad, I'm such a water baby that it would make it hard for me if one of my kids didn't enjoy the water.

For the first session she stayed in level 1 to refresh all of her skills. With us not having a pool she doesn't get to swim near as much as any of us would like. She did great! I love her swim instructor, the first skill she teaches the kids is the "recovery." I think that is what she calls it. Basically the kids have to learn to go under the water and then come up and float on their back. She says that if they know that skill they should never drown. Hey, I'm a fan, the last thing I want is to deal with the death of a child via drowning. Madison got this skill down pat last year and did great with it again this year.

In her second session she did Level 2 and was diving by the end. I was so proud of her, she was terrified of diving but thanks to positive peer pressure she was diving with the rest of them. She also began learning side breathing, front stroke and back stroke. She still has a bunch to work on to get really strong in level 2, but she did so well!

Random Story with picture

This is just a random story about her, but I love this picture and got a kick out of her creativity. She discovered this new show with a superhero named Spartacus in it. It's beyond cheesy, but whatever. She likes it.

Anyway, she put on her super girl jammies and her snow boots so that she could be Spartacus and save whomever around the house. Mostly she just ran and jumped off of all the furniture. Luckily I got a cute picture of her before she ended up in timeout for the aforementioned jumping off of furniture.

First Piano Recital

Madison had her first piano recital this past month. She has been in piano the last 6 or 7 months and is actually doing really well. I wasn't sure how quick she would pick it up, or really if she would even like it, but she loves it and, for the most part, practices without me having to nag her.

She got to play 2 songs and was able to memorize the first one but had the book open just in case she needed it for the second. She played "The Opposite Song" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." She is reading the notes on the staff and is able to play with both hands. I'm so proud of her.

She has a tendency to be silly, but she took the recital seriously and was very professional during her turns.

Of course I forgot my camera that records video, so I was only able to get still shots of the night. I was bummed about that but excited that the other 2 kids made it through without too many issues.