My Little Hero.

Today I took my two kids to a Nursery here in town to look at some trees. Malia was wandering around a little, and Riley in typical fashion was very concerned about where she was and whether she was following us or not. He was so stressed about it that I almost got annoyed and even said "It's okay Riley. She can walk around...she's safe here."

As I was checking out a few minutes later, and chatting with the lady about how much I love a certain plant, I heard Riley say "Mommy! Look at Malia!" Halfway aware of what he said, and still signing my receipt, I glanced around and my eyes fell upon a sight I will never forget and hope to never see again. Malia was floating face down in a little pond that was set up in the nursery. I can't even explain how horrifying this was. The pond was about 30 feet from where I stood, and I bolted over knowing every second counts. And as I was running towards her I was shocked to see that she wasn't flailing about like you would expect, but just moving her arms and legs a little, like she didn't know what to do. She was right in the middle of the pond, which was only a few feet across, but I knew that a few more seconds and she could be gone. I jumped into the pond and yanked her out not knowing how she would be or quite how long she had been that way. She just gasped a few times and had this shocked look on her face, but within a few seconds she was perfectly fine other than being covered in disgusting moss.

I am so grateful that everything turned out okay, but literally sick to think of what could have been. I am so thankful to Riley. He later told me he heard a splash and looked over wondering if it might be Malia. He saw that it was and told me. I didn't hear a splash. I was busy chatting. Riley, I love you so much and as I told you today, you saved your sister. As a parent, it is painful to even think of something bad happening to your kids. Today that almost happened. Maybe I am being over dramatic, but it's not everyday (thank goodness!) that you see your child nearly drown. It can happen so easily. I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for Riley and how aware this little boy is of his surroundings.

SUMMER FUN....FINALLY!!!

Last summer/fall, we slaved away in our yard getting landscaping started. I guess we didn't get enough because this year, from April on, we have continued slaving away come rain or shine. All this has been for the end goal of being done and enjoying our yard, and we are almost there although I don't think there's such a thing as being 100% done. One reason we have been hurrying to get a lot done is because we had Riley's 5th birthday coming and were having a party at our house. I wanted everyone to hang out in the yard and the kids to enjoy the swingset, sandbox, and trampoline. So we worked our butts off during this heat wave, and come party time guess what happened? It RAINED. So the party moved into the unbeautiful, unfun garage which is definately the least kept up part of our house. Perfect! So what else to do but strap on my viking hat (see pic below) and get the party started.

Malia and Grandpa Cook staring at eachother. She doesn't want him to make a quick move and get her watermelon.

Don't think we've had a party yet where Riley hasn't gotten shy and pouty when everyone sings to him. Hard to see the cake, but it's a "How to train your dragon" cake with toys on it. I made it three layers tall, thinking I was all cool, but them come time to cut it into 30 pieces was not so cool. It was like little skyscrapers falling all over.
The rain stopped for a little bit, and Riley opened his presents.
Sadly, by the end of the party Riley had a fever of 103 (I know!) and sacked out on the couch. He loves him bumblebee transformer costume from Sam and Stacia.Riley had his first sleepover at our house since we've lived here. He's been friends with this little girl for a long time, but they don't see eachother much since we've moved. They had a great time on the swingset and pool. Malia learned quickly to get out of the way!

They wanted to take a bath together, with their swimsuits on of course. They were in there for almost two hours! When it was about time for them to get out, I decided to stand outside the door to evesdrop on what a 5 and 6 year old can talk about for two hours. I was shocked when I heard them about to play a little game of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" or something to that effect! So I open the door and remind them that we keep our private parts PRIVATE! Oh dear.

These two slept until 11 am!

Malia is contemplating whether to gently wake Maggie up, or jolt her out of sleep. She ended up doing a nice little hair and cheek stroke, but as I walked toward her she quickly got in a little slap. She is WAY more of a slapper than Riley. PLUS, she pinches. I thought boys were supposed to be the aggressive ones :)