Swim Meet #2

The second swim meet of the season was a momentous one for our family. It was the first time that all of our children have competed at a meet together.

Shelby started out swimming an IM (intermediate medley; for those who don't know swim speak, it is a race with all four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly). She took 7th place in IM. I had a really cool picture of her swimming, but she wouldn't let me put it in! Teenagers are SO picky!

This is Caleb swimming butterfly. He took 6th place in IM, Freestyle and Butterfly.

Here is Joshua getting ready for backstroke. He came in 19th in backstroke and 11th in breaststroke.

Here is Samuel getting ready to swim. He is by far the most competetive of our kids and really takes this seriously! He took 2nd in backstroke, 1st in butterfly and 4th in breaststroke.

Here is Savannah getting ready to swim in her first ever meet. We were so anxious to see how she would do since she usually holds to the side with every breath! She shocked us all by finishing without ever holding the side! Of course we were scared she would go under the last 1/3 of the length of the pool! But she kept on going and she was so excited when she finished!

Savannah came in dead last at 25th place, but we all know it is all about the sucker you get for finishing! We expect good things from her in years to come since she is the youngest swimmer in the under 6 yr. old division!

Flag Football Champs

Today I am playing catch-up since I was such a slacker at blogging last week! Last Saturday, Joshua's flag football team won the middleweight division championships! This is the first year for flag football in our area, so they made history as the first ever winners!

Joshua has loved playing, but has had a lot to learn this year. All year long, the coaches have been working with him to catch a pass in the end zone for conversion points. He has been SO close, but never quite seems to hang on.

My appreciation goes out to great coaches who have been so encouraging and never gave up on Joshua. They kept telling him "It's okay, you'll catch it next time!" So in the championship game, they once again sent a pass to Joshua and HE CAUGHT IT!!!! I don't know who was more surprised; Joshua or his coaches or his teammates! What a fun way for him to end the season!

All the players received a medal for participating in the league this year.Joshua received an award for Most Sportmanshiplike Player. It came with a gift certificate for a free haircut at Sportsclips! We may have to let his hair grow out a little so he can use that one!GO WOLFPACK! Here is the team with their championship trophies!

To Be a Mom

Sometimes in the craziness of everyday life, it is easy to forget how great it is to be a mom! I know what it feels like to beg and plead for children and then to have your hopes dashed when pregnancies don't turn out the way you had hoped. I also know the peace and love you feel when you know your prayers have been answered; not on your time or in the way you thought they would be, but in the way that the Lord knows is best for you. I consider each one of my children to be a blessing and a gift from God. I have a friend named Heather who lives around the corner from me who has been trying for years to have children. She has been through struggles with infertility and the ups and downs of adoption. Just a month ago it seemed like it was all for nothing and her hopes were dashed once again. Our ward fasted and prayed that doors would be open and Heather and Selwyn would be able to adopt their girls. So many prayers have been offered on Heather's behalf and I know that God answered those prayers. She is now in Vietnam picking up her twins and something that seemed unreachable is in her arms. Check out Heather's blog to see pictures. I can't think of anyone who deserves this more! In my book, Heather was already the greatest mom in the world, even before she got the twins. Sometimes the best moms are those who have to wait the longest to realize their dreams. Congratulations Heather!

Makeover Madness

Since Shelby is still gone till tommorow morning and the guys got home from their 50 mile hike early, I decided to make my husband help me on a project today! I found a bed for Shelby's room on Craigslist for a pretty good price, so I dragged Chris out to disassemble it at someone's home and then bring it back to our house and reassemble it. He must really love me because he is extremely sore but he still helped me do this! I love my husband! We decided to clean up Shelby's room and rearrange it a bit to surprise her when she gets home. We left a few things for her to hang up so she can feel like she is making it her own space.
Aunt Shannon made the vinyl saying for the wall and I decided to put it where it is the first thing Shelby sees when she wakes up and the last thing she sees before she goes to sleep!

Hopefully Shelby will be happy with the changes! We sure had fun doing it! Joshua and Savannah even pitched it; Joshua helped with his tools to assemble the bed and Savannah "fancified" the room with her decorator's touch!

Updates on my Missing Family

Chris and Caleb have survived the 50 mile hike so far. There is only one day left and they cannot wait to get back to civilization and all the luxuries that entails......hamburgers, pizza, ice cream, running water, beds, showers, air conditioning, and the list goes on! What started out as a rather large group of 5 leaders and 8 boys has now dwindled to 2 leaders and 4 boys. Some only planned to come out for a day or two and join in the hike and some left early due to sickness or difficulty hiking the terrain. One of the leaders from our group suffered severe heatstroke and collapsed on the trail. The senior boy scout on the trip ran ahead, filtered water, and brought it back to him. Then he carried this leader's 40 lb. pack and helped him to the next shelter. I am so greatful for the life skills these boys learn in scouts. It is nothing short of amazing to me that they can literally save lives! The leader is now back home and recuperating comfortably. I am glad that Caleb and Chris have been able to share in this time together. Chris has been involved in scouts the majority of our married life and we were so disappointed that he was released right when Caleb turned twelve. I know he is excited to be back in and share in these experiences with his son.

Shelby called from EFY last night and said she is having so much fun! She has really bonded with her roommate, a girl from Tennessee, and is also spending some time with girls from our ward. She said that the first few days it seemed like it was all about church stuff and then all of a sudden it struck her on Wednesday that it all ties together! Church stuff and your life are interconnected! I was so glad to hear that she is enjoying it and learning things in the process. She said she has taken so many notes because she really wants to remember everything she is learning. I am so glad she has had this opportunity! I hope she can bring what she learns home and apply it to her life here in a meaningful way.

A Little Paper and Tape

It's amazing what you can do with a little paper and tape! I am on staff at our Cub Scout Day Camp for my second year in a row. I am officially the "craft lady" and I run the craft shack where the kids come and work with me for an hour each day for a week. I am always on the hunt for fun, cool and cheap crafts that the kids can do. We tried out this geodesic dome at home and it was a really fun project for my kids to work on! If you have some extra time on your hands, I would highly recommend this for an activity on a day you need something to keep your kids occupied.
Because the kids at camp like to have something to take home, we made a smaller scale one to start with. It is my intention to make the smaller ones first and then if we have time we can make a large one as a group. Unfortunately that one will have to stay at camp!
If you would like to make your own geodesic dome, you can find instructions here. There is also a more difficult, but way cooler one, here (click on geodesic clubhouse). Have fun!

Swim Meet

I love swim team season! Where else can you put all your children in one sport and attend one event that they all participate in at the same time? I love the family comraderie it encourages and the chance for the kids to cheer for their brothers and sisters! Last night was our first swim meet. Samuel and Joshua were the only ones competing since Shelby and Caleb are still out of town and Savannah needs to figure out how to breathe without holding onto the side every time she breathes! Joshua was doing double duty as he rushed between a cub scout raingutter regatta and the swim meet. His boat didn't do so well.......it lost every race.......but hey, it looked cool! Luckily for us, we were competing against his den leader's swim team, so she just took him out long enough to go race his boat at the church and then got him right back to the pool! (For those of us outside of Utah, it is a lot farther away than you might think!) It was just one of those days when mom could not be two places at once!
Joshua got back just in time to compete with his teammates in backstroke, where he placed 12th. Samuel never stopped moving the entire night. It was hilarious! He was eating non-stop, so I knew he was burning up energy! Watch the video and you'll understand!

When the night was over, the Stingrays (our team) had won the swim meet! Joshua placed 6th in breaststroke, 12th in backstroke and 6th in freestyle relay. Samuel placed 3rd in freestyle, 2nd in backstroke, 5th in breaststroke and 2nd in freestyle relay. They were both very excited since they moved up an age group this year and are the youngest in their age group, so they weren't expecting to do quite so well. Savannah watched very closely and is working hard so she can compete in the next meet!

Summer Fun Begins!

After a hectic, crazy weekend, my family size is now down to four! Chris was called as scoutmaster a few weeks ago and he was thrilled to find out that he was just in time to go on the 50 mile hike with the scouts this week. So we spent Saturday running around getting last minute supplies for Chris and Caleb to take on their hike. After a final weighing of the backpacks, Chris' weighs in at 32 lbs. and Caleb's weighed 20 lbs. In my opinion, that is WAY too heavy to carry for 50 miles, but what do I know?!!!! All I can say is I hope they have fun and I am so glad its them and not me!

In the midst of all the craziness, I stopped in at Home Depot to pick up some plants for the garden. Our next door neighbors have cleared all the trees out of their backyard so that they can actually get enough sun to garden. We really wanted to take ours out, but the $6000 price tag for tree removal was a lot more than we wanted to pay! So our neighbors caught me in the yard last week and said they had saved us a few rows in their garden if we wanted to plant something. It is a little late to start from seed, so I went out and bought cucumbers, tomatoes, yellow squash, watermelon and cantaloupe and planted them all this weekend. I am so thankful for the kindness of neighbors who share their land with us! Wish me luck on my little garden!

Today Shelby left for EFY with a group of girls from our ward. After packing and repacking till the wee hours of the morning, she still managed to get out the door without a towel or pillow! Luckily one of the girls had extra, so she is well taken care of! I hope that she has the time of her life and meets some great people!

School's Out!!!!!

The last few weeks have gone by in a whirlwind as we lived through SOL's (standardized testing required in our state.....funny name, huh?!), our first experience with high school finals, and the opening of the swimming pool which brought on the onslaught of nightly swim team practices. This was the first year Shelby couldn't really coast on into the summer after Memorial Day because she had finals up to the last day of school. Well, yesterday was that glorious day! The kids were so giddy and excited! They begged me to take them out of school early, so I decided to go get them after the first 2 hrs. and we all went up to the waterpark. It was so much fun! Savannah is getting brave on the waterslides, but the poor thing is just not tall enough to be able to do them all! We played till we were exhausted and then stopped at a pizza buffet on the way home. It was a really nice day!

After we got home last night, I started going through the backpacks trying to throw out anything we don't need before the kids discover it and argue that they absolutely positively cannot throw away that assignment. I found Samuel's 1st grade journal and started reading through it. Now, those of you who have lived through your own first graders know there is nothing more precious than that 1st grade journal! I have saved them from all my kids because they are so fun to read!There was an entry in Samuel's journal that I had to laugh at.......

My Grandpa
My grandpa likes to play with me. He is funny. I like to go to his house because you can see the deer and I can play in his cool treehouse that looks like a house that is built by wood and it is tall. My grandpa has no hair so no head lice will get in. My grandpa is cool.

I asked Samuel how he knew about head lice because I haven't ever talked to him about it and he said "My teacher has a book on it in our library and I read it!" Obviously, head lice are a big thing at his school!

Well, I'm off to enjoy our summer vacation! If you need me, you can find me at the pool for the next few months!

Flag Football and Character Awards

Saturday was a scorcher for Joshua's football game! It was 102 degrees with lots of humidity, and pretty much unbearable in the shade! The team played hard and drank lots of water and they won the game. They are still undefeated for the season! Looks like they will be playing in the championship game in two weeks! Joshua is the smallest and least experienced member of his team, but he is having a GREAT time and absolutely loves playing football! He is definitely practicing very hard and gets better each week. Mom is just greatful for the concept of flag football that allows Joshua to live his dream without being killed! Here he is attempting to "sack" the quarterback.

Today, Joshua received a character award at school. One boy and one girl were chosen from each class for representing the core values of respect, responsibility, and honesty. He is in a center-based gifted (CBG) school with kids who come from 10 different elementary schools all over the county, so we thought it was funny that Joshua and Sydney were chosen. They are the only two people in his class who came to the CBG program from his old elementary school! Joshua and Sydney have been friends since we moved here last year. They are in school and on swim team together.

He's A Bear!

Joshua has been working hard on earning his Bear and he finally accomplished it this past week! He brought some of his projects to display at pack meeting: two pictures, a cup, and a toolbox. Josh and his friend Zayne got to do the flag ceremony. He looked sharp in his uniform!
Joshua's pack has a tradition of "branding" them when they earn a new badge. His cubmaster has a bear-shaped sponge attached to a dowel. He dips it in baby powder and then "brands" the back of the scout shirt. Joshua thought it was pretty funny!
We are so proud of Joshua for being dedicated and setting a goal and reaching it! Now he can spend the summer racking up those arrow points! His next goal is to earn more arrow points than he earned with his Wolf (5).

Week in Review

I lost the link cable to my camera this last week, so now that I've found it, I have a whole bunch of pictures to show off! This is Shelby at the freshman awards ceremony. She received a silver award for the National Spanish Exam. She scored the highest of all the 2nd year Spanish students at her school! Way to go Shelby!

I was able to go with Samuel on a field trip to an old farm to see what life was like over a hundred and fifty years ago. It was fun spending the day with him and his class. It was not so fun riding the bus for an hour each way with 50 screaming first graders and no air conditioning!

This is Samuel grinding coffee beans. He said they smelled really gross and he cannot believe anyone would ever drink coffee!

My Busy Life.....

Who knew that life would get crazier once my kids could all dress themselves, sleep through the night, feed themselves, and be potty-trained? I guess I just always thought that my life would be better once I wasn't all mired down in the day-to-day mayhem that accompanies caring for young children. I looked forward to the stage of life where a trip to the store wouldn't require scheduling around naptime, feeding schedules, and packing a full diaper bag....including a change of clothes for everyone involved! I knew I would miss holding and rocking my newborn babies, but I never realized how much I would miss the simplicity of life with young children. This will sound crazy to my friends who envy me being able to run errands without a tantrum or two from the backseat, but guess what? You will miss these mundane tasks and the innocence of childhood! All too quickly, my oldest children have grown into teenagers who require an amazing amount of time and emotional energy from me. I am beginning to realize that it never gets easy.....parenting is for a lifetime! There are days I really get discouraged with choices my children are making and then there are days when I am amazed at their potential. I keep having to remind myself that someday I will look back at life with teenagers nostalgically, just like I am looking back at life with toddlers! All I can say is ENJOY THE JOURNEY. Treasure each moment and be grateful for the memories you are making every day.

Cinderella

In all my time away from Utah, I have found that the thing I miss most is the availability of good literature. I have to admit to being cheap......I don't usually purchase books; I just check them out at the library. I loved having a great selection of church books and mormon fiction available when we lived in Utah. Unfortunately the supply is very short the further you get away from Utah, so I started reading Christian fiction several years ago. One of my favorite Christian authors is Karen Kingsbury. I was online today checking out her webpage to see when the next book in her series was coming out and I noticed a link to Steven Curtis Chapman's website where I found this beautiful music video for a song that he wrote, "Cinderella". It touched my heart especially because he wrote the song last year for his little adopted daughters to help him to remember that all too soon, they grow up and are gone. One of these little girls, Maria Sue, was killed a few weeks ago in a tragic accident when her teenage brother was backing out of the driveway. I chose to share this video on my blog in the hopes that it will remind you to cherish the good times. The song is about 4 min. long and I think you'll be glad you watched. Don't forget to scroll down and pause my music at the bottom of the page.