Tent Maker

Bekah has become quite the tent maker. I often find her bed torn apart in efforts to make a tent over the table and chairs in her room. Other times all the other blankets in her room are piled up instead This picture was taken when she was pretending to take a nap after making a tent with her sheets. She is an inventive little girl.

A Marathon Bike Ride

Last Saturday a friend and I rode 26 miles on our bikes. The picture above was taken at the turn around point halfway through our ride. It was an amazing feeling to know I could ride that far in just over 2 hours and not be so sore and out of breath I had to sleep the rest of the day. I can't say that I understand why people want to run that far, but it was an amazing ride.

Eight months ago I couldn't keep up with Benjamin on his bike, now he can't keep up with me. It feels so good to be strong enough to ride this far and still have energy to go play with my kiddos afterwards!

Sunday Naps

We love our Sunday naps, LOVE them. A couple of Sundays ago our routine was interrupted and we didn't get our Sunday nap at the usual time. Guess these two were a little more worn out than we thought because this is how they fell asleep around dinner time.

Our Pumpkin Patch

Look what our pumpkin patch produced! (And I don't mean the cute kids.)

Big Sisters & Little Brothers

Almost every boy I know, who has one or more big sisters, has a picture similar to the one above. At some point in their young lives little brothers will get dressed up in girl clothes by their big sisters simply because they want to play with their sisters and/or don't know any better. Ryan had such an experience one Sunday afternoon when Michael was out for a drive with some friends and I was busy making dinner.

Snuggling Grandpa

"Hold me! Hold me!" is a common refrain from our little Ry-Ry. This time he asked Grandpa to hold him while he held is toys and watched what was going on at Great Grandma's house.

Blanket Burritos

My favorite "food," our children wrapped up like burritos and ready for sleeping our snuggling. We start when they are tiny and they never totally outgrow the comfort of it.

Drummer Boy

Ryan likes to play with the big kid toys, but the big kids are usually playing with them. One day we happened to be at the listening exhibit at the museum and no big kids were around (our older two were with Dad) and Ryan had the drums all to himself. He was delighted!

Watching the Owls

On Michael's birthday, we went to watch a baseball game. Michael was able to watch most of the game while the kids and I played on the playground and chased down the owls.

 

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Sometime in early August, Bekah lost her first tooth. I wouldn't have known her tooth was loose except the new tooth was growing in behind her baby tooth just like with Benjamin's first tooth. She was a good sport and we pulled it out quickly, and she was delighted when the tooth fairy left money under her pillow.

Hiking with David & Denise

David and Denise came to visit us during August and we went for a three mile hike with our three crazy kiddos. We survived with minimal crying, complaining, and no accidents. We even managed to have some fun!

First Day of Kindergarten

Our Princess is so excited to be in school! I still have a hard time believing she is big enough to be in Kindergarten. Every day she tells me what she learned in class and how much she likes her teacher.

 

First Day of 2nd Grade

School started about a month ago, and now I finally have pictures from the first day to share. The kiddos had separate first days of school this year, something about having the Kindergarteners start a week after the rest of the kids. Here is Benjamin excited for his first day of school!

 

Clowning Around

So I have a hidden talent. One that involves dressing up and drawing shapes on my face. Good thing I love my kids!

Our ward was having a carnival complete with games, prizes, a dunking booth, and a clown making balloon animals . . . . or so the Primary leaders thought. On Wednesday afternoon, the clown canceled and they asked if anyone in the neighborhood would be willing to step in. Balloon animals are one of my children's favorite things to get whenever we go to events with games and prizes and I hated the idea of them not getting that at the carnival, especially since they had already heard there was suppose to be a clown there. The idea of doing it myself was planted in my head and I really didn't want my kids to be disappointed.

I think I took a crazy pill that day because I went ahead and offered to do it if they would be okay with flowers, swords, and dogs. Granted, I have only made balloon animals once in my life and that was in grade school, but I figured I had spent enough hours in line waiting for and watching balloon animals being made that I could do it. Thanks, to YouTube and About.com, and a couple of hours of practice, I was able to do it. And, thanks to the awesome lady at the party store who suggested I blow up most of the balloons the night before, I saved a ton of time.

I was suppose to walk around and see if anyone wanted balloons, but the kids were so delighted with what I could do the line never stopped long enough for me to move from where I first stopped in the parking lot. There were even a couple of kids who came back for a second balloon or came back with one of their siblings to get a balloon. It sure made me feel good about what I was doing. I have to admit that after tying and sculpting nearly 200 balloons I was a little worn out. But, I had fun and my kiddos did too! Thank you, Michael, for taking care of the kids so I could clown around.

The pictures are copyrighted by SuzyO Photography and are posted with her permission. To see more of her awesome pictures visit her website here. Thanks, Suzy, for letting me repost your pictures here!

TriathaMom Pictures

Finish 302 of 322 overall, 50 of 54 in age group (25-29)



Overall Time: 2:35 hours

Swim: 14:27 minutes

Bike: 1:30 hours

Run: 46:51 minutes

Today's Highlights

I am not an excellent swimmer, biker, or runner. I may be good at some of those things, but am not strong at anyone of them. I am, however, an excellent finisher. Today I completed my first sprint length triathlon (300 meters in the pool, 12 miles on a bike, 5k run/walk) and I realized that I can do all three things, but my true strength is in finishing.

Anyway, some of the highlights from today:

• Waking up early enough to not be late even though I made a wrong turn leaving this morning.
• Getting to the transition area to set up early enough to place my bike on the end of a rack, making it easy to find.
• Seeing my family arrive with a special banner made for me, and listening to them shout at me as I passed them on each leg of the race.
• Realizing we could jump into the pool before we had to start swimming so we could get used to the water.
• Swimming wasn't quite as tough as it had been in my practice sessions.
• Realizing I could run in the grass from the pool to the transition area  instead of across the asphalt.
• Having someone mention my bike seat by set too low, adjusting it, and having the pain in my knees go away. (Apparently, the comfort level of sitting for mounting and riding are different heights.) She actually saved me a ton of pain during the rest of the race since her comment came less than 3 miles in as I was struggling up a gradual incline of a couple miles in length.
• Listening to someone say "On your right" as they passed me on the left and I was riding on the edge of the road next to the gutter where there wasn't room to pass. Made me smile!
• Getting a flat tire at the last 3/4 mile of the bike course, having my bike picked up by the road crew, and getting to run/walk back to the transition area.
• Running into a friend from high school who was there to support his wife. He was very athletic then and knew how unathletic I was, and then he got to see me participating in something of this magnitude. (I kept stats and score while the teams were practicing or playing.)
• Watching my husband trying to keep track of three kids and take pictures of me at the same time.
• Passing people as I walked the 5k course. It was choose to run or breathe at that point and I chose to breath, besides the fact most of the course was uphill in a residential neighborhood.
• Finishing all three events without passing out, falling down, getting hit by a car, losing anything, or throwing up.
• Having my name announced amidst cheering as I cross the finish line.
• Not finishing last, either overall or in my age group.
• Taking a shower when I got home.