What an Angel

Brooke's birthday is coming up next week and she is so pumped about turning 8. She's getting baptized a couple of weeks after her birthday, and I wish I could say she was the most pumped up about that. Instead, I have to confess - when she was 5, maybe younger, Brooke asked me when she could get her ears pierced. I told her she could get them pierced when she was 8, since it seemed like it was a long time away at the time :) and it would a time when she would be deemed "responsible". Anyway, now she can not stop thinking about it. In fact, since she can't do it on her birthday she is working very hard to get her ears pierced tomorrow (I mean, it is Sept. 1st after all). I had forgotten about the ear piercing and was just thrilled that tonight at the Mendel's she was in "the zone" where she is happy to help out (yes, it has happened before, not often, but still). I first looked out and noticed she was putting the pillows back on the couch and putting things away. When she came to ask what else she could clean, I knew something was going on. Luckily for her their house doesn't need much cleaning, but she was picking up any stray items and even offered to watch the little girls. My dreams of her changing into the most helpful child ever were quickly dashed, when she slyly asked on the way home, "so, do you think we can go tomorrow before the beach to get my ears pierced?"... Hmmm, I'm so easily swayed - I mean, it is after her original due date and then maybe she can start thinking about getting baptized :)

Angelic:

Not su much:

Yes, that is a Chia Pet

As many people may not even be aware, Chia Pets are still out there, in different forms. Robie's mom was nice enough to give us 3 of them, so in the interest of bringing the "outdoors in" we went to town. They sprouted quite nicely in such a lovely shade of green. The downside of Chia Pets (if you aren't counting their obvious un-attractiveness): After a couple of days, they start to stink and then you have to throw them away and your 2 year old was yell at you because you are taking "her" pet away. I told her I got a good picture of it.

In other hair news:

Ashley was feeling great about the whole curler situation until I took her hair out of the curlers and she realized that her hair was, in fact, even curlier than it usually is :) Of course, she had to squirt it with some water and use the brush to try to get some of the curl out.

Of course, I almost forgot to get pictures of the girls' hair this morning, what with the fact that I usually wake up about 30 minutes before we are leaving for school, but don't worry, I had the camera in the car!

So many ideas, so little time

These girls of mine have a LOT of ideas. Brooke wanted to try her hair curly, so we did some curlers last night. She liked the effect, so she wanted to do it again tonight, which hilariously prompted Ashley to want curlers in her hair (I forgot to get a picture before she went to bed, so I'll have to get a picture in the morning of her "curly" hair).

Ashley has been OBSESSED with doing a "race". Yesterday she made up a registration form on which she made her friends sign their full name (if you don't know your middle name, you can ask your mom and then come back) in order to sign up to race later on in the afternoon. We've been talking about getting into "better shape" for a while, because she is a pretty big kid, and she was sort of like, blah, blah, but after Brooke's race all of a suddent she was like, "can i do a race, too?" Anyway, the last couple of days she has gone through various forms of racing from the jump rope/running/pushups/trampoline, to the jump rope/bike/run, then today Robie took her and Brooke out for a run/bike/run. I can already tell even in just the last couple of weeks that her endurance is starting to build and she is starting to enjoy it a lot more (she used to just complain about how it made her tired and she just COULDN'T GO ON).

Oh, and not to be outdone, Lauren actually ate 4 bites of DINNER! she has been on a "if i can't eat popcorn chicken I'm not eating dinner" kick again, which has left her a lot of really hungry nights, but tonight she finally had some of the plain grilled chicken, so now I know she is still capable of eating food after 5pm.

3 Things.. hmmm

Ok, I just got tagged by Diane with this one - It seems difficult to me because normally my goals/obsessions/fears are all the same thing, but I'll try to think of different ones for each, so let's see how I do:

3 current goals: Only go to frozen yogurt 2 times a week; make healthy dinner and have healthy snacks with "real" food for the kids every day; Get all my shopping/errands/dinner made while the kids are at school so we can just play/have fun/do homework while they are home

3 current obsessions: Figuring out and making cute hair barrettes for the girls with ribbon involved?; putting in my eye drops (on the hour, every hour), Finding an excuse to go to AM/PM for the only Diet Dr Pepper fountain drink I can find.

3 fears: My eye will explode when I start running again (went slow this morning and so far so good); I will totally mess up the finances at the school as the Treasurer this year thus proving that I have lost all "smart" brain cells; I will totally destroy my children's lives by being a horrible mother (a little dramatic, but my generally my most pressing one :))

3 Random Facts: One of my favorite concerts ever was Nine Inch Nails in SLC. My shoe size is a full size smaller than it was 2 years ago; I love watches, if I get to the car and realize I don't have one on, I will go back in or it will drive me crazy all day.

prototype picture I stole from the internet (I'm hoping to add a cute little felt flower on some?)

A Celebration

My sister's little boy, Josh, was baptized yesterday so this weekend involved some serious family time. Any excuse to get my parents down here is a winner - and of course we are happy for Josh :)

Something about the kids and grandma combined means they have to play some sort of card game. I totally support games, but playing with youth is just not as fun for me, so I guess they don't get as much of it at home as they would like. I was so tired on Saturday (I'd like to think my body just needed some extra energy for my eye recovery, but that's probably a stretch) that I fell asleep on Jenn and Mark's couch while the kids ran circles around me and then played an entire game of UNO Attack (not a quiet game). I do feel a little guilty considering the fact that Jenn is the one up with a baby in the middle of the night and my parents had just driven all the way from their house the day before. I just couldn't stay awake!

Then, with the decision being made by mostly children, I was able to convince everyone to go mini golfing. I don't know why I like mini golf so much, but I think it is awesome. With all the kids, we lost track of the score, but I think we all know I won (not that I'm competitive - I was just playing for the fun, of course).

We even got to celebrate my dad's birthday which is coming up. I'm pretty sure he wanted to forget that it was coming, but we couldn't let him forget it entirely!

My sister up in Utah didn't have her baby yet (she's due in a few days) which is good because I was really worried she would go into labor as soon as my mom got down here. Hopefully things will move along quickly for her this next week!

Science is awesome

Before

After

As my sister, Jenn, pointed out today, some people are born with perfect vision, so it doesn't cost them anything. For the rest of us, there's Lasik. I'm a believer!

It's Go Time

The girls made it through their first day of school!

Ashley was very nervous - she didn't say a word all morning, she just walked stoically towards the school (insert death march music here).

In an exciting tradition, the girls all got hair cuts last week to get ready for school. Brooke was so excited to get a sidebang, which does in fact look pretty cute, and Lauren was so excited, because she LOVES getting her hair cut. For the record, this was actually Lauren's first hair cut, but she thinks she has had it cut like 4 times during which we just ran our fingers through her hair and then said, "wow, it looks so great". She was so good for her hair cut and it looked so cute for her first day of school. That's right, little Lauren started preschool on Tuesday, too :)

I was actually pretty impressed with myself - no tears were shed, but it does make me a little sad to see her going to school. The saddest part is that she is not even sad about it at all. In fact, today she was really sad because school just didn't come soon enough! I have vowed to use the time when she is home to play more games/have more fun. Is that just my mommy guilt from actually having free time in the middle of the day?

The joy ended pretty quickly, though, since this is what I was looking at for most of the day today:

that's right, Brooke came home sick on the 2nd day of school - so lame!

Not even one more day

That's it - school starts tomorrow, so I guess the party is over. We couldn't finish the summer without squeezing as much as humanly possible into the last week - the beach, Brooke's triathlon, camping, with just enough time to breathe on Sunday (and sweat during my awesome Music Time Olympics at church - let's just say the kids got a kick out of me wearing a swimcap in church), then a fun, final pool party.

The other day I was talking to Brooke about how lucky they were to be able to do all these fun things because I was such a "nice" mom to take them everywhere. She reminded me, "well, you have fun, too". So true, I seriously LOVE hanging out with friends and taking the kids to do fun things at the same time makes it a ridiculously good time! I think I'm already feeling a little lonely.. is it possible that another school year is seriously starting ? Ashley is so nervous - she had a pretty strict teacher last year, which has left her actually scared of school, but the rumor is that her teacher this next year is totally laid back, so I'm hoping she will just have a fun year and start to like the idea of going to school (as much as any kid does anyway :)). Brooke is just hoping some of her friends are in her class, but knowing her she will make new friends in a day! Let's hope for the best tomorrow.

Another Triathlete in the family!

We had a fun morning watching another family member becoming a triathlete.. this time it was Brooke! She swam 75 meters (3 lengths of the pool), biked 1 mile, and ran 1/2 mile. She was in the last wave of the day (they must have heard how fond I am of that wave.. ha ha), so it was already pretty hot, but she did so amazing. It seemed like there were a lot of parents that were totally into it, i.e. asking lame questions at the briefing meeting and seeming very tense, but most were just out to let their child have a good time. Our friends had their son racing in his first race, too, so it was fun to cheer both kids on. Tom even came to try to earn his "spectator" status - I think he actually put me and Sunshine to shame with more pictures per minute than I thought was humanly possible :) Brooke ended like all good Tylers do with a vow never to do it again (ok, robie only did that one time, but I couldn't help myself). A few notes from Brooke on the race: 1 - the hill on the bike was hard (but she was proud she made it up on the bike without having to get off and walk), and 2 - the running was "painful" at the end (I hear you sister), which you couldn't tell since she finished in a full sprint. After all the races she has watched she already knew the two things that were most important to her: getting her number written on her and getting gatorade and free fruit when she got done :) Go Brooke!

Do you have to do that here?

I really like owning numerous swimsuits - With R's resources this last year, I have quite a healthy collection. Why is this important? Because although I like to wear different suits on different days, I still don't find it necessary to fit two suits into one trip to the beach. We saw this same family at the beach that was there last week - the only way we recognized them is because they change their swimsuits after being at the beach for maybe an hour! I mean, just right there on the beach just changing bikinis on their towels. The dad even participated by changing from shorts to speedo (don't worry he kept his not quite long enough polo shirt on for at least part of the day). Last week he actually changed Speedos mid-day. He must have forgotten his other one today. Not many people can pull off a speedo (you know who you are :)), and this guy was not one of them! . At least the parents tried to be discreet by using a towel...

Big Birthday Time

After the race on Saturday, we celebrated Robie's birthday. We loaded up and went to the beach. He got some nice waves and Brooke even caught a few by paddling in herself! Always able to find weird people at the beach, we started off with a person who actually thought he could stand in a parking spot to save it for his buddy who hadn't even come into the row yet. um, yeah, that's not happeneing. It was a beautiful day - pretty enough that I even put my foot back in the ocean (not much more than that, but baby steps, right?) After a quick cleanup - and by quick, I mean 30 minutes to unload and get ready, we enjoyed dinner with friends, and then even squeezed in a movie - the Mummy. It definitely has a lot of action (lame acting and story line, but what did we expect?). I was actually so tired I couldn't get to sleep until crazy late.

On Sunday we had his grandparents, mom, sister, aunt, and uncle over for dinner. His grandad has been having some health issues of late, so we were really glad he was feeling alright and didn't get hurt at our house (he's been falling a lot). Best part of dinner was that we just hosted and everyone else brought all the food - I think I might start throwing all dinner parties like that, it's awesome!

Spectating or Participating?

Ok everyone, your dreams have come true - I am posting a blog which is largely comprised of pictures of me (thanks to S and R for your pictorial memorializations which doubles the amount of pictures taken of me in the entire year). After watching R's big race last week and looking forward to my race this week, I wondered, which is better?

Spectating (so far looks pretty fun):

Participating:

still looking happy - I mean, I got a new cute race outfit out of the deal, so participating still seemed like a good idea.

Spectating (hmmm, leisurely breaks with food is going to be hard to beat!)

Participating (here the constant waves and strong current are destroying my morale and finish time - trust me, the waves were a lot bigger up close :))
Spectating: hot guys running by while I lounge in a chair with a camera. It's nearing the end of a long day and I'm still enjoying myself

Participating (It's nearing the end of a short morning and I'm not really enjoying myself at all)

In a very lopsided competition, spectating definitely wins! I did even worse than last year in my race (thank goodness I put in so much training time - I know, each race is different, just do your best on that day for yourself, blah blah), I figure I better stop or next year I'll come in dead last - I'm getting close as it is. Just let me know if you are playing any sports or running any races, I'm seriously an awesome spectator - I'll bring my cow bell and some snacks!

One of my favorites

Another beach day on Thursday and a visit to the pool on Friday finished off the week, but the highlight for me was definitely the zoo on Wednesday. I seriously love the zoo. I think part of it is the unknown - I mean, who knew the little baby tigers would be out chasing and wrestling each other in the tiger enclosure? it was so stinking cute! I just love watching the kids seeing an animal and the excitement and yelling, "there it is". Of course, when asked, Ashley's favorite part was riding the escalator (they did sit down on it, which was a real thrill) and Brooke's was the skyride. I think Lauren's favorite part was actually washing her hands in the little sink outside the petting zoo. How can you go wrong with a child size sink with soap and paper towels? When we are at home she is obsessed with sneaking into her bathroom and standing on her stool to make a huge mess with the soap and water, so a sink her size was her dream come true. But hey, whatever it takes to get them there!

But It's Summer!

OK, so we've had a lot of fun posts about great summer adventures, but it's time for a serious post about a serious problem. I like to sleep in (not the problem), but this:

is what I have been waking up to this week. all I wanted to do was get a couple nights rest after the race extravaganza, but every morning this week at like 6:45 AM these guys are up on these people's house that is the CLOSEST to my master bedroom window (as seen from this awesome picture) and they are fully hammering/using an electric saw/whatever makes the most noise humanly possible. I'm no police officer, but I'm pretty sure this is against the law. I almost yelled something out this morning but then I figured that would only make them go out tomorrow at 5:30 (and it looks like they might be finally done anyway)... I guess I won't feel bad about my kids making a lot of noise on the trampoline anymore :) Don't they know it's summer and this is my last chance to sleep in for a while?

My Iron Man

THEY DID IT!!! Robie, J and T finished the Vineman Ironman yesterday. Robie finished in about 12:46, that's right - 12 hours and 46 minutes of working out hard! He is promising to do his own race report but I had such a great weekend I figured I would do my own race report, too (keep in mind, I'm not very good at keeping things short :)). First off, I will say my biggest fear was that somehow he wouldn't even survive the race - yes, a little dramatic, I know, but it did seem like a crazy venture. For those who aren't sure what is involved in an Ironman - they swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran 26.2 miles all in one day.

As a spectator, I had a few main responsibilities:

1. Follow along with whatever the athletes wanted to do prior to the race.
2. Be in the right place at the right time to cheer on "our" athletes

3. Follow along with whatever the athletes wanted to do after the race.

Prior to the race, we were having so much fun. I was so excited because I got to go on a bike ride with the competitors (luckily since their race was coming up they were taking it "easy" - quite a workout for me, of course). After I got familiar with the roads I even got up the nerve to ride a longer ride the next day mostly by myself (the guys only needed to ride for 15 minutes and then rest), so I think I might actually be ready for my puny race next weekend. We also got to do a precheck at the swimming location, which was this gorgeous portion of a river with beautiful trees and perfectly calm water. We were hoping to rent a kayak and follow the guys on their swim, but the kayak place didn't open until later - I guess we'll have to check the speed abilities of a kayak some other time. Later Sunshine and I went out and tried to chalk out some inspirational messages on the run course. Unfortunately most of them were on the wrong side of the road (oops), but I think they got the idea anyway!

Race morning was so exciting. I've only gone to the start a few other times (mostly so I don't have to drag kids out of bed at a crazy hour - i know, so lazy), but it was great to be able to witness the whole spectacle of a big race like this. After the swim we headed back to catch them on the bike right in front our hotel. On the way back, a girl was stuck on the side of the road looking for someone with a pump. I looked back and saw a pump in the back of the car and I just had to turn around and offer it. She was so thankful I thought she was going to cry, so then I started crying the rest of the way back to the hotel. I think I was just so excited for the guys to be doing what they have been working towards and to just know they were on the course and making it happen - crazy emotions! The rest of the race time was basically resting, eating, and cheering (ok, there might have been a brief shopping trip in the middle there somewhere)! Seriously, it's hard work to cheer people on for 13 hours - my throat's a little sore. Just imagine the laughter coming from Robie when I told him that (I mean, he wasn't really laughing until this morning, since he was pretty much out of it from the time the race was over until this morning, but still). One of the highlights from our spectating was when Sunshine and I were designated official volunteers due to our awesome cheering abilities. They even gave us volunteer shirts and a cowbell. Luckily the real volunteer showed up in time to call a medic when a competitor wandered by asking if he would be disqualified if he needed an IV (reason: he was concerned about his black urine.. hmm, probably needed a break). We saw so many amazing people that were hurting so badly and they just kept on going, including Robie, J and T! We felt so bad when we were sitting in our nice spot in the shade while they ran in the sun in 97 degree heat! I had to keep a little notebook with the different times of each of the guys so I could remember when they were probably going to be coming back and keep track of how they were doing. It worked pretty well, which is good because it can be seriously difficult to tell who they are when they are flying by at over 20mph on a bike.

We headed straight home this morning and the guys are actually doing better than I had thought they would. Robie is finally able to eat again (not feeling so hot yesterday), but everyone is in pretty good spirits (and who blames them - they just finished an IRONMAN)