Heritage...

The other day I overheard Morgan telling Dane: "You know I'm half Mexican.  Everyone in my family is half Mexican!  Even JERSEY is half Mexican 'cause you know, Chihuahua."

I started laughing and Shane said, "Oh she's been on this kick for awhile now.  She told me all of this the other day."

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I told her that she wasn't half Mexican and that the only people in the family that are half Mexican are me and Jersey."

"Did she buy it?" I asked, knowing that Morgan isn't one to back down because she is always so certain of her stance.

Shane said, "She insisted that she likes salsa so she is half Mexican too."

It's hard to argue with logic like that. :)

Wrapping Up the Front Yard...

Want to see what my front yard used to look like yesterday?

Dumpsville.

When we got this house I HATED the front yard, if you can even call it a yard.  I've never been a huge fan of desert landscape, although it can be done well, this was definitely NOT done well.

Although you can't really tell in this picture, most of those shrubs are dead or dying, the rock is obnoxious, and well, you have eyes...it's just ugly.

It bugged me every time I drove up and when people would come inside our house they would go, "Oh! This is really nice!" Not knowing that their enthusiasm was giving away the fact that from the outside they thought it was going to be a "fixer-upper" inside.  

I don't blame them.  I had the exact same reaction when I first met my house.

But now that I know my house, I felt really bad that it was so homely.  It was in desperate need of some curb appeal...someday.

Someday came sooner than I was thinking.

Two days ago Shane told me Santa was coming to give me my Christmas gift.  Santa came in the form of Ron Ponsin...a gruff landscaper that did our backyard over a year ago.

I smiled as soon as he drove up.

I knew what was coming and Santa had never looked so good. (Neither had Shane. :) It's incredibly sexy when a guy knows just what to get you for Christmas and does it without you knowing and works extra weekends to earn the money to pay for such a large gift.)

Shane had me talk to Ron to make sure things were gonna be done the way that I'd like and work was started the next day.

Today (our Christmas Day), my front yard looks like this: 

When our tree gets bigger and actually has leaves and our bushes grow and bloom it will be even better.

I had no idea grass could make me so happy.

I had no idea you could get a front yard for Christmas.

I had no idea my house could look 3000 times better in one day.

I had no idea my husband was so brilliant...okay, actually I did have an idea about that.

For so many reasons this was the best Christmas ever, and it will always be the year I remember getting a front yard for Christmas.

Hmmmmmmm.

Last night Shane and I were having a rousing economic discussion.

He was telling me that the average salary today is $1000 less than it was in the 1980's.

Pathetic.

Olivia wanted to know why this was.  So he explained a little bit about people spending money they don't have and how this caused problems for everyone, even the people that didn't do that.  Now we all get to pay for everyone else's mistakes and there isn't any money now.

Then he said, "The US is in so much trouble and we have had to borrow tons and tons of money from China."

Immediately Olivia said, "Well that's embarrassing."

And she's right.  It is embarrassing.

How can an 8 year old understand this so well and yet most of the adults in our country can not?

It reminded me of my favorite SNL clip ever:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-stuff

First we have to figure this out.

Then we'd better teach our kids.

And then maybe, just maybe, this country of ours might stand a chance.
 

Crafty I Am Not...

Want to see the super cute Advent Calendar I made?

Isn't it adorable?

Okay, so maybe I didn't "technically" make it, but practically.

I've been telling Lana for weeks now that we need to make an Advent Calendar.  It is essential for our children's growing up Christmas years.  They might as well not even have a childhood if they have no Advent Calendar.  I'm not really even sure how they've survived the past few years.

So we discussed some different ideas of what we wanted to do and we came up with the idea I have pictured above.  Then we set out to the store to fetch our supplies.

Well...wouldn't you know it, when we walked into JoAnn's to go get the fabric, they had already made our Advent Calendar for us!  

I thought that was nice of them.

And they just so happened to have TWO left!  It was a sign really.

We looked at each other for a second and then slowly placed them in our carts, careful not to make any sudden movements.

We didn't want to alert the crafting gods that anything had gone awry.  

Needless to say, we did feel a little sheepish going to JoAnn's for materials to make a project and just walking out with it in hand already done, so Lana decided we should make Christmas wreath's.

Who am I to kill a dream?  So I went with it.

I'm happy to say it turned out fabulously...with some help from Lana. :)

See?  Isn't that cute? 

Hopefully the crafting gods will forgive us now. :)

Wedded Bliss

If you must know, my nephew Bryson just got married yesterday.

When Bryson was born I was 9 and, being the youngest, I was SO excited to have a baby around.  Plus I felt ridiculously cool being an "aunt" at age 9.  I totally bragged about it at recess.

I don't think I let Bryson out of my sight until he was about 4.  I LOVED him so much!

I remember worrying that he might try drugs some day (I had strong mothering instincts in me from a very young age) and I just wanted to protect him from all the bad things in the world.

As it turns out, I didn't need to worry.  Bryson turned out fabulous and made many great choices, like just saying no to drugs.  But yesterday he made the best choice yet.  He married Tierra Jean and she is so freaking cool.

See what I mean?  She's just so fun.

A few years ago Bryson and I were talking and he was thinking about his future and said to me, "I'm so afraid that I might just 'settle' for someone when I get married and I really don't want to do that."

"Then you won't," I assured him.

And he most definitely didn't.

Congratulations to a beautiful couple. :)

Oh Justice...

On Saturday I took the kids to the mall.

Olivia had $20 burning a hole in her pocket and she wanted some new earrings and an outfit. (but for mall prices that means new earrings and a shirt).

So after getting the earrings she saw the store Justice for Girls which she LOVES and had to go in there.  After MUCH perusing, trying on, and perusing some more she finally decided on a shirt.

She bought the shirt which was $3 more than she had and I told her she'd owe me $3 when we got home.

As we were walking out of the store she decided she wanted to return the shirt and get a cheaper one instead.

So back we went.

There is no such thing as a quick return anymore.

The girl needed my driver's license and a background check to return the shirt we just bought with cash.

Geez.

So as she goes to hand me the difference in change, which was $1.96, I said, "Oh, can I just give you 4 pennies so you can just give me $2 instead?"

She looked at me like I was asking her to give me free $100 bills.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't," she stammered, "I've already run the transaction."

"Um, okay.  It's just cash right?  So this should be fine.  You know 96 cents plus 4 cents equals a dollar, soooo...."

"Oh, yeah, I just don't think we're allowed to do that."

"What do you mean 'allowed to do that'?  I just want a dollar instead of 96 cents and here is the 4 cents so that it is all good."

"Ummm, yeah, I just, I'm not sure how they count the drawers at night and I don't want to get in trouble and I just don't think we're allowed.  Let me just check."

Oh. My. Gosh.  This was now like a 5 minute ordeal and when I was telling Shane the story later I realized I should have taken the 96 cents from her, added my 4 cents and said, "Hey, can you give me a dollar for all this change?"  But I was just so baffled by the whole thing I didn't know what to do.  She was acting like they wanted an exact count of every quarter dime and nickel people pay with.  And the whole "allowed to" thing was really throwing me off.

I assured her I had done drawers before and that all that matters is the amount needs to add up and that this would add up just fine.

She wouldn't take it.

So she asked the girl next to her, "Um, Kaitlyn, are we allowed to do this [explains story]?"

Kaitlyn, while looking up and thinking really hard: "Um, I don't know.  I mean, it makes sense, I think, but I'm just not sure if like that is something we are allowed to do."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALLOWED TO DO?!?!?!?!?!?  You can't give somebody a dollar bill for a dollar's worth of change?  Somebody just shoot me now.

Finally they called the manager over.

"Um, Cami (aka: the manager) can we...[explains story]?"

Cami looks at her and says, "Yeah. Of course."

Thank you Cami, I was really starting to wonder if I had gone crazy.

Let this be a lesson to all you young girls out there--Pay attention in 3rd grade math class.

You'll need it someday.

Disgusting!

Last night we had shish-kabobs for dinner.

They were pretty tasty but some of the meat was a little too big for me to eat.  I kind of want to barf at large pieces of meat that take longer than 10 seconds to chew.  So after about 15 seconds of chewing a certain piece of meat I took it out of my mouth and placed it on the side of my plate.

Can you see where this is going?

A little while later Owen came picking around on my plate.  I shooed him off and turned to talk to Shane for a second.  Moments later Shane said, "Owen just stole more food off your plate."

I looked back and to my horror you know what he had eaten.

Ugh, my stomach turned but I just started laughing and said, "You don't even want to know what just happened."

Well, then of course everyone wanted to know.

So I looked at Owen and said, "That meat you just ate off my plate was meat I had chewed up and spit out."

He just looked at me, smiled real big and said, "Well that's okay, I still really liked it!"

It's hard to phase a boy that is this awesome. :)

Halloween 2011

Have I said this before?  I hate Halloween.

It's such a bother.

But I have to say, this year, and this neighborhood, may be changing my mind just a bit.

Our neighborhood is Cuh-RAY-zee about Halloween!  People decorate more than I do for Christmas.  There are some people that spend all month decking out their yards.  One man has robots that move and another man does a different theme every year.  This year his whole front yard was a graveyard.  I should have taken pictures because I'm certain you aren't appreciating what he does.  They have smoke machines and black lights and all kinds of stuff.  Another family does a big spook alley for everyone to go through (I must admit, I screamed.  They totally scared me).  

I guess my neighborhood is really good at being creepy.  Is that a good thing? :)

Anyway, the kids really enjoyed it and this was the first year Owen and Livy went off with older friends to trick-or-treat by themselves.  I had to take some deep breaths and Shane told me it's time to let them do that and they will be okay.  And he was right and they were...fine that is.

So here was our Halloween....

Stephanie from Lazy Town (we realize this is sooo 4 years ago, but the cool thing is there were no other Stephanie's so there!  And she looks adorable.  She kept telling us, "I don't really look that good in pink hair."  But I tend to disagree.  She pulls it off.)

Harry Potter.  Which, as you can imagine, there were plenty of.  But that just made Owen think it was even cooler.  He has this serious look in just about every picture I took of him.  He was really trying to cast a spell.

And last but not least, Bloody Mary.  You would think Olivia would like to be something pretty, but no, the last 2 Halloween's she has really wanted to be something scary, and the more creepy she looks the more she likes it.  I like that she keeps me guessing like that.  (Thanks to my sis-in-law Jody for the awesome wig.  It made the costume for sure.  Everyone loved it.  Also thanks to my mom for all the help making Olivia's and Owen's costumes.  Couldn't have done it without her.) 

Annual Shumway/Dayton kid Halloween picture.  So cute.

And here we have my kids with 3 of the Brienholt kids and 2 of the Shumway kids doing candy trading.

This handsome guy even dressed "festively", as Livy put it, for his classes today.  He's a teacher, what can you expect?  If he starts buying cardigans with pumpkins on them I will start to worry, but an orange shirt and tie I can live with. :) 

Until next year....

BOO! 

TRI Catching Cupid

Olivia is on the AZ Desert Dolpins Synchronized swim team and I am also the land conditioning and swim coach for her team.  I have to say, I love it.

Synchro is an interesting sport that I am still learning a lot about, but the more I learn the more I like it.  It takes a lot of time, work, and effort on the part of the coaches and the girls, but there are so many great things being learned it is worth it.

One of the hardest things about synchro is once you get into national meets it is EXPENSIVE!  I think they told me it was about $5000-$7000 per girl that went to nationals last year.  Crazy.  

So as a team we try to do a lot of fundraisers to help with these costs.  BUT, what I love about this team's fundraisers is that they aren't typical.  They don't just put their hand out and ask you for money, they try to do things that you get something out of.  So our fundraiser this year is a TRIATHLON! 

Ambitious, yes indeed.

I stepped up to be Race Director for this because nobody else was and I thought I was up for the challenge.  A challenge it most certainly is.  I have a whole new appreciation for these kinds of events.  There is so much work and money poured into putting this on.  But hopefully it will all be worth it.

My goal is to get 300+ participants out to this race.  That means YOU should do it and get your neighbors, friends, family members, kids, etc. to do it too.  It's Valentine's themed and it's gonna be fun.

Sometimes people will say things like, "Why would I want to pay money to do something like that?"  So I have written a little ditty below to help people realize what it is about triathlons that makes people come out and why they should probably "tri" too.   

For your reading enjoyment....

Why TRI?

Several years ago, after my last baby was born I needed something to motivate me to get my buns in gear and get back in shape.  I had heard people talking about triathlons.  It sounded exciting but out of reach.  I thought, That’s something that “other people” can do, not me.  But the more I thought about it the more I wanted to TRI.  If other people could swim, bike, and run then so could I!

What I didn’t realize at the time I registered for my first triathlon is that triathlons are such an amazing experience from beginning to end.  From the day you register to the moment you cross that finish line, your experience is in full swing.  When you pay that registration fee (and you feel butterflies in your stomach) you aren’t just paying for the race day, you are paying for every day leading up to the race as well.  What you receive with that entrance fee isn’t just a t-shirt and a slot on the bike rack, it’s also increased motivation, physical & emotional growth, endurance, excitement for life, the realization that you can do things you didn’t think you could do, a clear-cut goal, and more.  If you are training with a friend, spouse, or child you are paying for invaluable time growing together. 

When you register for a triathlon you get so much more than a day…you get an experience that lasts several months and memories that last a lifetime.

So why TRI?  I think the real question is why not?

Here's the link: http://www.active.com/triathlon/mesa-az/tri-catching-cupid-reverse-sprint-and-youth-triathlon-2012?cmp=1745&fb_ref=event_details&fb_source=profile_multiline 

Right now you can use coupon code: LOVE 2012 and get $10 off registration!  

***

TRI Catching Cupid is the perfect triathlon for first timers or seasoned athletes.  It will be a very fun event for the whole family.  Also, following the triathlon, before the awards ceremony, the AZ Desert Dolphins Synchronized Swim team will entertain us.  How often does that happen at a triathlon?  This is one triathlon you don’t want to miss!  Register today!

Learning To Do The Little Things...

The other day Olivia (8 almost 9 years old) came home from a play date with a friend where they painted their nails and apparently they also trimmed their nails.

She told me, "Sydney was really surprised that I didn't know how to trim my nails."

"She was?" I asked, a little surprised.  Then I said, "Did you tell her that your mom still does too many things for you that she probably shouldn't?"

We laughed and then I told her to bring me the clippers because she had missed several of her nails and they were driving me crazy and I just trimmed them up for her real quick. :)

I told Shane, "I started trimming their nails when they were babies, how am I supposed to know when to stop?"

I know I am not the only mom that would rather do things for her kids to avoid certain messes, save time, get it done the way I want it, make sure they don't get hurt, etc. but the more I think about it the more I realize I NEED to let those things happen for their sake.  I have figured this out in certain areas (swim skills, aka: learning to do hard things), but I have to be willing to have my life "inconvenienced" so they can learn regular, every day life skills.

I'm working on it....

I did let them pour their own cereal & milk this morning.

Baby steps.

Speed? I Am Speed.

Being fast can be a really good thing.  Especially in things like running or swimming, etc.  But there are other times it can just be annoying.

Shane has a loving little nickname he calls me:

"Reaction Time".

It's usually used like this:

Shane is cleaning up the kitchen, he turns around to do something and while he does that Dixie puts away five things he was just about to get to and he'll say, "Thanks Reaction Time."

Or, one of the kids will ask him to help them with something and I just walk over and do it before he even has the chance to stand up. "Okay, Reaction Time."

Or, he will be doing laundry and I will hear the washer finish and go put them in the dryer as he rounds the corner to do the same. "I was going to do that Reaction Time."

You get the idea.  I'm just one step ahead of him most of the time, which, as you might imagine, could get annoying.  Especially for Shane because he is actually Reaction Time Jr.  Before me in his life he had always been Reaction Time Sr.  But he tells me all the time that I even out pace him.

But I can't help it!

I like to do things fast...I always have. (for instance, I just typed that really fast just to prove a point...to myself.)

When I was at BYU I had a class where they tested our reaction time.  As you may have guessed :) , I had the fastest reaction time in the whole class!  I was quite proud of this, until I started realizing how annoying it is to have really fast reaction time when the rest of the world around you doesn't.

Any time I am at a stoplight I swear I see it turn green about 30 seconds before the car in front of me.

Frustrating.

When I am at the grocery store in the check out line the people in front of me all move like they are 95 even though I can clearly see they are probably closer to 35.

Irritating.

When I am walking pretty much anywhere I am again surrounded by 95 year olds and I have to figure out routes around them.

That one is kind of fun because it's a challenge for me, but if I have to stay behind them for some reason...lame.

So here's the thing...  I HATE this about myself.

My reaction time is crazy fast and it makes me crazy crazy.

I am trying to learn how to slow down.

It's hard.

I Strongly Dislike Crazy Hair Day...

This is what my children looked like as they walked out the door for school this morning.

I know it's nothing impressive, but it was no small feat.

Mostly because of this girl:

Olivia plans and schemes for weeks about Crazy Hair Day.  She has all kinds of ideas about what it's going to look like.  Somehow I am supposed to know this and bring it to life and if I can't then crying and screaming will ensue.

And it did.

There was a solid 10-15 minutes of bawling and shouting from Olivia because, well, I don't even know why because every time I would touch her hair to try something she was already upset.  When I finally told her that I wouldn't listen to it anymore and that unless she calmed down she could do her own hair she shouted inane things like, "You just love Owen and Morgan more than me. You don't even love me you only love them!!!!"

Hmmmmmm, okay.

Stupid Crazy Hair Day.

I'm happy to report that calmness was finally achieved and the above hairstyle was deemed acceptable.

Ugh.

Owen, on the other hand, was pleased as punch that we were able to do three of the tiniest pony tails I have ever done in my life.  Easy-smeesy and no crying or complaining. 

Thank you Owen.

Likewise, Morgan was real easy to please. 

She took out her buns from yesterday and her hair essentially looked like this in the morning.  She has bed-head unlike any other I have seen.  So we teased it up some more and hairsprayed the crud out of it.

Is there a 1980's hair band somewhere missing their lead singer? 

I never realized how tiny her face is until it was lost amongst this massive poof of hair.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over.  

...At least until next year.

ugh.

Oh To Be Four Again...

Morgan is now officially incorporated into Swim Skillz.

It's been rough, but we are getting there.

Yesterday I explained before we got in that if we could stay focused and on task we could get through the workout in 30 minutes and then have time to play when we got home.

Now, I have said this before, but for some reason it really struck a chord with all of them yesterday and they hit the water with force.

Even the lifeguard (who has been with me through this whole journey) commented that, "They are all business today."

'Twas true.

And Morgan was hyper-focused.  This is the girl that screamed and cried at me for having to swim just one lap.  But now she was going like crazy on her own.

I told her to swim 2 laps freestyle.  Instead she swam a lap, got out and did push ups, and then swam a lap back and asked, "Okay, what's next?"

I think I just sat there blinking at her for a second trying to figure out what was going on.  Needless to say I gave her several more laps of kicking and freestyle and then she told me she wanted to do Butterfly.  So she swam about 1/3 a lap of a pretty decent butterfly and then came up and said, "Did you see that?"  I said, "Yeah, that was really good." And she said, "Yeah, but I was taking like no breaths and I was like 'What am I doing, I'm not taking any breaths!'" And then with that she decided she was done and went over to the other side of the pool to play.

Well, what Morgan doesn't understand yet is that she doesn't decided when practice is over.  I do. :)

So I let her play for a bit while I worked with Owen and Livy and then when she came back over I informed her she had 2 more laps of freestyle and then she would be done.

She yelled,  "Ahhhhhh!  I already worked so hard and now you're just making me do more!"

"Yes, you have worked hard.  You've done such a great job, now you just have 2 more laps and you are done."

And then as she slapped the water some more in frustration she yelled again and said, "I wish I was still 4! When you are 4 you have a better life!"

I looked at the life guard to see if he was getting this, and he was, and we both just laughed and I told him it was probably true...when you are 4 you probably do have a better life.  But alas, she is 5 and hard things have come upon her, the most recent thing being two more laps of freestyle.

Eventually she got it done.  She somehow survived and everything was okay.

But let's be honest, life will never be the same.

Five is just not four.

Is Katy Perry Evil?

So here's the thing...


Today I'm driving down the road, no kids in the car, and a Katy Perry song comes on the radio.  


It's Teenage Dream.  


It's a really catchy song that I have been very clear with my kids they are NOT allowed to listen to because the lyrics are so wrong it makes me sick.  And yet every time it comes on the radio I want to listen to it because really, it's catchy.  But I don't.  I change the station because I don't think I should be listening to it for the same reasons my kids shouldn't be.


So the next station I turn to also had a Katy Perry song playing.


Last Friday Night.


And I'm met with the same dilemma.  I actually like to listen to the song but I feel like it's really wrong.  The lyrics are so messed up, especially for young kids to be hearing messages like this.  So I turned it off and I started thinking, how does somebody feel like it is okay to put these messages out to kids and teenagers (or anyone for that matter)?


Shane and I have talked about Katy Perry a lot and what to do about her songs because the kids all want to listen to her and all their friends at school listen to her.  They even play her music at school carnivals from the DJ booth.  Shane thinks she is evil and her lyrics make me think maybe she is too.  Her songs are the last thing I want my kids listening to.  


I decided to research her a little more today to try to figure out where she came from and why she does what she does.  I went to the ever reliable Wikipedia where I learned she is the daughter of two pastors (of course!) and her mother never let her listen to "secular" music growing up, only gospel music.  When she began pursuing her music career her first attempts were at Gospel Rock and she was highly unsuccessful.  Of course she was.  There is nothing sexy or immediately gratifying about Gospel Rock so why would anyone care? It was only once she went to pop and dropped all things moral that she was highly, EXTREMELY successful.  Suddenly she got triple platinum songs and albums, her success is even compared to Michael Jackson in some areas, and she gets married to Russell Brand.  


As I read all that I tried to think about every moment she realized she was compromising morally for the success she really wanted, and I am certain there were a lot of moral compromises going on.  Especially for someone who grew up with a religious background.  Then at the end of her wiki page there is this quote:


In an interview with Rolling Stone she said, "I am sensitive to Russell taking the Lord's name in vain and to Lady Gaga putting a rosary in her mouth. I think when you put sex and spirituality in the same bottle and shake it up, bad things happen."


And there I found it.  The rationalization that allows her to do what she does.  She has convinced herself that as long as you don't put sex and spirituality together that it's okay.  That statement, combined with the songs that she sings, is so absurd it is just too much for me to take.


I have some news for you Katy Perry, bad things also happen when you promote teenage sex as fun and exciting.


There will be repercussions for the teenagers that buy into it and someday, there will be repercussions for you.


So is Katy Perry Evil? 


I don't think so.  I think the word I would chose would be "confused", which is what happens when you compromise on your morality.  You get really, really confused.  


She doesn't know what she's doing anymore... and that's scary.

Satan Created Angry Birds--I Can Prove It.

I am nearly certain Satan himself invented Angry Birds.

"Dixie," you say, "That is simply not possible."

Ohhhh, but it is.

"You are being unreasonable."

Am I?

Those cute little birds suck me in to a crazed mental state with their sweet little faces and simple tricks. And then I keep wondering what special NEW bird will I unlock next?!

Boom-A-Rang Bird, are you serious?!?!  It's so cool!

I also care for Big Fat Bird a great deal. (I don't think that's the real name, but that's what I call it).

And if I could just get a whole slew of Bomb Birds I could do just about anything.

(Just don't give me any of that plain little red bird.  He's useless I tell you, USELESS!)

Then they create these clever levels with all kinds of fun stuff, (including bouncy beach balls for pete's sake!) and before I know it I'm sneaking the iPad around, trying to play Angry Birds in dark corners so the kids can't see because....well,  I'm addicted to it!

And I think we all know: addiction=Satan.

So clearly, Angry Birds was created by Satan.

I rest my case.

A Dreamer I Am Not...

Shane and I just spent the morning discussing the fact that I am not a dreamer.

I'm a realist.

I have always thought of this as a good thing, which it is in many ways, but Shane really helped me to see why it's not so great at times. (Kudos honey, kudos).

So here's how it came about...

We were discussing my sweet brother Porter who is the ultimate dreamer.  It's one of his most endearing qualities.

For example, when Dara Torres won the silver medal at the Olympics at age 43 my brother Porter called me up and said, "Do you want to swim train with me?  I want to make the next Olympics.  If Dara Torres can do it, so can I."  (I promise you I am not joking about this).

I laughed.  Not because I wouldn't love to be in the next Olympics too and be a national sensation, but because I couldn't even see the dream.  What I saw was 8 hour training sessions, trying to juggle babysitting for three kids, and trying to get a husband on board with this idea.  The dream never even had a chance because I smashed it to pieces before it could even take root.

For as long as I have known Porter, which is my whole life, every time after a summer Olympics airs he has decided he wants to be in the Olympics the next time around.  I love this about him.  As kids I used to get on board with this and dream about it a little, but at some point I lost that ability to dream and think big... for anything.  Everything became: responsibilities, logistics, reality, etc.  No room for dreaming.

Shane asked me why I refuse to dream.  When I thought about it, aside from worrying about all the logistics of getting there, I told him my two biggest reasons are:

1. I don't want to be disappointed.
2. I don't want to disappoint others.

Even as I said it it sounded dumb.

Really?  Disappointment?  This one little word (well, okay, it's kind of a long word) is stopping me from dreaming big and possibly realizing some of those big dreams?

Lame.

This needs to change. (and pointers from "dreamers" would be much appreciated).

Maybe I can be a Realist with a minor in Dreaming. :)

Marketing Madness

Don't even worry about it.  I'm totally writing a blog post.

So the other day I said something in passing to Shane that went like this, "Yeah, Owen wants to have Scott over for Friendly Friday so I had to...."

Shane: "Wait. What? Friendly Friday?  What the heck is that?"

And so I had to explain, not just "Friendly Friday", but what I have figured out works wonders with my kids...for them and for me.

I market everything to them.

Yep. I've become a marketing whiz.  Does anyone want to hire me?  I have some really fabulous ideas. :)

I think it started with swim skillz.  We gave it a name.  It became an actual "thing", so if we missed it we didn't just miss going to the YMCA to work on our swimming, we missed SWIM SKILLZ.  It was a real thing and we didn't want to miss it.  In the simple act of naming it became more important, more significant.  And suddenly I was understanding marketing a little bit more.  Why iPads/iPhones/iPods etc are so cool, in part, is because of the name.  It's not just a small little computer, it's an iPad.  Bam!

So I have developed names for real things we do and suddenly they become more real, cool, important and fun.  That's how "Friendly Friday" came to be.

Play dates these days are no longer an easy affair.  Gone are the days of living in the neighborhood with all the kids you go to school with.  We are blessed with cousins close by so we can play with them, but I want the kids to know how to make friends with other people too.  We live a good 8.5 miles away from the school and any neighborhoods that feed into it.  So play dates require me tracking down the mom of the child my child has selected as their "Friendly Friday Friend", getting a phone number, actually connecting with them on the phone, and then working out the details of pick ups and drop offs.  It's no easy feat to say the least.  It usually takes a few days to actually speak to the mom.  And I have to do this for all three kids.  It's awesome.  I do feel it is important for them to connect with their peers outside of school.  But I also know that the headache of doing all of this calling and setting up is annoying and just the thought of it makes me want to take a nap on the couch.  So for my own sake I gave it a name and a place: Friendly Friday, every other friday.  This did two things: 1. It made me feel like I have to follow through and 2. It gave the kids something they really look forward to.

Now my kids tell me who they want to have over for Friendly Friday like it's every day phraseology--catchy isn't it?

It's ok.  You can use it too. :)

First Day of School--for everyone!!!

Well, the day has arrived that I never thought would.  I can remember having Olivia, and then Owen, and then Morgan and then thinking, it is going to be FOREVER until they are all in school. 

Well forever came today.

ONE.

TWO.

THREE.

Just like that, they are all in school.

All three of my beautiful children started school today and I can hardly believe it.  It's weird.  It's exciting.  And, well, it's mostly exciting.

Morgan woke up this morning and exclaimed happily, "I finally get to be a big kid!"  

We pulled up right behind Lana and Dana, what are the odds?  So we snapped a quick cousin pic. (Brooklyn is also going to Zaharis but wasn't there for this picture).

First Day of School 2011.  

It's gonna be a great year! :)

Cool! Double Prizes!!!

At the beginning of this year, if you'll recall, I became Chinese.

One of the big parts of my new-found Chinese parenting was "swim skills".  Twice a week I'd take the kids to the YMCA and work them out, teach them how to swim their strokes better, and really help them learn how to work hard.  It definitely wasn't easy... for them or me.  However, I could see right away the benefits it was having in other areas of their life. (especially Owen).

If you'll recall, back in February I was cussed out by some guy at the pool for pushing my kids too hard.  If you need a refresher click HERE.  But I knew why I was doing this, and it had nothing to do with swimming.

As time went on and the kids were getting better and faster I said to Shane, "Oh my gosh, they actually might have a chance to win trophies in city swim this year."  I wasn't sure, I just thought it might be a possibility.  Maybe.

As they started swim team and came home meet after meet with mostly blue ribbons I thought the reality of getting a trophy was within our reach, and then, I'll admit, it became a little about swimming. :)  But still, more than anything, I wanted them to learn that hard work and discipline pays off.

Well, it does.

Last night we didn't walk away with just one High Point trophy, but two!  Olivia & Owen both won first place in their age groups and I couldn't be a more proud Mama. :)

 (Body marking is all the rage these days at swim meets. Who were we to buck the trend?) :)

They didn't win because they are naturally strong or talented, in fact they are both on the small side of things and their strokes were atrocious when we started, but they worked harder than anyone else and that's what makes me proud.  They spent most of the season working out with the 9-10 year olds and even Owen out-swam most of those kids at practice.

(This is Olivia with cousin Tatum (left) and friend Haylee Haynes (right) who got the runner up trophy. More on that later.  Olivia is standing on her tip toes because both these girls have about 4-5 inches on her!)

When you work that hard you get to walk away with these:

When I see those trophies I nearly cry because I know what went into getting them.  One of my mom's favorite quotes is this:

"The greatest reward for man's toil is not what he gets from it, but what he becomes by it."

That's what I see when I see those trophies...what those kids have become.  They know how to push and work hard and want something and go after it and not give up and be disciplined and work past fears and get over disappointments and be their best.  And in an age where most kids don't know how to do any of those things, I find that to be a major accomplishment.

When we started swim skills I truly never intended or even believed that this would be our outcome, but I am pretty proud and happy that it was.

A quick side-note about Olivia beating Haylee Haynes.  When I was eight I got the runner up trophy and a girl named Nancy Haynes got the High Point.  Nancy is Haylee's aunt.  What are the odds?!  When we figured that out I told Olivia she had to avenge my loss. :)  And so she did.  She and Haylee are so cute together.  They are great friends and Olivia went back and forth from being excited to feeling bad about winning.  But mostly she was just excited.  She said Haylee told her she is just here to have fun and if she wins, then great.  Olivia told us she liked that attitude and decided to take it on.  Pretty cute wisdom for little eight year olds.  I'm glad they were there to push each other to be their best.

(Olivia & Haylee after the meet--proud owners of their trophies.)

I'd like to give a special shout out to my mini-me coach Morgan.  She's been by my side at every swim skills.  She yells at the kids to go faster, she corrects them on their strokes, and tells them all the things they are doing wrong.  She's quite the professional at age 4.  She really has been such a great sport throughout all this and has picked up some swim skills of her own.  I'm excited to throw her into the swimming mix next year!

Anyway, this post is much longer than I ever like to do but for the record here are their best times on each event (some of Owen's divisional times were faster) and if you want to see what awesome little swimmers they are you can follow this youtube link.  It's a straight run-through of each of their events and them getting their trophies.  Just mute your volume because I scream like a crazy lady. :)  I know they can't hear me, but it makes me feel better.  Also, I was shaking and cheering so it may not be the best video. :)

OWEN:

freestyle: 18.59 (1st)

backstroke: 25.98 (3rd)--had a bad race, he's gotten 1st at the last two meets)

butterfly: 24.42 (1st)

OLIVIA: (she was 1 second off the city record for every one of these)

freestyle: 15.64 (2nd)--she and Haylee really pushed each other. best time for both of them.)

backstroke: 19.52 (1st)--she is such a great backstroker)

butterfly: 17.50 (1st)

SWIMMING VIDEO LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSTiZD4j1E0

Avert Your Eyes...

My kids almost never see me without make-up on.

I'm one of those people that get ready and wear make-up every day.

I don't wash my face at night. (gasp! I know, no need to tell me how horrible this is, but it's not going to change the fact that I don't and I won't.  I used to and it didn't work out for me, so I don't.)


I wash it in the shower after I've worked out in the morning and then I get ready immediately.  If they come ask me a question or something in that period of time they will see me, but other than that, not really.

But I never, and I mean NEVER, go about my day without some form of make-up on...especially eye make-up.  There's just something glorious about putting black stuff all around my eyes. :)

Today, however, I had showered a little later than normal and I needed to get lunch ready for the kids.  So I just threw my clothes on after the shower and pulled my hair back and came out WITHOUT MAKE-UP ON!  I know, can you believe it.

Nobody said anything and all seemed to be going fine.  But I did get the distinct impression that Owen was sort of avoiding me.

After about 20 minutes or so I had the food ready and called Owen over to come eat.

As he sat down he said as politely as he could, "Mom, I like it when you have your make-up on." He made eye contact with me for about point five seconds and then quickly glanced down at his macaroni and cheese because looking at me was just too scary.  Seriously, he AVERTED HIS EYES!!!!

I know son, I am a hideous creature without make-up on.  I am sorry you had to witness this.

When I tell people this they never believe me, but I really am one of those people that you don't know how they can look so different with or without make-up.  It's kind of crazy.  I would post a picture but you'd never look at me the same. (and I don't think I've ever allowed anybody to take one of me without make-up since I was 12)

I used to have nightmares in Jr. High that the boy I liked would show up at my house and I wouldn't be wearing make-up and then what would I do?!?!?!  Really, I worried more about this than I care to admit.

Once or twice in high school I decided to just try going to school sans make-up and try the au naturale look, but everyone just asked me all day if I was sick.  Lovely.

Every guy I ever dated had to pass the "Here I am without make-up on, are you sure you want to keep dating me?" test.  Of course they were all kind and told me I looked just fine (they had to say that), but I think secretly they were just praying that I would never remove the make-up from my face in their presence ever again.

So my dear sweet Owen, with two sisters who will wear make-up someday, and a mother who wears it, you get an early taste of the hideous creatures that lie beneath these make-uped faces.

Our beauty is only as deep as our eyeliner can go.

Holy Cow!

I live in a neighborhood.

Suburbia.

Granted, there is a deserty field just to the side of my house, but it's just a bunch of sage brush and dirt.

So you can imagine our surprise when this morning Shane left for work and came back in two seconds later saying, "Come here, you've got to see this!  There are cows and a donkey in our front yard."

What?!

So out we went to view the spectacle.

Sure enough there was this guy:

and this guy:

and all of these guys:

this is a view from my driveway:

Right now I can hear cows mooing outside my window.  

And now the police have shown up beeping their sirens at the cows.

Half our neighborhood was standing outside, gawking at this.

I couldn't help but think how funny this would be to a rancher or cattle farmer, us all standing there like: "Oh my gosh, look at the cows!" 

But I suppose it wasn't because they were cows, but cows in an unusual place.

Morgan just keeps saying how awesome it was and that maybe Jersey could go out since maybe she would just look like a cow to them (since she's a cow dog), but she also mentioned we would need to paint her paws to look like hooves and they might notice her dog nose, so we'd need to do something about that.

She's got it all figured out.

Anyway, you can't really beat a day where you wake up to cows.

Yee-haw!