Noah floats his ark at Divisionals

Noah probably had the most going in his favor as far as going to divisionals. He is an older 8 year old and is very strong. The top two swimmers for each stroke and age group are invited to divisionals. I really couldn't believe when I found out Noah was going to do free, back, fly and the relay for our divisional meet! Way to go Noah! I was able to video tape his back and his fly.

Some comments:

Noah took three seconds off of his back and fly times.

Noah's freestyle score was an 18.87.

Noah was the last leg in the relay; meaning he was the last one to swim. As one veteran swim mom put it-- he is the one who makes or breaks it for the team. Ok, what kind of pressure is that to put on him and what kind of pressure is that to put on me?

The picture of Noah diving is from his relay. It was a lucky, amazing shot. I actually bumped the head of the woman in front of me trying to get it. oops.

Noah's relay scored well enough to go to all-stars next week!!!

Noah took 5th place (freestyle), 7th place (backstroke), and 6th place (butterfly)

For the butterfly video, the person who is saying "good start, Noah" is Johnathon, the best coach ever!!

I am so proud of Noah. For Noah to go to divisionals was such a treat for us. Noah is really learning to use his strength in the water. He told me this afternoon he wants to swim in the Olympics. All I can say, is you are the person to do it!!

Right now, as I write this, Noah is sleeping like a baby!

Tobin is published

Somebody needs to teach me how to get children to tell things that they should be telling! For instance, who knew Tobin had submitted one of his short stories to the literary magazine of his school. Why wouldn't he think I would like to know that?! Anyway, please take the time to read Tobin's story. Tobin loves humor and I can see him trying to use it a lot of different ways.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/lakelandsparkms/literary%20magazine/Literary%20Magazine%2008.pdf

Copy and paste this link to take you to the literary magazine. Tobin's story is on page 20. Let us know what you think of it. I will share it with Tobin; maybe it will teach him to share with me. Tobin's friend,James, wrote a story on page 14 titled "The Wall." These are amazing stories.

Tobin's birthday party adventure

One of our greatest friends and mom to one of Tobin's best friend made this great cake for us. I am amazed at how she did this with company in town and swim meets. She is truly courageous to take this on for us. Thanks Shari!






If you look at this picture closely, on the left, towards the top there is one of Tobin's friends being pulled up by the rest of the group. This event was called the Giant Swing!



I love the motion of this picture. This is Drew (I believe, hard to tell, one of Tobin's crazy friends who has no fear of death or dismemberment) He will try anything.



I love the picture below this. This is Brett, Tobin's cousin. I love the sense of movement in it. The victorious hand raise is quite a nice touch too.

These pictures (I hope) tell a juicy story of three hours of our time last Saturday!! Celebrating Tobin's birthday was pure fun and squeaky delight. We spent three hours in the woods attempting life defeating tasks; (yeah, I wasn't silly enough to partake, I only watched safely on the ground). Anyway, these kids were such great kids.

A couple of funny highlights:

Climbing up to the balance beam in the sky, one of Tobin's friends, Michael, stopped and knew he could go no further due to a fear of high places. We encouraged him to continue climbing and he went 2 more notches up the tree and then declared, "Citizens of the World!! I am done. Your job here to push me is over. I am happy with my station in the world and where it is. You are relieved of your duties. I no longer wish to climb up. I am happy with what has been done!" And then he let go and fell backwards with the rope catching him.

One the other side of the woods, the other group got crazy and funky on their trapeze walk. They were so bold they began doing tricks and stunts like hanging upside down, hanging from their knees, etc. (I will get these pictures soon).

The most hilarious highlight is this: The second activity, the Giant Swing was so audibly funny. As the kids were pulled up into the tops of the trees by their friends on the ground, they made so many "I'm bad" statements. At the moment when they would be let go and begin their free fall before the swing caught on, their eyes grew round like saucers and each and every one of those boys let out a little squeak like they were a mouse. It is so funny to see their faces and hear these tween boys squeal like a girl as they descended. We all laughed every time! Oh to hear it again.

Only two of the girls ended up showing up for the party (we only invited 4), so I was a little worried about them having a good time. We carpooled out and back and onthe way back they rode with Andy and a group of boys. I called Andy on the cell to see how they were doing and Andy replied, "Are you kidding me? I don't know whose having a better time: the girls or the boys!"

Thanks friend

Last night I had the opportunity to spend time with a friend while we (she) were/was working on embroidering towels for my children. I knew if I didn't have her help it wouldn't get done and then the purchase of the towels would have been for naught because as soon as I bought them I knew I had to have their names embroidered on them. I called around and was going to bite the bullet (price) to have them done at Things Remembered where I had had some work done before, but then they closed! I needed my friend to help me get them done so T, N, and B could use them this summer.

As my children's names (kinda the story of my life for the past 12 years) were stitched into the towels, our stories of BYU unfolded. Although we didn't know each other, we were both freshman in the same dorms in the fall of 1989. Wow! But it seemed like yesterday as we sat and talked about what made our freshman year so great. She then showed me this video she had made from the last week of living in DT. It was raw and unedited and perfect. I couldn't believe how many of the same people we knew! I was surprised we hadn't met each other! Watching the video, as the images filled the screen, the nolstalgia filled my whole being. She had the same amazing, wonderful experiences at BYU that I had had, that I want my children to have! It is nice to know that someone else gets me when I talk about BYU.

And then to come home and silently slip into my children's room, kiss their cheeks (I really wanted to bite them they were so juicy: what is wrong with me?), and place their towels wrapped in their cute ribbons on their beds! There must be some french words that explains exactly what I was feeling, but I don't know what it is. I was excited for them to wake up and find them! To feel loved. That is the best. So, you see, my friend really did me more than a favor. She helped me to feel like a better mom.

Look at the side bar for some of the comments from Brenna. :)

Little fireworks on our 4th

Our 4th turned out to be a different kind of 4th. It started out like it usually has with our annual ward "4th of July" breakfast at a local park. We had a lot of fun celebrating America with food, fun, and games. The kids have a great time; they jump right into the festivities and hanging out with friends. After that, we were excited to pick Tobin up from his week of caddying. We missed him and were ready to have him home. After that the day gets kind of hazy this far out. We did a little window shopping and then drove home. We realized we had an early swim meet the next morning and if they went to the fireworks they would be up pretty late which we didn't want. So, I began to say to the kids, "you don't want to see the fireworks, you really don't; they're loud and the crowds are large."(I really felt unAmerican as I was saying these things, but knew the crankiness that would be directed at me the next morning and I couldn't help myself). They didn't really seem to fight this idea until bedtime and they could hear the fireworks. Noah was so indignant!! What do you mean go to bed without seeing the fireworks. How very unAmerican. I didn't know what to do. In the middle of this, I saw Andy slip out the door, so I went out to find him and see what we could see of the fireworks. Slipping into the house, I yelled-whispered for Noah to hurry and come down! It was quiet and I heard his footsteps jumping out of bed and excitedly finding pj bottoms to put on. He ran down the stairs and I watched him run down the street and around the corner to find Andy. I loved watching him run, knowing he was running to something he so wanted to see. I was quite surprised that the others (Tobin and Brenna)hadn't come down also. So, I quickly called them down as well. So, as a family we sat near the lake close to our house and watched a few of the fireworks in the sky against a backdrop of darkness. We didn't see many fireworks, but you would have thought it was the finale everytime with how excited they were! It was a sweet moment to be there with the kids in their pajamas and barefeet watching a celebration of our country's birth. It really was all I needed in this holiday. I felt complete with it as it created a tenderness within Andy and me! Hope you all had a happy 4th.

The best gift

Tobin has been caddying this week. I think it has been a little hard since he has never done it before and he is away for the week. He is staying with Mommom in a hotel not too far away, but somehow it feels across the country far away! It is almost harder for me when I talk to him and I try to analyze his voice, it's tone, it's pitch. Can I hear in his voice that he is missing me? is he being treated nicely? is he ready to come home?

Anyway, we decided to go down yesterday and take him out to a movie during his down time. When I got there we went up to the suite where he is staying and he gave me a red box. I asked him what it was and he told me to open it up! It was a gift for me. Inside the box was a beautiful pair of earrings! I couldn't believe he spent his money on me for no other reason than because he wanted to. When I questioned him, he said, "when you brought me the other day, you saw the Ann Taylor store and said you liked it. I went in but couldn't find anything, so I went to Talbots which you also like. I thought these were pretty." I love my kid. T is so awesome and amazing. He made me feel like the best mom in the world! There is nothing that beats that feeling. This earrings have such sentimental value for me. I will treasure them forever. I couldn't get a good picture of the earrings, but I hope you get the sense of them.

Trying to Have Fun with Aunt Ellen

We had a great visit with Aunt Ellen. She is in town for a conference and was able to sneak away for a day. Tobin was caddying so it was Noah, Brenna and me who entertained her for the day. We took her out to lunch and then went on the paddleboats. I would love to say it was a great time, but Ellen was able to see Noah be a little defiant and exhibit his extreme personality. We were on the paddleboats and Noah got upset when Brenna wanted to steer. At the time, I was a little surprised at Noah's reaction; he dug in his heels and decided he was not going to paddle! With us in the middle of the lake that couldn't really be an option. I didn't really know what to do in such close proximity. It wasn't like I could step away from the paddleboat with Noah, talk to him, and then come back. Luckily, Noah realized he needed to paddle and did the job. Needless to say, we skipped the ice cream afterwards!! Ellen was a really good sport and handled the heat, direct sun, and my defiant child all quite well. After that we put it all behind us and had a great rest of the day at home talking and catching up on family events. Here are some pictures from the day; there were some smiles.

I do want to say that one thing I love about my family is that whenever there is an opportunity to come visit they do. Even if they are stopping through town for the night they do! It really is great having a close family who feels comfortable with each other.