Triathlon

Monday - Memorial Day - we were up early early - to go to a community south of here so I could participate with some friends from church in a triathlon relay. I was the run part of it - which was a very good thing since I can't swim well at all! Though, I must admit, if I *could* swim, I would consider this because it looked awfully fun watching everyone else swim while waiting for my turn! Swim went first, then the bike part, and last, me. It was only a 3.1 mile run through the neighborhoods around this community, but I had lots of fun because most of the people I kept passing had already done both the swim and the bike so I was passing EVERYBODY! That's the way to race! :) Here we all are at the finish line wearing our well earned shirts (which had the wrong date written on them! They say May 25th not May 26th!!! Too funny!)

Oh - poll - our team name was "It Takes Three" (which it did to do this particular event!) and I had to think of it really quick because registration was due, etc. Rik thought I should have named us Team Stretch Marks since we are all moms. Post your thoughts on the matter. You notice I *didn't* use this name! :p :p :p

We have a 6th grader and an 8th grader!

School was out on Wed and it looks like they both passed with flying colors! Philip made blue honor roll this whole year (this last quarter he only got one B) and we think Caitlin made gold honor roll all year (the report card is in the mail!). Rik is going to owe her $100 for the 2nd year in a row. He has a deal with them if they can get a straight A report card all year long, he pays them $100. She did it last year - and now she's anxious to see the writing on paper and collect! I need to take a more recent picture - Caitlin got her braces off on Wednesday as well. I can hardly wait to show you what $4500 buys you!

Graduation and teacher gifts!

We got quite a few graduation announcements and it was the end of school as well (teacher gifts!). I couldn't think of anything *GREAT* to get these kids - I really wanted to - but it was hard! I finally settled on making cookie bouqets for the kids - it was a fun project - and I think they turned out pretty good. It was fun delivering them all as well! I hope the kids we took them to at least enjoyed eating them! (Wasn't it NICE of Target to have pails that matched my theme????!)

I had leftovers, so I decided to make Philip's teacher one as well. She was Caitlin's teacher for 2 years and this year she had Philip. If I had time, I would have done it in the purple and teal school colors, but it was late and I was making the blue/gold ones for the graduates, so, Mrs. Robinson got blue/gold as well. She told me that she loved it and since she has 3 kids, it works out well for everyone to have their own cookie. I didn't plan it that way, but it worked out! I wish I had taken a picture of the cute tic tac boxes I did for Caitlin's teachers - nothing hugely elaborate - esp since she had 7 teachers this year - but I did want them to know I was thinking of them! I think it would be one of the hardest jobs on earth to be a jr high teacher - esp after seeing the kids that walk out of that school everyday!

Dogsitting...

We are dogsitting for a couple of weeks. This is Molly - she is a bull terrier - the Spuds MacKensie dog! She is really a nice dog - she is sweet - doesn't cry - and really enjoys being outside. She has a crate - but likes sleeping outside better - so I think I'm going to start leaving her out there because I'm tired of getting up in the middle of the night with her! She is funny - she reminds me of an anteater the way her nose and everything is shaped. (Excuse this terrible picture - but hopefully you get the point!)

Ballet...

Caitlin's thing! But, last weekend was also her yearly performance. Here are a few pictures from the event. She was in three pieces...

This one was really cool because the girls all got to choreograph their dances and then the teacher had recorded them talking about why they loved dance while their pieces were playing. I loved that the girls were all wearing white and looked so pretty. This is Caitlin with the girl that she did her part of the dance with.

And then, when you sign your daughter up for dance, you never dream about her looking like this....

This was the second piece that Caitlin was in. Her teacher for this piece loves "original ballet". Yup - it was original - skull masks and all. I had to giggle at it because it's not the pink tutu that every little girl dreams of! It was based on Greek mythology - they just happened to be the guys guarding the underworld - not the pretty bride or bridesmaids in the piece. Caitlin is the one on the right.

Then the last piece was a more traditional piece - it really showed off the older girls because there were quite a few younger ones in it and I couldn't believe how much the older ones have grown! It was a fun piece to watch! Caitlin is the 4th one on the right.

Bad Mom...

I have been attending lots of band concerts/awards nights/etc and haven't taken one single picture of my kids doing this. But, I decided that do I really want to take a fuzzy, far away, hard to see picture where you are really seeing more of the music teacher's elbow than of my child playing their instrument? I decided that I would relax and just enjoy these things this time around and see how it went. So far - I'm enjoying it! I don't feel guilty for getting these pictures printed and never doing anything with them at all because they are really uninspiring either. I have the program from the event. I have a journal of what happened - I think I've found a great way of living!

Some (cameraless) highlights from the past couple of weeks...

National Junior Honor Society Induction - Caitlin - and a cool candlelighting ceremony. I decided from looking at the program, that you need to be named Caitlin or Hailey to be in this group - since most of the kids were! And to think I had never met anyone named Caitlin before I named my own child that!

Elementary Orchestra Concert - Well - you know - we've all been to them - it was an elementary band and orchestra concert. What made it really interesting was that Philip's teacher is out on maternity leave and while the long term sub is a really nice guy (and I think he must be only 12 years old or so - his name is CODY of all things! Wasn't it just a couple years ago that naming your child that was all the rage??? How old am I???) - I can hardly hear him when he is standing right next to me talking - so you can imagine what it was like at the concert - even though he had a microphone! I want to say "You work at an elementary school - speak up!!!). Philip did a wonderful job in spite of all of this.

Jr High Student Council Awards Night - Really for the 8th graders involved I decided after the fact. That's fine - they deserve it - and it does give all the 7th graders something to look forward to. And, they got to light more candles. ;) I think all these people are awfully trusting to place lit candles in the hands of 12-14 yr olds next to a fabric curtain in an auditorium. Caitlin and her cousin were complimented for getting along so well in class. It made me smile.

Jr High Band Concert - The last one of Caitlin's career I suppose. She decided that she's not taking band next year due to the man who took over her class in January. Very sad for everyone involved. I don't think he relates well to the jr high group and it's pretty much turned her off of band now. You have to be a really dedicated special person to do well with this age group - too bad I don't think he has it. Anyway - it was 3 bands and over in 45 min. Who knew it would be so quick? The bad thing about this whole event was that Caitlin's flute lost a spring a week ago and I had to get it fixed in time for this event. $50 later.... for a SPRING!!!! I am definately in the wrong business.

Thankfully, the school year is almost at a close and there shouldn't be the opportunity for any more out of focus/fuzzy/hard to see events. Oh - that's right - there aren't any pictures - but I'm sure you have what it looked like pictured perfectly in your mind!

Another Crash

So, I won't show you pictures, because unlike last time, we didn't take any. Poor Rik, crashed his bicycle again. Due to no fault of his own. Three weeks ago, we went out with some friends to ride bikes early in the morning. A woman we were riding with failed to point out a rock. A very large, loaf of bread sized rock. The rest of us missed it, but Rik hit it square, never even knowing it was there.

So, he says the bike is up for sale. It has the few parts that are broken on their way to being fixed, and then, good bye bike. He says his body just won't sustain another injury like that again - esp if he still has to get up and to go work. His shoulder is messed up again. He is bruised and full of road rash. Some is pretty nasty looking. One ruined pair of church pants later because blood leaked out and now it won't come out of the pants. It also leaked all over sheets, the car - you name it.

I am kind of mourning his riding his bike. I loved watching him do it. I know how happy it made him. He was really careful doing it - so why 2 crashes in 7 months - I'm sure we'll never know. I wish that the woman who caused the wreck would acknowledge that she caused it and say "I'm sorry" to him. It really hurts that she hasn't. I suppose eventually we'll get over this and laugh about this "bump" in the road!

So, if you know anyone wanting to buy a pretty new bike with just a few scratches on it, let me know. :)

Twilight teaser trailer OFFICIAL HD

Thanks Hilary for letting me know this is out! Can't wait! :)

What punctuation mark are you?

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

(Thanks for the fun link Leslie!)

Climbing...

Rik has been learning to climb and we've all been learning as well. He and Philip had been outside with some friends a couple of times - but I had never been before. Needless to say I was a little nervous. Here are the pictures from the day trip we took a couple of weeks ago. Even though I was sweating from every pore as I did this from fear - it was pretty fun! And - though my pictures look insanely high up - it's not as bad as it seems - camera angles are everything! :)

Catalina Island...

At the end of March Caitlin went with her school to Catalina Island for a few days. I am totally jealous because she has now snorkled and I have never done that! She even got to go on a night snorkel experience! Here is a photo of her all dressed up and ready to snorkel!

It sounded like they had a wonderful time! She didn't even get sick on the boat over to the island - Rik and I had a bet as to whether or not she would. I said she wouldn't - and we'll just say that Rik owes me a soda - and he hasn't paid up yet! Bug him about that for me - will ya? ;)

I thought all the pictures she brought home we great! I would love to hang out on this beach!

Basketball!

I never mentioned how Philip made the school basketball team! He was quite excited - and they were even undefeated up to a point. The boys were pretty upset when they lost that game. Philip was so funny to watch - he blocked his guy up to the point of being really annoying. I'm sure that anyone that was being blocked by Philip was wishing he would get lost! It was funny to watch!

Have you ever seen...

These space age looking ant farms? Philip ended up with one when he was sick back in March. Those ants were quite industrious and built their trails and tunnels very quickly through this blue goo that this is made of. And, Philip was quite entertained since he couldn't do anything else while he was sick!

Spring Break hike...

We went to Romero Pools - we saw so many BEAUTIFUL wildflowers on thw way there - I LOVED it! Here are the kids by what looked like the world's tallest carin!




Then when we made it to the pools - I thought the water was icy cold - after all - it is snow melt - I couldn't keep my feet in the water for too long! But, then there was Caitlin - who on a dare decided to swim, fully clothed out into the pools - BRRRRRRR!!!!! I guess it made for a nice cool hike on the way back!

A month since my last post...

I'm not doing so good at being a blogger???? :(

Here's some updates...

Caitlin saved babysitting money for a long time and bought a longboard - a huge long skateboard - it is totally fun looking! She's really good at it - who knew???

Not to be outdone - Philip managed to work his way into a new skateboard - the old one he'd had since he was 3 and had managed to wear out the trucks. He had done too much "surgery" on it himself for it to be saved... Cool pattern on the bottom though - huh?