Project 365: Week 3 - The Embarrassment Cycle

Monday was a funday. Since it was a school holiday, the kids' had friends who were out of school on Monday. We're always out of school on Mondays, but it was nice to have a chance to have friends over to play. And, they played. And played. And played. All. Day. Long. I thought they might slow down to enjoy the hot lunch I cooked, but that wasn't the case. I was hardly done cleaning up the cooking when they were off to play again.

The boys were especially excited. After being in school together and carpooling every day of the week the past two school years, these boys had not seen each other since summer. They made the best of it and fought the superhero battle.

Unfortunately, the girls were caught up in the battle, but they didn't seem to mind too much.

Tuesday was back to a regular school day and this cutie turned in his model of an arctic tundra.

 

Wednesday wasn't a great day. I rear-ended another car in the interstate when driving the kids to practice. I've never hit another car in my life. I don't recommend breaking that record with your own kids and carpool kids in tow. Not cool. Fortunately, every was fine and the damage was mostly done to my insurance.

 

The most exciting happening I have to share from Thursday... a staring contest. Trust me, it was funny. Sorry I can't share the funny in this single image.

Friday was a splendid day because it wasn't my night to carpool to practice and Cooper enjoyed Pizza Night at the gym. He loves it. I almost feel guilty dropping him off to the gym playscape and he thinks it's just for him to have fun. Really, it's for me to have fun. It just works out nicely that he enjoys the night. And, Daniel and I enjoyed our night with some yummy sushi.

Sushi was followed up with a bit of shopping on Saturday. The kids were in tow and it was embarrassing. Daniel and I decided that it is all cyclical. The kids are spending the first 10 years of their lives embarrassing us. It was public tantrums as toddlers. Embarrassing comments to others in public as preschoolers. Now, they are coming into their own fashion and actions, and it's usually embarrassing. At the top of the weird list, both kids almost always wear sunglasses. Inside. Outside. Dark. Sunny. It doesn't matter the condition. They wear sunglasses. Weird kids.

I'll be sure to save all these images of public embarrassment to remind them when I am embarrassing them through their teen years. Then, they will be young adults and making ridiculous life decisions as they learn from their own mistakes, but embarrassing us along the way. One day, we'll be old and in diapers and embarrassing them with our mismatched fashion choices and rude public comments. Yep, it's all cyclical.

Project 365: Week 3 - Ahhh.... Life is Good.

The week started off messy and tiring. Not Bachelorette kind of messy and not Biggest Loser kind of tiring. It was DIY home remodeling kind of messy and tiring. But by Sunday night, we were able to relax in our newly floored living room, pop some popcorn and enjoy a family movie night. Now, I just need to pick some color and fabric prints to make new pillows and drapes to bring in color. Too much brown!

Monday was not an exciting day, which was nice to enjoy. It was a routine day of work and swimming. Cooper did take care of one science experiment and learned the volume difference in water and ice by observing the level of the ice vs. the level of the same matter after it melted to water. See, I said it was nothing exciting.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened except these ridiculous sunglasses Abigail got from her coach at practice. Yes, they are ridiculous. No, she won't take them off.

Tuesday was nothing much exciting other than the last day of Christmas break. Yes, these kiddos have enjoyed a month-long break from school but were eager to get back to their friends in class. I was also eager to get back to my two days a week break from them.

Wednesday was mostly homework and lots of science experiments. Cooper learned how arctic animals keep warm with their flubber by sticking his Crisco covered hand in ice water and comparing the temperature to his non-Crisco hand in the ice water.

Abigail learned about cold air releasing moisture through condensation with a bowl of ice water, foil and antiperspirant. I'm still not sure how that experiment worked out. She assured me she had it covered. I took her word for it.

Thursday was another low key day of school and not much else. While Abigail was gone to practice that night, the boys and I enjoyed a rigorous game of Life. I blew them away as a racked up $2.6 million being a lawyer and then a doctor. I won't even give you their results. Let's just say that Cooper lived in a log cabin and Daniel was even worse off. They were embarrassing.

Friday night kicked off another swim meet but this was soooo different. This was the Arena Grand Prix for professional swimmers. Abigail was just the googly eyed little girl worshipping at the foot of her heroes. I worked in the hospitality room each night, feeding coaches and volunteers. Abigail worked Friday night as a Basket Girl. She was positioned at lane 2 and collected the swimmer's clothes/belongings after introduction and returned them after the race. She wasn't allowed to speak to the swimmers and they did not speak to her. It was a good opportunity for her to see how serious and focused they are in preparation for a race. The only mishap was the lack of appropriate shirt sizes. Abigail needed a belt for her "dress".

We took a break from professional swimming Saturday afternoon to let Cooper get his swim lessons in. It was in stark contrast to watching Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin. And, yes, that is a banana on his coach's head. He goes by the name, "Bananahead".

On Saturday night, Abigail didn't have volunteer responsibilities so she was able to sit poolside and be googly eyed while watching so many Olympians race.

Anthony Ervin was especially nice as he was leaving the pool. I think Abigail was a little disappointed he wasn't showing off his arm sleeves (tattoos).

 

Sunday morning was a fabulous time for church and then we covered some necessary tasks before getting back to swimming...

Abigail joined in on Cooper's science experiment for the fun. They had a "snow" fight with the Arctic experiment of making "snow" from shaving cream and cornstarch.

And, we picked up books for this week during a quick trip to the library. But, no matter how hurried we are, we can never skip a viewing of the library pet rattlesnake, Roxxxxxxxxanne.

The last night of the meet was finally a chance for the swimmers to give some face time. Abigail could hardly get to sleep after meeting the larger than life characters she spent the summer worshipping through Olympic Trials and then the London games...

Matt Grevers...

Conor Dwyer...

Ryan Lochte

.

Now, we're coming down from the swimming high and getting back to the simple age group swimming life.

Project 365: Week 2 - Contruction Mayhem

The week started out at the last day of the swim meet. The meet culminated in some good times for Abigail, but the biggest accomplishment was getting her first meet with a new team under her belt. One thing we hadn't thought of the paswt six months of considering a new team... Gear! We had four large bags of shirts and sweats from the kids' previous swim team. Fortunately, we were able to pass it off to people who can use it all. But, now we've got to start buying apparel for the new team!

On Monday, the kids enjoyed the beautiful weather and played spies outside. I'm not sure what the game entailed, but they did show up in my office to show me their spy uniforms. They're silly!

 

Tuesday was my day to drive to swimming. See, it takes about 45 minutes to get to the UT pool. Making that drive 5-6 days a week does not sound like fun. Yea for carpooling! Our sweet friends, the O'Briens, also swim at UT and live nearby in Round Rock so we split up the driving. That means that the younger kids get to spend time together while the older kids are swimming. Courtney and Cooper love to play Life on the Kindle Fire.

Wednesday was an exciting day when our new flooring arrived! Yea for hardwood floor! This is going in the downstairs living room and replacing the awful white carpet I planned to take out when we bought the house. Yeah, I thought we would take it up within a month of purchasing the house. That was four years ago.

Thursday took away some of the new flooring excitement when the construction actually began.

I can't stand disorder. I swear it gives me mental hives. So, when Daniel moved part of the living room upstairs, part of the living room to the entry way and part of the living room to the kitchen and part of the kitchen to the garage... Well, just imagine me plagued with a severe case of mental hives. Thursday night dinner was campfire style around the coffee table upstairs. I keep having to tell myself that this will be worth it.

Friday was a continuation of the disorder. We tried breakfast around the end table in the kitchen. Puppy didn't seem to mind, but my mental hives were flaring up, big time.

But, it's going to be worth it, right?

Saturday, Abigail was the smart one and she escaped to her friend's house for a sleepover after swim practice. While I was trying to survive in the disorder of our sawdust covered house, I was ready to jump ship with her when I received this picture of her Saturday night hot tub fun at Jenna's house.

Hopefully next week I'll be able to show you pics of our lovely hardwood floors. Until then, I'll be curled up in a ball, treating my mental hives.

Project 365 - Week One: Happy New Year

The boys went hunting over the weekend. Abigail and I stayed behind for swim practice. Oh, who's kidding who?! We stayed behind for chick flicks and mani-pedis and indoor plumbing!

Brunch, complete with hot chocolate, is the perfect way to warm up after a cold Saturday morning practice. Kerbey Lane pancakes are one of our favorites!

We tried to shop a little in downtown Austin, strolled Guadalupe shops for a bit... Really, it was just cold and we had to get our mani-pedis and get home to a fire and fleece pajama pants!

The boys returned just in time for New Year's Eve and it was a good thing! They were just in time for... well, nothing. We did nothing. If it hadn't been for swim practice every day, we probably would have never left our pajamas, couch and fireplace. Apparently, watching Abigail's swim practice New Year's Eve morning wore us out. We spent the evening with a veggie platter, fruit tray, cheese ball and pizza. The most activity was me and my seam ripper.

Abigail recently joined a new swim team and we have yet to replace all of her embroidered swim gear. "Fortunately", she lost her parka a few weeks ago so I was only left with her gear bag to rip out every thread of the former team's logo. A new bag has been left with our embroidery friend, but I didn't want her to go to a meet with the wrong logo displayed. I know you're jealous that your NYE plans didn't include a seam ripper!

New Year's Day was almost as exciting as NYE. Again, if it hadn't been for swim practice, we'd have never left the couch. The kids did better than Daniel and I when they broke out Twister and attempted to contort and twist into fun.

Wednesday was a bit more eventful... It's a wonder we were able to get ourselves together after all the NYE excitement, but we made it! We met our favorite Maggie from South Carolina down in Austin at the Hula Hut. Shrimp enchiladas and good friends make for a fun day, even when it is cold enough for long johns under our clothes!

Thursday was even more exciting because we jetted down to San Antonio to see our favorite new gaduate from Air Force basic training! Kevin wasn't free to leave the base yet, but the kids were super excited to see all the planes, people in uniform and especially go bowling on base. Forgive the red eye and creepiness of the pic as we were in the dark with black lights and laser lights because who would bowl in a well-lit room?! Not us!

Friday morning brought serious business as Abigail began a three-day competition at UT. It was a blast to watch her compete in this meet that she has never qualified for. There were teams from across the country and great swimming on display. My baby was one of them! Friday night was her best swim of the weekend as she won her 10 & Under final for 100 Fly. Yeah, she's 8 years old and kicked those girls' butts! She's in lane three (third from the top of the screen). Enjoy!

I'm Back!

Obviously, blogging hasn't been a priority the past year. Or, 15 months. But, who's counting? Okay, my mom and my grandmother were counting although they may have lost count by now.

I'm attempting to try a new blogging method this year in the hopes that I can have a record of our adventures. You know, we haven't been sitting around twiddling our thumbs the past 15 months. We're go-go-going all the time, which is why I haven't had time to give you photographic evidence and relay the adventures in sonnets and prose.

We're still busy, so I won't even fool anything into thinking I'll try to blog every day. I'm aiming for once a week. I'll have a weekly recap and, if I can get my act together, photographic evidence of each day. Here goes...