A Homemade Triathlon

It's pronounced Tri-ATH-Lon...not Tri-atha-lon

Those that know our family well know that Michael is a triathlete, and I have entered a few triathlons. This has rubbed off on our children. At the beginning of the summer, Michael told the boys he would map out a coarse for them to do their own triathlon at the at the end of the summer and they would "train" throughout. They did a trial run a few weeks ago, and the final even was last Friday. My mom and brother Kirk were also here to cheer them on.

Tyler getting reared up for the swim.....
Alyssa, there to watch....
matthew had to wear Alyssa's goggles because he couldn't find his
On your mark.....get set.....GO!
Michael, AJ, Kirk, and my mom.....
They swam the length of the pool and back (stopping a few times, Matthew more than Tyler)
Then they ran to the transition area...the bike rack...to get their clothes on and ready for the bike/scooter (matthew has been practicing his bike all summer, but wanted to scooter instead)
Hurry, transition time seconds ticking away....
And Tyler's Off!!!
matthew still working on the helmet
And he's off!
Our park down the road has windy sidewalks all around, they made 2 big loops around
My mom and aj watching in the shade
Matthew on a roll....
My brother Kirk sticking behind Tyler on the ride...
After Tyler's 2nd transition, off on the run...I love this excited face!
Coming into the finish....
Oh yeah, He's done.
Then he was off to support Matthew on the scooter (tyler finished the race before Matthew started his 2nd lap on the "bike")
Matthew bringing in his scooter, tired to run, but he did it
happily taking off (too bad I blurred this action shot--but I do love that tongue)
coming in for the finish with daddy encouraging him
Walking into the finish
so many great expressions
Finally done
This is so cute.
I should have got a finishing shot, but oh well. Tyler beat his previous time by 12 seconds (14:48) and Matthew beat his by 15 seconds (21:45). They loved watching the Olympics and now want to participate in Track and Field events in the Olympics someday (kids after their daddy's heart). They love to run. Tomorrow morning, on Labor Day, they will cheer their daddy on in a REAL triathlon in Austin.

End of Summer Splash Party

I wanted to do something fun for the kids on their last official day of summer, the day before school began. I was also bummed that I hadn't taken many pictures of them with their friends that they played with this summer. So, on the Friday before, I quickly sent out an evite and planned for the event on Monday (school started Tuesday). This is what the evite said:

It's the last day of summer and we wanted to have all the friends over that we've played with this summer for one last hoorah. We'll have our trampoline wet down (we'll have to limit the numbers on there), water balloons, and a slip n slide. We'll also have chicken nuggets, lemonade, chips and popcycles. Mom and extra kids are welcome to stay, or you can drop off your child, just let me know how many will be coming.

matthew loves baby Brooke

Unleashed with water balloons

A bunch of boys...

The boys Tyler's age: Daniel and Garrett, friends in his class at church, but unfortunately don't go to his school. The summer play dates with them were great because they are good boys and Tyler really hasn't had a good friend just for him (not sharing with Matthew) since Evan left 2 years ago:(
The boys Matthew's age: Ethan, Nathan, and Jordan (Daniels brother) are the boys that matthew likes to play with and asked for throughout the summer.
Alyssa and her girls: Alyssa has had a healthy addiction to Ashlee for a while now (in the middle) and tell's random kids in the store, "I don't like you, I like Ashlee." I'm trying to curb that one. Madeline is the little sister of Daniel and Jordan, so it works perfectly to have playdates with their family.

Babies: Some are the younger siblings of their friends, and some are my friends children that have become favorite baby friends of my kids that they regularly ask for.

The moms of the children above, except Emily who opted to take the picture instead of being in it. Becca (Ashlee's mom), Jackie (Ethan's mom), Me, Jennifer (Daniel, Jordan, and Madeline's mom), Stacy (Nathan's mom) and Jessica (Ezra's mom).

Back to School

(most of these are clickable to see larger)

I now have a 2nd grader and a child in kindergarten. They were both so excited to go to school today, and I've been so busy getting them ready that I haven't had time to mourn. Of course we got pictures in front of the house.....





Then I snapped a few of the kids holding hands on the way into school....

We dropped off Tyler all smiles and waving.....

Then Alyssa snapped this shot of Matthew and I just before walking him down his hall (she did a nice job, didn't she?)

Matthew walked so quickly, we couldn't catch up....

We gave our hugs and parted ways.

I had to lug our huge art easel yesterday to remind new kinder parents to go to the library for the first day of school "Tears and Cheers" breakfast. This year, I am one of three Kinder Liasons, which means as the "experienced" one, I am the contact for other kinder parents to help them adjust to school and to answer questions if they have them.

It's kinda fun to be a contact person like that, and I'm working with another mom, Neisha, whom her daugther was in Tyler's kinder and 1st grade class together. Now Matthew and one of her twins are in kinder together. I should get a picture of her to go here.....

Anyway, we hosted the breakfast in the library for parents, and I brought the easel as a reminder. I was fine dropping Matthew off, but once I got in the library, one of my neighbors, Janice, rushed over to me and gave me a huge hug and was sobbing. She dropped off her only child in kindergarten and was obviously having a difficult time. When someone cries on my shoulder, I cry, and I was reminded of sending off my child. I mostly tried to console her, but my eyes were partially stinging for myself. Did I do everything I needed to with Matthew before he started? Is he ready for the world?

Alyssa and I left and an hour later I dropped her off with my friend Emily so I could go visit Matthew alone for lunch. She usually goes with me, but I wanted to focus on him AND not want him to be sad with her leaving.

He was having a grand ole time. The best part about visiting my kids at lunch is talking to the OTHER kids in their class. I get such a different and more complete perspective on their day by hearing from others. These lunch visits are valuable mothering tools for me. He had no inclination to come home with me. I even checked on a few of my other friends kids and reassured them that they were doing well.

I went to get Alyssa from my friend and after chatting a while, took her back to the school with me to lunch with Tyler. I knew he'd be ok with her there. Meeting his new classmates was fun, I know a handful of them from previous years. He shared with me a few details of the day and was very happy...which makes me happy:)
AJ and I left, came home, and played babies.

And made cookies for "the brothers"

They both said they had a great day and shared stories of coloring projects, class discussions, and Matthew said his teacher read a book called Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. He said it was pretty funny. I love my boys and I only hope they have many more fun days. With 4 different trips to the school...I am very tired at the end of the day.