video test

This is a test to see if I know how to post a video. This is an old video of Reese on the treadmill when she was about 15 months old...

3rd Grade!

Today was Soren's first day of 3rd grade. That sounds so much older than 2nd to me. Reese and I walked her over and met her teacher since we were in Destin for meet the teacher night. She has been at this school long enough that she is very comfortable and did not seem nervous. Here is a progression of my not-so-little girl's first school days...

First Day of Kindergarten

First Day of First Grade

First Day of Second Grade

First Day of Third Grade

Home again home again jiggety jig

Well, we finally left Florida, dragging our feet as we went. We even asked for a later check out time at our hotel to make the most of our last half-day there. Pete got up early and went on a ride with a local cycling group. They rode over two of the bay bridges; he said it was really neat. The girls and I went back to the waves and it was a beautiful, calm beach! The waves were so calm that you could see all of the fish when the water would rise and fall. We saw SO many different kinds and sizes of fish, found more sand dollars, and rode a few more waves.

We made it home around 1:30 am Sunday. Today we did laundry and went shopping for a back to school outfit. We are ready for the first day of school tomorrow!

I remember at the end of the summer last year thinking that it had been the best summer ever. Well so was this one. We soaked in every minute of fun, sun, swimming, biking, playing, relaxing, going... I don't think we missed a thing. I am sad to see it end, but then again it would not be so special if it was summer all of the time. It certainly gives us something to look forward to.

Fabulous Friday

Today we started the day in the waves. Came in for lunch and then went to the bay for the afternoon while Pete went to the YMCA for his swim workout.

There were lots of friends to play with! They all took turns burying each other.

Yellow flags again today which means the current is not so bad. But also flying with the yellow was a purple flag. That means dangerous marine life...jelly fish! Soren was stung on the arm. The picture does not really show it, but she had whelps and red lines where they got her. She is so brave; not one peep from her. I would have been screaming!

We saw so much marine life today! Sand dollars, crabs, and tons of fish! The fish would eat out of your hand. Fun!
Reese really enjoyed watching all of the fish with her goggles. She can hold her breath for a long time!
We came in around 5 to get ready for a special "last Saturday of summer vacation" dinner. While I showered, Reese crashed...But we woke her up and went to the Japanese steak house for a wonderful meal!
After dinner we headed over to Wings so that the girls could spend their vacation money. Grandma Charlotte gave them each their own money to spend any way they wanted to on the trip. That was so much fun for them; thank you so much Grandma!!!!

Reese chose a hat, a necklace, and a purse that says superstar!
Soren chose a scrapbook to store her vacation pictures and an ankle bracelet.

Tomorrow we will head home around noon. I am sure we will catch a few waves, first!

Destin, Day 2

Can you say Ahhhhhh

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A lovely day on the beach! Today we went to the side of the beach with the waves so we could boogie board. Only yellow flags, so the water was not too rough. Reese surprised us by swimming in the waves, head under the water and everything. She swam all over. She had her goggles, so she enjoyed seeing the fish and shells.

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Soren and Pete went way too far out to catch the best waves (I am a big chicken about going very far from the shore in the ocean!) The girls enjoyed burying each other in the sand and pretending they did not have any legs.

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We stayed out all day, took a 3 hour break for dinner, and then went back out until dark. Now we are at the hotel pool. When we go in I will have to check the girls for scales and gills; I think they are beginning to breathe water!

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enjoying the last few minutes before sundown

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for the last 2 weeks, reese has been asking me if we could have a birthday party. When I ask her whose birthday it is, she says it is all of ours and we really need a cake. Being on vacation is a great time to pretend birthday, so we bought a cake and brought it out to the pool with us tonight.

Tomorrow we are going back over to the bay area where it is calm to catch more fish and crabs like we did yesterday. Soaking up as much sun and summer as we can!





On the way here we were driving through a part of Louisiana with many trees. Reese was watching out the window and asked "are we in the jungle?" pretty funny......

One last summer fling

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This summer has been absolutely wonderful. Endless good times. I thought one more hurrah sounded just right to finish off the last few days before school starts.

Hello from Destin!

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This is the worst time that I could have asked Pete to go on a vacation. He is at the peak of his training. But he loves me. So here we are in Florida.

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We made it home

We are home, safe and sound...

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see how sound!

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Last night after some recuperating at the hotel, Pete and I went to dinner with some new found friends. This was pretty interesting. For the first two hours of the bike portion of the race I went back and forth with a group of 5 riders; one lady in particular. I passed her on the flats and then she would pass me back on EVERY hill. Finally, after a few of these occurrences, she was passing and said "try pushing your heels down when you are going up hill, I think it will help you." I did not realize that I was pointing my toes down when I climbed. "Thanks! I will try it." I answered as I watched her pass me and ride out of site. For the rest of the ride I did this and it helped me not cramp in my feet, cool! When you cross the finish line they announce your name and where you are from. Pete had been waiting around for over an hour and noticed that there were a lot of people from Burleson! Crazy! They are our neighbors (so to speak) and we had never seen them until we go to Arkansas. Anyway, this lady that I played yo-yo with and who gave me helpful advice was one of these Burleson triathletes! We exchanged numbers and met up for dinner. At dinner we realized that their whole group of 6-10 athletes is training for the same Iron Man that Pete will be completing next June in Idaho. Crazy! So now we have new friends right here in town that we can swim, ride, and run with. It is a small world.

Oh yes, and also, when we first arrived at the restaurant and were waiting outside and introducing everyone to everyone, one of them said to me "you are Sara Underwood?" "Yes." "Did you know that you got 3rd place in your age group and you get a plaque?"

"WHAT?!?!?"

He had an ipod phone, got online and pulled up the results and showed me. I was shocked. I am still shocked. I did not stick around for the awards ceremony because I got my finishers medal and t-shirt and that is all I was going to get...or so I thought! So cool!

i did it, i did it, I DID IT!!!!

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Race morning 5 am, not bright, but early!!

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that is the lake behind us

AMAZING! The race was completely incredible! If you know ANYTHING about me at all, then you know this was a HUGE accomplishment for me. I have never been an athlete and I DID IT! I swam 1.2 miles in 38 minutes, I rode my bike 56 miles in 3 hours and 6 minutes and I ran 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 14 minutes. My total race time was 6:13. I did not have to stop one time; that was my unspoken goal. I did not want to put it in print because I was so afraid of failing. My training was so great; I was totally prepared and did not feel overwhelmed by the distances. The swim was wonderful. The lake is so clear that you can see everything and drafting another swimmer takes no effort. When I saw the layout it was crazy. 1.2 miles looks really far when it is laid out in a big circle. I had to remind myself that I could do this. The ride was so beautiful. Rolling hills and gorgeous country scenery. There were some fun 30-35 mph downhills and some HARD uphills. I did not get bored, and neither did my gears. The run got hot! It was aT shape, also with rolling hills. I felt awesome all the way through the swim, the bike and up to mile 7 of the run, ok until mile 9 and pretty crappy the last 4 miles, but at that point I was so excited to have come that far that it really did not matter how my body felt; I knew I could finish! Such a wonderful experience; I highly recommend it!

Pete had an awesome day, to say the least! There were 350 participants and he came in 24th overall. We do not have the age group break downs yet. There were some amazing athletes out there and I am so proud of him! He says that he felt great, all of his equipment worked well, and he did not have any problems. See this is just a warm up for him. Next month he will do TWICE this distance! Yep, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26 mile run...oh my goodness! So he is really glad to know that he can go at least half way and feel good.


We are very tired, but so grateful for such a great experience. We are so blessed to have had a safe drive here and a race with no injuries. Thank you, God, for allowing us this opportunity.

I did it!!!

some of the guys, ready to go!

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that is me just after crossing the finish line

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I did it! My handy dandy finishers medal and t-shirt

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this is our only post race picture. Pete was already cleaned up and I was exhausted, so we did not stick around long.

We're Here

Pete and I made it to Arkadelphia. It is really pretty here; that will make for a nice ride tomorrow. Transition opens at 5 am, so we will be out the door at 4:45. I am so excited! Here we go...

sorry about the crooked picture! The camera was sitting on the back of the car on a boat ramp. This is Lake DeGray and directly behind us is the 1.2 mile swim course.

The Countdown

This is the week. My workouts taper and off I will caper to Arkansas. This race has been an adventure already and no matter the outcome, I am so glad that I made it a goal. The training has been fun as well as educational. The body can endure so much, it is really amazing. I am really looking forward to the time away with Pete. We always have such a good time when we are stuck in the car together.

We got a wonderful phone call on Sunday that Grandma is finally home! She has been away in her motor home since May and that is a REALLY long time for the girls to go without seeing her. That changed our weekend plans some. Rather than staying with Kara, I will take the girls to Grandma's house tomorrow and they will stay with her until Pete and I get back. They are SO excited. It has been a long summer of "when are we going to Grandma's house?"

So hopefully this will be a restful week and then an exciting weekend!

tough question

Yesterday we were riding in the car and Soren was obviously pondering something. After a while she reaches over and turns off the radio and says, "mom, I don't get it. Adam and Eve were married, right? And they had kids. So who did their kids marry?" She wanted to know how the world was populated by two people. We got to discuss marrying cousins and stuff like that; very interesting. She has heard us tease about my mom's poodle, who we believe is a product of inbreeding and therefore has significant problems. That is how she understood my explanation of what can happen when relatives have children together and why it is no longer done. I don't know if what I said was the right thing to say or not. She is too analytical to give her some brush off answer. She makes me wish I knew more. I have to say "I am not sure" to her a lot. Maybe I should have said that yesterday!

Last night we stayed out playing with the neighbors for hours and the kids went through a huge bag of animal cookies. I am not sure how many Reese had, but she threw up when we came inside. As I was cleaning her up I told her that if she felt like she was going to do it again to please tell me so that we could go to the bathroom. She said "mom, next year when I am four on my birthday, I will probably throw up again then." At least I have plenty of warning, right?!

chores

Ok. What are Webkinz? Soren has been on my back for two days asking what she can do to earn some money to buy one. She is so funny. She has tons of money in her purse; money that was given to her and some that she has earned with her car washes, walking dogs and kool-aid stands, but she will not spend it once it gets put in the purse. She really wants one of these things and I don't want to buy her another stuffed animal, so I decided to let her mow the yard for me.

She had to work really hard. I did not realize that it would be so hard for her to push the mower (it is not self propelled). I guess it is her height that gives her the biggest disadvantage. It took her 2 hours to mow the front and that was worth 14 bucks to me. Off we went to the mall to meet Pete for lunch, hunt down a beagle webkinz, and get the girls' hair cut. We were successful in two of our endeavors, but after checking with 6 stores we came home without a beagle. It did not take Soren anytime to find it on Amazon.com, so we ordered it.





With all of the swimming I decided to cut the girls' hair short. I think it is really cute and it will be so much easier to manage. We will call it an 'almost back to school' cut.

Have you ever made a promise (threat) to your kids that if they did or did not do something then this will happen? I opened my mouth today and then had to follow through with it. While I mowed the back yard I sent the girls upstairs to clean up. All of the toys were out because we have had a lot of kids over to play lately and it was time to put everything back in its place. I have trouble getting Reese to help clean up. She says "I can't" and that makes me REALLY mad. I explained to her that she would be helping and that if she said she can't then I would spank her and throw her toys away and then she really couldn't clean them up. After mowing I came in and almost everything was cleaned up. All that was remaining were the dress up dresses that hang in Reese's closet (there are A LOT of them). So I said to Reese, "come help me clean up all of your dress up stuff." Guess what came next...you got it "I can't". As soon as she said it she remembered and her eyes got real big. I walked over to her and as I was spanking her (hard, in my frustration) I asked her to tell me what I said would happen if she said that. Then I walked down stairs and got a large trash bag, went up stairs, made a pile of ALL dress up clothes and accessories and made her put them in the bag. I knew if I did not follow through on this one I would pay for it. Everything dress up is in a trash bag in my attic. She thinks it is in the trash. I will have to come up with a way to bring them back out once she shows me that she can help. I wish I had made a different threat, because dress up is what all the kids like to play when they come over. Anyway, it is done. I hate doing stuff like that, but she is really testing to see if we mean what we say and I cannot afford to make empty threats.

Good Times

I came across these fun pictures when I was looking for pictures to post with my anniversary blog. These are some of my faithful readers in their younger days. I hope it is okay with all of you that I am posting these...

Denise, Amy, Anita, Kara, Kim, and Sara ready for the George Strait concert in Abilene May 1995

Sara and Sara ready for hot dates or something...ACU Nelson dorm Spring semester 1995

Dedra, Rachel, Sara and Sara ready to sing at Fair Park 1994

Tonya ready to jam on the piano...a long time ago

Tami and Sara hangin at Grandma Freda's

Carlos(?), Sara, Chelsea and Kyle at Iron Springs Christian Camp!

Sara, Tammie, Chelsea, Angie, and Jenise at nelson dorm ACU spring 1995