Blown Away

Wow! Yesterday's wind was unbelievable! Soren's allergies went crazy. There were some significant grass fires around and the smoke along with all of the dust and normal allergens started Soren's raspy cough that comes when her allergies get out of control. She coughed every breath until 1:30 am, threw up, and then was able to sleep peacefully. I have not woken her up for school because I think she needs the rest. She will be VERY disappointed when she wakes up because this will be her first absence this year. She was able to go to a special movie watching party for having perfect attendance for the first semester. Oh well.

You know how different things like smells and songs will spark specific memories? This wind immediately reminded me of last February and the Cowtown Marathon. It was Pete's first marathon and the wind was gusting 65+ mph. It was a huge learning experience for Pete and I was able to glean from him some very valuable lessons on running. I have been so lucky to do all of these things (marathon, long triathlons) after Pete. He goes first and I am able to avoid all of the mistakes he made! Thanks for leading the way, Pete!

Game On!

Do you know what I did today? Reese and I were at the mall and I bought the original Super Mario Brothers game! I have not played it in years; I am so excited! Now, I don't have time to play video games, so here is how I plan on working it into my schedule. With the cold weather, Pete and I have brought our bikes inside and we have been watching movies while we ride, so why not play Mario instead?! So I can get my workout in and play at the same time. Sweet! Gonna go try it out...

Big Steps

Saturday was Soren's first swim meet as a 9 year old. What a difference. I could not believe it. It was another demonstration of Soren's amazing attitude that keeps her positive and smiling no matter what. In all of her previous meets, her races were 25 yards (just from one side of the pool to the other). Yesterday she swam the 100 yard breast stroke, 50 yard back stroke, 100 yard freestyle, 200 IM (that is 50 yards of each stroke!) and finished with a 100 yard butterfly. If you know anything about swimming then you realize that is a crazy hard meet for someone her age. She is having a hard time with her dives. When she dives in, she raises her head and her goggles get pushed down off of her eyes into her mouth. Most kids stop swimming and either cry, quit, or take precious seconds to put them back on. Soren keeps on swimming. This happened to her in 4 of her 5 races. I felt so bad because her eyes were burning and she could barely get a breath with her goggles in her mouth. She just takes it in stride. She knows she is diving wrong and when she gets out of the pool she apologizes to her coach! Our coaches are AWESOME. They are nothing but encouraging. They go on and on to make sure the kids know how proud we are of them while at the same time teaching the swimmers to work hard and give 110%.

soren and coach shauna

Overall it was a great meet because Soren learned so much. She left there with a smile on her face and that makes me happy. I was afraid she would be discouraged by her performance, but it only made her want to work harder. She kept track of her times and compared them to the overall winner so she knows how many seconds she needs to shave off of her time to win. Crazy kid.

After the meet we went up to The Colony to watch Wyatt play basketball. Those 8 year olds play a pretty rough game! I was surprised how much contact there was. Wyatt's team won 28 to 2. I'd say that is more than a win.

After Wyatt's game, we went up to Denton to deliver Nana's new bike! It came late Friday afternoon. Pete stayed up til after midnight putting it all together. We decided to put clips on it but we are restricting Nana to the trainer for now. When it warms up we will put regular pedals on and take it out for a spin on the streets. It is going to be quite an adjustment getting used to a racing bike. I warned her that she will hate it at first because the posture is uncomfortable and her hiney will be very sore. What's not to love?!

reese helps dad put Nana's bike together.

We got home at 8 pm and Reese and I immediately collapsed into bed. Soren and Pete stayed up playing the gamecube and then even watched a movie. I could not believe Soren was able to stay awake like that. Friday night she went to a sleepover and stayed up until 2 am, I picked her up for the meet at 6:45 am and she was still going last night at 11 pm. I don't see how they do it.

So she says

Reese is growing up. I have tried and tried to stop her but she says "God is making me. He gives me heart medicine and I grow."

She says so many funny things that seem to come from no where. She was sound asleep in the car as we drove to see Pops and Nana on Sunday when all of a sudden she opens her eyes and says "Isn't it a great day to go swimming?" So we went swimming. All of the cousins got to go, too, which makes it extra special. Reese and Avery are so fun to watch. They are such great swimmers. They can go off of the diving board and swim to the ladder completely unassisted. I think that is amazing.

Yesterday as we watched Soren at swim team (I know, we are ALWAYS around water) Reese says "mom, it is unusual that she did not want to come to our house." Me: "who?" Reese: "the girl on the elevator." Me: "you invited her to our house?" Reese: "of course!" I thought it was so funny that she used the word 'unusual'.

Today as we drove to mother's day out, we passed by the pond in our neighborhood. It has lots of turtles and we have been able to "rescue" many of them from the street back to the pond. Reese says "mom, we need to get the turtles and bring them to our house because the water is too cold in the fall." Me: "Well, God takes care of the turtles and they do not get too cold." Reese: "How?" Me: "I guess their shell keeps them warm???" Reese: "Don't they freak out?" I laughed out loud. I think I use that phrase a lot and she has picked it up. It just sounds so funny coming from her little voice.

She is such a joy. I cannot imagine life without my sweet Reese.

Science Fair

Congratulations to Soren for her 1st place award in the '3rd grade physics' category of the science fair! She demonstrated how electricity can bend water. It was pretty cool.

Fort Worth Stock Show Parade

Today the girls and I braved the cold to watch the stock show parade in down town Ft. Worth. It is always fun for a city kid to see livestock. There were lots of good marching bands and historical horse drawn wagons. It was a fun outing for us.

Pete is out at Lake Ray Roberts working out with his team in preparation for the adventure race in Austin later this month. They are mountain biking, trail running and kayaking today. Better him than me. I like my cozy spot here by the computer...

Promoted

Last night after swim team, Soren's coach approached us and sadly said that it was time for Soren to move up to the next group. She said that you do not get faster unless you swim with people who are faster than you and Soren is the top of her current group. Coach Shauna told me that she really hates to lose Soren; she is the most obedient and hardest working in the group. Those words were so nice to hear as a parent. The new practices will be significantly harder as well as more frequent. We will now go three times a week. I am so proud of Soren and what she has accomplished.

December 30th - Happy 9th Birthday, Soren!

Soren and her friends pose for a birthday picture after some bowling

Last Sunday night we celebrated Soren's 9th birthday. She had 6 friends join her for bowling, pizza, cake, and finally a sleepover. It was such a great time. With Soren's new karaoke machine (thanks, Grandma!) the night was very entertaining. I think we were all tucked in around 2 am or so and then up by 7. It was such a good group of girls; Soren has made some wonderful friends.

Soren is the most precious person. She is genuinely sweet, extremely kind, obedient, smart, athletic and so much fun. Our lives are so richly blessed by all she brings to our family. She loves the Lord and longs for everyone around her to know Him as well. I am so privileged to watch her grow and to be a part of her life. Happy Birthday Soren, I love you!