Soren and Reese Stories: August 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

So much to say

It was a great first week of school...for the girls, anyway. I still do not like them being gone all day everyday. My days are so quiet; I miss them terribly.

Reese seems to really like kindergarten. On Wednesday when we were getting ready for bed she said "I'll tell you about the first week of school. It is tired!"

She was pretty wiped out each evening as we knew she would be. Her only complaint was that she had not been given any homework yet; Soren could not believe Reese actually WANTED homework!

Soren likes her group and has decided to run for vice president of the student council. She and Pete spent all day Sunday making posters and working on her campaign speech. I think she would be great for that position; she can be quite persuasive!

We had a crazy busy weekend. Friday afternoon I headed up to Wichita Falls for the Hotter-n-Hell Hundred bike tour. I have wanted to do this ride the last 2 summers but we have been out of town, so this time I was not going to miss it. It is a ride that offers distances from 1ok up to 100 miles and there are not many that offer all the way up to that distance. It is only $35 to ride, you get some cool stuff, get to ride with 15,000 of your closest friends, what more could you want? Mom decided to ride the 50 mile and rode up with me on Friday. Part of the experience is to stay the night at the YM*CA. Oh Yea! That was sweet, let me tell ya. I am pretty sure that the downtown Wichita Falls Y is the oldest Y in the world and it has never been updated. You just pick a spot and lay out your sleeping bag. The locker room was quite large and carpeted, so we decided to camp there with my trusty air mattress.

After packet pick-up, not wanting to hang out at the lovely Y all evening, we decided to go get some food. There was a long wait at the restaurant so we headed next door to browse in the furniture store until our table was available. We were not there 10 minutes before I spent $1000 on the sofa that I have been wanting for 2 years. It is a sectional that I found at a different store for $2000 almost 2 years ago. I saved up for it last year and spent the money on my new bike. I saved up for it again last month and bought the pool that is in our garage. But I had to buy it. It was on clearance...50% off! Pete was quite understanding about the whole thing :)

After dinner we headed to our spot in the locker room and called it a night at about 10:30pm. About 2am I realized that my trusty air mattress was not holding air well and by the time we got up we were sleeping on the hard ground. All part of the experience, right?!

Saturday morning we woke at 4:30am to get ready for the ride. I know; that is insane. But with so many riders, you have to line up early or you get stuck in the back and it is really hard to ride. The ride started at 7:10 and my group (we were called Hell's Gate Keepers; the really fast guys are called Hell's Gate Scorchers) crossed the start line around 7:20. What a great ride! It was such amazing weather, especially for August! I could not believe it, but I was actually cold waiting for the ride to start! I was able to average right at 20mph for the entire 100 miles, stopped briefly to take a picture of the Hell's Gate sign (this is at the 59 mile point and if you are not through Hell's Gate by a certain time it closes and you have to turn back) stopped at mile 77 to refill fluids and was at the finish line at 12:30. I saw some crazy crashes; pretty bad injuries; met some neat people, and had a really great training ride.

Mom met a friend on the ride and they stayed together, making stops to enjoy the company and taking in some of the refreshments offered at the rest stops. She also had a great ride. We had a fun trip.

lined up, ready to go

eric, one of my 15,000 closest biking friends

these were the people in front of me and we were really far up in line

Hell's Gate at mile 59

water stop at mile 77

mom and I at the finish line

After a quick shower back at the lovely Y we headed home. I drove into my driveway at 4pm, unloaded my car, showered (had to get that Y water off of me!), dressed, and headed to Reese's teacher's house for a swim party / cookout. Mrs. Terry invited all of us to her home for dinner and swimming so that she could get to know us a little better. I thought that was pretty neat. The kids had a great time swimming together and got a little more comfortable around each other. I think there were some new friendships formed that will be neat to follow through the year.

We got home at 8pm, changed again, took the girls to the baby sitters, and then went out with the neighbors for our quarterly night out! So much fun! We went to Pete's Dueling Piano Bar and had a blast. We got home and in bed at 2am. If I had stayed up 2 more hours I would have been up for 24 hours! I have not done that in years.

the ladies...emily, shelby, ashlee, courtney, sara, leah and kim

shelby and sara

i had to stick close to pete because women kept asking him if he was married...never mind the ring on his finger!

So that was our weekend. Hopefully we won't always be that busy, but it sure was fun!

Monday morning I was making breakfast when Reese comes bounding down the stairs to announce that she had lost her first tooth! She was so excited.

And lastly, I am excited to say that we have finally convinced Pops to try cycling. Here is his new bike! It came yesterday and Pete stayed up late putting it together, so Pops has not even seen it yet. It is an awesome bike; Pete is jealous. I can't wait for our first ride together!

our handy bike mechanic...he has saved us so much money!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Time to go to School

We all have to do things that we do not want to do sometimes. Today was one of those sometimes for me. I took Reese to kindergarten. I have been through this before but for some reason this time it is different. I guess just because Reese is not the same child as Soren, I don't know. She is ready and excited, so why do I feel so anxious? I did not cry; I was brave and strong. But I may cry later when I see her come home.

We walked to school and she went in and found her spot. I spoke with the teacher, put away Reese's things, took a picture and knew that it was time to go but I kept trying to think of reasons to stay. I really did not want to leave without her. I didn't let her know I felt that way; I am glad that she wants to be at school, but it was heartbreaking for me. I walked out the door and watched from the hallway for a few minutes before my neighbor and I convinced ourselves that we really did have to go.

Soren, on the other hand, walked in the front door and was off to the 5th grade hall. She is an old pro at this now. I am excited for her new year; she was put in a group with some good kids and I know they will have fun together.

I am at a new point in my life and it has snuck up on me. For the last 10 years and 8 months my purpose has been to be at home taking care of my children. There are other things that I do, but as far as my main purpose, that is it. Starting today, from 8-3 Monday through Friday, there are no kids at home for me to take care of. So what is my purpose now? It is a strange feeling to be here. How did it happen? I don't feel like I have missed out; I have been blessed to be at home with the girls and I would not trade that for anything in the world. It is the most precious gift I could have been given as a parent. Now I have to trust that they will be ok without me up there at that big school with hundreds of other kids. I have to trust that the adults around them will realize how special and wonderful they are. I have to trust that they will have friends and not be lonely or sad. So that is what I am trying to do. One day at a time, right?...

Reese's First Day of Kindergarten 8-24-09

Soren's First Day of Fifth Grade

at breakfast Reese realized that she has her first loose tooth! What a big day!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Last day at the lake

Well. We had to come home. It was a sad day. The lake house was so relaxing and so entertaining. The only thing missing was 'old dog Trey' (we missed you!). Pete actually worked and came to the lake. It was a 3 hour drive each way so he just had to sacrifice sleeping, no big deal.

Pops, Nana, Granny and Granddad, we could never thank you enough for your generosity in planning and paying for this vacation. It is a trip that I will cherish forever. It was so fun to be surrounded by my family for three days of play, fellowship, exercise, encouragement, gambling, :) and, as always, EATING!

We are a unique group. I do not know another family that enjoys each other as much as we do. I cannot imagine my life being any more blessed. I know I speak for all of us when I say that it was an amazing vacation and I can't wait for the next one.

danna and granny

sara and zach have a pull up competition...who do you think won???

goggle picture!

reese and pete

soren and wyatt

reese, nana and ashton

wyatt, ashton, avery, nana, reese and soren

the gang

Announcing the first annual Parker 5k Fun Run!

This was Pops' idea and it was so much fun...well, it was fun when it was over. Since many of us have become runners in recent years Pops decided that we needed to have an official race. Pete and Pops figured out the handicaps that each person needed, Pops, Mat and Zach mapped the course, and on our last day the race was on.

It was a staggered start with Kara leading off (Mat decided to run with her having NO training, run shoes, nothing!), Nana 3 minutes later, Danna 5 minutes, Zach 10:10, and Sara leaving 12:10 after Kara. We had to race in the morning due to the heat, so Pete got left out as he was at work, but we all know that he would smoke the pack anyway. The course was somewhat hilly and we did not get started until 9:30am so it was already getting pretty warm, but we all had good races and were pleased with our times.

Results:

Zach was first across the finish line with a race time of 23:00 (7:40/mile pace). Kara came in second with Sara hot on her heals (Kara sprinted the last 100 yards and I could not catch her to save my life! It did not help me that she had her hubby there spurring her on to the win). Kara ran a 34 minute race and I actually had my PR 5k of 21:58 (7:24/mile)! Woo Hoo! Next was Nana with a 31 minute total time and Danna came in at 34 minutes (I think?).

We collapsed in the driveway to congratulate, trash talk, celebrate, recover. I think we all agreed that it was quite painful, as 5k races should be if you give your all, but also fun. Granny and Granddad were our timers and held down the fort at the finish line. Jodi, Alissa and Pops drove the course offering water and words of encouragement. It was such a good time. Next year Pops will be able to join us; he is suffering from a foot injury. We are also hounding Jodi to join us next year as well.

I think that it is pretty cool to have 5k race as part of your family vacation. We rock, you guys!

kara leads off with "Mat the Encourager"