Going for a Dip

We packed up and headed out, needing a break from the mundane.

The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got to Grandma and Grandpas was go swimming!

Tanner refused to get in, saying it was "too cold"....Taylor was very brave and jumped right in!  It was a bit chilly to go for swim, so they went for a dip instead. Keetley and I went for a splash, thanks to Taylor jumping across the pool.  We lasted less than 10 minutes.

I wish fatty rolls looked as cute on me as they do on this little darling!  Poor little thing has some teeth coming in and just didn't feel good.  I think the cool water on her feet felt the best, but it was much to cold for she and I to enjoy it.

I got in a good run down to the mailbox and back, and the boys had a blast on the trampoline.

Grandpa was a trooper and kept the boys so Grandma, Deseret, her fake baby for FCS, Keetley and I attended the General Women's Meeting together at the stake center in Grace.  Then Grandpa met us at the bottom of Fish Creek with kids and we all drove to our respective homes.  While it rained all the way home, and gave me time to reflect on the uplifting meeting, I couldn't help but think that everyone should have gone potty before getting in the car.  Hehehehe!  Good thing it was dark, raining, and I have boys.

The rain, turning into giant white snowflakes wrapped up our warmish and fun week of Spring Break!  Maybe next year we'll plan something extraordinary....like a ski trip up North, or a bike trip down South...or maybe not.

It was nice to just have a week "off".  And just Be.

Pride

The kids and I had the chance to watch my brother, Clay, and sister, Deseret, swim at their high school district meet here in Idaho Falls.

As my van-load drove the 8 blocks to the pool, I gave them all a warning:
"You will get along.  You will not fight.  You will not argue.  You will not run up and down the bleachers.  You will be obedient.  You will behave.  You will be kind.  It will be hot.  It will be crowded.  It will be long.  But we will stay as long as you're good!  The moment one misbehaves, we all leave."

And then we pulled into the parking lot where I proceeded to take the last available non-space...exactly where cars are to pull in and out of said parking lot.  Okay, so my back end was sticking out a little, but hey..at least cars could get past me!!

Can I just say, that my kids were SO AWESOME!!!  for 3 hours and 45 minutes, they sat quietly, colored, visited civilly, and asked for our treats politely.  They returned promptly from using the bathroom, instead of the normal lingering and messing around.  I am SO thankful for such AWESOME kiddos!  Aside from marker EVERYWHERE, they did great in our little cramped bleacher-bench.

To top it off, Clay and Deseret had AMAZING swims!  They're going to do so well at state.  I'm so proud of them and their hard work, and the dedication they put into their sport!

Way to go, NORTH GEM!!  Couldn't be prouder.  If you can't hear me, I'll yell a little LOUDER!

...wait....did I just type out an old cheer?!  Oh, boy....

Anywhoo....Guess you could say I finally genuinely have school pride.

Crazy....or, CRAZY?!

take your pick.

My computer is limping on its last leg.  It is so temperamental, and just shuts down whenever it wants.  Ryan thinks it's the graphics card, and I just think it should pull up it's boot-straps and keep working.  I don't get a day off, why should my computer?!

Because lets face it, I'm relying on my computer (we have no TV, and we like it that way!) to entertain my children for a small (VERY SMALL) portion of each day.  I'm going to be real, and just say it:  I let my kids watch a movie so I can take a nap.  There.  If it wasn't obvious before, now it is.  I'm a fish without water if my computer isn't working.

So...today has been a little on the longish side.  Ryan left before I was coherently awake (about 7 am) and just got home at 9pm. He just finished setting up the tent so he and the big  boys could sleep outside.

I apologize for the scatter-brained-ness....Like I said, crazy is on the brain.

First thing this morning we (meaning me and my four children) accompanied Keetley for her 8 week appointment and 2 month shots, ran to the bank, and sweltered outside, then sweltered in the house, then sweltered outside, then sweltered in the house.  And then lunch time was upon us.  I know what you're thinking....we should have made it PAST lunch, but we didn't.

...stay with me....

I promised the kids I'd take them swimming if they ate their lunch, and while I was taking a 2 second potty break, they either ate their lunch really fast, or threw it all away.  I'm going to pretend I didn't see perfectly un-touched pb&honey sandwiches in the bottom of the garbage.  And I will also pretend you aren't assuming I dug them out of the clean garbage bag and ate them.  Because really, I didn't.  I had a plate full of pasta and spinach doused in Cesar salad dressing and avocados (and sunflower seeds).  If my plate hadn't of already been made up with food, I likely would have dug out the sandwiches.  I know.  It's embarrassing.

ANYWAYS, yeah....I think I'm going a tad bit crazy.

So for about 4 hours (and while scrubbing my kitchen floor), I was hell-bent on not taking the kids swimming because of the lunch incident.

But after I got done with the kitchen floor, I felt like I'd been sitting in a sauna.  With all my clothes on.  It was 93 degrees outside, and a balmy 78 degrees in the house.  Not bad, but I was dripping wet with sweat.

As I was changing out of my sopping wet clothes, I thought I'd try on my swim suit...and when I couldn't get it back off, I decided "what the heck"....and told the kids to get theirs on.

We hit up the pool, and after 45 minutes they were cold, so we came home.  I fixed them dinner, and they proceeded to ask for HOT CHOCOLATE.  Seriously, boys.  It's now 90 degrees outside and 89 in the house.  I'm NOT making you anything but dinner, and I've half a mind to let you have ice cream if I had any in the freezer.

So....call me crazy, but I was either going to lose my mind at home, or at the pool....and the pool was sounding much cooler so I just went for it.   We had a good time, and I realized I need to purchase some sun screen and a wee little swim suit for the princess...the sun-suit was fun, but I think next time she'll want to splash a bit.  :)

bring.it.

2 mile swim.

did the dishes, a load of wash, (found my good swim cap in a pile of clean and dry clothes, which means it went through the dryer), fixed breakfast, family prayer & scripture study.

25.8 mile bike ride.

and the day has just started.

bring the food, cause I'm ready to eat a horse.

Huaaaaaah!

FINALLY started the day out right.

Winter Championship for Tanner

So this little boy of ours is hilarious....I have to DRAG him to swimming, but then while there and coming home, we can't get him to stop talking about it!  He's so silly.

In between sessions at {Time Out For Women}, Katelyn and I sneaked out and over to the pool where Deseret and Tanner were swimming at Winter Championships.

They both did really well, and I'm so proud of both of them!!!

I took a total of 4 pictures.  This one turned out the best...Sorry, Desi, for not getting to see you actually race!!!

And I'm pretty proud of the T-Shirt Design I came up with for the event:

The Front...

And the Back...

They were actually printed on blue ringer t-shirts, and if I can get Tanner to hold still long enough, I'll snap a picture of it.  :)

{Last Chance} Meet

For all the 'hard core' swimmers, Saturday was their last chance to get qualifying times for winter championships...

...so I signed Tanner up.

Not because he is going to winter champs (although he qualifies because he's under 8 - not because he has fast times.  LOL!), but because it was a close meet and he needs the experience.  And Ritalin.    He used more energy bouncing off the walls than what comes in a can of pure caffeine.  I wish I could bottle his energy and give it to him RIGHT before he swims...or when I have a big project to work on.

That's Tanner...in case you couldn't figure that out. 

Checking the Heat Sheet for the next swim...

Oh, look!  An arm out of the water!  LOL!  

My mom has been doing this 'swim meet' thing for TWENTY YEARS.
I kid you not...I started swimming when I was 8.
...so yeah.  She's the REAL CHAMPION here. 

Check out the ages of these boys he's up against...10-16-5-15-10
He rocked it.  And brought up the rear!!!  

My baby sister - Deseret.  She qualified in the 100 Breaststroke for Winter Championships!  WAHOO!

25 Backstroke
Seeded at 1:22.73 - Final Time was 51.61 !!!  Took off 31 seconds! Placed 6th out of 9.

50 Freestyle
Seeded at 2:12.63 - Final Time was 2:14.41.  Added 2 seconds.  Placed 6th out of 8.

25 Freestyle
Seeded at 1:00.28 - Final Time was 57.92 !!!  Took off 2.5 seconds!  Placed 6th out of 9.

50 Backstroke
Seeded at 1:46.00 - Final Time was 1:53.69.  Added 7-ish secondes.  Placed 3rd out of 5.

No DQ's for this little guy!!!  Although we REALLY need to work on listening skills....the added time on the 50's was because he didn't listen when I told him ninety-two times to go "down & back", and instead waited at the wall trying to figure it out.  Good things he's got a few years to do so.

Guess Who Won!?!?

...i did.  and here's why...

Tanner had a swim meet in Bountiful this morning.  For various reasons, I decided to go despite the severe pain I'd had in my neck for a good week.  I'll get to that later.  Tanner first.

See this...

Yeah.  I'm pretty sure he was the youngest swimmer there.  If you aren't familiar with how meets are run, kids are seeded according to age, and their time (boys race boys, and girls race girls).  Tanner competes in the "boys 10 & under" age group, and is usually seeded last, because he's just a tad bit on the slow and inexperienced side.  That's okay. You have to start somewhere!

He ended up taking off 7 seconds from his 50 backstroke time....yay!  Progress.  And he took a whopping 49 seconds off of his 50 freestyle time.  SUPER YAY!  I'm confident he could have shaved an additional 30 seconds from the 50 free if he hadn't gotten silly and just bobbed up and down the last 4 yards.  Regardless, he is now using his arms and legs simultaneously...instead of separately.  It's a good thing.

Despite his placing last (not including those disqualified and no-shows) in his category, I won, because I got the see the standing ovation that every spectator and swimmer gave him after swimming both events.  I got to hear the "how old is that kid?!" and all the "Gooooooooooooooo!" from the people around me and in every corner.  It was hilarious!  I'm not sure if they were excited he finished because he didn't drown, or that he finally finished so they could go on with the next event.  Either way, it was awesome.  And he was a trooper!

I also won because I had my neck worked on....I don't think I posted about it here, but I did something stupid while lifting weights last week, and thought a disc slipped or something.  I had terrible pain radiating up the back of my head and down my left arm, and at times debilitated me from doing the things I need to do.  I have lived in constant pain for the last week, and was just about in tears at the meet.  I don't even remember half the drive down, because the pain was so sickening and I thought I'd throw up at any moment.  I would compare it to Kortlen's natural birth (pain at a 10, being the highest), with this being about a 12....a constant, sharp-shooting, tingling, hot, sickening & nauseating 12.  At least giving birth is over after a few hours.

ANYWAYS, my dear friend Karen asked how I was doing, and she could see I was almost in tears.  So she grabbed another swim mom who is a massage therapist to come and look at me...and then she worked me over right then and there, so painfully, that I burst into tears in the bleachers!  I was so embarrassed, yet SO RELIEVED!  I could move my head! Magic fingers!!! I think I was also crying because for the first time in a week, I had felt relief from the pain.  Throughout the course of the meet, my new friend Debbie worked on my neck about every 30 minutes.  The pain was still there, but subsiding.  Each time it felt better and better.

Turns out, the pain wasn't a disc (although I did go the the chiropractor Friday morning and it sorta helped).  Apparently my neck muscles and nerves were fighting each other and causing muscle spasms.  Ice helped IMMENSELY (I'd been doing heat....face-palm), and simply understanding WHAT was going on made me feel better.

Despite crying half the way home because the pain returned to be more than I could handle, I am even more excited to see Debbie again this week and have her work me over...I don't care how much she charges, I NEED the pain to be gone!!

And I'm tired of wearing the bag of frozen cranberries around my neck.  LOL!  It's kindof getting old.

Yup...I'm a winner.   


Note to self:  Don't do dead lifts and then check your form in the mirror.  That's just stupid.  

Kearns Holiday Open {Swim Meet run-down}

***Picture Heavy...FYI***

Wednesday, December 28th
Tanner has been swimming since March...that's about 9 months.  He's come so far, and can successfully (without drowning) swim across the pool several times during workouts with the team.  His coach and I decided he was ready for a few meets, so we made the Holiday Open a priority.  This is a meet I attended YEARS ago, EVERY YEAR the week following Christmas.  Good times, I'm tellin' ya!  I was excited to see fellow swimmers and also to see him swim.

Since it was just me and him, I decided to make a date of the weekend and have some fun.  We ate dinner at Crown Burger (fond memories, but greasy, too) and walked Temple Square.  We even made it to the Visitor's Center to see the Christus.

Thursday, December 29th
Keith and Tricia were gracious to let us use their spare room to sleep in, and my little brother made the best egg salad sandwiches for our lunch that I've EVER had.

Then on our way to the meet (about a 30 minute drive across to the West Side of SLC) I got a phone call from my brother, saying a certain someone had likely taken his keys and he couldn't leave for work till he had them...so in the middle of the "spaghetti bowl"/Redwood Road/I-215/I-15 (can you tell I had NO clue where I was?) I turned around and made my way back to meet him and give him his house key (he found the others in his pocket. LOL!).

Tanner was signed up to swim the 50 backstroke and the 50 free.

He was excited and so was I...he did well, for his age, and for his ability.  Our goal was to beat splits of 2:44.00, since his 25 bk was 1:22...I haven't gotten the results back yet, but his time showed up on the clock as 1:56.81!!!  Although he was last place, he was racing against boys twice his age.  I am so proud of him!

Swimmer's Feet:  Peeling and nearly Raisin-like. 

Killing time while I decide what to do for
SIX HOURS!!!

When I told his coach we'd stick around for his next event (50 free), she informed me that he was to swim it the next day...I was planning on him swimming them both the same day then heading home, as that's what the online info stated.  So, we waited around at the pool for a while, and then I got up the courage to call my mom to see if she'd watch the little kids an extra day, and to call my little brother to see if we could crash at his house one more night.  They kindly said, "yes".  So then I had to figure out what to do for the next SIX hours, till Keith and his wife got home from work.

We settled on going to see Keith at work to pick up the house key we returned earlier.  Doh.  Then making a day of it at Thanksgiving Point.  (Now that I think about it, we could have got to Cabella's and watched the fish for FREE!  Another "Doh"!)

Regardless of our many options, Tanner really enjoyed the Museum of Ancient History with dinosaurs and 'cool stuff', as well as the Art Institute where we watched glass being blown and saw beautiful Stained Glass windows being constructed.

After 3 hours of that fun, I decided we should head back to Keith &; Tricia's to take naps and just relax.  On our way there, we ventured into IKEA.  That was a mistake!  I thought we'd just "go in and see what they had", but was forced by their marketing gurus to take a tour of the entire place...now I NEVER have to go back.  Talk about OVERWHELMING!!!  And EXHAUSTING.

Friday, December 30th
We woke up early and headed  back to the pool.  Long story short, Tanner didn't want to swim.  And Coach Denise wasn't going to 'make' him.  However, he DID decide to jump in after the other boys were about half way across the pool...

...and finished after a painfully embarrassing 2:33.20.  Um....yeah.  We won't be doing another swim meet till he's more proficient in the water.  Like maybe next October.

Needless to say, we were both so upset at each other, we drove straight from Kearns to Chesterfield in silence (without naps!  Just pure tension and silence.)  I'm not even joking.

After a quiet and contemplative drive to my parents', I loaded the car with Christmas Goodies, buckled in the boys and headed home.

Lesson to be learned:  Get over it and don't reminisce in the glory days through a stubborn six year old.  Time to move on.  

__________

Thank you to my mom and sisters and brothers for keeping tabs on Kortlen and Taylor.  Apparently they were 'delightful' and Kortlen 'lost' his binky, so I don't have to worry about it anymore.  YAY!  And thank you to Keith and Tricia for putting up with us two nights in a row.

Spook Splash 2011

Warning: Picture Heavy!!!  

Lots and lots of grainy pictures...

Bad lighting+nervous mom=room for improvement. 

__________

Saturday, October 29th was Tanner's FIRST EVER Swim Meet.  It was a whole new experience for our family!  While I grew up on deck with soggy towels and squished ears in caps, Tanner had too much energy to let any of that phase him.

His Aunt Deseret (my youngest sister) also swam at this meet, and did FANTASTIC!  And Katelyn, who's knees you can see to the right of Tanner, came to help with kids, to be a timer, and be there as support for Clay who swam in the High School Districts Meet immediately after the Spook Splash.  It was one REALLY long day, but tons of fun!!!

Just waiting!

 Just so we knew where to have him for his events, we wrote them on his arm.  Some kids got a little out of control with the permanent markers and pens and would write ALL OVER their bodies!  It totally weird-ed Tanner out.  So we kept it simple, and by the end of the meet, it was washed off his arm.

"But mom!  My body is a temple!  I don't want you to write all over it!"
"Trust me, Tanner.  It will wash RIGHT off."

For these younger swimmers, the Bull-Pen is where they hang out.  Since it was kindof crazy in that corner, we broke the rules and just waited a ways back from the starts so he was ready to go.

I cannot figure out WHY he likes his goggles UNDER his cap?  

Tanner and his friend Matthew, another 5 year old on the team.

The starting official says, "Boys eight and under 25 Freestyle.  Pause, while they all jump in.  Swimmers.  Take.your.mark.....

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

25 yards is a long way when you're only 5, almost 6.
(Tanner on the left, Matt on the right.)

Daddy being supportive, in a hot sweater and all!  

He did it!!!  I wish you could see the smile on his face!
Coach Denise on the far right in the blue, cheering Matt on. 

A Future Piranha.  Just couldn't resist! He didn't care too
 much for the cap, but loved having the goggles on!  

 There's a lot of down time at swim meets...and even MORE so when you are five and only swimming in two events.  The older kids play cards, or listen to their iPods.  The younger ones play games like this...

An oldie but a goodie:  Down by the banks of the hanky-panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank...
Tanner learning the game in the Bull Pen. 

In the water, preparing to start his 25 Backstroke

The tricky thing about swimming, is you have to do it right, or you'll get disqualified and your time wont count.  With his first event, the freestyle, he technically had to break surface and can turn on his back if needed.  For the backstroke, he HAS to stay on his back, break surface (can't stay underwater past half way, which he would do if he could because he loves to see how far he gets!), and touch the wall at the other end WHILE ON HIS BACK.  That was the part I was most nervous about!

25 Backstroke Start

The funny thing with these little ones, is their brain is trying so hard to stay afloat, that they sometimes forget to move their arms at the same time as their legs...it's usually just the arms or just the legs.

Tanner can kick like a madman, and actually did just that for the most part.  Occasionally he'd swig his arms back...but then his legs would fall.  LOL!  Half way through he just focused on getting to the wall on his back by having one arm above his head waiting for that wall while kicking his little heart out!  It paid off, because he FINISHED without turning from his back!  WAHOOOO!

Tanner absolutely LOVES Coach Denise.  She is the coach who initially taught Tanner to swim a short 8 months ago.  While I regret not getting a picture of him with coach Tia, who currently is overseeing his group, I love the shot below.

Coach Denise was also my coach when I went to Western Zones in 2001 in Hawaii.  She has a huge heart and loves these swimmers.  She is patient and kind through all of his antics, and is teaching him far more than swimming.  He's learning confidence, patience, and how to follow directions.

I am so excited that he has this opportunity to learn something new and grow and develop!  As soon as Taylor turns 4, he'll be in the water, too.  I can hardly wait!  

Spook Splash Final Times:  

25 Freestyle - 1:00. 28 - 20 points - 1st our of 4

25 Backstroke - 1:22.73 - 17 points - 2nd out of 3

I couldn't end this post without a shout-out to Desert for her AWESOME swimming!  

Go baby sister!  Gooooooooooo! 

And our mom, for recording EVERY.SINGLE.EVENT. ever swam in the history of our family!!!  Seriously.  She started recording our swim lessons when we were 5.  With the big ole dinosaur video cameras that were bigger than a suitcase!  (Can you imagine dragging 7 kids and all their swim junk, blankets, and coolers to meets all over the state of Utah and lugging that beast around?)  I don't need to imagine it, because I watched her do it.  She's upgraded to a smaller camera, but still has just as much footage and a better vantage point from the bleachers behind those nasty windows.  

And Clay for his AWESOME swimming!  He went to High School State Swimming in his 100 Back.  Was barely off the qualifying time for the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke, which were MY events.  LOL! 

And Katelyn, who came to help us all as babysitter/timer/videographer/cheering section.  She also had some homework to do.  :) 

Clay was so tired of his three haggling sisters laughing hysterically
at EVERYTHING...we were so tired by 9 o'clock that night!
Swim Meet for 14 hours anyone???
And we still had to head back to my house and pack for the weekend
and a two hour drive.  Oy. 

We had a full, fun day, dont-cha-think???

*****

Printed on: November 15, 2011 I.F. Eagles Peewees skate in Missoula POST REGISTER

Swimming

Piranhas scare up records at Spook Splash: Members of the Idaho Falls Swim Team showed well, breaking records and improving times at the annual Spook Splash held last month at the Wes Deist Aquatic Center.

Pacing the IFST Piranhas was the foursome of 13/14-year-olds Kayla Stanley, Jade Irick, Ashley Davis and Randi Yarnell. The quartet smashed the meet records in winning the medley and freestyle relays. Yarnell broke a team record in the 500 freestyle that had stood since 1992 and swam two nationally recognized AAA times. Irick and Stanley both achieved individual AA times while individual A times were achieved by 11-year-old Andrea Perttula and 15-year-olds Joseph Davis and Rachel Lenderink.

Logging first place finishes for the Piranhas were: 16-year-old Ali Roberts (100 back); 12-year-old Jordan Andrew (50 back); 5-year-olds Matthew Balay (25 back) and Tanner Poulsen (25 free); siblings Ashley (100 Breast) and Joe Davis (50, 100 200 freestyle); siblings David (100 IM, 50 back, 200 free, 50 breast) and Matthew Hill (50 and 100 free, 25 Breast); 10-year-old Corey Hodder (50 Fly), siblings Jade (100 Fly, 100 back) and Jesse Irick (200 IM); 17-year-old Josh Jenkins (50 Free); 16-year-old Hannah Johnson (100 breast); 11-year-old Jacob Johnson (500 free); 15-year-old Rachel Lenderink (100 fly); siblings Jaiden (25 free) and Tayla Liddle (100 free, 100 IM); 16-year-old Jessica Peretti (200 free); siblings Andrea (50 and 100 Free, 50 breast) and Ethan (50 Back) Perttula; 8-year-old Zoe Rebol (100 IM); 7-year-old Megan Rickabaugh (25 back); 16-year-old Ali Roberts (50, 100 free, 200 IM, 100 back); 16-year-old Clayn Smith (50 free, 100 back); 14-year-old Jacob Smith (50, 100 free); 16-year-old Krista Stanley (100 fly); 6-year-old Isabella Suseno (50 free); 7-year-old Hayden Turnage (25 free); 5-year-old Paisley Walkley (25 free); and Yarnell (50, 100, 200 and 500 free).