Monday is Hayes's day to choose what we have for dinner. It's usually some sort of breakfast for dinner but lately I have talked him into pizza instead. Which is a little funny since I don't like traditional pizza. It has taken six years but I finally made a pizza that resembles a pizza instead of a bulging, bumpy mass of flour and cheese. A pepperoni pizza for everyone else and a chicken alfredo one for me.  This blog post from Our Best Bites helped me a lot in getting the crust just right. I still have a lot of room for improvement but sometimes it's nice to realize you're making progress!

Gobbled down the pizza and ran out the door for soccer practice.

Pinch Me

In less than two weeks Bracken will be graduated from law school!! Throughout the day we keep reminding each other. It has been three years in the making and now it is Soooooo close! Just had to remind you :)

My FLT was Kamri randomly announcing to Bracken at dinner, "I HATE Office Max!"
New news to him but she tells me that every time we pass the store front. We went there once and were the only customers in the store, her and Hayes were being rather loud and I shushed them. They came to the conclusion that you have to be quiet at Office Max. Sorry OM, at no fault of your own I've turned my children into Staples customers for life!

Set everything out that the kids need to get ready for 9am church tomorrow. Let's see if I can get us all on time to church since Bracken will be at a meeting.
Going to bed a little early so maybe there will be a chance of being on time!

Pictures from our Friday

 Started the morning off early. 6 a.m. blocks & legos with Hayes & Lyla while Kamri & Bracken slept til 7. Lyla was a lot happier than the picture shows. She was probably mirroring my face since I didn't want to be up that early....

Bracken was at home studying so we went to the park after picking up Hayes from school to give him a quiet house.  Lyla modeling her older sister's glasses.

 The walk/bike ride to the park. Lyla in the stroller,  Kamri ahead of me and Hayes F-A-R ahead.  The rule is I have to be able to see him, he's a good kid to stop and wait at the corners.

 Playing cops and robbers

 As I was taking the picture above Hayes exclaimed, "She looks like a Lady!"  He cracks me up!

 Told them to look at the clouds and tell me what they saw. Hayes's response was "Ky's Firesword" I think it's from Lego Ninjago ...I was expecting elephants or bunnies or something...

 Hayes & Kamri were riding around the park a couple last times before we left when I hear Hayes yell, "help my leg is stuck!"  He had fallen so I couldn't see him.  I walk over and his leg was stuck in between the bike pedal and frame.  I tried a bunch of different angles trying to force it out and it wouldn't budge.  Kamri would start crying every time Hayes would say Ow! Lyla was turning her clothes black crawling all over the sidewalk.  After a few minutes of trying to get it unstuck, Kamri crying hysterically and it getting stuck once at an angle Hayes was screaming because I was hurting his ankle I decided I would call Bracken since he was just at home.  He drove down and it still took us about ten minutes to find an angle that we could get his leg out.  We had to lay the bike back down and hold Hayes over towards the handlebars to get his leg out.  It was crazy how stuck he got his foot!  I'm grateful Bracken could come help me before someone called the cops on me saying I was torturing my kid!

After lunch Hayes & Kamri "scared" Bracken while he was studying.

and our Friday night....

Bracken, Hayes & I played risk.  Kamri played with my hair during my turn and we made cookies in between turns. Lyla was entertained by various techniques, not tortured in her high chair as one might assume from this picture.   We played Risk by the rules and didn't give Hayes any advice during the game.  Bracken was taken out about an hour & a half into the game and then about an hour later I took Hayes out.  Really though, he only made one error that caused him the game, otherwise Hayes would have won. His strategy was impressive.

Now to get Lyla back to sleep...she's been struggling the last few nights I don't know what is up with that!   

Watching Matilda before bed.

A day of school, cleaning, friends, studying for finals, playing, and eating out.  The master swim team I am a part of had a fundraiser tonight at Sweet Tomatoes.  It was a really yummy buffet.  Then we dropped Bracken off for a scout meeting and played at the park until it was time to pick him up.  Then to motivate the kids to get ready for bed quickly we told them they had to go to bed in 15 minutes but could watch Matilda as soon as their pj's were on and teeth brushed.  They rushed to get ready and got about 10 minutes of tv time.  Quickest they have gotten ready in a long time. We'll have to try that again another night!

Favorite Line(s) Today: Hayes trying to guess what letter Kamri learned about in Preschool today.  Kamri gave him a clue. "It's before the letter N"  "M!?" "Nope....it's a letter in Dad's name!" "B?"  The letter she learned about was Y.  Bracken and I were laughing so hard at her "clues".

Law Review Dinner

Bracken and I went to the closing dinner for Law Review tonight.  They gave out some "mock" awards and Bracken won "Most Opinionated." The prize was a bobble head doll of President Obama.  Guess not much has changed from when he was in high school and won the same award! When the awards were being announced as soon as they said the word opinionated all heads turned toward Bracken.  No one has to wonder where Bracken stands on an issue and that's a good thing!  It was nice to sit and chat with a few people I have gotten to know over the last three years and see some of his classmates.  One more day closer to his last final and then onto graduation!

Today, out of character for me, I went to two stores looking for jewelry to wear tonight. I usually avoid going to the store unless I absolutely have to and most of the jewelry I own are gifts but I decided today I wanted to get something to go with my dress so I didn't feel so frumpy and boring tonight at the dinner.  Turns out in my haste out the door I left the jewelry on the counter as I was getting Lyla's stuff ready to go. I went to the dinner without jewelry and kicking myself that I had run to the store just for that. I guess on the bright side, I could return it?  Oh the silly things I spend my time complaining about sometimes...

My FLT: Hayes: "When it's your birthday is it like you are the king and everyone else is your servants and have to give you gifts?!"

Everyday Life & some quotes

Today was a day filled with the mundane chores of life.  Dishes, loads of laundry, picking up yet another toy--I contemplated taking pictures to post so my kids would see that my life wasn't always swimming & Popsicle but then that just seemed like another thing to do so..I didn't. Plus I'm sure no one wants to see pictures of piles of laundry, dirty dishes and toys strewn about a house. Although if they weren't mine I think I'd kind of like to see that someone else let their house reach that level of chaos...

I had the opportunity this morning to go help a woman in my ward. Usually when I visit she just wants to sleep but she was having a good day so we chatted while I did her dishes and a load of laundry. While I was scrubbing her dishes I realized how happy I was to do them for her.  My memories surfacing of just over a year ago, laying on my couch, watching others do things for me when I wasn't able.  It was so humbling to have to be served by so many people. It was so nice to be on the other side this time and be able to serve someone else.  I was so happy to do her cleaning and joked with her that it was nice to do cleaning that wouldn't get undone in ten seconds like it does at home.

When I got done cleaning up I read to her from the Ensigns sitting by her bed.  The articles I read to her were ones I have read before but a lot stood out to me so I came home and looked up my favorite quotes from what I read her.


From President Monson, "quoting Charles Swindoll, 'Attitude, to me, is more important than...the past, ...than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, then what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.'  We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails"

Ralph Waldo Emerson "Whatever yo do, you need courage.  Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brace men and women to win them."

Elder Richard G. Scott, "Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously.  When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grove more (see Proverbs 3:11-12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit.  To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain...This life is an experience in profound trust--trust in Jesus Christ."

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf on Why does Heavenly Father love us? "He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love.  We are important to God not because of our resume but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God's love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked. What this means is that regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, not matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

Feelin' like summer

First watermelon of the season and swimming today. It's feeling like summer!! (the great part of summer...not the 115 degrees torture part!)

Mirrors are tricky.

trying to figure out how to use the mirror around 0:28

Race Details

The swim course. I might be a little dot out there swimming somewhere.

running up to transition after the swim, trying to get off the wetsuit as  I ran

The transition area opened at 5:30 a.m. to set up. Being my first Triathlon I didn't know what to expect so I wanted to be there right on time. Which meant leaving my house at 4:30 so I woke up at 4.  Kamri had taken a late nap Friday and she was WIDE awake at 2am. Luckily she went back to her bed and just laid awake. When I got up she was still awake so she came with me and my mom. It was nice having her along with us although she was extremely disappointed when we went down to the beach and I told her she couldn't swim today! Bracken came with Hayes & Lyla, they left at 6 to be there in time for the 7:15 a.m. start. I'm grateful my mom could come with me since she helped me get everything set up and zip up my wet suit.

The swim course was hard to see where to go at the start because the sun was in our eyes but once we got close to the first buoy it was easy to tell.  The swim felt great minus almost being swam over by a very large man when I turned on my back to catch my breath for a minute.  I swam hard but not all out since I was worried about having the energy to finish the rest. I ended up being third in my age group for my swim, the first being only 32 seconds ahead of me. I felt good about that since it was my strongest part of the race.



I lost the time I gained on the swim during the transition. I knew it would take me awhile but after seeing the results, the competitive person in me wishes I would have tried a little harder to be quick!

getting my bike shoes on

The bike was good with lots hills. I was trying to keep track of any female in my age group that passed me (we had our age written on our calves).  I counted four but guessed more were ahead of me.  It was six miles out and then a turn around to come back six miles. There was a huge hill right after the turn around that I felt like I wasn't moving at all!  After that hill it was a nice ride back to the transition area. I was 9th in my age group for the bike.


The run was the best I have felt running EVER. It was still un-enjoyable but I was able to find a good breathing rhythm which is what I struggle with the most. The course was a U shape with the transition area making it a square, I was confused about where to go after the U and almost headed back towards the transition area thinking it was where the finish was. Luckily, Bracken was sitting right at that corner and told me to go up instead of down.  Then I realized that I had to go up and then turn back around and do the whole U shape again to the finish.  I had thought I was almost done and I was only halfway. That was killer.  But I finished!  I walked twice for a short time but overall  felt good about my run. Although it was my slowest place wise I was most proud of since I was really worried I would end up walking ALL of it. I was 12th in my age group for the run.

I ended up getting 7th in my age group out of 18 participants and 53 in overall female out of 147 people.

Place	Bib	Name	Swim	T1	Bike	Rate	T2	Run	Pace	Total
7	841	Skye Longhurst	14:48	6:12	55:38:00	13.4	3:44	30:19:00	9:47	1:50:39

Happy to be done!

I'm grateful for Bracken for pushing the kids in a stroller through all the gravel to different spots to watch me race. Without all his support I never would have been able to do this race. He got up with the kids when I left for early morning workouts and some mornings he would push me motivate me out of bed when I wanted to sleep in because he knew from experience I would be mad at myself for not getting up and going! I'm grateful my Mom could come down to watch too and the kids loved having Mimi around for the day!


I loved it. I really don't know why someone would love torturing themselves for two hours but it was fun. I want to do another one sometime down the road, but for now I'm so sore I don't even want to walk!

Race Day

 Waiting for the start

 My cheering section (plus Bracken who was taking the picture)

The Finish!

Place	Bib	Name	Swim	T1	Bike	Rate	T2	Run	Pace	Total
7	841	Skye Longhurst	14:48	6:12	55:38:00	13.4	3:44	30:19:00	9:47	1:50:39

I finished it!   I'll add more details /pictures tomorrow but for now this is good. I'm going to bed!

race in the morning

I have my triathlon in the morning. I'm nervous and excited but I need to go to bed because it's going to be an EARLY morning. and in true Skye fashion I stayed up late because I procrastinated getting most of my race stuff ready until tonight.

I bought flowers yesterday to plant in the front yard but didn't get around to planting them. It was so hot this afternoon I didn't want to be in the sun so we waited until 7:30 to start planting them.  It was almost dark but the weather was perfect!  I'm loving the warmer weather. It's crazy to think in a few months the hot temperature today will be the "cooler" weather at night.

My Favorite line today: Kamri & Hayes were talking about something and Kamri said yeah that happened a long time ago. Then Hayes said "Yeah, like it 1898!"  Lately he has been saying "In 2011...." about things that happened a few months ago. I love seeing the little steps they take in their understanding of larger concepts.

A few favorite pictures from a couple days ago.  Kamri brought home this volcano from preschool and we had it erupt again at our house. I LOVE her expressive face.

 Then Hayes wanted to taste the "lava." I'm not going to try to dissuade Hayes from wanting to try any food so I told him it probably wouldn't taste very good but go ahead. He told me I was right.

Shopping

This is how Kamri likes to sit when we are shopping. When Hayes isn't at school he's hanging on the side or walking by me.  

I try to keep shopping to a minimum. Kids are a lot more fun when you aren't trying to contain them or having to tell them no to every. single. thing. in the store. Sometimes I love going to the store with them. Just because they are my lovely silly kids and I love to see people's reactions to them  just being kids and doing nothing wrong at all. Other times I'm doing all that I can not to put them on the shelf for sale and walk out. just kidding.  but I do like to just sit in the car once they are all buckled in after a crazy shopping trip and just breathe for a minute. Today was a good errand day though!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home

When Bracken gets home Lyla crawls towards him with little shrieks to get his attention. Once she is in his arms she is all smiles as she head bangs in excitement.  She sure loves her dad!

How to plant a garden

First, Gather the troops.

 Second, While dad works pretend like you are helping by doing one of the following:

"Supervising"

"Shoveling" 

 "Weeding"

"Exterminating Pests" 

Third let mom plant the plants while you rest from your labors by:

 Basking in the sun

 or taking a drink break.

 and whalla...instant garden. It isn't much but it's somethin'

 with a pretty pink flower in the middle because Kamri insisted it needed something pretty!

My favorite line today was from Hayes to Kamri: "You're a lady and I'm a man so I'll hold the umbrella for you, because the man ALWAYS holds the umbrella up for a lady!"