I thought I was going to be the next Michael Phelps

Caitlyn cracks me up, she has a great sense of humor and she loves to get a laugh.  Caitlyn has been saying that she wanted to join the swim team this year.  She found out that they started practicing last week and Monday night she asked if she could go to practice the next morning.  They practice at 6 AM at the rec center.  Keith and I were not very encouraging because she very rarely gets up in the morning, we have to wake her up because she will sleep right through her alarm.  We also didn't think she understood how tough swim team would be.  She took a couple of swimming lessons in elementary school.  She loves to swim and she does a great job swimming and diving, but hasn't learned proper form or swam long distances.  She was set on doing it and we decided that she needed to try it and it was important that we not keep her from it.  We told her that I would get up and take her every morning, but she had to get herself up.  We would do a one week test before we paid the fees and officially joined the team.  She woke herself up Tuesday morning and was ready to go.  I stayed at the gym and did an elliptical above the pool so I could watch her.  They got in the pool and swam lap after lap, they were supposed to practice for forty-five minutes.  At 6:30 I saw her get out of the pool and get her stuff, so I went downstairs and met her.  She said, "Yeah, that's not for me."  She said she was so tired, her legs were burning and she felt like she was going to throw up.  She had me laughing so hard on the way home.  She said, "I thought I was going to be the best one on the team, I thought I would be the next Michael Phelps."  I explained to her that those kids have been swimming for years and that you have to build up your endurance, you can't just jump in the pool and swim fifty laps. She was cracking jokes and laughing about how she thought she would be fine because she loves to swim and swam a few laps this summer.  She is so funny.  I'm relieved that she doesn't want to do it.  I can't imagine adding one more thing to our plate right now and Caitlyn is not a morning person and either am I, so it would have gotten old really quick!  I'm glad we let her try it or she would be thinking that we were keeping her from her Olympic destiny! Ha!

Jackson naps in some pretty interesting positions. I've been struggling sleeping at night.  I wake up for a few hours every night.  It is really taking a toll on me, my patience and my mental health.  I read when I can't sleep, so at least I have read a lot of good books.  My mom gave me some sleeping pills and I finally slept through the night two times this week.  I hope it keeps up.  Life is so much harder when you aren't sleeping.

Last week these girls went to support Ataiya at her cross country meet.  I wish I could have gone, but Jonah had a soccer game.  I'm so impressed with Ataiya, she has worked so hard and continues to get faster each meet. 

Hallee and Wyatt set up a little tent at Jonah's soccer game.  The game was crazy!  The boys they played were huge and they were mean.  They pushed them over and over and hurt three of our boys.  Unfortunately the ref (a 16-year-old girl) did not call anything so they continued to push and foul.  Jonah said they would laugh at them when they hurt them.  The assistant coach wanted to call the game because he was so frustrated and didn't want the boys to get hurt.  The ref finally threw one of the worst boys out after he tried to fight our boy.  The assistant coach went for a walk and then came back and told our boys that their integrity wasn't worth this game.  He told them to keep playing clean and not stoop to their level.  I loved hearing that.  I really like Jonah's coaches, they work the boys hard, but they also build the boys up.  They have taught the boys a lot too, they work really well together as a team.

On Sunday we went to my parents to celebrate Kyle's birthday.  My mom wanted to me to take a new family picture for them.  I can't believe how tall Dante and Alexys are.  Dante seems to be doing better and making an effort since he got home from Provo Canyon.  I'm so happy to see that and hopeful that he will continue. 

The girls wanted me to take some pictures of them.  They sure are beautiful girls and they are so funny.  They are always laughing when they are together.

Caitlyn loves being with family.  She loves all of her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  She gets so excited anytime we are going to spend time with my family.

Wyatt is very similar to Caitlyn.  He gets obsessed with things and he LOVES them for a short time and then he moves on.  This week he played football at recess and decided that was his new love.  I went outside and played catch with him a few times this week and Jonah and Keith played with him too.  I love to see his excitement about things.

Keeping Busy

The elementary school posts a lot of pictures on Facebook.  It's fun to see what the kids are up.  They posted some pictures of the kids in Wyatt's class when they made smores with solar ovens.  Provo School District took this picture and posted it on their website with a article about the solar ovens.  It doesn't surprise me that they picked Wyatt's picture, isn't he the cutest?

Hallee left this note, two suckers and two dollars on Caitlyn's bed.  She is so sweet.

A couple of weeks ago Caitlyn stayed over night at Mel's.  She loves being over there!  On Saturday Alexys, Ataiya, Amarie and Caitlyn made a video.  They were in a band and interviewed each other.  It was hilarious.  I hope these girls know how lucky they are to have each other!

Caitlyn rocks the purple hair!

Tiff watched the kids for me one afternoon so I could get Jonah to his soccer game.  She sent me this picture of the princesses with their cat!

On Friday night Kyle came over to do laundry.  We had fun visiting with him and playing a game.  Wyatt had fun going shopping with him. 

On Saturday we took the scouts to Home Depot for a building project.  I'm sad that this was McKay's last time with us before he moves up to the older group.  He is such a great kid, he jumped right in and helped Wyatt finish his project. 

My mom was watching Tiff's kids for the weekend and they invited Wyatt and Rockwell to come over on Saturday and go with them to the park.  My kids were so excited.  They loved spending time with grandma and their cousins.  It's been hard not seeing Tessa and Rockwell as much since the kids started school.

On Monday Jonah has late start. After Hallee and Wyatt go to school Jonah and I go over to the church and shoot hoops until he has to go to school.  He wants to start practicing for Bantam tryouts. 

On Monday I went to the dentist and it was close to Provo Canyon, so I decided to head over to the canyon and walk around.  We finally had Fall weather this week and I love it!   

Hallee and Tessa started their ballet class on Monday. 

They were both so excited and they loved every minute of it. 

They are so cute!

Wyatt and Jonah both had soccer games on Monday.  I went to Jonah's and Keith went to Wyatt's.   

They both look so cute in their uniforms.  Fall sports is killing me right now, someone always has a game or practice!  I do love watching them play though!

Hallee made an iPhone at school one day and came home and got right to work making them for all of her friends.  She said they like to play with them at recess.

Caitlyn had three meets this week.  She is doing great, she has made so much progress.  Today she played singles for the first time and won her match!  She was so excited.  It's been so fun to see her hard work and dedication and to see her enjoy it so much.

Happenings

I have always been an extreme person, things are really good or really bad!  I bounce back and forth between extreme thoughts a lot.  One of them is going back and forth between thinking my kids are not understanding things and never going to make it on their own, to thinking they are such great kids!  Lately they have all been asking for so many things.  Summer is always expensive and then back to school stuff: registration, sports, clothes and shoes were really expensive.  I thought I might lose it if anyone asked for one more thing and my kids got an earful every time they asked for something.  I was in my "the kids are really good" thought one day so as I was buying the kids the things they "needed" at the store and I had the thought to give them each a little something with a note just letting them know we were proud of them.  I realized I get so focused on teaching them, that I forget to praise them for their efforts and all of the good that they do.  Life is so busy and overwhelming that I find it really hard to strike a healthy balance on things.  I'm always working on finding a place in the middle instead of going to extremes.  It's a work in progress!

We set up the extra computers that Keith got from work in the basement so the kids can use them.  Jonah and Christian are usually playing Fortnite on them.  Hallee likes to sit at the table and pretend she is at work. She is so cute.

All of the kids love Jackson, but he is especially therapeutic for Caitlyn and Wyatt.  Caitlyn loves to hold him after a hard day at school.

Wyatt wanted to tuck Jackson into bed with him, Jackson didn't like that idea.

Sunday night we went and played tennis for a while.  Caitlyn loves to share her knowledge and skills with us.

Monday was Labor Day.  We all needed a down day after a busy week.  Caitlyn and Wyatt had counseling and then Caitlyn had tennis practice.  After that we all ate lunch and went to the pool.  The water felt so good on a hot day.  We really needed to just have fun as a family, so it was great to take that time together.  Life is crazy right now with soccer and tennis.

Jonah had his second soccer game on Tuesday.  He played great again and their team pulled off another win!

Grandma drove down to watch him.  My kids love grandma time!

Have you saved anyone?

We all wrote letters to EJ this week and I loved seeing what my kids wrote.  Hallee wrote, "Dear EJ, I've always enjoyed being your cousin.  Your so nice and you make everything fun.  Have you fixed anything or saved anyone? Do you like being in the army?  Love Hallee."  I love how she asked if he's fixed anything or saved anyone.  I also love her drawings.

Wyatt has been learning about writing friendly letters in school so he gave me some tips.  His says, "Hello! It's nice to write you? Have you enjoyed the military? What's your favorite thing to do? What do you do in the military?  Hope to hear from you soon! PS it's okay if you don't have time to write me back."  I love his drawings too.

Jonah's made me get a little teary.  I'm always surprised by what Jonah is thinking and how he expresses himself.  He is getting more open, but he isn't one to get mushy or tell you how he is feeling.  His says, "Dear EJ, Hey! I'm glad I can still talk to you, and can't wait to see you come Christmas time!  You have always been a great cousin to all of us, especially me.  You would always make me feel really good about myself.  And you go out of the way, just to do that! Anyway, enough about that, how are you doing so far? My mom showed me a couple of pictures of you, and you seemed to be enjoying it! I think it's pretty cool that you are following in your dad's footsteps! I can't wait to see how strong you are! (even though you already were). What exactly will you be doing up there? It will definitely be different..."

"around here without you! I can't take on Elijah in basketball alone! Matt and Lori, and Gary and Julie, don't see us very often, but since we are used to seeing you, it will be a lot different! And people won't be in that happy of a mood.  You were always in a good mood, no matter what happens! Even when you got surgery on your shoulder. When we went to your house to give you a treat, it was like it never happened! You are very tough. I miss you, love you , and hope to see you soon!  PS Do you want me to keep you updated on the NBA?"

Caitlyn was working on her math while we were all writing EJ, poor girl Math is so overwhelming to her right now, she didn't want to miss out on writing EJ so she wrote him a quick note before bed. "Dear Earl Juice, I miss you a lot!  I had a sleepover at your house on Friday and just felt so empty without you.  Your so fun and such an example.  I still remember when we would go over to grandma's house and we would tell each other we were the others favorite! I loved that.  I'm so lucky to have you in my life and share a place with you in grandpa's den! I love you so much and wish you luck.  How is training going? Is it hard? Do you sleep good?  I hope all is well.  PS It's okay if you can't write back."

We all miss EJ!  I'm sure glad my kids recognize how lucky they are to have him as a cousin!