Kindergarten love

This was found on Darrin's pillow around Valentine's day.

a 10 year olds self-education

 

We checked out the book The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz from the library and Jaya's life has not been the same. She carried it everywhere she went, she read late into the night and she constantly shared her new found knowledge with the rest of us. Little bits of the this and that started disappearing, from string, newspaper and plastic bags, as she started creating the projects she read about in her book. One of the more "daring" adventures was - learning to walk in heels. She slowly clicked around the house, starting on the carpet and rugs and graduating herself to the hardwood (which I was not happy about.) She is now insisting that she would like some heels of her own.

I don't know if I have mentioned but Jaya is 7 inches shorter then me right now, when she puts heels on we are so close to the the same height it's scary. I am not ready for her to be as tall/short as me, and certainly not at 10 years old. After a recent shoe shopping outing together we compromised and she came home with a pair of black shoes with a "low" heel.

This girl is growing up...I guess if heels are the least of my worries I am grateful.

 

I knew this day would come

I knew it was just a matter of time, before his sisters rubbed off on him, including their fashion!

The early bird gets the nap

We have changed to an earlier church time. At first I was resistant, it requires more planning earlier in the week for any lessons I may be in charge of. It requires earlier bedtimes on Saturday evening, well in theory, AND it took away my only day to sleep in for the week.

Like all things I at first resist, but must get accustomed to, I decided to look on the bright side of the situation and look at what I have gained. First and foremost is NAP TIME!!!! There is no question that this has become a new favorite Sunday activity. We can also get in pjs right after church and stay in them. We can have 3 normal meals a day at the normal times. Everyone stays awake in church. We have the entire day to be a family.

Maybe earlier is okay.

Let's jog my memory

Melanie, Carla, Darcy (me) Amy

The one regret I have with my 1/2 Iron Man training is my lack of documentation. I had fully expected and wanted to write about this journey. I have never done anything as physically demanding as this has been and I wanted to write about it the whole way so that I could look back and say "see how far you've come?" There is just something unfortunate with memory, which is, once you have accomplished some great physical feat you somehow forget all the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get there.

I remember the day when my mom arrived in Sacramento, California to visit her daughter (me) because I had just gave birth to her first grandchild. I was exhausted, nervous with the responsibility ahead of me, and quite frankly wasn't sure if I had it in me to be a good mom. My biggest challenge was nursing, up until I had the baby everyone told me oh it's so natural to breastfeed, while it's natural that milk did come out and the baby liked it, everything else seemed very unnatural. If it's so natural why does it hurt so bad it curls your toes? Is it natural to have bleeding nipples? Is it natural to cry every time the baby latches on? These were all the things I was feeling and when my mom arrived I was ready to be rescued. In her wisdom and I am sure hoping to take the suffering from me she came up with a great plan. She said "Darcy, I want you to keep track of how long this hurts, and then write it down when it stops hurting." not quite picking up the point of the exercise she continued. "Then when you have another child, and are nursing again, you will have a written record that it only hurts for 3 weeks (for example), or however long it will be, that way you will know that someday the pain will end and you can look forward to feeling better."

I have found applying that principle in my life in other occasions has really helped. So that was my main goal when I started my Iron Man training, I wanted to see how far I have come and how hard I can push myself. Unfortunately I didn't do that, now I have 5 weeks left and I can only rely on my limited memory to show the progress, but I do know it's there.

So picking up from where I am this is what I have done (and how it felt)
Yesterday (5 weeks till race day)
Swam: 20 laps = 1/2 a mile
Biked: 40 miles
Ran: 5 miles

The swim was hard, we had about 7-8 people in one lane and we swam in a circle. While it pushes me to keep swimming it's out of my comfort zone to not have any breaks, which I did because I was sweating in my wetsuit and had to get out and take it off.

The bike was also hard, my legs felt pretty good, but it's just the amount of time it takes, I had people to talk to for about 1/2 of it (20 miles), but the other 1/2 we were single file and conversation was limited. The last 5 miles were the hardest, I was getting antsy and ready to get off the bike. My shoulder/arm was really hurting (this has been a problem that last 3 rides I have had), when I got off the bike and finally relaxed my arm I was in tears from the pain of my arm (I gotta get that checked out this week!)

The run, the only word to describe that run was AWFUL!! It was the hardest run I have had in a long time. I felt like I was in a slow fog, I actually tried to shake my body, do a few leaps, just to get out of the trance I felt I was in. They say going from the bike to run is a very difficult transition, ummmm...that's an understatement it was awful! But I did get 5 miles in and I was very happy about that. Funny thing though, I get emotional when I do hard physical things and I started telling my running friend (Amy) how much I love Darrin, I just really needed her to know that I really do love him, little embarrassing now, but I think she understands we all get a little emotional. =)

Eden's party

I was glad when Eden said she didn't want a cake. I get tired of making cakes, so when I suggested a fruit pizza she jumped right on that, and boy was I glad because they are my favorite.

I have taken some friends rituals and decided to do a "friends" party, every other year, and so this year is a family only year.

 

So over came family to share in the fun.

It's funny how my kids don't seem to feel let down that they don't get the friends thing; that makes me so happy that they are just as content to be with family.

 

Here's our new little 6 year old, it's been 2 months and I still think she's five, relishing in the opening of presents!

 

Curly Q - 6

Dear Eden,
I have often said you were born after an "ideal labor". I have a tradition to tell you your birth story on your birthday, and today when I mentioned that your birth was ideal, that brought up a lot of questions. First you asked, "so I was your easiest birth?" No, really it just means everything went the way I had hoped and planned.
You have amazing energy and arm strength. Your teacher at school the other day stopped me and asked if I have seen you climb the monkey bars. She said I should watch you sometime because you can do things that most of the 5th graders can't. Obviously intrigued, the next day I picked you up, I asked you to show me. You shimmied right up, with your arms, and crossed over to the other side. It was pretty impressive.
You are smiley girl. I still remember as a baby so many people would smile at you in the store and when you would smile back it just made their day. You still have that. When people speak to you, you just start to smile, it's contagious and makes others feel so good.
You have the cutest curly hair, I am still trying to figure out what works for your little curly mane, and we have learned that you can't brush it, that turns a little disastrous.
This year I think you are learning to make a place for yourself in our family. I don't mean that sound like you aren't involved or loved, but I think you need more attention then you get. You are often found jumping on my lap, following me around, and asking to help me whenever you can. Being the 3rd little girl in the family I think you are looking for your unique qualities, I am telling you that you already possess them. You are happy, energetic and creative. You are very fast at coloring, and getting your jobs done, there is nothing pokey about you.
You love to touch, open, and explore everything around you. I will honestly say that this is an exhausting quality you possess. While I find mail, packages, and drawers opened, explored and strewn around, it's not hard to know where you've been. You have also discovered how to write your name. We often find little evidences of your hand on furniture and walls, when confronted you deny it, and we tell you, "no one else would write your name.", to which you have no reply.
Other things you love: gymnastics, birthdays, reading stories, dress-up, being pretty, being with mom and dad, and candy.
Things you are not so fond of: chocolate, frosting, and being alone.
You are such a fun addition to our family, you bring joy to us with your upbeat personality and energy.
Thank you for picking me to be your mom.

Love,
Mom