Ballerina Girl

My Emry girl loves to dance even when there's no music. Tonight as I sat in the office on my laptop she was dancing in circles singing a tune she made up. She was telling me she learned that song when she was a baby and when she grew up and was 9 years old something or other happened. I thought..."ummm you're only 3 you haven't been 9 yet" but I don't want to stomp on her creative stories. She told me to sing it over & over again while she danced & when I stopped she promptly told me to "keep singing mommy". Her little arms were in the air & she would gently kick her leg out as she twirled. Oh my heart. She wants to be in ballet class & I keep saying yes but haven't done it yet. I must get on the ball & just enroll her. She would be so beautiful in her ballet outfits & I can just see her all serious yet a huge smile on her face while in a dance recital. Yes I must enroll her this fall. I know most places take a break in the summer then start new in the fall with a recital scheduled in the spring. Dalton still wants to do Taekwondo so I'll get him in that & of course Annika wants more horse lessons. Why must she pick the most expensive activity? They all have their likes & I want to encourage & support them.

Just Keep Swimming

2 months ago I finally put my 3 kiddos in swimming lessons. This is something I wanted to do when they were babies, but something always came up. The fear of them drowning was real. 2 years ago we were swimming & I put my son on the side of the pool sitting while I took his floatie off. I was sitting next to him when I turned to my right to throw the floatie to the side of the pool. My son was on my left. As I turned back around I see him jump into the pool. It took me a second to remember he didn't have a floatie on. I jumped in after him & grabbed him. When I pulled him out he said "I swimmed" and I replied "no you sunk". He scared the crap out of me & I can only imagine the worst if I weren't right there next to him. Hubby was on the other side of the pool & he saw him go in, but was further away. I got to him first.I couldn't help but think of my daughter's classmate who drowned 3 years ago. That sweet boy's face flashed in front of my eyes after this incident. I told my hubby we had to teach them to swim asap even if we didn't have a pool. He wasn't as motivated as I was. So fast forward 2 years (with constant worry about them drowning when near water) to their first lesson. I had already assumed my 2 youngest would take to swimming fast & my oldest would not. My oldest didn't even want to get her face wet in the shower/bath so swimming underwater for her was going to be rough. Well I was so wrong. My youngest decided she did not want to get her face wet (this was after she already experienced it once in class) and my oldest decided she loved it. She learned the fastest & is like a fish. I don't worry about her so much, but still keep a good eye on her always. My son is a daredevil & loves to dive for toys on the bottom & can hold his breath for a really long time. He still worries me & I have to set rules for him, which he loves to test. I am glad he isn't afraid to learn, but dang he's just over confident. Must be a boy thing. My youngest is getting there & the more she's in the water the better she gets. Today she put her whole face in the water many times to get diving sticks & she practiced her swimming kicks. I'm amazed by them & ever so thankful they are learning & loving to swim. They want a pool so they can swim daily & if it weren't for us selling our house I'd get a pool. I would love for them to be on swim team when they get a bit older, but one step at a time. I remember telling my oldest not to be afraid & how awesome it'll be when she knows how to swim because she'll have so much fun. The smile on her face tells me how right I was. I told her "see didn't I say you'd love swimming?" and she said "yes". I use this as a teaching thing whenever she's afraid to try something new & I use it for myself too. I tell myself "if she could do this after being terrified then I can do _____". She has inspired me. I was also so moved & emotional in a good way when I saw my oldest daughter helping her younger sister at the pool yesterday. I've bee taking them on base after my fitness class so they can get more practice. Keep in mind these 2 do not always get along, but my oldest was helping her sister "dive" into the pool while sitting on the side. She praised her & gave her pointers too. I was loving it & thought "why can't they be like this all the time?", but I'll take what I can get. I just look forward to many new water fun memories to be made.

Payson Mogollon Monster 5k Mudder

Last weekend I was at my in-laws house ready to compete in my first ever 5k mud run. I had no idea what to expect, but I did look at the video posted from previous years https://youtu.be/OEb1UK3GIJ8  I was both excited & nervous. This 42 yr old mother of 3 didn't have a whole lot of confidence in herself, but I thought it would be fun & something to check off my list. I knew I had to do my best because my kids, hubby & father in law were all watching & recording. I remember waiting for my heat to start & I had serious cotton mouth because I was so nervous. I made sure to place myself towards the back of the pack so I could watch everyone else & get an idea where to go & how to tackle the obstacles. They advertised 30 obstacles, but actually had 46. Woah! There was no turning back so I headed out & did my thing. Now let me tell ya I'm not a fan of heights so when I came to the first jump into a muddy pit I hesitated......for a while. Yes there's video, but I did it & ooohhhweee that water was cold! If there was ever a time to pee in the nasty water, that was a good time to do it....hahahaha! Anyway after that I had to climb a wall, but thankfully there was an A frame on the side I was able to step up on to get myself over. From there I had to pick up a tire & carry it then there was climbing over a metal rail fence, picking up a sand bag & walking with it then carrying it thru a muddy pit. There was also hopping in & out of tires, walking up a big rock hill (smelled like hot asphalt), sliding down a water slide into nasty muddy water, running, climbing over a tire wall (needed a bit of technique since they are flexible), army crawling under barbed wire, trail running, walking (hunched over) thru a metal tunnel thingy where I gashed my finger & thumb (bled a lot). There was also a big jump into more yucky water that smelled like either horse or cow poo (yes I hesitated again) and mud so thick I almost lost a shoe. I had to pick up a fireman's hose, toss it over my shoulder & walk up bleachers (I ran!). Then there was the maze of rope to duck under, climb over. I also scraped my forehead going under a log (there was about a 4" gap between the log & water I was floating thru). Many more obstacles, but my oldest asked me which one was my favorite. I thought about it & it had to be the 2 sets of monkey bars. Why? Because I thought for sure I wasn't going to be able to do it without falling. I thought my arms weren't strong enough. I thought I wasn't fit enough. I saw the lady in front of me, who looked pretty fit, fall after 3 bars so I assumed I'd do the same. I scooted over to the side where it wasn't as wet on the bars & proceeded. I was shocked that I made it all the way thru without falling. There was a break in between then another set of monkey bars. I had a little more confidence at this point so I proceeded & again I made it all the way thru without falling. I blurted out "I can't believe I just did that!" I know for some it seems ridiculous, but I was so proud of myself (I haven't been able to do that in years) & as I came to the end of the mudder I was all smiles because I not only accomplished what I set out to do, but I did it without quitting & I was having the time of my life. I was on a "runners high" and ready to do it again. Who needs an expensive mud spa when you can do a mud run? I'm already planning on doing it again next year & any others that pop up in the mean time. Of course as the day went on the soreness started to set in (& lasted 3 days or so). The next day all the bumps & bruises surfaced & I counted 18 bruises & about half as many scrapes. I was asked "did you learn you lesson?" Why yes I did. I learned I should have done one of these years ago & I learned I needed to do it faster, but most of all I learned that I should believe in myself more because I CAN do whatever I set out to do. The ultimate best part was when my kids said "congratulations mommy" and "you did great mommy". They held my medal & jumped up & down all excited. My heart was full

Back at it again

Well well it's only been 3 years since my last post. How pitiful is that? As a mom most of you can probably relate. Time is not on my side. All of my posts since my last entry have been on facebook (not nearly enough in my opinion), but you can't really go into depth on there so here I am again. This is mainly for my sake so I can look back & remember because as my 5 yr old son asks "did you lose your memories?" Yes, yes I have. Seems like I can't remember squat these days. They say having kids does that to your brain. Mommy brain never seems to recover. I initially started the blog to document our cross country travels after my hubby's retirement & I'm so glad I did because I forgot so much of what happened on our journey. This time around it'll just be to document all of my kid's funnies, accomplishments, milestones & whatever else strikes my fancy. So let's get on with it.