A New Sport In Town

"The Palms"

It's been nearly three weeks since our big half marathon race, which really seems so strange. Is it really already the middle of June? Our meeting place (above) has been placed on the back burner due to hectic summer schedules, along with warmer temperatures.

The same amount of time has transpired since I have put on my trusty Gar min, which has been extremely painful. My doctor (aka husband) has given me orders to stay off my knee until it has fully healed. Little did I know it would make me a little crazy, especially since running seems to be a great way to get rid of stress or any other unwanted emotions.

I have however, found other means of exercise, even if it isn't my top choice. I have resorted to riding my bike to the gym to attend weight lifting classes as well as spinning. I wouldn't recommend using a beach cruiser as transportation, it really means cruising and it not at all meant for any types of speed. Yes, I probably looked a little ridiculous snapping photos down the street.

Along with biking I have convinced (although it was like pulling teeth) my friends to try out the water. I think it has been close to 20 years since I swam club and it most definitely showed when I tried to swim a lap.

Amber, Jenny, Tishia, Sarah

It was also probably comic relief for the life guard who took this photo for us. Who asks to take their photo at 5:30am?? I HAD to have the proof we are now taking up a new sport. We may not be good at it, but trying new things is what we do. Now, if I could get my knee back in shape a triathlon I may be breaking out of my comfort zone to try a triathlon. Stay tuned...........

It FINALLY came to pass

Taylor, Mackenzi and Jordan

After my morning facial (my mom gave me for my birthday) so yummy! I headed over to Mesa to drop Jared off at his cousins for a sleep over. In exchange we took my niece Jordan for the day and went on out to Queen Creek. Taylor was in heaven being around her two favorite people. I thought Mesa was far from my house, however, heading over yonder to Queen Creek is a whole other road trip. Literally. I drove over 70 miles today. Yikes! Despite the distance it was well worth it because I hadn't seen my good friend Krista (from highschool pomline) since Taylor was 2 years old. We have been keeping in contact via email and phone, but there is just something about speaking in person. It was fun to catch up and see her for the afternoon.

me & Krista

We took the kids swimming and due to hungry tummies we stopped by the closest pizza buffet. I am not a huge fan of these places, but the kids loved it! After taking this photo I realized the sign behind them read: chugga chugga poo poo station. Nice. I guess that goes to show you the class of pizza we ate. Ha!

Weston, Luke, Parker and Chandler

(click to enlarge the sign above them).

Summer Snack Survival

I have discussed this topic before, but thought it was appropriate to bring it up again. Since summer time has begun my kids seem to have grumbly tummies ALL day long! How did they survive during school? Did they whine at their teachers how HUNGRY they were? Or complain that they were STARVING? Obviously, wanting to eat alot of times stems from bordom. You won't find me raving about how healthy we are in our house, because quite frankly as far as sugar goes I just can't do without it. Except for cereal. I grew up on Cheerios and bananas minus the sugar. I also remember having Rice Krispies and occasionally when I went to grandma's I ate Lucky Charms, but it was rare. Grandma's house was where the treats were. My kids on the other hand, have learned (by my bad example) that sugar cereals are the best. Or maybe I can blame Doug on this one, he grew up with these types of cereals. We would make Seinfeld proud as to how much milk and cereal we keep in our house at all times. We may not have things to cook for dinner, but you can bet we always have seveal boxes cereal. My kids would eat this stuff all day long if I allowed them too. It has become the staple of survival in our home. (and saved me on numerous occasions) It does wonders in little baggies for the car. Instant snack! It also vaccums up nicely. And can you believe they won't touch this stuff for breakfast?? Nope, we stick to oatmeal, pancakes, french toast, or toast with eggs. So all you moms out there who eat healthy (and I am by no means knocking you) Kuddos to you, because I have just taken the lazy/cheap way to feeding my kids.


good deed: packaged up some just because mail to send.

Tornado of Anger

Mackenzi, Taylor, Maci, Jared, Weston, Maryn, Abby, Ella, and Luke

(missing Shawn and baby Dallin)

I woke up this morning and decided to attempt Fiesta Texas. I'll admit I was a little giddy getting stuff gathered (a HUGE chore) and spending the day lounging by the water while the kids are off playing. It was fairly successful. We didn't have any littles go under. We had a total of 11 kids with us between 4 parents. I think the kids had a blast and another bonus I think I got some color on my pasty skin. We got our season pass pictures (mine was hiteous). Then we ventured over to the waterpark. Doug took Mackenzi on the rollercoasters since my kids refuse even though they are tall enough. They need some guts--seriously. They were so excited they did 4 of the big ones (Superman, Tony Hawk, Scream, and Poltergeist) all in 45 minutes time. The highlight of the day besides the below story was Jared rode the tornado. This was HUGE since he won't ride any roller coaster, but if it has to do with water he is all over it. Odd.

I forgot to take a picture so here is Doug and Mackenzi's
"4" ride photo after the fact.

We had to leave earlier than the kids' wished to because of our swim-meet later on today. I wanted to have some down time before we had to take off at 4:20ish. (which didn't happen btw) We always send the older kids to the dressing room to change and gather the stuff while they are doing that. For some reason they took a weird route to the bathroom (across the wave-pool) clothes in hand. Maci dropped her clothes we later found out and refused to put them on due to wetness. Understandable. But why in the world did they take the route to the bathroom across the water in the first place? I'll never understand a kids thought process. Anyways, this caused a little edginess in Angie. Again, totally understandable. We finally got all the kiddos together and headed out of the park. I must add in that in order to return to the park you MUST HAVE YOUR HAND STAMPED before re-entry. No hand-stamp=no entry. Anyways, we never do this because quite frankly after a few hours there is absolutely no way I am heading back in. It wasn't more than 25 steps out of the park and Mackenzi expressed that she left her suit in the bathroom. Really, not her fault since she was trying to coherse Maci to come out of the bathroom. What?! Frustrated.....grrr. Angie went back up and explained herself to the lady at the gate that her daughter left her suit and she just needed to retrieve it. The girl (not over 16) and annoying said firmly and very rudely in my opinion, you can't come back in because your hand wasn't stamped. She just saw us for pete's sake and wouldn't budge. I had already walked back with Doug to the car and saw Angie come up. I asked did you get the suit? I won't say what she answered except for they wouldn't let her back in the park @$@#$@%!

I got back in the car and told Doug I would try my luck and get back Mackenzi's suit. Is it me or does that sound ridiculous? You forget something and they won't let your re-enter because of a dump hand stamp?? At any rate I went to two gates and by the time I was done I received a lot of "calm down mam" But I was successful and treked back in the park (not a short walk)to get Mackenzi's suit. For anyone that knows me--this was out of character. I was LIVID and gave them an ear full. I hate dealing with ignorant people. At least my persisitence got me back in the park. What if I had dropped a camera, wallet, or any other valuable item? Needless to say I was not their favorite person. The funny thing was I called Angie and explained I went back in and got it. She said that Greg was already on his way down there to get their money back and give him his two cents on the matter. I later found out that when he walked up they already knew who he was and referred to the matter as the "swim suit fiasco." I wonder if they thought Angie and I were the same person? Hmmm. At least we got the suit and that's all that matters. Phew!

volunteering to time and hand out ribbons for 55 events!

Tonight we had a swim-meet. Which lasted from 4:30-nearly 9pm. Now that is some serious commitment. Luckily, I had Doug with me (I am not sure he had fun being in charge of two little boys). Thanks honey! I chose to volunteer to time to get it out of the way and took advantage of the break from my two boys. I really enjoyed it. Swimming was one of my things as a kid so I tend to enjoy watching and cheering on the team. Our team was creamed, (we moved up into a more competitive division), but we had fun and that's all that matters. I am beyond exhausted and hungry. And I am going to start this process all over tomorrow?

good deed: got Mackenzi's suit back.

I found this note on my door when I got home. Isn't it so sweet?

Cheating on Chuy's

I finally sucked up and bought my season passes to Fiesta Texas yesterday online. Ouch. I had my heart set on taking the kids this morning. To kill some major time. Yesterday I was so sick of the word bored I could scream. My plans were shattered after I learned that only the rides were open. I wasn't about to fight the kids in the heat with no relief of cooling down. The only reason I buy them is to plop myself at the wave pool to catch some rays. Really a win/win for all. It's nice that the little ones play in the shallow part and the older ones can go off and ride the water rides. (as long as they check in every once in a while). I (or we) was in desperate mode today for some entertainment. I ran over to Target to pick up a few items and found this water slide for $16.99. It wasn't too bad and kept the kids happy for a few hours today.

Tonight the kids had a mock swim-meet. By the time it was over, we were all starving. Doug wanted to run out to the mall after dinner so we opted for some place close, Mamacitas. It couldn't have been more perfectly set up. As you can see the kids have their own round table and the adults had their own as well. Nice. They also brought out a pitcher of Diet Coke so we could refill our glasses as much as we liked. Can't go wrong with that. I had to laugh because Greg commented and said, "it's like we are cheating on Chuy's." I guess you could say that was true since we were really planning on eating there tonight. Mamacitas won since it was so close to home. Tomorrow is another rat race: swim, dance, and baseball. Is it Monday yet?


good deed: got Taylor's costumes all organized for the recital.

Ready or Not............

Each year Taylor's school picks 4th graders who want to come early in the morning to do safety patrol. They train them so they can do it as 5th graders. (doesn't that seem old?) She was just informed a few days ago that she was picked. I was excited for her until I found out she had to report to school by 7:15am!! This means we have to leave the house no later than 7:10 am. Ouch. It also means no more carpooling with the Gordon girls, which saddens me to no end. Ready or not......early mornings here we come for the next three weeks.

Hmmm do we look a little sleepy?

The school year is coming to a close which means several things are piling up on my plate, as well as a few others thrown in the mix. I am in the midst of planning teacher gifts, gearing up for birthday alley (May, June and July---yikes), preparing myself for school being out, Doug's graduation, Taylor's dance recital, and Jared's long list of baseball games.......

Mr. Mischief
(I have no idea why my camera photos are so minature)

I heard the water running in the kitchen yesterday while I was blow drying my hair. I came out to see what was going on and found Weston in the sink with clothes. I asked him what he was doing. "I washing my hands mommy," followed by.... "I want to take a shower." Do I have another anal cleanly child--seriously?? I know I have told myself time and time again never to say never. But...... I have never nor have I ever had a child get into so much mischief as this little dude. The kid is into everything from the fridge to the chocolate chips, to the medicine. And remember he was my only child to climb out of his bed. Because of this, it is also quite challenging to keep him in bed at night. The bummer part is, he knows most of the time he can get away with murder. Afterall, isn't that what happens when you are the baby? Ready or not, I believe the terrible two's have hit the Clouse house.

Taylor and Jared after swim practice

I registered my kids for stroke lessons (since they never learned properly), this started Tuesday. I am hoping it will give them the extra boost before swim-team starts in a few weeks. Yesterday went fairly well. I guess only time will tell when the lessons end to determine the official report card on it. I think it's good to keep my kids busy or have something to do during the summer. It tends to break up the day. Swimming season entails buying new team suits, registeration fees, and going to meets each Monday. This also turns into daily practices when school gets out. Ready or not........ swim team is creeping up my back door!

Blanket for Ms. Browning

Can you believe we are already in May? Why do the teacher gifts stress me out so much? It's not like they are difficult, I even know what each of them like. I think it's more of another thing added to my list. However, Jared's teacher literally saved me this year. She is expecting her first baby ( a boy) in a few weeks which means her last day is on the 18th. I decided to jump on it and get her gift done today. It's not the greatest of sewing, but I fell in love with the robot fabric. How cute is that? My other ones are in the works--thankfully. Ready or not....school is out in exactly 21 days. We're down to the wire!

Fiesta Texas 2004
Look how small these guys were!

With the heat of the summer it never fails we get Fiesta Texas passes. We don't have the luxury of having a swimming pool to hop into whenever we want. And if you have ever been to San Antonio during the summer--a pool is necessary. It is also a great place for the kids to burn off energy and something to do. (I justify the hefty price of the season passes this way) This year we are lucky enough to have to buy 5. Ouch, that is going to hurt. Especially since we are now on a cash budget Ramsey style. (or as Doug would say I would rather starve than charge--our new motto) Ready or not....I am going to have to cough up my passes soon.

Sunset in Carlsbad taken by Mark

Even though this month starts a busy season for me I really am ready for summer. Summer is my favorite time of year. I don't know if it is because I am an Arizona girl at heart. There is something about the warmth that makes me smile. It begins the season of mowing my lawn followed by cleaning my house a bit more than normal (due to more traffic). I love the sun, getting tan, watching my kids race, the luxury of staying up late (it doesn't get dark until 9pm!), being able to take a little trip as a family without worrying about makeup work, (Carlsbad beach vacation) and who wouldn't love summer if it included your birthday? Ready or not.....the countdown is on. We only have 2 more summers here in San Antonio.

good deed: submitted something for Doug.