The Flying Fish!

Tonight Morgan tried out for the swim team. She was so excited. Me on the other hand; I was just praying she wouldn't drown trying to impress anybody.
As you can see by the photos she was very sure of herself and her ability to make it. She did great and after one full lap of freestyle, the back stroke and some butterfly moves she is on her way to sompete next month. She was dying to get on the phone to daddy and Grandma Carole the minute we got in the car. She was going a 100 miles a minute telling them that the tryout were to short and she wasn't done swimming. :) I will post photos of her first meet.
To everyone who has called or e-mailed and asked about Ryanne she is hanging in there and look what I found tonight............her great smile is back...........well at least until the drugs wear off & then she either kicks the dog or bites her sister..........yup, lots of patience this week!

And the winner is...................

OK so he didn't win but for his first triathlon Dan did really good!!

We left for Lake Arrowhead way before the sun came up this morning and what a fun day it turned out to be. The swim was 600 yards in the Lake. Dan's the one in the green hat...kidding he also has on the black and blue wet suit.

Then they were off on a 10 mile bike ride around the lake through Blue jay.
Go Dan! Go! I think he said at this point he was wondering what he had got himself into.
Here we are waiting for Dan to round the corner. After the bike ride they had a 3 mile run to the finish. Morgan is holding a sign she made for her daddy to cheer him on. I think Ryanne is wondering why with a cracked shoulder (you have to read previous post) we brought her up the to the race at all. All in all she was a trooper.
Here is Dan and a few other guys from the fire department at the finish line. I think they were all so glad to have just survived at that point. I think they were a little bummed when I told them a 12 year old boy had smoke them all. They said it was because he had nothing to do all summer except lay around and swim...............hhmmmmmm, nope I think he just kicked everyones but sorry boys!! :)

Mother of the year award...........Probably not

OK so yesterday was one of those days where you feel about an inch high as a mom and wish you could do the day over. Let me start from the beginning;

Morgan was giving her little sister a ride on the back of the trike down our driveway like they have done a million times but this particular day Morgan decided to hang a quick right (without telling Ryanne) so Morgan went right and poor Ryanne went flying left and landed on her shoulder. I was watering and had my back to them when I heard this loud CRACK!!! I figured it was her head so I went running and when I picked her up was very surprised (and pleased) to not find any blood. But she was screaming like crazy and saying her arm hurt. I found some road rash on her back but other than that she was moving it and it didn't seem to have any obvious trauma.

I got her to quit crying and off to swimming lessons we went. I have to admit I kinda thought she was just tired and milking the road rash so I made her do swimming lessons.....................I know, I know trust me I know what you are thinking. She started screaming when the teacher touched her and moved her and I told my husband something just seemed off with her. Being the fireman that he is and the fact that he sees "real trauma" daily I didn't get much of a reaction. He said she was probably just really bruised and so on with our day we went. But when she woke up from her nap she was screaming crying in her room flat on her back saying she couldn't get up and her neck hurt so that did it for me and off to urgent care we went. The x-rays revealed that my sweet little ray of sunshine wasn't milking it and indeed had broke her collar bone..............well more like cracked it. I am sure it's not the first time the Dr. has seen a mother try to crawl into the crack in the floor but I swear I felt that big. Ugh!!! I thought this parenting thing would get easier but really it just gets different and just when I adjust to fit the flow it changes again. Ryanne is doing ok though other than being very grumpy and in allot of pain. She was heart broken when daddy and sissy rode off on their bikes tonight so we took some time keeping our feet on the ground and watered the flowers instead.

Hebrews 4:12

Have you ever had one of those moments where you look at yourself in the mirror and you know for a fact that you are no longer in high school? You feel like you've made great strides in growing up and moving away from the drama and things that in all reality should only take place between 15 year olds. And before I go off on my tangent let me just first say that I am in no way perfect or free of slipping with my tongue but lets be real here people, especially people who call themselves lovers of God; when you purposly go out with the intent and motive to talk about others and say things that in only "your opinion" are true about someone you are causing disention in the body of believers. Ok so with that said allow me to expand on what has caused me distress all night and how God gave me peace this morning about it.

I ran into an old friend last night who I hadn't seen in year and we had a blast catching up on each others kids and lives. Then he asked me about something he had heard about a mutual friend of ours (we all attended the same church for many years) I was instantly sad becuase the reason he heard this untrue thing about these friends was via someone who just wanted to tear them down and gossip without any real facts. They somehow felt that spreading things that were unloving, unkind, and untrue was their responsiblity. I took a deep breath and prayed silently that I would dig deep and find tact before I set the record straight. Isnt' it funny how an impromtu reunion can turn sour and leave you feeling like you have weights on your shoulders because one person chose to tear someone down? I mean why is it so hard for us to build each other up? Why do we feel like the world isn't a hard enough place so we make it harder by helping Satan tare each other down? I mean how wronf is it that our tongue does so much damage. What if I hadn't run into my friend and set the record straight? He would have walked around with that false information about our friends, maybe told someone else, and so the cycle continues. As I was spending time in the word this morning I came across this verse.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to diving soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from Gods sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must account. Hebrews 4:12-13

Thank you God that you know my heart and my intentions. Thank you that you cut to the core and keep me on my toes. Make me sensitive to those around me but also honest and truthful. Create in me a clean heart oh God. Amen.

Two posts in one day?

Ok, so I couldn't resist posting this photo. I normally don't do two in one day but Morgan is just to funny and I couldn't pass this up. I promised my friend Rhonda I would post some of Morgan's fashion choices so she could see what I was talking about when I used the word "expressive". So here you go Rhonda. She's usually dressed like this walking through the house with her guitar in hand singing some song she wrote and by the way we have learned that laughing or even smiling too much will get us in trouble because she is VERY serious about the whole thing. :) I must say her songs are very sweet though and infact today the song was a praise song to God which instead of laughing almost made me cry. Morgan has always had her own way and timing on doing things. Thats what I love most about her; shes not affraid of life or living it to its fullest. When I grow up I want to be just like her..........ok, maybe minus the purple wings. :) Have a great day and remember to live the fullest, most fearless day for the Lord you might be surprised at what you find out about yourself! :)

Welcome to the family baby Tyler!!

We got to spend the day in San-Diego yesterday meeting the newest member of our family. Dans brother David and his wife Kim just welcomed their first baby into the world on July 26th. The girls and I were so excited to see a brand new baby. Dan said I started shaking the minute I walked in the door. :) He said it was best for everyones safety if they just handed over the baby. I told him becuase he's a man he can't understand the draw to the sweet little bundles of joy. He said as long as I got my fix and didn't want anymore he was fine with me holdin him. No worries honey, I love sleeping through the night and both girls being potty trained is the best! But getting my "fix" once in a while is fun too! Here are a few photos of our family loving on the babe. I hope everyone is having a blessed weekend! :)

Just another day at the beach.....

ok, so usually I am not brave enough to go to the beach withoutout my husband but this particular day we had no choice since he got ordered over and we had already RSVP for a birthday party; so after bribing my aunt to no end we all loaded up and headed out for our "relaxing" day at the beach. Do you remember those days of past when you would just throw a towel, a radio, and a bottle of water in the car and that was all you needed for the day? You would lay on the beach with your eyes closed and just relax? Ya' its foggy for me too. :) Well, if you follow the sequence of the pictures you can see my girls playing in the water and having fun but then the next shot is of Ryanne being pulled up and it looks like Morgan is just sitting there right? Oh no my children tried tirelessly to drown that day. They kept getting knocked over and I would have to grab them as they were being sucked out. They thought it was funny (being fearless and all) so as you look at the next photo you see a not so happy mama pulling them back up to the beach to "just be" for a few minutes. The last photo is of my Aunt who was the photographer (poporatzi) totally spelled wrong I am sure but she just kept snapping away not realizing that every shot was not only of my butt (nice) but also me wondering where the relaxing days of summer had gone. The water + my children is NEVER relaxing. Oh well, how boring life would be without our little bundles of energy right?

The eagle has landed!!

She did it! Ryanne finally jumped off the side and swam around!!
ok, great action shot of Morgan practicng her dive. Nice!!
The is Ryanne and her dear friend Luke walking to class together....aahhhh!!!
Morgan's best bud Caleb (lukes brother) leaping off the diving board. I think this one left a mark! :)

Sink or Swim!

ok, so it was Ryanne's first year in swimming lessons and she wasn't to sure about the whole situation................................
Morgan (pink goggles) on the other hand is part fish and in this photo is probably thinking about how she can promote to the next level the fastest..........................
Nope Ryanne's still not sure her teacher Megan is trust worthy, I even bribed her with a Happy meal !
Morgan figures what the heck and decides with enough air in her jump she might get to eat Ryanne's happy meal as well! :)

Johnson's Baby Hair?

ok, so a few of my friends sent me this e-mail from Johnson & Johnson. They are having a "beautiful baby hair" contest. My girls have this amzing soft, bouncy, spiral curly hair that is just unreal. So against the wishes of my three year old I dunked her in the tub, let her hair air dry and snapped away. Hopefull they aren't looking for the best personality to go with the hair. :) I tried to enter Morgan as well but she is six and the cut off is 5. BUUMMMEEER!! The first place award is for college scholarship money so that would be fun. I told my husband if Ryanne doesn't win there crazy! I'm not bias or anything, just a mom. :)