Pride and Joy

It's a great day to be a mom.  Here I am surrounded by my legacy--all these future women sure to make the world a better place.  I am truly full of pride and joy.  Though I mostly present the bright side of family life here, being a mom is a very difficult job.  They say it's not for wimps.  I say it may be the way that God turns wimps into something much stronger and useable in His kingdom.

I hope your day was peaceful and that you called your mother :)

Up soon:  Contest News!

Jumping In Again

All but one of the Doyle Dames "jumped in" today at the annual Wahoos Time Trials.  It was the first of many long Saturdays that we will spend poolside watching our swimmers.  Ella is still in training.  In fact, next week, I am teaching a small class of kids around her age.  I'm hoping by the end of the session that she'll be able to lift her head and breathe--the one thing I never got her to do last summer.

I didn't get any photos of Madeleine today.  She and the other 15-18s didn't churn the water too much as they all wanted to establish very beatable times.  As for the others, enjoy the photos for now and hopefully my video of Sophie's first swim to be posted later.  We are expecting Sophie to join the "no lane rope" club next week.  She came very close today with just one stop on her way down the lane.

 Here, Sophie is minutes from the start.  Our backyard neighbor Phil offers encouragement.

Phil's daughter Annalise is our girls' over-the-fence friend (kind of like Home Improvement except Annalise always slips gifts through the fence in the form of coveted food and drink).  It is her first year as a Wahoo and we will very much enjoy having her family around to share our hut on Saturdays.

 Grace was in the same freestyle heat as Sophie.  She's a pro.  No nerves.  All smiles.

 Sophie's buddy started her off in the water but Coach Mark came over and had her jump in to start.  I was very glad that he pushed her a little and she did fine.

Two Wahoos

 Another pic of them taken a few days ago while watching a show together.  

So sweet.  Wouldn't it be nice if it were always this peaceful?

Mia on the ready bench.  She swam every event she could today including the 100 IM.

Sophie with our friend Michael.  She climbed up on his lap and he was more than happy to accommodate.  Then he showed her an app on his iphone called Talking Tom 

that made them both laugh.  It's the little things.

That's it.  Happy Mother's Day everyone!  Especially you, Mom!

Jumping In

Sometimes, when the girls and I read a book or watch a movie, we talk about what it would be like to "jump in" and be a part of it all.  I've mentioned here before that one of the scenes I would most like to jump in to is the dog party on top of the tree in Go Dog Go.  I think I could be there for a whole week without running out of things to do.  

I recently discovered a charming book at the library* that also inspired thoughts of "jumping in".  It's called The Secret Keeper and its heroine is the keeper of the village secrets or, more aptly said, confessions.  People come to her, tell her things they don't want anyone else to know and leave, lighter in spirit.  For her, the secrets become too heavy but the story has a happy ending including this party with lots of food and dancing in a field.

 The secret keeper is the woman with the long dark hair dancing at the bottom right.  Wouldn't you like to be a part of that happy scene?
I have also been quite taken lately by the drawings the girls have brought home from their art class.  They exude happiness and innocence.  I think my recent favorite is Party Panda by Sophie.

 I'd love to shake hands with this guy.  Sophie tells me the red shapes to his right and left are "happy bunnies" but the one on the right looks suspiciously like the red ghost from Ms. Pac Man to me.

This is Mia's Happy Crab

I'm not a big fan of crabs because of their scary pinchers but I don't think I'd mind running into this one.

 Another one of Mia's.  The Blue Frog.  If you tell me you don't want to jump into this one, I won't believe you--or I'll have to assume you don't know how to swim.  Who wouldn't want to spend a day floating on a lily pond in a tranquil pond?  And if you get hungry, you can always munch the chocolate chip cookie floating at the top left (Mia tells me it's the back of a turtle but I like my interpretation better:)

We expect great things from this Doyle Dame as well.  Here she's painting a page full of blue.  Reminds me of that plane I mentioned in the last post.  Worth jumping into--and out of.

*I love going to the library because I never know what I'll find--particularly in the children's section.  Sometimes, it's pure gold in the form of a delightful book.  The Secret Keeper by Kate Coombs is worth checking out.  We also love The Hat That Wore Clara B by Melanie Turner- Denstaedt and a wonderful book called Chalk by Bill Thomson, a sort of wordless version of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  If you've discovered a favorite new kids' book, I'd love to hear about it.

Happy Fin de Semana everyone!

Goodbye to Old Friends

 We've gone many miles together, these shoes and I.  I bought them in New Orleans almost three years ago and we have bonded quite a bit since then.  Unlike my little sister, I have always been a solitary runner, my sole companions being my music and the faithful shoes that carry me safely over the miles.  I don't keep track of my distance or time.  I run because running is one of the things I have always done that makes me feel like me.  No other exercise can compare.
I'm a little sad to say goodbye to these particular friends.  I've had them so long.  I even wore them to jump out of an airplane.  But my aching feet and knees tell me it's time for something new.

And here they are.  Another pair of Nikes.  I am a Nike girl and though I have tried other brands, I always come back.  These days, when I buy new shoes, I go straight to the Nikes, pick the cutest pair that's the right kind and am ready to go in fifteen minutes flat.  I have run on these quite a few times and they do a good job--with the help of a miraculous set of gel inserts.  So, in honor of the season, I have a new spring in my step.  Now, for some new tunes.....

Big Game Update:  I have two contest entries with just three days to go!  Don't miss this once in a lifetime chance to win the Frodo Seven Mystery Movie Bucket

Decide, Commit, Enter!! 

Write It Down

One of the books on my shelf of "greats" is a little known paperback called Write It Down, Make It Happen.  It is about the power of the written word in our lives.  I think most of us know something about this.  Writing a shopping list for instance makes it more likely that we will arrive home with everything we need.  Writing down goals or desired qualities works the same way--at least according to this author.
I've recently brought this idea into my discipline of the girls old enough to write sentences--Madeleine, Mia and--just barely--Grace.  Writing assignments are usually given for arguing, yelling at each other, driving me crazy etc.  I try to give them good sentences that can work as mantras and "make things happen".
When Mia and Grace got into it a couple of weeks ago, I gave Mia the verse "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" and Grace, "I am a peacemaker".  I think Mia had 50 sentences and Grace 30--a lot for a kindergartner but, she deserved it.  Below is Grace's list of sentences:

 I should have taken the time to get her real writing paper.  This is an index card.  Anyway, she started off well.  Hopefully as she wrote "I am a peacemaker", she was making resolutions about how well she was going to treat her sisters in the future.  How she would always be the first to walk away from an argument or turn the other cheek.  As she went along though, her sentence shifted to "I am a pacemaker" and then "I am a pacemekan".  What is a pacemekan?  If that Write It Down Make It Happen author is right, I may have one on my hands very soon.  

Other things written down:

We have a wonderful steamer machine thanks to Kevin and Abby (thank you!) but I never read the directions which are now long gone and so I don't really know how to use it.  That normally isn't a problem because Chris takes care of getting the vegetables on the table.  The other day though, he was having a moment with his grill and he needed me to get the carrots done.  We had guests over and I was talking and cooking other things and asked him to please write down what he wanted me to do--this is because I am a very bad multi-tasker when I am talking or reading.  As you can tell from the above note, the instructions were very simple.  Somehow, I still managed to put the carrots on for five instead of eighteen minutes and got quite the look of disbelief from my husband.  (At times like these, he generally brings up my degree but I swear that a working knowledge of kitchen appliances was not required.)

 This photo was taken the morning of Chris' birthday after our oldest daughter had expressed her love for her dear dad by plastering the whole house with all of my post-it notes and a whole roll of scotch tape.  It was worth it.  Say what you need to say as I always say.

You may recognize this from a few posts back when I took pictures of a few recent purchases.  This was one I was unsure of at the time but I am now certain I love it.  My original plan for Chris' birthday had been to decorate it with photos, notes and drawings from the girls and maybe a few quotes and of course messages from me.  I have 24 S hooks to work with which leaves a lot of room for the imagination.  As it turned out, it came down to the wire and I had no time for anything more than a few quick decorations.  It occurred to me that it might be fun to print out pictures of some famous people--significant to us--and write messages from them to Chris.  Here's one:

So, I had House, Elvis, Hunter Pence, Dave Matthews, Darth Vader, John Mayer.  I think that's it.  I liked Hunter's--"Ask for more, you just might get it" (Hunter Pence recently won an arbitration hearing that increased his salary quite a bit) and Dave's "Could I have been Chris Doyle?"(paraphrase from his song Dancing Nancies).

 The spiral stand is now on the table in our entry way wearing the chicken hat I gave Chris and waiting to be decorated for the next big day.

So, after all that, my advice to you--be careful what you write down.  It just might happen.  You might even wake up parenting a pacemekan.  (I'll keep you posted on that one :)

Have a great Wednesday!

A Note About the Contest

So, my mom has emailed me a couple of times about her thoughts on an answer for the Frodo Seven Big Game.  She told me she's trying to think of stories with "nice old ladies".  I wrote her back and said, "In the story of your life, you are always the heroine".  Which is true (unless you're a guy and then you're the hero).
As you brainstorm stories that fit your own life, remember that you are the star.  So, whether you are Jack of Jack and the Bean Stalk, Goldilocks trying to find just the right fit or Cinderella, your story is all yours and I'd love to hear it.

For those of you late to join us, the contest question is:

Which fairy tale or well known story best tells the story of your life thus far?  Why?


The deadline is Mother's Day.  Email me at chaucershome@msn.com

Ciao for now.

Starlets

We wrapped up a very busy weekend at Mia and Grace's piano recital.  They have been practicing their pieces to play for the judge at their Guild Auditions for quite awhile.  That happened last Friday behind closed doors.  We'll get the results in a few weeks.  In the meantime, we spent a mostly pleasant afternoon being entertained by many talented students of the Kingwood Music School.  I say "mostly" because there were very many performers and Ella and Sophie had already had a long day so--you know how that goes.

Mia's performance went off without a hitch and Grace made up for a couple of slight hesitations with her huge smile and perfect bow.  

As you can probably imagine, with three girls in weekly music lessons and another starting in the fall, piano is quite an investment for us--like another car payment.  Today we saw the fruits and you know, the girls came home from the recital and went right to the piano to play again.  I hope that this is the beginning of a lifelong love that they can share with their friends and family for years to come.

And now, the photos.  I had trouble with my camera settings and they have a slightly out of focus look but I'm just going to call that "artsy".  Work with me :)

 Amelia 

 She played Carnival and Black Bear Stomp

Graciela Preciosa

played My First Waltz and Circus Parade

 Where's Mia?

 Grace catches up with Reagan, her choir buddy

The recital lasted over two hours so, after Grace and Mia had played, I took Ella out for some air.

We played the statue game and checked out the playground.

Don't forget your answer to the FS Contest Question!  One week and counting.  You Can Do It.