Jonah's State Meet

Yesterday was Jonah's last official gymnastics meet of the season...Texas South State meet in Alvin, Texas.  Alvin is not really near our house.  I took a wrong turn and we had to sit in traffic twice because of accidents...not so fun!  We made it just on time.  Good thing I was the only one aware of our time issue and Jonah was clueless!

Jonah had high hopes for himself at this meet and I wish I could say he was a happy dude when it was over, but there were tears.  As he talked to his coach, I watched Jonah try to be so brave.  He was trying so hard to be a big boy and hold back the tears.  It just was not working and my heart was broken.

Waiting for his team to be announced

Jonah faded as the meet progressed and he had a really low score on high bar (8.5).  That did not help his overall average and thus no all around medal.  He did medal on pommel horse...a bronze for his score of 9.4.  I must say this is just too ironic because Jonah could not do his routine in December for anything.  He has improved his score by two full points since then and I am so proud of him.

Getting his bronze state medal and looking very unhappy

His scores were:

10.1 on rings and still no medal.  He was quite sad about this
9.9 on floor and again sadness
9.3 on vault.  He really wanted a vault medal.
9.2 on parallel bars
9.4 on pommel horse
8.5 on high bar

His AA was 56.4.  His AA in December was 51.1.  That is a remarkable improvement to me for four months of work.  I am proud of Jonah.  He is officially finished competing as a level four gymnast.  Next December he will be one of the youngest level five competitors at the meets.  I know he will be great!

A little happier at lunch

Haude's Family Fun Night

Emma and Jonah's school hosted a family fun night this evening.  There were bouncers of all types, food, dancing, games, face painting, a photo booth, and who knows what else.  Keeping track of five kids (our neighbor boy and Jonah's friend came with us) was plenty to keep me and Drew busy.  Emma went off with her friends and I saw her one time in 2 hours.  I was pretty nervous about this, but I know she needs little tests like this.  She is getting older whether I want to acknowledge it or not! 

The boys loved the bouncers....a huge Titanic slide, a maze, a bungee cord bouncer, and a laser tag space ship bouncer.  Wow was that thing popular.

the bungee cord jumper...he never touched her hand

Samuel never did either

Getting ready for Laser Tag with his friends Conner and Nils

Elena and Samuel got their hair sprayed.  Samuel loved it so much he refused to wash his hair.  I can't wait to see his sheets in the morning.

While the big kids were doing their thing the "little" kids played on the playground.  I am pretty sure Samuel could spend all day running around a playground.

Before we left each kiddo picked out a dessert....four cupcakes and a small bag of cookies!  Thankfully they were all so tired that I don't think there was any sugar high to delay bedtime.

It is such a blessing that Emma and Jonah attend such a great school that sponsors family friendly events.  We are thankful for Haude each day!

Elena's 1st visit to the dentist

Elena visited the dentist for the first time this morning.  To say she was excited is an understatement.  She has asked to go every day since I scheduled the appointment last week.  I kept hoping that she would be just as excited at the office and thankfully she was.  Really, she was the model patient.  I was so proud and also a little sad. 

While we waited for Dr. Pittman I watched Samuel and Elena play.  It occurred to me that this is just the beginning in a long line of firsts that I will experience for the last time.  As happy as I am to be hitting these milestones, it is still hard on the momma heart.  I want to remember each moment so it can forever feel like yesterday.  As sad as my heart may be, it is a total joy to watch Elena's excitement.  She loves being a big girl and catching up to her big brothers and sister.  Any sadness on my part is tempered by her smile.  How could it not be?

Finished with x-rays!

Samuel was Dr. Pittman while we waited to be seen

then it was Elena's turn

rockin' her shades!

Elena picked birthday cake for her toothpaste flavor.  As we were leaving, Elena asked where the birthday cake was.  It was the perfect funny comment to end a very successful trip to the dentist!

Guess what....I still run!

I have not written much about running in a long time.  For the most part this has been intentional.  I want to document more family memories than a good or bad run.  I also just want running to be fun at the moment.  Feeling like I need to write about a run puts pressure on me or I put that pressure on me.  Either way, I felt I needed to write about my run from yesterday.  I want to remember how I felt when I finished.

I was not supposed to be able to run yesterday.  We were supposed to have been in Austin cheering on Drew as he completed the MS150.  Since that did not happen I took advantage of the extra time and ran outside.  Because I slept in I did not begin my run until 10:30 which is crazy late for me.  It was probably a good thing since I am running a half marathon Memorial Day weekend.  I have to get accustomed to running in the sun and warm weather. 

When I started running I felt so sluggish.  The wind was bothersome.  It seemed so bright.  I just was not feeling the run at all, but knew I needed to run at least 7 miles.  I could do that.  What I did not realize was I was carrying all this weight inside and in some way it was slowing me down.  Our week had been very stressful.  Truly I have had several mentally stressful weeks.  The sickness in our house was not helping.  The news from Boston and West, Texas just made it all worse.

I felt like with each mile slowly but surely all the stress was leaving my body.  It was truly a cleansing run.  I have only cried one time when running and that was when I started marathon #1.  They were tears of excitement, anticipation, and joy.  Yesterday my tears were healing.  I felt so much better when I got home 10 miles later.  I felt lighter!

I love running for many reasons.  Yesterday I realized I love it probably the most for the freedom it gives me to process, think, feel, and heal.  Yesterday's run was not about distance or time.  It was about giving me some clarity and comfort to meet the demands of this week and the coming weeks!  It reminded me that I pledged to EMBRACE the challenges of this year.  I realized I have been fighting them, but no more.  Oh how I love the healing powers of a run.  It is cheaper than therapy!

Our unplanned weekend

This weekend was supposed to be fun and full of excitement for new things.  Instead, it was filled with sickness....ugh!  We did get to have some fun and some new adventures, but mostly sickness.

The boys had their first baseball game on Saturday.  Before the game I lost my phone and and forgot the camera so no pictures.  I was so annoyed.  But, it was mostly a fun time for everyone.  The boys did well.  They had fun.  I was entertained.  Elena and Emma had fun playing at the playground. 

The night before the game Samuel was just a little excited.

I found my phone when we got home and took some pictures. 

Because Emma had an evening birthday party, Elena, Jonah, Samuel, and I went out for dinner and dessert!  At that time everyone felt well enough to enjoy our dinner at Fuddruckers and dessert at Yogurt Worx!  That was the best part.

Saturday afternoon went pretty much as planned until about 6pm.  I knew that Drew did not feel well.  I knew that he had finished day 1 of the MS150 ride, but it had been tough.  What I learned after our dinner was that he was barely functioning because of the stomach bug.  There would be no day 2 riding for Drew.  So, at 6:40pm we all left to pick up Drew.  It was a late night for all, but the kids were really good.

I was so sad for Drew.  He loved the first day with the exception of feeling like crap.  He was excited by the crowds, the atmosphere, and happy to ride with his friend Thomas.  He had trained for the ride all to be done in by the horrible stomach bug.

He spent most of Sunday like this...

If you are keeping count, four of us have had this crappy stomach bug.  Only Emma and Elena have been spared and I pray that continues! 

Here's to a much healthier week!

Our crazy week and running thoughts

Ever since the news broke about Boston on Monday I have not felt even the tiniest desire to blog about anything.  Anything in our life seems so insignificant to those events.  I can't even kind of imagine what it was like to be there running or spectating.  The loss of life, the loss of security, the loss of innocence....it is all so senseless.  But, as with anything major event that takes over my thoughts, our life still has to go on.  I still have to complete my mom and wife duties and try to do a good job at it.  So what have we been doing all week?

We have been running Jonah around everywhere.  Not actually, but it seems that way.  In addition to gymnastics, Jonah also had a Tiger Scout outing on Tuesday and a pack meeting tonight.  I went on the bakery tour as did Samuel and Elena.  They loved it because they all got ice cream and a cookie.  I will not go tonight because they will be learning about snakes and a snake will be there.  No way!

The carpets were cleaned today and the boys thought it was funny to have everything on their bunks.

Samuel spent most of Monday night vomiting all over the hallway, his bed, and the bathroom.  This little fun continued Tuesday morning.  He is feeling better now, but what a mess.  I love doing laundry at 2am and cleaning carpet at 2:30am.  On the bright side, I have spent lots of time with Samuel this week.  That part was good!

This is about as active as Samuel was all week...poor guy!

Elena is just as cute as ever being the perfect little sister.  Just kidding!  But, in reality she is a trooper going to all the activities of Emma, Jonah, and Samuel.  Last night at dinner Elena told us "you could post that on Facebook!"  I thought Drew would die laughing.

Emma is learning new skills at the gym and is very excited.  On Monday they began using the real vault.  She said it was scary running full speed at something you knew would not move.  She is braver than me!  Drew said she did great!

Getting ready for gymnastics

Drew learned "how" to be a coach for the boys baseball team.  That begins on Saturday.  Drew will miss the first game because he will be riding the MS150 with his friend Thomas.  We are going to Austin on Sunday to see him finish.

I have not been feeling great...very tired.  Still, I made time to run on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday was a 5 mile treadmill run which was awful.  The humidity was crazy bad.  Yesterday I ran 11 miles and the weather was still crappy.  I was thankful for each run...that I could run and I know Monday's events won't keep me from races either.  It is sad to me that I will think about such events at any future races. 

I have accepted the fact that I can't go to Pittsburgh to run with my friend, the awesome blogger here, as planned.  I am still horribly disappointed.  Someday we will run together!  To help get over this I decided to sign up for a local half marathon, the Angel Run.  It is going to be totally awful weather.  Running a fast half Memorial Day weekend with likely high temps is not going to bode well for me.  Still, I plan to enjoy the race and be thankful I can be part of such a great cause.

I also got new shoes and a running skirt.  New running gear makes me happy.  We had to go to the running store because I finally decided to trade in my Woodlands Marathon shirt.  Apparently the printer misprinted the shirts.  Since I never looked at the shirt (hated that marathon) I did not know this, but I found out through FB postings.  Since we were there I decided to try the Brooks Launch. I love my Glycerins and wanted to try a more minimal shoe.  They worked well on my 11 mile run. 

Green on has 26.2 Half Marathon...Um, I ran all 26.2 miles of that suck fest!

Boring stuff I know, but it was our week!  Hope you had a great week too!

Today was Emma's day!!

Today was definitely Emma's day.  It all finally came together and I saw her smile all afternoon.  It was a blessing for all of us, but especially her.  Emma's journey to this meet has not been easy and the reward was definitely sweet!

Emma started gymnastics when she was 4.  She was asked to be on the competitive team two years ago.  Initially I think she joined the team because her friend was on the team and Jonah was on the boy's team.  Then, she grew to love it and had some success.  Then just as quickly, she grew to hate hit.  Last summer and early fall were tough times.  She cried more and wanted to quit more than any girl should want to quit a sport.  With some encouragement and stubbornness Emma hung in there.  She overcame the big pits and slowly worked her way back up the mountain. 

The climb was not easy and there was definitely back sliding.  The fall season was rough.  Her January meet in New Orleans was pretty miserable.  She earned her lowest score ever on any event.  It crushed her, but Emma still pressed on at practice.

Emma gives 9 hours of her week to gymnastics and then who knows how much more time at home.  She can do nothing during the week except gymnastics and school.  It is a sacrifice, but she does love gymnastics.  Now she loves it again and I could not be happier for her.  Emma's perseverance to arrive at today inspires me!

Today Emma was confident and pretty on each event!  Emma finished today's meet as the 1st All Around in her age division!  She earned all 9.1's or better.  Her AA score was 36.9....just perfection for Emma!!!

Her scores were 9.1 on beam, 9.2 on vault, and 9.3 on floor and uneven bars.  In her age division she was 1st on floor and bars, 5th on beam, and 2nd on vault.

5th place for beam

1st for floor

2nd for vault

1st for uneven bars

Getting her AA award!

The girls team finished 3rd overall.  One of Emma's teammates was 1st AA in an older age division.  All the girls did great today!

Emma with her AA medal!!

 I told Emma I could just burst with pride.  She thanked me, but told me not to burst!  Way to go Emma...we are all so proud of you!!!

Jonah's Maximum Horsepower Meet and other stuff

Today was the second to last meet of Jonah's season.  It always seems to me that there is so much practice for so few meets.  I can't believe he will compete for the final time as a level 4 gymnast in two weeks.  As for today, it was great!  This meet has a different format than most meets.  It is a team competition so no individual medals.  The rotations are also much faster, which I actually like.  I think Jonah did too because there was less down time to get bored, hungry, or whatever.

Individually Jonah has his best overall meet today.  His All Around score was 57/60 which is super great.  He did not have his highest scores on some events, but others he did.  Jonah's lowest score today was 9.0 and again awesome.

His scores today were
9.0 on Pommel Horse....his absolute highest ever
9.0 on Rings
9.5 on High Bar
9.6 on Vault
9.9 on Parallel Bars
10.0 on Floor

He was happy.  His coaches were happy with his performance.  His team did well too.  They finished 3rd overall and received this cool trophy.

After the meet, we had some downtime and lunch before heading off to a Lego Fair.

So precious!

It was at a local school and free.  I am all about free activities with four kids to entertain while daddy is on a 60 mile bike ride (he had a good ride with no issues today!).  We met our friends there which made the activities even more fun!

There were tons of fun Lego activities that the kids enjoyed.  There was also a petting zoo.  Samuel is still very afraid of them after being attacked by the goat at the rodeo.  Poor guy!  They also had one of their favorite treats...snow cones!

Listening to directions

Building their towers

Lego painting, which I thought was so clever

Elena and Samuel being silly with clown noses

Of course, the snow cones

Then, as if that was not enough fun for our day Elena wanted to show me her new bike riding skills.  Elena can now ride the "big" girl bike with training wheels.  She figured it out yesterday and is very proud of herself.  I am proud as well.  By the way, there is nothing wrong with her face.  Elena decided yesterday that her cheek would be a good place for a band-aid.

No idea why I let her ride without a helmet in the other pictures...

I also have to say that my day began with a 10.3 mile run with my new longer distance running friend Jenny.  She is faster than me...hello 3:37 marathoner!  But, she is kind enough to run with me and I hope it will make me faster.  Today we ran 10.3 miles in 1:28 and change....awesome.  The best part besides the great conversation that passed the miles so quickly was that not one single mile was hard. 

Phew, it was a fun filled full day.  Tomorrow is going to be just like today...oh my!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!