Running and Pondering

Lately, I have been trying to exercise early.  Sometimes I go to the gym for a 530 class or go running in the morning.  I love it if I am not too tired.  If I run I listen to conference talks which is such a great way to start the day. I always come away with two or three wonderful reminders for the day and for life.  Words that inspire me to be a better person.  I need to start a journal with these simple impressions.  For now, the blog will just have to do.

President Eyering spoke about service and acting upon those simple impressions to go and do.  So often I postpone simple acts for a better time.  That time never comes.  He talked about President Kimball coming to the hospital to visit his dad.  He greeted him, sat in a chair an didn't say much but just sat and comforted.  I need to learn that.  I can be a better listener.

President Monson talked about decisions.  He spoke of the decision of someone choosing not to play in a big game on Sunday and how that decision molded his life.  He spoke of the simple decision to click a mouse and enter degrading internet sites.  It is so easily to make poor decisions and as parents we must help strengthen ourselves, children and family to withstand the many worldly temptations.

Great way to start the day!  I love seeing the sun come up and enjoying the beauty of where I live.

90 Day Challenge

I see facebook posts about the 90 day challenge.  It got me thinking about what my personal challenges should be and all the things that could make a better Heidi.  I decided to set some goals and do my very own challenge. 6 points of focus....

Filling my Spirit.  30 minutes a day of reading, reflecting and living it.

Strengthening my Marriage.  Listen, Love, Lift.

Being a Good Mom.  Love. Patience.

Using my time Wisely. Writing. Genealogy. Planning.

Healthy Living.  Getting up early.  Family Dinners.  Excercise Early.

Strengthening my Relationships. Kindness everyday. Love Languages.

Somehow I need to quantify these points.  Maybe set one goal for each.  Any suggestions!  I will sleep on it and set my goals tomorrow.

Soccer, Swimming and Piano

We have gotten back into the routine of piano now that school has started.  Phew.  I needed to get back into the routine in order to be able to teach scott.  He is way more advanced then me in suzuiki so that is Danny's thing but I can still keep up with him a little in reading.  It is amazing how much he can learn when he is consistent.  Go Scott!

Soccer is going well.  It has been so hot.  Scott has the best buddies on his team.  Such nice kids and great coaches.  Danny is helping out and it makes Scott feel loved and special.  Grateful for such good friends.  Scott wanted to stay and play but I needed to get home because Danny was going out with the missionaries so his good friend brought him and his bike home.  Grateful he has such great friends and parents that help us with this parenting thing.  He was so grateful he got to play and I was grateful for good friends to help.

Had our swim meeting today with the other coaches.  We discussed drill progressions, doing little intersquad meets, evaluations and I am excited to bring some of the things that worked well at Aquabears to Aquaknights.  I am really excited to coach and hopefully help these kids succeed and feel good about themself.  It it nice that the sole reason I am doing it is for the kids.  I am committed until December and then we will see how it goes.  They wanted me to do two hours a day but I told them I can only do one hour.  That way I can spend a little time after with the kids to play or we can finish homework or whatever we need to do.  I am grateful I learned to say no and am able to place my family needs first.  I am grateful that Danny has a good job so that I can do what I love as a hobby instead of needing to do something that isn't as fulfilling or takes me away from my kids.  Excited to make an impact.

3 Weeks of School

The boys have been in school for three weeks and I feel an immense amount of gratitude.

Gratitude for their wonderful teachers.  Both the boys got teachers who are perfect for them and are soo good at what they do!  Teachers are compensated so little for what they do monetarily yet in my opinion have one of the greatest impacts.  I am grateful they chose to be teachers.

Gratitude for good friends!  I am grateful for the friends that my boys have.  Scott has some great friends who he loves to see each day.  They are a great group of kids.  They are kind, loving and helpful.  They have great parents who I have grown to love and consider great friends.  They are helping him become a successful little man.  Tyler enjoys hanging out with friends.  He talks about the kids he plays with.  I don't know if he has any good friends yet at school.  His best friends are doing one more year of pre-school. He is so much more social than he used to be.  I am hesitant to invest time and energy into forming strong friendships knowing he will most likely repeat the year.  Totally the wrong attitude.  I need to live in the now and get over that.  Tyler feels like such a big boy.  I asked him if he like Kindergarten and he said it was soo much better than preschool because he is a big boy.  What a difference compared to a couple of weeks ago when he didn't want to go to school until he was six.  The kids in his class are so nice to him. He is very resilient and doesn't seemed to be bothered by much.  I asked him how PE was today and he said it was great.  He said he went as fast as someone who was five.  He was so proud to tell me that.  I don't know if he did or not but grateful he feels good about himself.  I told him that is awesome and reminded him that he had to work really hard since his heart was made differently and even if he can't go as fast sometimes because of his heart, he was doing the best he could and that was great!  I don't ever want to tell him he can't do something because he can do anything he wants and is blessed to be so healthy right now.  At the same time I want to remind him that at times he can't be like every other kid because he has a special heart.  I feel like we are doing a good job at helping him understand that.  There is no manual and every kid is different.  We don't talk about what he can or can't do but remind him every once in a while he has a different heart and he has to listen to that and understand that.  I am grateful for such nice kids in his class.

Gratitude for the school community.  It is amazing how much time and effort parents put into a school to make it function.  Our community is filled with amazing parents who make it a great school.  Blessed to be a part of it.

Opportunity to Volunteer.  I feel so lucky that I get to volunteer in their classes this year.  My parents are going to come out on Fridays to watch the little ones so I can go into Tyler and Scott's class and volunteer.  I am so excited to be able to do this.  I love being a part of their lives and classes.  I love getting to know who they hang out with, how they are doing and have them feel they are important enough for me to be with and help.  I want to be a part of my kids life and feel so blessed that life has calmed down so much since last year that I can do this.  I don't take it for granted.  Last year we were in and out of the hospital and recovering almost the entire year that I couldn't volunteer.  I recognize many parents have to work or can't be in the classes for one reason or another and feel lucky and blessed that I can do that this year.  So looking forward to it.

Gratitude for the Opportunity to Learn.  Scott and Tyler are learning so much.  I can't believe how much more Scott enjoys learning this year.  Last year he wanted to do minimum learning, which was fine and this year he actually wants to learn.  Of course homework isn't his favorite thing, but he enjoys it and has patience to learn.  I like teaching him.  Tyler is learning how to get along with others, listen and try his best.  He doesn't like doing homework and that is fine.  He is young and it is hard for him, so I just do a little each day and try not to get frustrated.  I just want him to enjoy the experience.

Gratitude for routines!  It is so wonderful having routines everyday.  They go to school, I sometimes get up early to excercise, I get to play with the little kids at the park during drop off, we do bible studies and music time, Kira and Blake get naps at home, we go swimming, we pick up, do homework, have snacks, practice the piano and reading and off to sports.  I love having an organized routine for everyone.  I am grateful school gives that to us.

Gratitude for our neighborhood.  I love where we live.  I love we can ride bikes or scooter to school everyday.  I love Danny can drop the kids off on his bike before biking to work.  It is the best!  I am grateful we live in a beautiful neighborhood where everyone says hello and lets you cross the street without being in a hurry.  I love our town!

Gratitude my kids like school.  I realize it is a HUGE blessing my kids enjoy going to school each day.  What a relief.  Perhaps one of the greatest blessings of our year so far.  Many kids do not have that joy.  I enjoyed learning but remember being such a perfectionist that school (even elementary) was stressful for me.  I hope my kids continue to enjoy the process of learning and have patience with their abilities and capabilities.

Overall, just feel very grateful that the year is going well so far.  Tyler is doing far better than I ever thought.  He loves it and that makes me so happy.  Scott is also doing so well.  Has great friends, is so well liked and learning so much.  Yeah!

Quiche

 I made a quiche for breakfast yesterday.

 Kira liked it.

 Tyler liked it.

 Scott liked it.

Tyler asked for seconds.

 So did Scott.

And here's a shot of the kids with the little didge.

Scott is into photography.  Not too bad for a first grader.  I did the editing, though.

Kira and Blakey rode in the bike trailer to drop off Tyler at school.

And they're chilling in the swings.

Deer Ridge Country Club

We took a stroll through the golf course on Sunday night.  Scott brought his camera and we got this nice photo of Kira, Tyler, and Scott.  Note the conflict of interest on their T-shirt teams.  

Coaching

This was the first summer I didn't coach since my mission.  It came with mixed emotions. LOVED spending all the time I wanted with my kids and not have a baby in a bjorn all day.  I played at the pool with Tyler and Kira. I got in shape. I was able to be mom which I loved.  I took a needed break from coaching to recognize how much I love it and am ready to go back to it very part time.

Brentwood is a soccer/baseball culture instead of a swimming culture.   I helped a little bit for my parent hours which was fun to be with the kids and took a back seat the rest of the time. 

I am going to help coach (almost volunteer) the fall clinic 2 days a week.  

How I learned to coach is very different than the way the team is coached.  One isn't better than the other, just different.  That makes me excited because blending the best of everyone's background equals success. The team has 300+ swimmers so there is potential for the team to be really good. A lot of families were talking about going to a smaller team that does more stroke work, but I think this team can and will succeed at that. It is a relatively new team and just needs some more time to find that balance.  I am not a big believer of the grass is greener syndrome.  If your kid fits in socially and is uplifted the other stuff can come together.

I grew up and coached for a team that really believed in kids having fun while learning to swim correctly.  It fit my personality perfectly to succeed.  It produced and continues to produce some of the best swimmers in the nation.  I feel I have been blessed with some great mentors who taught me a ton and taught me to coach.  

I'll let you know how coaching in B-Wood goes.