Another Swim Meet

Time for another swim meet.  The kids all did a great job and every one of them swam every event faster than last time.  

Tayson: 

25M Fly 28:31

25 M Breast 26:12

100 IM 1:56:35

Claire:

25M Free 42:53

25M Back 41:19

Luke: 

25M Free 24:59

25M Back 24:50

100 IM 2:21:53

Luke won his heat and the race for the IM - and he was the only kid who competed in his age group in such a tough race.  Great job buddy!!  So proud of you.

Millie's Princess Run

I really wanted to do this race but couldn't because the kids had a swim meet and Todd is already off to Alaska on his "boys only" trip.  So Timmy and Megan took Sophie with them for the race.  Sophie went back and forth on which princess she was going to be and ended up running as Aurora.  She loved spending some alone time with Cinderella and Prince Charming too.

Thanks to having her own special "chariot" to ride the entire race she placed first in her age group.  Ha.  One of the first things she told me after the race was that she beat Megan.  Silly little girl.  But hey - maybe I finally have a runner :)

Dance & Cheer Camp

I signed the girls up for Chloe and Savannah's dance and cheer camp.  It was every morning for a week and they had so much fun.  Sophie especially loved getting to go to a "camp" and they learned a few different cheers and dances.  And they got awesome Provo High shirts to wear. 

The Hat Party

We had a Relief Society hat party.  It was like a Tea Party for adults with no tea and we wore hats, ate fun treats and had some amazing people talk to us about the hats we wear as women.  Since the only hats I have are running hats Megan, Kami and I decided to make facinators to wear.  Of course the girls had to get in on the fun too.

I told Sophie to make a kissie face - and I got a sweet duck face. 
And...the keys she put on her necklace I found out are the ones to our safe...nice one Soph.

Him's a cute boy

While looking through old pictures for Father's Day I came across my school picture from kindergarten.  When I pulled it up Sophie said "him's a cute boy" .....  ummm Sophie that's me.  That girl kills me - she is always telling me I have boy hair and that I wear boy clothes.  And yes I realize I am wearing yellow and have boy hair.  Don't blame me I was only 5.

Crate Training

I'm not sure what we were thinking but we came home with the all-time smallest crate known to man.  Lizzy would go in it and then come right out.  She wasn't going for it. 

 

After a bit of online research - thanks google.  We ended up the largest crate known to man.  I have tripped over it, run into it and can't find a spot big enough in the house for it.  But she seems to like it better.

Training her is going ok - I'm so exhausted with getting up every 2 hours to let her out to pee and then having to cuddle her back to sleep for 20 minutes after that I finally gave up and made her sleep outside last night.  I know it will keep getting easier as she gets older but this whole newborn thing is killing me :)

Father's Day

My kids are pretty darn lucky to have Todd as their dad.  He is amazing and takes very good care of us.  This year he had to fly out to Jackson early in the morning (he left the house around 5:00 am) so we didn't really get to celebrate the day with him.  But really maybe it's more relaxing to be hanging out at the airport and hotel anyway - just kidding.   

This is one of my favorite pictures of the early days of fatherhood. We got baptism by fire with Tayson so patience and hard work being part of parenting came on fast.  Rather than give up computer time Todd just learned how to play while bouncing on the exercise ball with Tayson in his arms. 

And I am pretty dang lucky that I have an amazing dad.  This is my all-time favorite picture of me and my dad.  I posted this on Instagram saying "Happy Father's Day to my dad!  He's the reason I hate fish.  Love you dad!"  And it's all true I really do hate fish and swimming in open water for the fear of fish. 

Since Todd wasn't home to help the boys with their ties my dad helped them when we got to church.  I had to snap a pic because I thought it was very cute.  I love living so close to my parents.

I got to make and host Father's day dinner too - so I made 5 pans of enchiladas.  4 different kids:  red, white, green and roasted veggie.  They were SOOOO GOOD!

First Swim Meet

The kids had their first swim meet of the year today.  This has been a crazy swimming summer for us so far but we are loving it.  Both boys got on the OTAC club swim team but we had already signed up for and paid for Provo City swimming so we are doing both.  Tayson swims every morning with OTAC from 7-8 then all 3 kids go to Provo practice from 8:30 - 9:30 then Luke does OTAC from 5-6 pm.  I swear I drive to and from the pool non-stop.  But I love watching the kids excel and have so much fun. 

Claire did 3 events for her first meet.  She did the 25 m freestyle, the 25 m back and was on the 25 m freestyle relay.  She had so much fun and I was very proud of her for jumping in and going for it!

Claire's times:

Free 46:94 (16)

Back 48.97 (dq - she turned before touching the wall)

Tayson swam the 50 free (he took 4th and cut 10 seconds off last years time even though his goggles fell off and he was swimming with his eyes closed).  He swam the 25 m breast stroke and the 100 m IM.

Tayson took first in his IM - I was very very proud of him.

Tayson's times:

Free  44:66 (4)

100 IM  1:56.57 (1)

Breast 29.44 (3)

Luke did great in both his free and backstroke.  He looks so good and strong out there swimming this year. He has been working hard and makes me very proud.

 

He took first in his 25 m back stroke and took 10 seconds off his time. 

Luke's Times:

Free 26:47 (4)

Back 26:44 (1)

Since I grew up at the pool watching Danny swim I don't mind being a swim team mom - actually I love it and I really love seeing my kids in the water.  And of course the first thing I do after they swim is text Danny :)

Meet Lizzy

Since December when Shadow died we have talked about getting a puppy this summer.  We knew we had to wait until summer when the kids would be home during the day.  When we started looking all the yellow lab girls were always sold.  So last weekend when Todd and I were driving up to Salt Lake to see Jersey Boys I was browsing KSL classifieds and this sweet girl had just been posted.  I called and told him I didn't even need to come see her to know we wanted her.  We didn't tell the kids because we wanted to surprise them.   We told the kids we were going shopping to a special store and then drove 2 hours up past Ogden to get our girl (Tayson was gone at day camp for scouts).  

Sophie was VERY excited!

Luke held her for a lot of the drive home - 

when he could get me to give her up that is

We asked the kids what we should name her and Sophie said her favorite girl name is Elizabeth and we all thought Lizzy was a perfect name for her.  Luke toyed with the name Amber for a few minutes until he tried them both out on her saying "here Lizzy......here Amber" and then his decision was made.  Claire asked Sophie what Lizzy's middle name was and she said (very confidently) Lizzy Underscore Johnson.  I just about died - she is too funny.  Now if you ask Sophie she will say Lizzy Jane Johnson.  Most days when Sophie is talking to her she calls her Elizabeth or Princess Elizabeth.  But when we call her name it's always Lizzy and yes Todd let me buy her a pink rhinestone collar and tag.  She is too cute to not be glammed out :) 

When we walked in with her Tayson was very excited about her.

She loves to play and loves to sleep.  The first night she slept next to my bed in a laundry basket.  And when she would whine I could just hang my hand over the edge of the bed and pet her until she fell back asleep. It's just like having a newborn again.

Sophie doesn't put her down ever.  She loves loves loves her.  Lizzy is going to end up being the biggest lap dog ever.  She gets carried around constantly and sleeps right on Sophie's lap.  It is the cutest darn thing ever.  We are all so very in love with this silly little puppy. 
 

Even Zeus loves her and when he plays with her it is so cute.  She is so awkward that when she tries to get him she falls over backwards.  And when he's laying down she will nip at his ears until he fights back.  Yesterday he had her whole head in his mouth and she was swatting him with her paws until he finally gave up.  I have officially turned into a crazy dog lady and can't get enough of my 2 adorable dogs!

Dance Concert

What a crazy busy full filled weekend of dance.  All 3 of them did great in all 5 performances.  It just gets better every year.  Luke did "Like Mike".  Claire did "Monsters, Inc".  And Sophie did "Jungle Book".

Haircut

Tonight after dinner Sophie brought me a HUGE chunk of her friend's hair.  Oh my!  When I asked her how it ended up in our couch she said "her cut it with a sword" - so I really have no idea what went down but I am very glad that a girl with hair down to her butt only chose to cut off an inch instead of taking it to her scalp! 

Tennis

I have decided that tennis would be the perfect sport for Claire.  Based on the following reasons.  1 - cute outfits.  2 - individual sport.  3 - being left handed is an advantage.  So when they put courts in by our house I was very excited.  So I signed her up for a 2 week class with Provo city and bought her 3 new outfits.  She loves it.

On the first day there weren't enough kids in the class so I signed up Luke too.  And he loves it too!

My Stairstep Kids

Tayson wanted me to measure him at the start of summer and again at the end.  Then of course all the kids wanted to be measured.  I love how exact they all are apart right now.  I know the older they all get the closer these lines will be together but for now I'll just sit back and love the fact that they are exact stair steps.

Frosty Frog

I had to bribe Claire with Frosty Frog to get her to swim across the pool.  So we got to go celebrate her sweet success.  

When she got in the car she said "mom look at my Taylor Swift lips"  - ha ha ha.

Swim Team - Day 1

Tayson had his first day of club swimming today.  It started at 7:00 am and he said it was really hard.  I think it's going to be a good summer for him. 

Then we had our first day of Provo city swim team at 8:30 am.

Claire had to be able to swim all the way across the pool without stopping.  During her test she stopped and grabbed the edge of the pool 5 times so they told me she had a few day to practice or she'd get cut.  That wasn't really going to work for me - because I'm a crazy mom.  So that night we went back to the pool to practice.  She swam across the pool 2 times in a row for me.  So the next morning I took her back and asked her coach to please test her again.  The whole time she was going across the pool I walked along the edge telling her not to stop and that she had to finish.  She did it and they kept her on the team.  She got so tired and didn't like practice but she kept going if I forced her.  Then when we got home she threw up - either from swallowing too much water or working too hard.  Either way I felt really bad.  But hey - she made the team.

Luke had his first day of club swimming too - but I didn't manage to get a picture of it.