USAR Member...

Well would you believe it!  Daddy has become an official member of the USAR (United States Racquetball Association) and has started to play tournaments.  He entered his first ever USAR sanctioned tournament last week and did well for having the nerves and jitters.  He felt and we all thought he should have played better... he lost a close 1st match the first day.  The following day he woke up (he really was upset and thought to much about his "bad" play and couldn't sleep) very early at 4:30 AM and headed to the GYM before work at 8 AM.  He was determined to figure out his mistakes and clear that out before his 2nd match later that day.

The following day he played much better and winning his first game but lost a close second game.  The tie breaker was a back and forth battle and neither wanted to give up the match.  It was a long hard fought battle between two determined players and felt bad that only one would walk away a winner.  After a grueling 1 hour 45 min match ... sweat dripping ... barely moving ... adrenaline rush players ... Clu miss hit a shot and skipped the ball just in front of the front wall.  He lost a long battle by one point.  I only watched them play and I felt drained after that shot missed.

He felt a lot better but wished he would have won his match to move on in the brackets.  His opponent kept saying, "I have never run so much in a match.  He kept me guessing all night long and I was just lucky to win against him."  I'm glad someone could see he played well besides his family.

Clu has signed up for another tournament next week in SLC and the following week at the University of Utah.  He is busy training and getting his timing, swing, feet and what ever else he says... I know he will be ready and we will cheer our daddy on!

Little Mama

Tali loves her babies. She rocks them, feeds them her milk, burps them and puts them to bed. One morning while Max was at school and I was getting ready, she sat in my closet with her baby. She had on my headband, feeding the baby and then was putting her to bed. She used my slip for the blanket and was telling the baby "nite-nite" and "shhhh, baby sleeping". I love her imagination!

These pictures were taken with my phone so the quality is not great but you still get to see this little mama at work. 

Side Note: This girl is ALWAYS wearing shoes, it doesn't matter whose shoes (although she prefers these pink jellys to all others). I guess she has quickly picked up the shoe love bug!

NEVER EVER

has Max fallen asleep while playing with his toys. He was having quiet time in his room but it was too quiet so I went to check on him and this is how I found him. It must have been a rough day at school.

While daddy is away we will play!

Clu stays very busy with all his responsibilities so I try to plan fun things on the days the kids don't get to see daddy. On this night we packed a few small toys and snacks and headed to the "sand park". Next was a bubble bath to get rid of all the dirt in their hair. Last was a pizza picnic* on the floor in our front room with peaches for dessert. The "movie", the infamous Sesame Street. It was a huge hit especially by Tali (hallelujah she is so hard to feed).

I could not get Tali to hold still for a picture, she was too interested in eating the pizza. 

My treat for a long day was a nice cold diet DP.

* I hope I never forget these sweet moments

Back to school, back to school

 Time for another year of school to start:

Date: September 5, 2012
School Year: 4yr. old Preschool

Proud of his new shirt that he picked out

Wondering about his hand... he quickly learned why mom kept telling him NOT to touch the curling iron, that it is hot. He will obviously survive but he bawled for an hour straight. He won't do that again and tells Tali all the time NOT to touch mommy's hot irons.

Tali was glad to get in the picture and pose

Just finished her milk, hence the milk face

In February we did a small preschool/joy school with a few of Max's friends. This lasted until May and then all of the friends moved out of state. Max has been missing school all summer long. He would ask me at least once a week if it was time for school to start again. We weren't sure if we were going to put him in another preschool but decided it would be beneficial for social/listening skills.

We found him a great school that he loves: Wee Wolves. The preschool is done at a high school by certified teachers but the high school kids also help. He loves having the "big friends" around and it isn't too far away. We run to and from school in the morning for my workout. He and Tali love riding in the jogger and I love when we drop off Max and I lose 30lbs for the run home.

It has been fun to visit on the run. Max has some great ideas that he has obviously thought a lot about:
Max: Mom, I think that earth is Jesus' Legos and we are his Lego guys.
Mom: It is kind of like that
Max: No mom, he first had dinosaur Legos and now he has city Legos

Who will win?

We are taking bets, are the red, blue, tan or green army men going to win?