What's the Day Again??

With the tournament last weekend and then the kids having Monday off of school, my brain has had a hard time remembering what day of the week it is!  

Monday, the kids were off school, so I took the chance to take Evelyn out to get different sizes on her birthday presents.  We ended up going to 4 different Targets to find a 00 in the pants because size 0 isn't small enough....  But we had a fun time together and chatted with Anna on the phone for most of it and just had a fun morning together!  Then she needed to come home to work on a school project and I took Eileen out to do the grocery shopping.  We got done in time for me to quickly head to water polo practice, which was followed by a team dinner.  This group of girls is truly amazing and such an awesome group of girls!!  

Tuesday was back to the regular routines.  James is still doing great in Cross Country and sometimes even has fun going on runs with Dan.  (and enjoying the fact that he is getting faster than his dad) and doing well in his meets and practices!  Evelyn is doing well in water polo and the season is flying by.  Work is normal for me - mostly quiet, but I work with great people and the patrons are super nice.  

Tuesday morning, Dan flew out to Colorado for a company activity.  He ran into Joseph Blanchard in DIA having just gotten off the same flight, so they had lunch together before heading their separate work trips.  He got to have lunch with Tina and go to a Rockies game, then came home Thursday.  Aaron was super helpful with driving him to and from the airport and also super helpful with cooking and clean up while he was out of town.  

I got to play with Masters at Parkrose on Tuesday night - we had a fun turn out - with enough people for 6 on 6, plus Aaron came, which was fun!  And then again at Sunset on Thursday - we had a great big turn out of women - new women, which was a lot of fun - and they were all super nice!  

Friday was a rather crazy busy day.  Evelyn and Truman went to the temple in the morning - they often do since there is no Seminary on Fridays.  And Truman asked her to Homecoming with the cutest sign.  

James had a dentist appointment - it went well, nice and quick and easy.  David had his Cougar Fun Run - weather was supposed to be rainy, thankfully it wasn't raining during his run.  He did great - got an all time best, and a free little jamba smoothie.  It was fun cheering for him and his friends!

The water polo team had games on Thursday and Friday.  They did a great job.  Thurdsay was against Tigard at Tigard - and I got the younger players some good time in the game and made them really work on offensive plays instead of just fast breaks.  

The Friday game was just JV and Boys Varsity since the S Salem team didn't have a varsity girls team.  But I went to watch and support and help with Sunset pool - my friend Alex was lead at the pool, but had never been in charge during a water polo game.  Mostly I just spent the games explaining to him what was going on and convincing him to come try it out with Masters.  :)  

Saturday, James had a cross country meet out in Seaside.  So he went on the bus and had a good time and did really well.  But it was a long day for him!  I had an early morning shift - shadowing for the opening shift at the pool.  Almost done with my Head Guard training.  Then, Dan and Evelyn and I went down to Woodburn.  An excuse to walk around the outlets and get James a duffel bag for his running stuff.  And no, we didn't buy more shoes....  :)  Then Dan and I went to the temple and out to a late lunch at Chick-fil-a.  Then in the evening, I went with Aaron to Open Polo.  Chris had convinced some of the Sunset boys to come play - plus the Newberg kids were there - so it felt a bit like THills vs Sunset.  But it was a good group - lots of strong players and lots of fun!  

Church today was wonderful - the choir sang and did a great job!  Dan spoke and both his and Robyn's talks were amaizng!  They talked about being anxiously engaged in a good cause, and how that good cause can be serving others, or it can be caring for yourself.  It was a really great perspective.  A good reminder that anytime we are caring for God's children (including ourselves), we are doing His work. 

Our afternoon has been quiet and included some naps and talking to Grandma and Grandpa Jones and playing some games.   Plus some yummy food and snacks and treats!  

And more tournament, and more running

James is still running and doing great - he had a team dinner this week and a meet that he ran in this weekend.  He did great and got a PR again!  He's really enjoying Cross Country and also enjoying being able to outrun his dad....  Poor Dan - he's finally got a kid who can beat him - I've had water polo players and swimmers beating me for awhile!  

David stayed home from school on Monday - he wasn't feeling good and even with the promise of no screen time, he still wanted to stay home and rest.  Monday was also my birthday - filled with swimming and water polo and family and cake and nachoes!  

Evelyn's 17th birthday was a bit more chaotic.  We had a water polo game that night - and with everything, we didn't have everyone home for dinner and birthday stuff until almost 8pm.   David ended up not going to bed until 9.  She got some clothes and her favorite dinner and cake and a fun little heated stuffy.  She's an amazing kid!!!  

Aaron is still on the job hunt - and keeping busy helping around the house and helping with driving people.  Eileen is still writing and drawing and crocheting.  Dan is working and running and keeping busy with helping get everyone everywhere.  He's so amazing picking up a lot of the slack during this crazy busy time of the year.  On top of all that, we've all been a bit sick this week.  Enough that I didn't swim more than a couple days and he's been pretty congested.  Eileen, Evelyn and James have all been a touch sick too, but I think we are finally on the mend!  

We also had a tournament this weekend - we only had 8 girls able to make it, but we had a great weekend out in hood river enjoying sun and a semi-outdoor pool and playing polo.  The girls did an amazing job!  It was awesome to see them grow as players and come together!  We also got some great comments from other parents about how awesome our kids are!  We only won one of our games, but with half our team, I was less worried about them winning and more worried about them getting some experience and having a good time together.  Evelyn and I carpooled Aurelia down with us - she is just such a sweet girl and we had a fun ride down chatting and singing.  I'm so proud of these girls!!  All the car ride time also meant I got to get to have a super sweet conversation with Evelyn about how awesome we each think the other is.  :)  She also said she is happier with each passing week that she chose to do water polo instead of marching band!  

Anna is doing great - she has now moved to a new area - she's no longer on Prince Edward Island.  She is always in our prayers and thoughts and she has been so fun to talk to and such a great example to us all!  

Tournaments and Such

We've had a busy week.  James had races on Wednesday and Saturday - he was running a 5k and managed to PR again!  He's still struggling with some leg and foot pain, but he is working hard and doing well.  

Evelyn had a water polo tournament this weekend.  The girls did an amazing job.  They won all their games and what's more, they were amazing teammates and showed great sportsmanship!  I'm so proud of how hard these girls have worked and the amazing people they are becoming!!  

Anna is doing well on her mission!  It is so fun to talk to her and read her emails.  She is growing and being an amazing example!  

Aaron is still looking for a job and enjoying life as an adult who can sleep in and not go to early morning seminary.  :)  

Dan is doing well with work.  He is an amazing problem solver and is enjoying new challenges and having amazing appreciative co-workers.  

David is doing well.  He is enjoying school and riding his bike and hanging with friends.  He is especially enjoying water polo - it's neat to watch him - he's really starting to look like a water polo player in how he handles the ball and how he understands tactics.  He also loves having his friends at practice with him!  

Sunday was wonderful.  Church was awesome - I played piano for Meghan and Valery's musical number - they did amazing and I didn't mess up too much!  The talks were great - Meghan is going to be a great missionary!  Primary was also awesome - we practiced God's love and talked a bit about how we feel God's love in our lives.  

After, we had ward choir - we had a new choir member join us and she was wonderful to have - she's moving to the area, and hopefully to the ward!  Until then, she was happy to sing with us! 

After, I had a virtual Messiah Commitee Meeting - that I was on while cooking dinner.  We had friends over for dinner, then I had to leave to go to the mandatory parent's meeting for Encore.  Then I rushed home because Sandi was coming over with her boyfriend Matthew for treats and games.  We had yummy cupcakes and Sandi got me some bath salts and some beautiful measuring spoons!  Then we played Quacks.  I won, but only by 1 point!  

School Sports and such

We've had a busy week.  School is going well.  David has been enjoying riding his bike to school each day.  And after 4 years of being mad at me walking to pick him up from school, he is now mad that I am not walking to pick him up from school since I can't walk and get to water polo on time.  He's enjoying being a big 4th grader.  He got his little buddy this week and thinks they are so cute.  :)  I've also been letting him ride ahead on his bike as long as the crossing guard is there to get him across the big street.  

James is keeping busy with school and cross country.  We are still trying to get him out of Spanish and the school is making it much harder than it needs to be....  He is doing well in cross country.  He had a meet this Saturday in Gresham.  He dropped almost 3 minutes on his last time and came in 7th place in the first year category.  He did great and got a medal and was feeling good about his run!  

Evelyn has been doing great in water polo.  We had a inter-squad scrimmage on Tuesday to get us ready for games.  Everyone did well - there was a lot of great stuff going on.  I talked with Blake after (since I had asked him to come ref) and he said that they were looking great.  He pointed to Evelyn and said "she's going to be your dark horse."   He didn't even realize that she is my daughter - but she's been doing really well and looking really solid!  It's been great to watch the girls grow and learn.  It's also been great to watch them support each other and help each other!  

Aaron is still looking for jobs and going to the singles ward.  He's been giving Calan a ride and then they often come back here and play Magic: the Gathering for a bit.  It's been good for both of them! 

I've been busy coaching and playing water polo.  Masters this week has been fun with new people and old friends coming.  I also got to spend most of the week swimming outside.  Wednesday I went to a clinic on coaching girls in sports.  It was awesome and a lot of fun too!  

Our team had their first game this week - it was against Lakeridge, so it was always going to be a hard game, but the girls did well - they have worked hard and it's paying off! 

Dan and I went to the temple on Saturday - then in the evening, Evelyn and I spent our time looking for Crouton who has gone missing.  She's seems to have somehow snuck out of the house and we can't find her.  :(  We have put up signs and looked everywhere, but haven't had any luck yet....  

Sunday was nice - church was great, but I've mostly just been worrying about crouton.  :(