The Blessing of Your Health

Today I'm a little down. I just hasn't been a good one for me. Primarily because of the way I'm feeling. It all started about 12:30 last night when I woke up and realized I couldn't breath. I got up hoping to find my inhaler next to my bedside, but soon realized it wasn't there. I started fumbling around my room, and then made my way to the kitchen, the medicine cabinet, the bathroom, my purse, back to my bedroom, under the bed, and all the while feeling more anxious than ever, that I NEEDED THAT MEDICINE! I was starting to panic as I was gasping for air. Finally on a whim I started searching underneath the piles of clothes in my room and finally found it.  I guess I should keep my room a little cleaner from now on, so stuff doesn't get hidden under other stuff.
Once I took the medicine, I went back to bed and when I woke up in the morning, I could tell I was still symptomatic. And the day has pretty much been the same. How is that only a few weeks ago, I was healthy enough to compete in a triathalon, and now I can't walk up the stairs without gasping for air. It's frustrating, it's defeating. My allergies are what triggers it and it is apparent that fall is just as bad a spring for me. I also think I could be coming down with a cold and that could be triggering it as well.  It just really makes me grateful for my health when I have it. I don't want to be on inhalers and medication my whole life. But it seems, I just can't do without them right now. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to winter, so that everything that grows is buried under a foot of snow. Maybe then I'll find some relief.

A Sneak Peak

 We had our picture taken by a friend in the ward, and I went to bed in sheer joy last night. It was the best family photo session we've had to date. Mostly due to the fact that my kids cooperated and were happy. Christina was great with the kids. We got in and out and everyone was still happy when we were done. And then I saw the pictures and my heart melted. I was actually seeing the fruitition of and idea I had months ago. Back when I picked the patterns, the fabrics, the location. It all came together and I just couldn't be happier. I just wanted to give a sampling here. I've got to save some for Christmas cards, right? You can see the rest at http://www.handsfullphotos.blogspot.com/

A Follow Up

After posting last week, it hit me that I can't change everything all at once. If there is going to be change, it has to happen little by little. So I determined last week that I would focus on our bedtime routine. It has made such a difference for us. We have done our best to get our kids in bed by 8:30 with a routine that starts at 7:40 if we can help it. We read for twenty minutes, get jammies on, pick out our clothes for the next day, brush teeth, and then say prayers. I initially wanted to spend part of that time putting their room back together, but that hasn't worked out yet. My friend suggested we do a five minute pick up with a timer. So maybe we'll try that next week. But I'm realizing even a little bit of a routine is better than none.

Seeking Motherhood Mentor.............................Quickly!!!

Man alive, I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm flying by the seat of my pants most of the time. I don't make advanced decisions and am the world's worst about consistency. I have awesome intentions and can make a plan with the best of them. The problem is, I can't do it. No, not really, I can do it, but there is nothing that makes me do it, and I simply fall back into playing defense. Maybe I need a sticker chart!

I need a good offense. I need a coach!!! Anybody want to volunteer to be my mentor? I just need someone to help me make a plan and then hold me to it. Check up on me each week. I know my life would run much smoother and I would feel like I'm ahead of the game instead of always running to catch up.

For example, this morning I don't wake up until 7:10 and then realize that I'm late and I need to get Gabriela up and going. She hates being woken up and tells me she doesn't like this family and she only smiles when I'm not around. That made me feel just peachy. By the time I get her to school it's 8:15 and then I have to rush home to get Sophia up, fed, showered, and to preschool by 9:00. I send her to school with soaking wet hair, Julianne with soaking wet hair, and me still in my workout clothes unshowered. I know there is a better way of doing this. I should be getting up at 6:00, showering, reading my scriptures, and making Miguel a lunch all before 7:00. We should be laying out clothes the night before and the kids should have a specific bedtime. There is just no accountability. I wish I was just that disciplined but I'm not.

Any suggestions, people?
How do you stay consistant?

It's Always Fun When the Millers Come!!!

This post is long overdue, but it has been nonstop since the end of August, so I'm doing a lot of catching up. The girls have looking forward to their cousins coming into town for months. They love them so much and there was a lot of anticipation for their arrival. And once they did, it was nonstop action for a week. We started off with a family bowling night. My kids loved it, especially since they cut the music loud and turned on the blacklights. They were more interested in shaking their tail feathers than bowling and then it ended in an impromptu ice cream party at our house at 10:30p.m.

The next day, once Gabriela got out of school, we headed up to Deer Creek, and spent the day on some seadoos. We were suppost to have a family campout, but Rebeca suggested this and it was so fun, that we have decided to make this the back to school tradition instead. Sophia was hooked after the first ride and she went out as often as she could. She didn't care who she was riding with.

When the kids weren't riding, they entertained themselves in other ways.

When I took Julianne out on the lake, after much coersion and finally by force, I looked down because she was heavily leaning on my arm, and she fell asleep. I guess the wind and waves rocked her to sleep. It's actually the story of her life. So I had to bring her back in and Miguel went and laid her on a blanket to finish her nap.

So this picture has a good story! I took Elena and Sophia out for a ride, they are both 3, and we decided to ride the north perimeter of the lake just to see what was out there. As we got closer to the edge, I decided we better stay back for fear we might get stuck and as soon as I had that thought we ran up on the grasses and they got sucked up into the seadoo. What does that mean? Well we broke down and were stuck at the northern edge of the lake. I tried not to panic as we just sat there floating in the lake. I tried sitting on the back edge and pulling the stuff out, but it was useless. I didn't know how long it would take for someone to come looking for us. The girls were hopeless and said they would never see their daddies again.

So I used the opportunity to teach a lesson in faith. I suggested we say a prayer that someone would know we were missing and know were to find us. I tried flagging down other boats with no luck. The situation was looking bleak as a big dead fish floated by and we were drifting closer to shore. Then we saw our rescuer. Uncle Mike, Elena's dad, was coming. I was waving him down and then desperately tried to get him to stop before he ran into the muck and was stuck too. Luckily he stopped, but he ended up floating into it anyway. After a while he cleared and towed us in. That was scarier than being stuck, because it felt like he was just going to pull us over. The girls would scream with fright. It made for an interesting story. It was probably and hour and a half adventure.

The Ruiz kids: Beto, Rebeca, Graciela, and Miguel

The oldest of the girlie cousins: Gabriela, Annabelle, and Raquel

Miguel and I thought we better get some practice in before our big Sea World audition! We practiced all our tricks and syncronized seedooing to an eager audience. It was great. And then we decided that that was enough and a race sounded more fun instead, so Miguel dared to race him to the other side of the lake and reach a speed of 50mph. Yeah, no problem there. I actually felt like I was 16 again with the wind whipping through my hair. I like adventure and this was right up my alley. Thanks guys for a great day.

And as a side note: we had family pictures taken a few days later. I don't have them yet, but here's what I do have.

And don't let Miguel fool you. He's the KING of ugly face making!

We're a little crazy in this family.

Sophia started Preschool

Sophia got to start preschool this year at Patchwork Preschool (check out the link on my sidebar)! I did it more for the social interaction, because Gabriela is in kindergarten now, and also becuase I think she'll just enjoy it. I'm not too worried about my kids being geniouses before they get to kindergarten. She loves it and will come home telling me all the fun things she does. There first unit was on the farm and we got to take our baby chicks in for the kids to see. So if you are still looking for a preschool, Mrs. Rebecca is great. I should know, because she is a close friend of mine. I've seen her teach and she is amazing with kids and a very enthusiastic teacher.

I did it!!!

 I can't believe it! I actually got the guts to go compete in a triathalon. This has been my goal since January. I trained in the beginning months of the year and the race didn't work out, so here I am, in September, and you know what....I DID IT!

My two sweet friends, Traci (on the left) and Amy (on the right) convinced me to do the Yuba Lake Tri. It was open water, which was really scary to me. I've been training at the gym for probably the past six weeks or so and yesterday was the big day.

We had to be down there at six a.m. which means I was up at 4:30 in the morning to make the hour drive. I didn't really sleep good, for fear of sleeping in, and on the way down I had loud music blarring in the car to pump myself up. Miguel was the only one who went down with me and that was a good thing, because it was freezing! I mean toes numb, teeth chattering, cold!

Once it was time to get ready for the race to start, I thought I was going to throw up. The swim looked so far to me and my too previous open water training experiences had not gone very well at all. I really couldn't believe I was about to do this. I had never raced in anything before. Not even a 5k! I think I'm nuts!!!

I rented this sweet wetsuit which would at least keep me afloat is something happened. Not my greatest look, but I was more worried about staying alive, then what I looked like at the moment. Do you see that orange buoy out there. Yep, that's how far I had to swim out, but you can't see the really long stretch that was to follow it.

Traci is my awesome visiting teacher, whom I adore and love. She is one of the most positive people I know, and I'm inspired by her dedication to these races. She was a great support. I think that's nervous energy being displayed.

Once they called us into the water to start, I was thinking, Oh my gosh, I can't believe I have the guts to do this. I have trained and here I am, in the water, about to do this thing...I SHOWED UP!!!

And then the whistle blew. I held back and let those who were serious racers go ahead, for fear of being trampled. It was a long hard swim. Much of it was back stroked and 2/3 of the way in, I couldn't breath, but I just kept telling myself I could do it. I would sing in my head, "slow. and steady. wins. the race." to keep my pace and fill my head with positve thoughts. When I came up out of the water, Miguel was a little shocked to see me, for he thought I would be further back and one of the last ones to come up. Up the boat ramp I came and all I could say was," give me the inhaler." After taking my medicine, I was off to the transistion area to prep for the bike ride. All I had was my mountain bike, which was going to make things more difficult. Once I peeled off my wetsuit and put on my helmet and number, I was off. 12 miles was what I was in for and I could tell I was going pretty slow, but it didn't bother me so much. I just still couldn't believe I was racing in a triathalon and was was pretty happy and proud of myself for it. Once I made it to the half way turn around it all went down hill. My bike went flat on the back tire and I started to panic and think how was I going to make it the six miles back to civilization. If you haven't been out to Yuba, it's in the middle of nowhere. Other riders were passing me and asking if I was alright. I was doing fine, but the bike was not. It was making all kinds of noise and getting harder and harder to pedal. If I could ride it like this it was going to take me forever to get back. I finally got off it to take a look and the tire had come off the rim and was jammed in the brake. The back tire was locked and I couldn't even roll the bike anymore. I wanted to cry at this point. All of that hard work, all of those good feelings, were gone. I just picked up my water bottle, layed the bike down and took off my helmet. I guess I was going to have to walk the six miles back to the transition area. It was heart breaking. I knew I could do this thing, and wasn't going to get the chance. After walking for a bit, I ran into the the truck that was following the last rider. He picked me up and then went and got my bike and took me back. It was like a ride of shame, and I tried to just tell myself, what do you do? But in the back of my mind, I really thought," out of all 300 something people out here, why am I the one who ends up with the flat tire?" Seriously! I saw Miguel waiting by the rode and once I got out, I cried on his shoulder from the disappointment. He was a great coach and supporter and soon enough I was holding my head high again and deep down I was really proud of myself. I had conquered the swim, my biggest fear, and I was doing the bike ride and would have finished the whole thing, if it hadn't been for my dumb bike. So I cheered my friends on and treated myself to lunch at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Home cooking will always make a girl feel better.

So, I not giving up. I think I'm going to try it again in November, at the SHAC pool, so you can come too! There aren't very many open water tris this late in the season, so this one will have to do.