a poem.

This was in our Relief Society newsletter. It really struck a chord with me today. It is a poem found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for the children of Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

confessions and a cute picture

I have 2 confessions to make and thought I would put it along with this cute picture of Mataya enjoying a shaved ice after getting 2 shots at the doctor.

1-I let Mataya eat 4 pieces of gum during sacrament meeting yesterday. She would chew them for a good 3 minutes and then it was down the hatch. She actually chewed the fourth piece and spit it in the trash during nursery. After sacrament Cory saw Mataya was chewing gum and he said, "Why is she chewing gum?" I said, "Don't worry she'll probably swallow it, and also don't judge me it kept her occupied."

2-I buy blueberry muffin Poptarts and hide them from my kids so I can eat them. I know understand why my mom would hide the Pepperidge Farm mint milanos when I was a kid:)

First day of school.

Getting ready to head out on the first day of school. Parker was really excited about his new lunch bag. I think it's a robot:) When did my kids get so big? Parker started 2nd grade and Spencer Kindergarten. They both have wonderful teachers and lots of friends in their classes. We are looking forward to a great year!

My Mom is a school teacher. Her first day of school was today. This is her last year of teaching and then she is RETIRING!!! I jokingly asked her if she was going to cry on her LAST first day of school. She said no, but said she was excited which is an unusual feeling...lol!

Lots of new posts!

Just keep reading, just keep reading!

Good Job Parker!!!!

Lots of reading this summer. I challenged Parker to read 100 books this summer before school started. It was a tough road met with challenges and me pushing him so hard that at times I felt like the Tiger Mom...lol!He did it! Cory upped the anty by telling Parker if he read all of his books he would pay him 100 dollars. Cory also said if he read 99 books he would get no money. So it was all or nothing. He finished on Saturday afternoon! Here he is with his cash and the clip board where we kept track of all the books he read. I'm really glad we did it. He has improved a lot and towards the end of the summer he was reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid! A huge step from where he started at the beginning of summer.

Hogle Zoo.

We finally made it to the zoo this summer. We weren't sure if it was going to happen. We kind of decided last minute to go. We woke up and got ready and headed out the door. The kids were so excited!

The dinosaurs that sprayed water out of their mouths was a big hit. We had to go by there a dozen or so times.

I like Mataya's pose!

Oh, the crocodile....one of our favorites. Our other favorite was the tigers there were 4 of them and they were so active and fun to watch. There was a big crowd around them and I was more worried about losing my kids in the huge group than taking pictures.

Spencer is saying, "please, can we go to the bird show?"

We went to the bird show. And it was AMAZING! So many cool, pretty birds to see and so many of them flew right over our heads throughout the show. It felt like their wings grazed your head as they went by.

Super fun day!

swimming.

Here is Spencer's leap of faith to his teacher Liz. He loved her she was so cute and patient with him.

Here is Spencer on his very last day playing "Sharks and Minnows" with lots of the other kids. Spencer has improved so much through the summer. He is a lot more brave and he is learning there is a lot he can do if he just gives it a shot! My phrase for the summer to Spencer was, "Just try your best!"

Parker's last session he had a wonderful instructor. He really pushed him and Parker learned so much in his class.

This is on the last day. Parker is doing the back stroke for 25 yards.

25 yard breast stroke. They had to do elementary backstroke, breast stroke, back stroke, and front crawl 25 yards each on the last day!

Hopefully Parker won't be needing the kick board for the triathlon next summer;-)

cousin fun.

We got to see our cousins a couple of weeks ago. The kids had fun at the splash pad!

Mitchell and Mataya...the 2 year old trouble makers!

Spencer and Marley....best buds!

Spencer ate a chocolate Popsicle and ended up with a sweet little chocolate goatee:)

Little Diva.

Work it girl!
Mataya will do just about anything in life as long as it is her idea. Like getting dressed for church on Sunday is sometimes a challenge. But on this particular day she embraced her inner diva and walked around in my shoes while simultaneously picking her nose. And she said it was a "scratch" not a "pick" by the way. You be the judge...Lol!

Summer swimming.

Me and Mataya get to kick back and watch Parker and Spencer while they do their swimming lessons.

MONKEY.....
AIRPLANE.....SOLDIER.....

Well, they almost did it in unison. They love the elementary backstroke:-) Cory and I decided it was time to dedicate more time into our kids learning how to be better swimmers. They have done lessons twice this summer and they start their third session on Monday. Parker is zipping right along and Spencer jumped off the diving board on Thursday. This was a big step for him and I was so proud!

Cute boys!

I have mixed feelings about the fact that school starts in 2 weeks. Crazy! I just want to keep my kids to myself and not send them into the world. Is that so much to ask? Oh, it is! Well, bring on Kindergarten and 2nd grade then!!

Latyon Triathlon!

I arrived bright and early at 6 a.m. to the Layton Triathlon on Saturday. I had to get my bike and everything ready in the transition area, get body marked, and be there for orientation. This picture was taken right before it started. Cory got there at 7:45 with the kids ready, fed, and he even did Mataya's hair! He deserves a lot of credit just for doing all of that and keeping the kids entertained during the race.

This was a long wait at the pool. All of the mini-sprint people are in the water swimming. All of the sprinters had to wait until the pool cleared so we could start. They stagger the swimmers every 10 seconds.

Where's Lindsay?I waited until the last second to put on my cap and goggles because they squeeze my head so much. I didn't want to have a headache before I even started. I didn't get nervous until it was my turn to get in the water, but once I started swimming it was all good.I look like a legitimate swimmer here....right?!I put my helmet on before my shirt....smooth!

Biking back in after the first 5.5 miles. Here I am heading back to the pool. This was a unique triathlon. They split everything in half and you do each thing twice so that means jumping back into the pool. It's 5 transitions, but I thought it was kind of fun.

Back out on the bike!

It was a great run course. It was a cloudy day, which made it even sweeter!

Crossing the finish line!Olive Garden for dinner!

And this cute boy will make his racing debut in September doing The Dirty Dash! Stay tuned:-)

This was such a fun race, I'm so glad that I did it! I've missed doing triathlons I haven't done one in a few years.

A big THANKS to Cory, I couldn't do it without him;-)
Check out the next post about Parker's triathlon!