Back at it....

We're back at it.  Back at the swim meets, that is.  For the last couple of months, both Spencer and Sydney have been practicing hard at the pool, getting ready for the first meet of the long course season.  Long course has the pool set up at a 50 meter length.  This is different than short course, which has the pool set up at a 25 meter length.  For the little kids like Syd who are just starting out, the 50 meter pool is a daunting challenge, especially considering they practice in a 25 meter pool.

Spencer has made good progress in his new swim group, Bronze.  Previously, he was in Barracuda.  The SWAC swim groups follow a "fishy" theme for the younger kids, then move to an Olympic theme.  Here's the hierarchy:  Beta fish, Pirahna, Barracuda, Tiger Shark, Bronze, Silver, Gold.  With Spencer's great performances in Barracuda during the previous short course season, the SWAC coaches decided to move him up two groups to Bronze, effectively skipping the Tiger Shark group.  With that move, he went from (4) 1-hour practices a week to (6) 1-1/2 hour practices a week, including a 2-hour Saturday practice.  He's doing well with it all, although the weekends bring some much-needed rest.  He's learning alot of great technique from Coach Steve and making good progress.  Below is a photo of Spencer getting some pre-race tips from Coach Steve, with Coach Cody looking on.  Cody was Spencer's coach last season and is mentoring under Coach Steve this season.  Spencer had a great relationship with Cody and we're happy he'll be working with the Bronze group this year.

Syd is in the Pirahna group, which is the youngest group to participate in meets.  She's always excited to go to practice and does very well each day she's in the pool.  When the meet came this past weekend, she was definitely a little nervous on Saturday morning.  Even though she had been to the large pool when attending Spencer's prior meets and knew how big it was, she was a little apprehensive.  After we talked about it a while and Spencer giving her some rare "big brother" advice, she calmed down. 

The meet started Friday afternoon, where Spencer was scheduled for 2 events, both 200m swims.  However, we learned shortly before the meet started that some of the kids were being scratched from some of the events due to time restrictions and the large number of swimmers on the Friday afternoon session.  As such, Spencer only swam in the 200m freestyle.  Then he was scheduled for 4 events on both Saturday and Sunday.  Syd, being a new competition swimmer, was only scheduled to swim in 2 events on both Saturday and Sunday. 

Here are some videos of the kids' races.  The first one is Syd's 50m freestyle. 

http://youtu.be/pgDjH8Xq0YQ

Here's her 100 backstroke.

http://youtu.be/c-Q6QIHuMJk


It was a long race for these little kids, but they all did well.  We've just got to practice her flip turns and she'll be on her way.

Here's a couple of Spencer's races.  He shaved almost 80 seconds combined off his events.  He really likes the breast stroke and is improving each week on it.

http://youtu.be/4vzTEqToy-4

This is his 100m freestyle race.  He didn't win any of his heats, but like I mentioned above, he improved on all his previous times. 

http://youtu.be/g4MJnIOVhs8

All in all, it was a great weekend for both of the kids.  Even though we spent about 12 total hours at the pool this weekend, everyone was in good spirits (and slept well on Sunday night!)  I'll keep the posts coming as meets occur.  Check back often for updates.

What a weekend!

This weekend we traveled to our first overnight, away-from-home swim meet.  It was at Concord High School in Elkhart, IN (about 1hr 45mins from our house).  Spencer was signed up to swim two events on Friday afternoon, so we pulled the kids from school around 12:30pm on Friday and headed up to Elkhart.  He was swimming in the 200y freestyle and 200y IM, both of which he had never swam in at competition.  He placed 4th in the 200y freestyle, but unfortunately got DQ'd (disqualified) in the 200y IM because he stopped about halfway through when his goggles fell off.  He managed to finish the race through encouragement by the SWAC coaches on the sideline, but he was devastated.  Had he not been DQ'd, it probably would've put him on top (more on that in a minute).

We finally left the pool around 8:30 Friday night, all of us pretty exhausted.  We stopped and picked up some sandwiches before getting to our hotel, ate and then crashed for the night.  6am was going to come early the next day, as Spencer had to be in the pool by 7:55am and we wanted to ensure good seats for Saturday's events.

Spencer must have gotten some good rest and the hotel breakfast seemed to pay off, as he had a stellar performance on Saturday.  Here's what he swam, all in yards, with place finishes:

100 IM - 3rd
25 free -- 3rd
25 back -- 3rd
50 breast -- 1st
100 free relay -- 1st

And, to top it off, he qualified for a 3rd divisional cut in the 50 breast!  His personal best to date was 52.25 seconds and the divisional cut time was 50.99 seconds.  He ended up swimming a 50.76 seconds. Here's the video of that race:

 http://youtu.be/GZJCvEVKYo4

We finished up at the pool around 12:30 and grabbed some lunch.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a little rest, although the kids wanted to swim in the hotel pool.  I guess it's in their blood now!  We planned to meet a couple of other swimming families for dinner around 5:30pm.  At 5pm, Spencer started complaining of an upset stomach.  Yikes, I thought he was gonna miss a day of events on Sunday.  So Spencer and I stayed at the hotel while the others went to dinner.  I gave him some Sprite and animal crackers.  After about an hour, he was feeling much better.  By the time Christine and Sydney got back, he was back to normal.  Not sure what happened, but we're glad it passed.  Everyone was in bed by 8:30pm, resting up for another early start on Sunday.

Sunday morning rolled around and everyone was up by about 5:45am.  We packed up, grabbed some breakfast and headed for the pool.  Today would be similar to Saturday, with Spencer swimming in 5 events.  Here's how he faired today:

100 free -- 4th
25 fly -- 4th
50 back -- 5th
50 free -- 5th
100 IM relay -- 2nd

I think it was a combination of not feeling well on Saturday night, not much to eat for dinner and him not eating that much during the meet today that prompted some slower times.  However, it didn't seem to matter much when awards time came at the end of the meet.  We almost left to make the trip home, but decided to stay anyway.  When they got to the 8 & under boys results, we knew it was going to be close between Spencer and his buddy Gideon, who also had a great meet.  So, they announced 2nd place overall for the meet and they called Spencer's name!  (sidenote: had he not DQ'd on Friday night, his coach thinks he might've won 1st place overall)  We were very surprised and obviously extremely pleased.  He walked down from the stands to the scoring table to get is award, this trophy:

He was grinning from ear to ear!  He made his rounds, looking his coach, but couldn't find him in the crowd of people.  We finally caught up with Coach Cody as we were walking out and many high fives were exchanged.

Coach Cody with Spencer and Gideon

Coach Cody with Hans and Franz

Now the real work begins.  Because Spencer and Gideon made 3 divisional cuts each and they're Barracuda team is finished for the season, they will both be practicing with the next highest age group, Tiger Shark, this week.  They'll work with Coach Cody and the Tiger Shark coaches, Brent and Megan, to prepare for this weekend's divisional meet to be held here in Fort Wayne.  We're looking forward to some good practices and an exciting finish to their winter swim season with the upcoming meet. 

Stay tuned for results next week!

Way to go, Spencer, Gideon and Coaches Cody and Rachel for all your hard work!

You made the cut!

I guess a little bribery goes a long way with an 8 year old.  Back to that in a minute.  We got up early today for day 2 of Spencer's swim meet.  He was swimming in 6 events today, including a 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.  If he was going to make a Divisional cut, it was going to be in one of these events.  Although, if he didn't make a cut today, there are still 2 more swim meets in the next couple of weeks to complete the cut. 

There is a local mexican restaurant that has a Sunday brunch/buffett that we sometimes attend.  Spencer really likes to go there, especially since we don't do it that often.  Back to the bribery.  I told Spencer this morning before we left that I would take him to Cebolla's (aforementioned mexican joint) if he made one of his Divisional cut times today.  He was excited about the possibility of having his favorite meal after swimming today.  On the flip side, I told him that if he didn't make one of his cuts, he would have to buy lunch.  Now, I had no intention of actually making the boy pay, but it was worth his reaction!

So, fastforward to the swim meet.  His first event was the 50m backstroke.  It's a good event for Spencer, but not quite as good as his 50m freestyle.  We thought he'd do well...and he did.  Not only did he shave over 7 seconds off his personal best, he beat the Divisional cut time by almost a full second!  What a great way to start the day.  Spencer was really excited, as well as Coach Cody.  It seems all the hard work was paying off.  Here's the video from his 50m backstroke.  He placed 1st in his heat and 1st overall for this event.

http://youtu.be/DF1OdWt3dZM

Next up were a couple of 25m events, the butterfly and breaststroke.  He killed it on both of these too, scoring personal best times in both.  Then came the fourth event, his 50m freestyle.  This is the one I had been waiting for all day.  The Divisional cut time was 37.29 seconds and his personal best was 40.32 seconds...he needed to shave over 3 seconds off this personal best to make the cut.  He's been working hard in practice on improving his flip turns and breathing, along with stroke technique. 

He was waiting on deck for his heat and I saw him give me the thumbs up, so I knew he was feeling good about this race.  He got up on the blocks, adjusted his goggles and waited for the starting sound.  The starting horn went off and away he went.  He had a strong stroke, good breathing and made a great flip turn.  After it was all said and done, he finished 2nd in his heat and 2nd overall with a time of 37.26 seconds, just 0.03 seconds faster than the Divisional cut time.  More importantly, he made his Divisional cut time in a second event!  According to his coach, no other Barracuda swimmer (his swim level) has ever made two Divisional cut times.  And all Spencer cared about was the fact that Dad was going to buy lunch today!  Here's the winning race.

http://youtu.be/oVtl01ocuMc

More updates to come in the next few weeks on his progress.

Polar Bear Plunge swim meet

This weekend is the first of 3 in a row where Spencer has swim meets.  He did okay today, placing 2nd in the 25m free, 3rd in the 50m breast, 3rd in the 25m backstroke and 4th in the 100m free.  Unfortunately, he had a disqualification in his 50m butterfly due to a false start.  He's still improving his times which is a good thing.  Tomorrow (Sunday), he will be pushing to achieve his Divisional cut times in both 50m free and 50m backstroke.  If he makes the Divisional cut times, he'll go on to swim at the Divisional meet in March.  If he doesn't make the cut times tomorrow, he can still try at the meet next weekend and the meet in Elkhart the last weekend of February.  When (not if) he makes his cut times, I'll be sure to post those races here.

Here's his 25m freestyle, which he took 2nd place in today.  His time of 17:20 seconds was very fast, and we would expect him to turn a 35-36 second 50m freestyle based on today's time.  The Divisional cut time for th 50m freestyle is 37.49 seconds.  With some good sleep and a carb-loading dinner tonight, he should do well tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0f26CzN4lY

Syd's Kindergarten program

Syd's kindergarten class had their winter program last night.  It was called The Big Snow Show, all about things related to snow.  Ironically, it was snowing like crazy when we left to go to the school.  All the kids had to make a snowman costume in a theme they chose.  Syd was a Snow Doctor.  She didn't really talk about the rehearsals leading up to last night, so we weren't quite sure what to expect.  To our pleasant surprise, she and the rest of the kids sang 8 songs and Syd even played the xylophone for one of them!  She did great, not forgetting any of the words.  Here's a link to a video for one of the songs:

http://youtu.be/OVkUVci3GCI

And here's a photo from last night:



And here she is with her kindergarten teacher, Ms. Boyer: (sorry about the focus...it was a quick photo)

Watch out, Michael Phelps!

You all know Michael Phelps, the 14-time Olympic gold medal swimmer. 

Today, Spencer earned his first notch at knocking Mr. Phelps off the podium by winning his first swim meet!  He earned the High Point distinction for this 8 & under swim meet. 

Of the 10 individual events over the 2-day meet, Spencer got (3) 1st place finishes, (3) 2nd place finishes and (4) 3rd place finishes.  He was also on the 100m IM relay,placing 2nd on Saturday and on the 100m freestyle relay today, taking 1st place. 

Here's his 50m freestyle race from today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUUleDTTkGg

Although he's a very well-rounded swimmer, Spencer definitely shines in freestyle.  During the 100m IM relay on Saturday, his team got a great start from their first swimmer, then lost just a bit from the two younger swimmers in the 2nd and 3rd spots.  Then it was up to Spencer swimming the anchor leg to try for the win.  We didn't get the split time, but it was definitely his best 25m freestyle to date.  He needed about 3-5 more yards to catch the other team's last swimmer, but came up short. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdlg2tr2UYc


They made up for it today by winning the 100m freestyle relay.  Then, hearing he had won the meet as top swimmer, it was icing on the cake. 

I bet Michael Phelps can't wear a cape made from a towel like these guys.  To be 8 years old again...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

It only took ten years, one near-miss on a house fire and 3,500 imported twinkling Christmas lights to pull off a victory this year...We won first place in our subdivision's lighting contest!  I thought my work this year was pretty good, at least judged by my best supporters Spencer and Syd, yet there were some other homes in our neighborhood who I thought would take the awards this year.  And hats off to our friends and neighbors down the street, the Frank's, for taking in second place.  It was a good holiday on Buckeye Run!  Here's the winner:

All this took about 8 hours on the day after Thanksgiving to put up.  Trust me, there is a method to my madness, as I've planned, diagrammed and calculated amp ratings for weeks prior to all this. 

Ironically, it only took 1 hour to take it all down and put away.  Here's a photo of everything in the garage this Saturday:

You'll notice a couple of crates on the floor next to the table:

These are a portion the lights I bought during the sales right before Christmas when everything was heavily discounted.  I'm thinking I'll have roughly another 1,000 lights next year.  Now, you won't see me on any Extreme Christmas light shows on TLC or the Discovery Channel, but I'm going for win #2 next year.  There, I admitted it.  I have a problem and I'm okay with it. 

Drum roll, please

They've made a return this year.  Many hours went into making them what they are, 7 hours to be exact.  That's right...my Christmas lights are back, baby.  After my scare a couple of years ago  with a burnt GFI outlet (see below), I decided to correct my electrical power issues.

This year, I had a friend of mine help me install (2) 20amp dedicated circuits for the lights.  Those two circuits, along with my existing 15amp garage circuit allowed me to put up many more lights than years past...roughly 3500 total lights consisting of the big C9 ceramic bulbs on the house and two trees and many, many 100count multi-colored minilight strands on all the bushes.  The lights on the bushes are synchronized with a music player outside, playing Christmas songs.

 



Now that I've got my power needs addressed, I'm already planning for next year.  More roof lights for the 2nd story, lights on all the windows and front door, more lights on the front porch and more minilights in the bushes.  I'll be watching the Christmas sales in the next few weeks for lights to go on sale.  And if anyone stumbles across 25ft-50ft extension cords, please let me know.  I've been told I have a personal problem with extension cords.  This year, I've used 25 extension cords, ranging from 20ft to 50ft.  Anyone who invests this kind of effort into Christmas lights never has enough extension cords...myself included!

If you're ever in the neighborhood between now and December 25th, please stop by!

Happy Holidays!

SWAC Intrasquad swim meet

On Saturday, Spencer and the rest of the swim team had an intrasquad swim meet.  Many of the kids on the team participated, with most swimming 4 events during the 4 hour event.  It was basically a good test for many of the kids, as the swim season gets underway in the next month.  Here are the videos of Spencer's events on Saturday.  We just found out tonight at his practice that he was DQ'd (disqualified) during the 100m IM.  We haven't heard the exact reason, but it may have been a wrong kick during one of the strokes or a missed touch on the wall during a turn.  Either way, he still did well and had fun!

100m IM (25m each: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVaOh4ZdDe4

50m butterfly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3e6e7d6RcQ

50m backstroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXcJD7MYOM8

50m breaststroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrKUdBm0RrM

Detroit Free Press Half Marathon

Christine was able to scratch off one of her athletic bucket list items today...she completed the Detroit Free Press half marathon! That's 13.1 miles in case you were wondering. We are so proud of her and the effort she put forth today.  She was able to finish the race strong, beating the personal goal she set for herself.

Several months ago, her friend Richelle asked her is she'd be willing to do the half marathon in Detroit.  After some deliberation and thought, she signed up and began training.  She and Richelle worked hard to get to today, despite work, school and kids pulling at their training time.

We drove up to Detroit on Saturday to Cobo Hall to pick up race packets.  After getting checked in, we strolled through the hall, looking at the many vendors who were selling running-related gear.  Before we left, we snapped a photo at the race countdown timer, each holding their race bibs.

We then headed to the hotel to check in.  After getting our stuff in our rooms, we searched out a place for dinner, eventually taking in a very "nutritious" dinner at the buffet in the Greektown Casino.  Afterwards, we went back to the bar at the hotel to catch some of the Tigers-Rangers baseball game and have a couple of pints.  It was getting late and the runners needed to rest up for the big day on Sunday.

It was a cold morning when they headed to the start/finish line around 6:30am, with the race having a start time of 7am.  The 13.1 mile course began on Fort St. in Detroit, took them over the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, Ontario, back through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and a loop around dowtown Detroit before finishing up back on Fort St.  Chris and I were waiting at the hotel for both runners, as the race course went right by our hotel.  At 10am, we spotted Richelle heading for us.  She was doing great and able to give us a smile on the way by.

Once Richelle went by, Chris headed to the finish line a few blocks away to greet her.  She finished with a great time of 2hr 42mins 7secs.  Not long after, I spotted Christine.  She also was doing well and ahead of the personal pace she set for herself.  I snapped a quick photo before heading to the finish line too.

At this point, she only had about a half mile to go to finish the race.  I quickly made my way to the finish line, weaving my way through the immense crowd to see her finish.  I then spotted her, running strong to the finish line.  It made me smile to see her finish this way after a long, grueling race. 

UPDATE:  Here's the link to a video of Christine finishing, around the 20sec mark in the video.

As you can see, the finish line timer reads 3hrs 42mins 24secs.  However, at the start of the race, the runners were started in waves and Christine's wave started about 25mins after the first runners at 7am.  As a result, her actual finishing time was 3:18:04, much better than the goal she had set for herself!  Click here to see the race results. Once finished, the runners had a long area for cooling down, stretching and getting some food and drinks.  We met up and made the 3-block walk back to the hotel.  After relaxing for a bit and packing our bags, we grabbed lunch with our friends at the bar and finally made our way home. 

Christine pushed herself and completed something alot of people could never do.  The kids and I are super proud of her and can't wait to cheer her on in her next race!

One more Jib Jab...

I decided to make one for my kids too!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Another Halloween Jib Jab

It's that time of year again.  Thanks to my cousins Mike, Melissa and Jim (Rory too) for lending me their...heads.
Hope everyone has some great tricks and treats!

Be sure to have your sound turned up and click on the bottom right of the video to go full screen for the best viewing.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Spencer went for a little run today too....

Spencer competed in his first triathalon today!  It was the Southwest Sprint Triathalon, sponsored by TriFort Triathaletes.  Click on the link for more information about the event.  The race consisted of a 25 meter freestyle swim (at the pool where he trains now...nice to have homefield advantage!), a 1 mile bike ride and a 1/4 mile run. 

He was one of 27 kids in the 7-8 year old group.  He did very well in the swimming, getting out of the pool second in his group.  Then he got dried off and changed quickly for the bike portion.  He sprinted to his bike, got his helmet on and took off. 

Here's a video of him finishing up the bike portion and getting ready for the run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIkpZ31VDUk

Once he hit the track for the 1/4 mile run, he started off strong.  Then he ran into the strong headwind, at which he had to start walking.  But then he picks it back up and finishes strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1PcgNpAtHE

There were lots of kids in the event, including some of his SWAC swimming buddies and kids from his school.  He was pretty excited to see his buddy Max and his brother Jake competing too.  Here's a picture of the three boys after the race. (Spencer in back, Max and his younger brother Jake in front)

And here's Spencer.  We're not sure exactly what place he finished in, but it was pretty high, if not first for his age group.  We're very proud of him and can't wait for next year's triathalon.  We're hoping Syd will join in too!



Christine goes for a little run

Forrest Gump:  "That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run.  So I ran to the end of the road.  And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of the town.  And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County.  And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama.  And that's what I did.  For no particular reason, I just kept going."

On Saturday, Christine decided to go for a little run....her first 10K.  Maybe she didn't go as far as Forrest, but we're proud of her anyway.  She ran in the Fort4Fitness race in downtown Fort Wayne.  You can click on the link to see her results, just search by last name.  She and friends Richelle and Michelle did the race together and all did really well.  Next up, the Detroit half marathon next month.  We'll be cheering her on at that race too!

It's been a while since we've updated, so I'll give a little snapshot of what we've been up to.  Besides Christine's running, the kids are also doing athletic extracurricular activities this fall.  A couple weeks ago, Sydney tried out and made the SWAC swim team.  This is the same competitive team that Spencer is on.  Syd is in the Betta Fish group and Spencer has moved up to Barracuda (there are difft levels of the team, each getting higher in the food chain...see the link for info).  They both love it and are very good swimmers.  We'll be sure to update the blog with their swim meet results this fall.

Spencer will also be doing a kids triathalon next weekend.  It consists of a 25m swim, 1 mile bike ride and 1/4 mile run.  He's looking very forward to it, especially the swimming and biking.  The run is just one lap around the track at the local middle school, so he should be okay.  We'll try to update after that one too.

Along with swimming, Spencer is also playing flag football again.  His team, the Jets, is struggling this year with a record of 1-2, but this week's win showed lots of improvement and we're hoping more wins will come.  Next year, he'll be eligible to play PAL football, the tackle league for 4th grade and up. 

The kids have also started French lessons after school one day a week.  They had the option of Spanish, French and Chinese.  So happens that the French was offered at their elementary school  right after school and we wouldn't have to cart them somewhere else for the other languages (the other languages were each at a different elementary).  It's only been one week, but they both seem interested.


That's all for now.  We'll try to stay on top of updates a little more often.  We know the summer came and went without many updates, but who wants to sit inside and type on a computer anyway!

Sunday Night Fever

Don't worry, none of us is sick.  Instead of Saturday Night Fever, the kids did a little dancing today, Sunday.  We went to one of Christine's co-worker's daughter's graduation party today.  After some initial shyness, the kids finally wanted to play Just Dance on the Wii.  You pick a song and then you have to follow along with a person on the screen and dance to the song to score points.  Both of them had a blast.  Each of the kids danced with one of the girls attending the party.  Then Syd cut a rug with Miss Beth.  Miss Beth and Syd share a close bond.  Not sure what it is, but to quote Forrest Gump, "they're like peas and carrots".  Anyway, enjoy the dancing!

Syd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as0tHJ1BYks

Spencer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz8WFx21Uo8

Syd and Miss Beth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLqGCSrkV7U

More swim meet videos

It's been a couple of weeks since Spencer's second swim meet June 11-12.  He swam in 3 events on Saturday and 3 events on Sunday, adding the breaststroke and butterfly to the freestyle and backstroke he swam last time.   Here are videos of his 100m freestyle, which he got 1st place in his heat.  The other video is his 50m breaststroke. 

100m freestyle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t86DjsNKpuk

50m breaststroke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0HYuctlCXM

Even though there are no more meets until the fall, he still has practice Monday-Thursday afternoon.  It's a nice break during the hot afternoons!

Spencer's First Swim Meet

As some of you know, Spencer is now swimming on a competitive swim team.  It's called SWAC, SouthWest Aquatics Club.  His group is the Piranhas, which are 8 and under boys and girls.  He started around the second week of April.  Its been a big change from his once-weekly lessons through our YMCA.  Once he tried out and made the team, its been a bit of a whirlwind ever since.  He's got practice 4 nights a week for 45 minutes each.  His strokes have improved, as well as his endurance.  But he enjoys it so far. 

This weekend was his first swim meet.  SWAC hosts 4-5 meets a year.  There are many other meets around the area and you can choose which ones to partipate in.  This particular meet, the Spring Splash, was the last SWAC meet of the season.  It was up to Spencer's 3 coaches (Coaches Amber, Brittany, and Kelly) on which events each swimmer will do.  They try to pick the strokes the kids are best at and make them stretch themselves distance-wise.  Spencer is definitely strongest in freestyle and backstroke.  As such, he swam both in this weekend's meet.  On Saturday, he swam the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle.  Today, he swam just the opposite, 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke.  Here are his results:

50 backstroke:  14th overall (out of 21 swimmers), time 1:03.65 (minutes, seconds)

100 freestyle:  9th overall (out of 20 swimmers), time 1:50.27

50 freestyle:  8th overall (out of 20 swimmers), time 0:50.25

100 backstroke:  10th overall (out of 16 swimmers), time 2:13.34

Not bad considering this was his first competitive meet!  Here's some video from the meet.  The first video is the 50m backstroke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pA5v5zvqBM

This next video is the 50m freestyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKJfb3QKxRU

I'll try to keep posting new videos as he competes.

SURPRISE!!!

Some of you know that both Christine and Spencer have a birthday coming up this week.  As a result, I decided to throw her a surprise party this past weekend.  Makes sense since she would totally not be expecting it.  I invited a few of her teacher friends and their spouses, our friends Chris and Richelle and our neighbors Doug and Lyla.  It was a bit of a stressful afternoon, getting everything in place and making sure all the logistics of her arrival were in place.  Luckily, my mom and sister came down from Michigan to help wrangle the kids while I did some last minute running around, getting the cake and party food. 

Everyone showed up at 5pm for the 5:30 surprise.  The surprise went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time on Saturday night.  Now, I'll just have to try and top it next year for one of the biggest birthday milestones!  (you guys can ask Christine which one when you see her next!)

Another tradition ends in tragedy...

Tonight, after dinner, we embarked on another one of our holiday traditions that we've been doing with the kids....building gingerbread houses and trains.  We've done it for 5 years now, even before Syd was born.  It makes an incredible mess and we usually have a couple of squabbles, but everyone ends up laughing and having a good time.  Spencer and I worked on the train while Syd and Christine took on the house.  Christine and I put the basic structures together and the kids end up putting on all the decorations (at least what's left of the candy that they haven't eaten!).

Syd posing by the early stages of the house

Spencer adding some candy details to the train

All appears to be going okay.  However, the icing that holds the walls together starts to lose some of its stickiness with the heat in the house.  As such, things start to droop and sag....

...And pretty soon you're roof is in the living room!!

Finally, you end up with catastrophic failure of the structure.  Sort of like a mini gingerbread earthquake took it down.

At least the gingerbread men and christmas tree survived the devastation.

And the winner is.....Spencer's choo-choo train.  As of 30 minutes after finishing, it's still standing.  Pretty good job by the boys!

Another holiday tradition continues...

That's right.  It's JibJab time!  Check out the mad skills by Spencer and our friend Bob.

Click on the link to view the video.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/FlnKYuGAC0KfAa0bh09b


By the way, the sporadic snow flurries today as predicted by the local weather guy turned into a few inches of snow.  Sweet!