February 4, 2010

A few days ago I decided to get the kids swim bags, jackets and other 'stuff' organized as much as I could. So I installed four coat hooks below our cork board and two heavy duty hooks on the wall next to it. Now Devon and Regan have a designated place to hang their swim bags and when I tell everyone to hang up their jackets, they know exactly where to put them.

The cork board is something we started using last year after Michael's arm was crushed at work. He had so many appointments we were getting overwhelmed trying to keep them all organized.

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I was keeping everything in my daily planner but that didn't do Michael any good when a Dr. would call to set up an appointment time. So we set up the cork board with a big calendar and keep everything up to date on it. We also keep a copy of every ones business card so its easy to get numbers and addresses.

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I have another big cork board above my desk that's just for me. I keep reminders, schedules, phone numbers, menu plans and anything else I need help remembering up there.

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January 6, 2010

The weekend of the 15th & 16th is going to be our next swim meet. It will be Regans first! Now that I've been to a few swim meets with Devon I've picked up a few tips on what to pack. Both for myself and my swimmer. Here's what I've planned so far. If you have any more ideas for me please let me know.

Swimmers Bag-

team suit

practice suit

goggles (2)

swim cap (2)

flip flops

towels (2)

warm up pants/shorts

t-shirt/sweatshirt

water bottle

plastic bag

propel packets

clif bars

Parents Bag-

directions & phone number
sharpie

highlighters

pen

i-pod

book

clipboard

Cooler-

fruit

granola

power bars

string cheese

pretzels/goldfish crackers

trail mix

propel packets

water bottles

sandwiches

I usually don't like to do posts without some sort of picture but I switched computers and haven't had the time to move my pictures over. This post isn't going to be anything special though so I guess the picture won't make much difference.

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I just wanted to leave a little update and let you all know that the next two weeks probably won't have any posts. The girls are starting swim team on Monday (the new years practice starts then) and we have a whole lot of appointments I'm trying to squeeze in. Not to mention all the back to school shopping and orientations we have.

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So most likely, I will be back around the 1st or 2nd with some updates and new pictures. See you then!

I think I've mentioned before that Devon swims for Poseidon. Poseidon is a USA Swimming program that participates in Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS), the local USA swimming organization representing nearly 5,000 athletes in western Washington. Out of the five levels, Devon is currently at level three. Her goal is to reach level five by her junior year in high school. (She is going to be a freshman this Fall)

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As of today, she is also going to be swimming for Centralia High School. (*sidenote* The captain of the High School swim team is Regans private swim coach) The high school swim season is roughly twelve weeks long while Poseidon is a year round program.

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So starting August 24 Devon will be swimming Monday through Friday from 3-5 for the high school and M,W,F from 4:30-6 for Poseidon. I realize the times overlap but both teams train in the same pool and the two coaches work together on the kids who swim for both teams.

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Starting the day after labor Day the high school swim team will start at 3:30 instead of 3.

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AND---if everything goes well and Regan makes the swim team (Poseidon) she will be swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-5:45.

Today was one of those days where my To Do list was longer than my day. Well, not really, but I'm a homebody and don't like to be gone running errands all day.

Devon had her yearly physical this afternoon. We arrived about twenty minutes early so we decided to hop on over to the park across the street and shoot a few pictures. As you can see, the girls had fun!

Oh! Devon has grown four and a half inches since last years physical! Can you believe it? She still hasn't reached the 100 lb mark but she's getting closer.

After the Dr. appointment we headed to the pool. Regan had a lesson aimed at getting her ready for swim team. Devon had her second practice and learned how to do the back stroke. She is learning so fast! I am so amazed by her!

I took about a dozen pictures of them swimming. The pool is indoor so they turned out pretty dark so I'll have to work on lightening them up. I'll post some as soon as I can get it figured out.

As many of you know, Devon has been swimming with a friend of hers three mornings a week for the past year or so. Her friend, Lily, is on the local swim team and has been helping Devon improve her stroke, time and endurance so she could eventually try out for the team too. This past Tuesday was her try out day.

She made the team!!

Monday will be her first team practice. She will be practicing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4:30 to 6:00. She won't be eligible for swim meets until at least October but thats fine. She wants time to work on her time and endurance.

So if you see her be sure to congratulate her! She worked hard to make the swim team and is proud of her accomplishment.