I wish I could say that you haven’t seen any new posts because we’ve just been so darn busy that I haven’t had time. That isn’t the case though. Mostly it is because I’ve been feeling so poorly that we’ve barely accomplished anything.
What we HAVE done
As per her norm, Julie (aka Superwoman) has kept going though. She wired up all the outlets and light switches (with a little occasional guidance) and is ready to install ceiling fans and such.
When that is done we’ll move onto getting the backer board down on the floor. As soon as we can get that down we’ll be able to move the boys into that space. The backer board needs to be down first though to keep the kids (and their clothes/toys/bedding/etc) up and out of the sheetrock dust on the floor.
Also, as a HUGE plus, the motorhome was moved out of the driveway and we finally have full use of that space now.
I know that I was keeping a pretty consistent running log earlier this year. But I didn’t know it would lead to this! Both Joshua and Kristie have joined the Summit Academy Cross Country team. They had their first official meat last night!
1st Official Event
Josh ran a few events with Couch School last year before our fire, but this was Kristie’s first competitive school event of any kind. This was obviously Joshua’s first event here in Utah.
The meet was held at Providence Hall, a charter school in nearby Herriman, Utah. Turns out it is actually closer and easier to get to than Summit Academy, which is on the other side of Bluffdale. Since this was so easy to get to we decided to take the entire family as a cheering section.
Teams were there competing from Providence Hall, Summit Academy (one team from the Independence campus, and one team from the Draper campus), Ascent Academy from Lehi, and a team wearing an Eagles jersey but whose school I didn’t ever catch the name of. 5 teams total.
The Race
These meets are a race around a 2 mile track. The track at Providence was in the rolling hills of the Oquirrh Mountains and inside a small ravine next to the school. The only flat section was the 100 yards where they started and ended. The rest of the course was either uphill or downhill along the windy dirt track. One section of the track was downhill enough that a few kids fell on their way down the hill. A few bumps and bruises, no injuries.
Joshua
They raced the boys first. Joshua had to wear his knee brace. Since starting to run again his Osgood-Schlatter pains resurfaced. He wore the brace and took some Advil and was ready to go.
Josh can do 2 miles on a flat track in just under 13 minutes, but with the hills I wasn’t sure what to expect. He turned in a finish of about 13:30 (unofficial) which given his knee pain and track was pretty good in my mind. It was good enough for him to finish 28th out of 100+ runners.
I’m not sure what they do with those Providence Hall kids, because I think they had 5 boys finish before the first Summit Academy runner came across. First boy finished in about 11:30 minutes.
Kristie
When all of the boys finished it was the girls turn.
I’ve only ever seen her run compared to her siblings, so I wasn’t sure what to expect of this small 6th grader running with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. She can do 2 miles on a flat track in about 14 minutes.
She finished her turn on those windy hills in just under 17 minutes. I think her short legs had a harder time with the elevation changes than Josh did. That time was good enough to finish 16th out of about 50 girls. First girl across was about 14 minutes I think (I forgot to look).
Accomplishment
They both were totally spent when they were finished running. Kristie looked ready to collapse. I only took Joshua a minute of rest and some fluids to look ready to run again though. I’m not sure he put out as much effort because of the knee. Kristie gave it everything she had and it showed.
I think they both did quite well.
I know Josh is our best runner, but I know he’s never been blazing fast either. He finished about where I expected him to finish. I’ve always thought of Kristie as being quite fast, and given her size and age compared to the field I think it she did really well. They both have room for improvement for sure (mostly just from physical growth), but I think they should both feel a sense of accomplishment.
Side note: Kristie actually tried out for the Volleyball team too. But given the fact we’ve never played volleyball before, she was woefully unprepared for it. Volleyball is even more of a tall person sport than basketball is, and given her short stature it was going to be an uphill battle. She didn’t make it, but was just as happy to be running!
Joshua is eagerly anticipating basketball tryouts later this month!
Well we have been in Bluffdale two weeks now and I guess its about time I let me fans (I use the term loosely) know that I am alive and well. It has been a bit crazy trying to settle into a good routine for the family but I think we are just about there. I am grateful the kids got into the local charter school but man…I broke my budget this month. Completely annihilated it. Uniforms for 6 rugrats and school supplies to boot…I’m ready to just hide until October.
A Typical Day
Although nothing for me is typical, here is what a typical/ideal day looks like. We wake up at 6:30 and spend the next hour … getting dressed, changing diapers, eating breakfast, brushing hair/teeth, doing dishes, family prayer, individual scripture reading. Whew…did we get it all?
The older kids head to school while the younger 3 and I do chores, stories, and play time. This is the time for me and the three boys. Jax is having a hard time getting me to slow down and enjoy life. I see too many projects all around me, too many things that need to be cleaned, organized, finished, etc. I need to improve these 3 hours and focus on the needs of the ones at my feet.
Lunchtime comes all too soon and Andrew heads to school. The 2 boys left at home take their naps while mom gets to do some serious work. I’ve got 3 hours to tackle any project I choose. But don’t get too involved because from 3-4:30 it’s a rat race trying to pickup kids from 3 different campuses (thankfully all here in Bluffdale) while getting two of them to and from cross country practice.
Let me tell you, ironing out the wrinkles in our pick-up routine was rough. The first day, Caitlin waited for over an hour at the high school, because I had to pick up Kristie and get her to the Jr High and I was sure it would be faster than the shuttle. The next day we tried the shuttle, but that meant the little kids waited 30+ minutes for Caitlin and we still had to head over to the Jr High. It took some playing around but I think we are finally all satisfied with the pickup routine.
Evenings are nice, dinner, more playing together and enjoying family time. The kids are always wanting to play with friends but I’ve missed them all day and I don’t like to share much.
Reality
Alright, so I mentioned that was an ideal routine. In reality there have been a lot more projects to make this move comfortable. I have made endless trips to the store for clothes, school supplies, groceries, etc. (And I mean endless both in the quantity and length. Truly it is ridiculous.) There have been multiple trips to PG to get beds, furniture, food, etc. It took me an entire day to set up bunk beds, the daybed, and the crib. Not to mention having to run to the store for a new bolt for the trundle bed. Jax and I spent an entire day cleaning up the driveway area to make room to park. I had to re-caulk the bathtub before bath night. We blew in the insulation at night but painted the whole addition in a 24 hour period.
Thankfully the library isn’t too far away (Riverton – Why doesn’t Bluffdale have one?) because I think I have been there 10 times in the last 2 weeks. I am extremely grateful that we have internet up and running here now and I really feel that things can simmer down from this rolling boil to a gentle rhythm. I still can’t sit still, I am going crazy sitting at the computer instead of wiring outlets. But things improve each and every day.
I choose to enjoy this adventure called life…It’s a journey worth taking.
As an apparent obligatory event, here are the school photos of the kids on their first day back this year. They are all attending Summit Academy schools this year.
Caitlin on her way to 10th grade at SAHSJoshua is going into 7th grade in Independence, BluffdaleKristie is going into 6th grade at the Bluffdale campus.Charlee is going into 4th grade.Nikki is going into 2nd grade.
Andrew will be starting Kindergarten next week, but you don’t get a photo of him since his first day hasn’t come yet. These kids were all super excited to get started with a new year, new school, and new friends.
