Getting rid of stuff...

I live with something of a packrat. Truly, whenever I try and get some reassurance about throwing something away, inevitibly Jeremy will give me five reasons why we should keep whatever it is I am trying to toss. And, he has such a hard time with me throwing anything away!! As a result, he is almost never wanting to try and declutter anything, so it's on me to work on that part of our lives!!

I've worked hard trying to declutter some stuff in our lives, but it sure isn't easy sometimes. Part of the problem, is, some of the stuff I'm trying to toss is toys for the kids, and that sort of thing. The items are in good condition and really, if the kids haven't seen them in awhile, they love playing with them, so even though they have more toys than they need, I feel guilty getting rid of something that they would still use. This is compounded when it was gifts from people. Then, there is even more guilt attached. I'm not quite sure why, there just is!!

However, in the interest of our house, and having an ability to keep things somewhat orderly, I have to keep trying. And, I work to try and find a new home for the stuff as well, rather than simply throwing out things that may be of use to others.

I also made a goal for myself. If I managed to get rid of a bunch of clutter, then I would get a new wii game for the family, but not before the clutter was gone!! And finally, that's happening. It's rather funny actually, we got a call from diabetes asking if we had anything to donate, and I quickly said no and hung up. Then, the next day, I remembered the boxes I'd already packed up and readied in the garage. So, I called them back and arranged a pickup, and tomorrow they will stop by for the stuff. Yay for finally dealing with boxes I got started months ago, and others from sorting through the boys clothes last week!!

I might even take in our old paint cans tomorrow too, after all, visiting a fire station is always fun!! And the one we'd be going to has a mini bronto even (Sebastian LOVES the aerial trucks)... and really, twist my arm, and make me talk with firemen...

So, next up will be the new wii game I think...here it is...


I can hardly wait!!

Jeremy's Olympic Distance Triathlon

So, Sunday was a pretty big day for Jeremy. Originally, back before he won the entry to Ironman Canada, from Sugoi, Jeremy had a different plan. For 2011, his plan was to complete an Olympic distance open water triathlon. The very race he planned this to be was the Lake Chaparral Triathlon. So, funny enough, that's the race I signed him up to do, not realizing his original plans. Once he won the ironman entry, that was no longer a concern for him.

Personally, I felt it was important for him to do an open water triathlon before Penticton. I also thought it was important for him to do a bit longer of a race. This way, he'd get a chance to practice swimming with a bunch of other people. To know what it's like to get kicked and hit etc with so many people starting to swim at once. It also would give him a chance to swim in a race in open water. Up until the race, his open water swims were all swims where he would break etc which isn't really ideal in a race. It would give him a chance to practice siting, and just see how he felt overall swimming for a long period of time in the water.

Signing him up, he instantly got nervous and wasn't sure doing the race was the best idea. He was sort of figuring, "go big or go home". He didn't want to do a race that would possibly make him nervous about swimming ahead of time and potentially scare him off the big race.

Well, in the end, he did great. He was in the water in his wetsuit warming up when I got there with the boys. And he was excited and ready. And the race started and off he went. We watched as he swam off (okay, who am I kidding, I watched, while the boys were playing in the sand). I kept on watching and eventually saw him come around for his second lap. He went on to finish all 1500m and didn't even need to take a break (I knew he wouldn't). Happily, after the fact, he reported that his pace for the swim, matched his pace in the pool. His objective going into the swim was to pace himself and he did exactly that.

I stayed behind at the beach for a bit and saw another friend head off for her sprint triathlon while the boys played in the sand and water. Eventually though, we moved on to the road to try and catch Jeremy on his bike. And, we did. We saw him go by twice (he had to do 4 laps to get to 40 kilometres). He looked happy and strong on the bike. He reported later that he did push on the bike and wouldn't push like that for ironman.

After that, we waited for him to go past on the run. He took forever to pass by and reported after that his transitions were slow and it might be an area to work on in the future. We chatted about how for an ironman, a slow transition is really okay. If you spend an extra five minutes to eat a snack, or body glide all the important places, it's better than crashing your bike trying to eat as you ride or the chafing that might result or whatever other things you might have done in transition.

We were waiting for him to go past for his second lap and ended up on the other side of the fence seeing him as Sebastian needed a pitstop at the portapotties. From there, we headed to just before the finish. Sebastian wanted to run in with his dad, and Jeremy happily allowed this.

The boys were great. We brought our bells and a few other noisemakers. Sebastian was yelling things like "looking good guys", and "nice form" and "run this way" and all sorts of other little things. Soooooo cute. And Sully had fun ringing the bells. Next up we are getting a couple cow bells though, because they are cool too and louder and for those ironman athletes, that's important!!

So, there you have it. Jeremy finished his first open water triathlon. And now, we are less than three weeks away from his epic event... I can hardly wait!!

My Kid of Steel... open water edition...

Today was pretty neat!! Today someone in our family did an open water triathlon... no, it wasn't me... no it wasn't Jeremy who is busy training for ironman... then who might it have been you may be wondering? Why, our five year old!! Yes, the first person in our family to complete an open water triathlon was in fact, Sebastian. He is definitely a kid of steel!!

We arrived early, got Sebastian all set up in transition, he was body marked, got his chip, had some prerace fuel (Crispers) and away we went to the pre-race meeting. We got the low down, and soon they began, first with the oldest kids, and continued each wave, getting younger and younger, until finally, it was time for the seven and under group to go. They waited until all the 8&9 year olds were finished their bike before the little ones got to start. Before that, Sebastian and Sully were playing in the water,
playing in the sand, and just having the best time. Had to stop a couple times so Sebastian could warm up (the kid has no body fat, and so gets cold rather quickly.

Sebastian decided he wanted his mom to swim with him. I had been campaigning for dad, as I had NO desire to be in the freezing cold icky lake water. However, despite all my efforts (ask Jeremy, there were a lot!!), in the end, it was me going into the water with Sebastian, brrrrrrrrrrrrr. Believe me when I say, it took every fibre of my being to get into that water and did not really appreciate it when it got too deep to stand and suddenly my whole body was thrust into the freezing cold. However, knowing Sebastian was that much colder, I tried to at least not hate it too much!! He did good. He was cold. But he kicked and doggie paddled and slowly made his way across the lake. Soon enough we were getting out, not without a hand from the volunteers though, that boat launch was slippery!! We ran into transition, and my poor little guy was just shivering. We helped him change his shirt, got his socks and shoes on, glasses, helmet, bike gloves, jersey, number belt, and away we went to the mount/dismount line.

Sebastian got on his bike and was motoring (he calls it his police motorcycle). He did great. I basically had to run to keep up with him the whole time on the bike. And before we knew it, we were back at transition again (I don't think he actually biked 1.5km... it seemed way too short, but he did exactly what every other kid in his age group did.

Back to transition, dropped the bike, helmet and gloves, flipped the number to the front, and away we went. Again, he was just trucking. It was fantastic. He didn't stop for one second, and the look on his face as he crossed the finish line was one of pure joy!! And let's not forget the very cool medal he earned!!

All in all, it was a fantastic race. He did great. He was excited. He said he was the ogopogo (because his swim cap was green). And he just had fun!! It is so cool to see him so excited and happy about something that is so good and healthy for him!! And he is so happy to do these races. I know how important it is to be active, and seeing him be active like this, from a young age, will hopefully keep him going long into the future. I hope he continues to be active. Knowing how he can be quite challenged to learn some things, it's pretty special to watch him accomplish something like a triathlon. Not sure what's next on his agenda, but I do know his brother won't be far behind him (and since he's part fish, I see triathlon in his future too!!). But for now, I will celebrate Sebastian as the amazing little Kid of Steel that he is!! Great job little man, you make us proud!!

My little Sullivan speaks...

So, Sully has taken his time with words. But my oh my, they sure are coming fast and furious now. And, you can pretty much get him to repeat almost anything. His favourite thing to say though is YELLOW, although it sounds more like LELLOW. It's really quite cute. Now, he will point out anything yellow, and pick yellow clothes to wear.

Other things he says:

Bun-bun (his little green bunny)
Bear-bear (his little Starbucks Christmas bear)
Boo - Blue (we go through other colours now since he's so good at yellow)
Mama - yeah, I like this one hahaha
Da - his dad
Nonono - he's very good at saying no... like really really good
Bye Bye Poop - as we slowly start potty training, yeah, well, it's cute to hear him say this as he's waving goodbye and flushing away his personal garbage, so to speak

And he's my little chef. He LOVES helping in the kitchen. If you ask if he wants to help, he'll drop whatever he's doing and go running to the kitchen. He loves using the measuring cups, and stirring, and pouring and using the mixmaster. He just has so much fun. He'll help me find ingredients, and pull them out of the cupboard. It's so fun cooking with him. I just love his enthusiasm. He helped me make chicken drumsticks the other day, and puffed wheat squares, and pancakes... pretty much if you can let him help, he's there and helping!!

And he loves stories now. He'll bring books to you to read and won't leave you alone until you have read to him. His current favourite are the Scaredy Squirrel books. He loves them!! And really, they are such cute books, all about facing your fears etc.

Monkey see, monkey do. Whatever Sebastian does, Sully does. Literally. He is a little carbon copy. Wants to do everything his big brother does. Today, our neighbour came over to ask Sebastian over to play. I said all he needed was his hat, so Sully ran and got his, and was DEVASTATED when he wasn't going over to the neighbours to play!!

Oh, and he is sooooo cute on his run bike now. He's even starting to get a bit of glide happening. It's adorable really!!

And hiking. We hiked to Grassi Lakes the other day. And he hiked the difficult route. We brought the backpack with us, but he wanted nothing to do with it, until about 200m before the lake, then he'd had enough, but he hiked the whole incline and all the hard stuff!! My little trooper!! It was fantastic!!

That's my little guy. He's fabulous. I just love hearing him talk. It's fun!! He is truly a toddler and I love how much fun he's becoming.

Our Ironman in training...

So, of course Jeremy's plans for Ironman Canada this year are certainly making life busy in our family. A lot of my plans have been changed or adjusted to allow for Jeremy to get in the big long training rides, runs and swims. I'm so excited for him and what he has accomplished. He is setting such an amazing example for his kids and it's so cute to hear Sebastian talk about "the ironman".

This past weekend, Jeremy went to Penticton with the group he took his total immersion swimming from. He has learned a lot from Grant over the past year or so and the philosophy of this company has been the guiding principal that Jeremy has been following for most of his ironman training. So this past weekend, Vitalize hosted a camp in Penticton for people training for ironman. They got to swim in the lake, bike the course (and all the hills it entails), and run as well. It was a real breakthrough moment for Jeremy. It was sort of the defining weekend on whether or not he was going to be ready for ironman, and happily, he had an amazing time and is now excited (but still nervous), for Ironman Canada. He is still struggling with the open water swimming. It's a very new beast for him and it's been challenging to say the least!! He is still getting used to the cold, and the waves and the choppiness of the water and the motion it provides. And he's still learning about siting and all that good stuff. And let's not forget the part where you have to overcome your fears of drowning and being in the middle of the lake where the Ogopogo might be waiting to snack on you!! Well, at least the swim is first, and at least there is still time to work on all that stuff!!And time to get an open water race in ahead of time!! Because, unlike the calm order of a pool triathlon, an open water swim is sort of like mass chaos with flailing arms and legs everywhere!! I know I have seen a funny little training video on that, and if I find the link again, I'll post it!!

So next up for us, will be the Kids of Steel triathlon in Lake Chaparral. Sebastian will make his open water triathlon debut, and then the next day, Jeremy will make his open water triathlon debut (hmmmmm... rather amazing that my 5 year old will already have done an open water tri before my aspiring ironman!!).

And soon Jeremy will began tapering... because, in less than 30 days now, we will be in Penticton for his race!! Where did the time go???

And the coolest part? Sugoi is where Jeremy won his entry, and they've been awesome!! And next up, Jeremy's race kit will arrive... and he'll be sporting some pretty fantastic gear!! How lucky!! Now if only they want to sponsor me next year... I mean, I love their gear too!! Especially my new cycling jersey from the Epic Ride!!

I love that our family is becoming so active. I just hope it continues through next year... and it should... I just need to get signed up to volunteer at this year's ironman so I can sign up for next year...

My KID OF STEEL!!

So Canada Day was a very special day in our family this year, as it marked Sebastian's debut into the Kids of Steel triathlon program and was the first triathlon he did entirely on his own (a couple weeks earlier he was the runner on our relay team at the Canmore Try a Tri). Needless to say, as parents, we had been going back and forth on whether or not to register him for the Turner Valley Kids of Steel event. Sebastian sees us training (specifically Jeremy training for Ironman Canada) and doing work for triathlon, and has naturally expressed an interest. As well, given how sports in general can be challenging for a child who has delays in gross and fine motor, it was nice to see he had an interest. But, we didn't want to set him up for failure, and wanted to make sure at the very least, that he would succeed in his attempt. We have taken him swimming numerous times, and he's been in swimming lessons, but he is still not that good in the water. I knew he could get across, it just wasn't going to be that quickly!! And I also knew life jackets were optional, so swim, check. Now biking. Again, he is not a super strong kid, so biking has been challenging. However this year, he has grown a lot and biking has become something he is enjoying now. He has biked at the park with his friends and is getting much better with handling directions, braking, steering etc. Plus, training wheels were an option, so biking, check. And well, running, we knew that wasn't going to be even a challenge for him, so running, check. So we signed him up, still not entirely sure how it would go, but after seeing his reaction and desire about biking after the Ride To Conquer Cancer, we wanted to fuel that energy!!

So, last week, we took him swimming again, and he did fine. We took him biking, and he did fine. And then we practiced transitions. And he LOVED this. He had so much fun, transitioning from swim to bike, and then from bike to run. He pretended he was doing the Ride to Conquer Cancer. I tried to tell him, that the cancer ride was just a bike ride, and he said, "mom, I'm just pretending." It was cute. And he pretended his runners were clip shoes. And his pedals were Speedplay (those are the pedals Jeremy got for his birthday). But the part he was most proud of, was having his very own cycling jersey. And I believe, even last night, he had his cycling jersey in his bed with him, so it was close to him. Yes, kids are cute.

Bring on Race Day. It was an early morning, as Jeremy was also competing, just not in the kids of steel, hahaha. We cheered him on, ran into a couple people we know, and saw him leave on the bike and come back on the bike, and then saw him finish the run. With all sorts of bathroom breaks in between for a certain someone I won't name that drinks water and juice like it's going out of style!! The boys had fun cheering the bikers on, and playing in the grass and in the gazebo while dad raced. After Jeremy finished (and was happy with the entire race, renewed confidence, yay), we hung out for a bit, and soon it was time for the kids to get ready.

Brief Intermission for ODE TO SULLIVAN:




Sully, you are my little guy
Pretty much the apple of my eye
You were a trooper all day
For that I say yay
Soon enough it will be your turn to tri!!

Back to our regularly scheduled program:

So, Sebastian racked his bike, set up his transition mat, layed out his clip pedals (runners), helmet, gloves, glasses (can't swim in those!!), cycling jersey and number. He was ready. We changed him into his bathing suit and bathing shirt. He got body marked, (Sebastian trying to show off his body marking) complete with a happy face on the back of his leg!! He put on the life jacket, and the waiting began. The big kids started, and each age group from there, until FINALLY, the seven and under category. They had to swim 50m.

When it was Sebastian's turn, he got the second lane, he crossed the timing mat, and his race began. Poor kid has not an ounce of fat on him, so getting into the outdoor pool was COLD. Then, he didn't appreciate getting splashed very much.
But, he went across, kicking his little feet, and attempting to scoop water with his arms. It was slow, but he finished. Then, had to go to the bathroom, so quick trip, only to get partially lost and then finally, he was on his way to transition.

At transition, he was just shivering. Poor kid!! He got all ready, towelled off, put on his bike jersey (and got a few compliments for it), shoes, number, glasses, bike gloves, and helmet. Once the chin strap was done up, he could grab his bike and walk it over to the mount/dismount line. He told the volunteer in transition he had speed play pedals for his clip shoes, it was so cute. Away he went on his 1km ride. He rode the whole thing, no problems at all.


Back at transition again, he took off his helmet and gloves, moved his number around, and off he went, this time with his dad for his 500m run. He totally rocked the run!! He is an amazing runner!! And he crossed the finish line and was so proud of himself. He did all three!! He shouted "mom, I did a triathlon!!".

It was awesome. He got his medal and grabbed a snack. Couldn't have been prouder. And we were so super proud of him too. For a little guy that weighed less than 2 pounds when he was born, that we didn't even no would make it, and if he did, had no idea what the consequences of his early and rocky start must be, it was amazing to see him finish this race. I definitely had tears in my eyes watching him!!



And, he's already talking about his NEXT triathlon... love it!!

Some songs I am just loving...

I love songs that have a positive message and just make life feel great. This past week I found two such songs, and they are even by the same group from the same album (are they even called that anymore??). OneRepublic sings "Marching On" and "Good Life" and they are both fantastic. For some reason, I got the "Marching On" song stuck in my head after the Ride To Conquer Cancer and the words just resonate with me as such a perfect song for such a journey. And the words in general are just fanastic. Same with "Good Life". I am just loving the songs!!