What resolutions? and Isaiah's Music Video

So I stink at keeping New Year's resolutions. Let's move on....

We are enjoying the swimming offseason and while Rachel and Eli are playing spring sports, Isaiah is not and has some extra time on his hands. So he used some of that extra time to create this masterpiece:

I still can't decide on my favorite part. It's a toss-up between the singing to the bear on the swingset and "riding" on the RC Hummer. We have had quite a few laughs over this. I absolutely love his creativity!

So back to the swimming offseason...it's glorious! I pick up Eli from school and then actually come home and stay there! It's a bit of a change from the taxi service I operate during the swim season. But it is worth it. Isaiah and Rachel both made it to Y States at the end of March and both of them finished in the top 12 and got ribbons! I'm one proud Momma!

So I'm not making any promises about when I will take the time to write again. Even though I haven't written forever, I want it noted that I did keep taking pictures until the end of February. But then that resolution bit the dust. Oh well, I'll give it another shot in 2014.

I'm not really a slacker

So while it may seem that I have been a slacker and totally bombed at my kitchen window series, rest assured that I have not. While I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks, I have kept up with my photo series and haven't missed a day! It was pretty late one night when I remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet, but I still got it in before midnight! I won't bore you with all of the photos since I last left off, but I will post the ones from last night and today since they have snow in them. I particularly like the one from last night.

I took this around 10pm but the snow was reflecting the light of the moon and it looks much earlier than that. We got about 3 inches of snow that prompted an early dismissal - before even a flake had dropped. Whatever. Rachel and Eli headed outside to sled on the the little bit of snow/mostly grass this afternoon when I took today's picture.

So what has happened since I last wrote...I've been busy with work and doing a side project for Keystone Financial Associates. The kids have been doing a lot of swimming as usual. We had our last home meet last Saturday and I had fun taking pictures again. Here are a few from the meet:

Isaiah, Jackson & Max taking off in the 500 free

Isaiah pulls ahead of Jackson on the last lap of the 500

Isaiah, Jackson & Max after finishing the 500. Isaiah dropped 43 seconds and finished 2nd!

Rachel working hard in the 50 fly

Check out that form!

Wyatt and Eli's 25 back start.

I thought this was a cool one of Paige in the 100 free

And I liked the lighting on this one of Daniel in the 200IM

I got this one of Alex's backstroke start from behind the blocks

Kaylin coming into the wall after the back portion of the 200IM

Well, I'm gonna get going. We are headed to Rob & Niki's tonight and I can hardly wait! We had to reschedule when we got a nasty storm after Christmas. I've been waiting a whole month and can't wait to catch up!

Getting caught up

So I had a bit of a dilemma this weekend. We were going to Maryland for the weekend for the SPY Winterfest meet. So what could I do about my kitchen window photo series?!?! I figured I had three options - 1) ask someone to come into my house to take a picture out my kitchen window, 2) skip those days or 3) take a picture out some random window while I was away. I chose number 3.

So this is the view out our kitchen window on Friday morning. The clouds looked really cool. Rachel pointed them out while she was eating her breakfast.

And this was the view out Don and Kevin's dining room window on Saturday morning. We stayed at their house Friday night and then they went to the meet with us on Saturday. It was very nice to spend some time with them. And the bed Jeff and I slept in really made us realize how much we need a new mattress. I slept like a baby!

And this was the view out our hotel room on Sunday morning. It was an overcast, spritzy kind of morning. I've discovered that staying in a hotel is not as fun with kids. Well, at first it is because everything is new and fun and it's cool to see it all through their eyes. And then it's just annoying that all 5 of us are in the same room. Eli requires space to burn off his energy. When that is confined to a smaller space with 2 beds just far enough apart to launch himself back and forth, the whole hotel thing quickly loses its appeal.

So my photo series will have some blips in it when I put together the time lapse video at the end of the year. But I think it will be neat to see some different windows thrown in there to remind me of the time we spent away from home this year too.

So we were away from home for the SPY Winterfest meet. It is the largest closed YMCA swim meet on the east coast. Over 1,500 swimmers competed at the University of Maryland over the course of the weekend and Isaiah and Rachel were 2 of them! You have to qualify for the meet. Isaiah qualified in a couple of events 2 years ago so we had been there before. I think that helped both our kids coming into it this year. Rachel swam the 50 and 100 back and 50 and 100 free. Isaiah swam the 50 back and 50 and 100 free. Aside from Rachel's goggle malfunction in the 50 free, they both dropped time in all of their events. It was amazing to see them moving so fast. And Rachel would even tell you she wasn't very pleased with her turns in several of her races. So that shows she has more time to drop. I think they both do. I love watching my kids swim, but I get very nervous for them. I want them to breathe as little as possible so I try to breathe for them. I know it's ridiculous and makes no sense. But it's what this mother does to get through the meet.

This was the view out the window this morning after I successfully dragged everyone out of bed. We got home last night right in time for everyone to go to bed. Even though I pretty much sat all weekend - either in the car or on the bleachers - I still was exhausted. So needless to say, I did not make it into the Y this morning. But as long as the rain stops I do plan to walk in the morning with Randie.

Oh I almost forgot!!! This afternoon Eli and I came home for a few minutes between dropping off Isaiah at the Y and picking up Rachel at school. I was getting a drink of water and noticed birds sitting on the deck railing by the bird feeder. And then they started eating!!! I don't know if the word spread while we were gone over the weekend or if this was the first time they were there. But I was ecstatic to see the little guys and girls snacking away. I grabbed my camera and quickly took some shots so I wouldn't be too late picking up Rachel. This one of all 3 of the birds that visited is my favorite.

I hope this is just the beginning of our backyard visitors!

Back in the running!

We located Eli's tooth when we went to bed last night and for the record it was Jeff - not me - who moved it from the counter. So luckily I am back in the running for Mother of the Year. Whew!

Today was a busy but good day. It started early since the kids had to be at the Y before 8 for a swim meet. I snapped my window picture before we left but then realized it was a little blurry. Oh well, here it is anyway.

The kids all did great at the swim meet this morning. Lots of PRs for all the Bells! I love watching them in the water and seeing how far each of them has come since they started swimming. Here are a few pix I took during the meet.

Sierra helping Isaiah into the pool

Sienna, Paige, Rachel and Delaney being goofy

Eli on the block at the start of the 25 free

Isaiah at the start of the medley relay

Rachel swimming the 50 fly

Eli swimming the 25 back

Then in the evening Jeff's staff came over for our annual Christmas party. He really is blessed to have a really great staff. I enjoy getting together with them. As was the case last year, it turned into a dance party after dinner and everyone had a lot of fun.

A Bit of a Slacker

Wow, has it really been over a month since I posted anything on this here blog???? Apparently so. Let's go with a month in review!!! So what have the Bells been up to in the past few weeks? You mean besides swimming? Because yes, that is our life :) We have dedicated 3 very long weekend to the sport since the end of February. But it has been AWESOME!!!! Isaiah and Rachel both swam like crazy people at the YSCAP championship meet and qualified for Y Districts. Rachel made it in the 100 free and Isaiah added the 200 free to his list of events. He could only swim 2 individual events so he picked the 200 free and 50 free. He also swam a PR in the 50 free at YSCAPs and earned a spot on the 200 medley relay team. It was really a great weekend. I'm trying to block out the part where we spent 26+ hours at the pool to watch less than 10 minutes of actual Bell kid swimming. So 2 weeks later we headed to Philly for Y Districts. We took Mom with us and headed to King of Prussia to shop on Saturday. Then we were up early for Rachel's session on Sunday. She swam her 2nd-fastest time ever in the 100 and only two 9-year-olds finished ahead of her. Pretty impressive! Then Isaiah's age group swam in the afternoon. He got a PR in the 200 free and his medley relay team finished 4th and qualified for Y States!!! This was a new adventure for us in swimming -- States!! So we headed to Penn State last Sunday to enjoy the experience. The boys were seeded 4th (no teams from the west were faster than the top 4 teams from the East) and were able to hold onto that. They dropped over a second and Isaiah swam his fastest spit of the season. We celebrated by eating ice cream at the Creamery afterward....it was heavenly! That has pretty much been the story of the Bells since I last wrote. Add in some work and Rachel starting softball practice and there was barely anytime to sleep :) We now are enjoying a break from swimming and I am especially glad to have a break from driving the swimming taxi every day after school.

11-12 Boys 200 Medley Relay Team
Devon, Isaiah, Alejandro and Will

I am really going to try to do a better job with updates...I promise!!

Swag Dragons

Soooo......it's been a few days since I've written last. I can't disappoint the masses, so I'm back in action! We had a break from school last week and into this week for conferences and President's Day. Isaiah and Rachel had a swim meet on Sunday. Several bribes incentives were offered throughout the meet to encourage good performances. Yes, you read that right people, we are not above bribing our children to try to get the best out of them in sports. If that's a problem for you, go ahead and stop reading now. One of our current swimmers is a little more self-motivated than the other. However, the less self-motivated one really thrives on the outside motivation we are so eager to provide. So who are we to mess with what's working?!?! I was the only parent at the meet so I was the lone deal-maker. Several offers were left on the table for both kids. Lucky for me, everyone is still loading and unloading the dishwasher this week. Only one bribe came to fruition. Anytime we have this many days off school, my kids immediately realize the potential for a sleepover. So I told Isaiah if he qualified for YMCA Districts in the 50 back he could have a sleepover. Of course at the time I had no idea if any of his friends could even come over, but he was pretty pumped about it so we went with it. Sure enough, he dropped some good time and will get to swim the back again at districts in a few weeks! Woo-hoo!!!! This is good stuff! So he was very chipper and couldn't wait to get home to see if his friends could come over. Sure enough it worked out so Caleb, Coby and Nate joined our family for the night. But they didn't remain "Caleb, Coby and Nate" for long. They quickly evolved into the "Swag Dragons" as they rocked out on Lego Rock Bank for the majority of the night and next day. Here's a little taste of the budding rock stars.

Saturday of Swimming

If you notice in the "about me" section I say that one of the things I like is swimming. Funny thing is I'm a horrible swimmer. But for a non-swimmer I have watched an insane amount of swimming in my life. Today was one of those days where we spent a big chunk of our day inhaling chlorine fumes while Isaiah and Rachel swam for the Carlisle Family YMCA swim team. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love watching my kids swim. But when you compare the total amount of time they are actually swimming to the amount of time I spend at the meet, it doesn't take a math genius to figure out that's a huge chunk of my life I'm never getting back. But all that aside, today was a good meet. They both swam some of their best times, which is always the goal. Since I just started this blog, I really planned to take my camera to the meet so I could post some action shots of the swimmers. But I forgot it. Alas there will be no mother of the year award for me again this year. But I DID get a picture of the mountain of laundry they brought home as a post-meet present to me.