Family Resemblance, Pt. 2

Violet has changed a lot over the last year, so I thought it high time to post more comparison photos (check out the last ones here). People comment all the time on who Violet looks the most like. I have heard people say she looks exactly like Eddie. Others have said that she's a mini-Krissy. And others have said she looks like my dad. I think she definitely looks most like me, but I was surprised as I looked through photos to see how much Eddie looks like me, too. Check it out:

Eddie & Dave

Violet & Krissy

Obviously baby clothes were much more stylish in the '80s (as was the wallpaper). Maybe this is what our kids would look like if we'd had quadruplets.

Training: The First Two Weeks

After Dave started losing ridiculous amounts of weight and getting into shape, I decided I needed to do what I could to keep up with him. And I want to prove to myself that I can do anything I want to if I try hard enough. So, at the beginning of March, Dave and I officially started training for a sprint triathlon. We are hoping to be ready to race in June. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do. The race we are planning to do has a 300 yard swim, a 11.5 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run.

One thing we have both learned is that exercise really is addictive. I have been amazed how quickly I have seen improvement in myself, and that makes me want to keep working out. Since I used to swim competitively (like 14 years ago… man, I'm old!), the pool is where I am most comfortable. Dave is not a very experienced swimmer, so we have scheduled a weekly lap swimming date so that I can help him get better at it. And Dave gets an extra swimming day each week without me hounding him about his stroke. During our swim last night, I swam 300 yards in 10 minutes, resting after each 100 yards. Hopefully that means I'll be able to do the triathlon swim in 7 or 8 minutes. Dave's goal is to be able to swim 300 yards without stopping.

Since it has been rather cold and I don't own a bike, I was excited to start going to cycling classes. This way I am getting an hour workout on a bike twice a week. I haven't ridden an actual bike in over 5 years, so I am hoping to buy a bike in the next month or two so that I can get some practice on the road. My friend Kristina has graciously offered to let me use hers, but I'm a little bit scared that I'll crash on it.

Dave and I have both started running regularly. I have never been a runner. Even when we trained for our 5K back in 2007, we were not very diligent. So the 5K took us over 40 minutes to complete (and I think I walked at least half of it). This time I started out running 4 minutes, then walking 2 minutes. Doing that, I could complete 3 miles in about 35 minutes. Now, two weeks into our training, I am running 10 minutes and walking 2 minutes. By the end of April, I should be able to run 30 minutes continuously. And Dave can already do that.

When we reach the end of our training, we'll post our before & after photos so everyone in the world can see how awesome we are.

(Not actually Dave & Kristen)

Sewing Projects

I love to sew. And I love it even more now that I have a new sewing machine. I have meant to post photos of some of the projects I completed for Christmas, but just hadn't gotten around to it. Until now. You can blame Pinterest.

I made aprons for my nieces. Here is Riley modeling hers.

I made hooded towels for Eddie & Violet. Here is Ed's: red with dinosaur print.

And this is Violet's: purple with crazy owl print.

I resisted joining Pinterest for a long time because I knew what would happen when I did. I signed up two weeks ago and since then, I have been compiling a giant list of projects I want to do. Here is my first one:

I got ideas from browsing Pinterest and combined several to make one cute shirt for Violet. This started out as a boys long-sleeve onesie. It fit Violet well, so I chopped off the bottom and added to the hem with part of an old tank top. I shortened the sleeves. Then I got really adventurous and did a reverse applique of a giraffe. I found the image online, printed it, traced it backwards onto the tank top fabric, then pinned it inside the shirt. Then I sewed around each part of the giraffe using tiny stitches on my sewing machine. Then I cut away the front fabric inside the image to reveal the fabric underneath. It got a little complicated and didn't turn out perfect, but it is pretty cute for my first attempt. I might start reverse applique-ing everything now. And I plan to replace the blue buttons with pink so that it looks a little more girly.

Violet really wanted to grab the camera instead of posing for me. 

Lightning

On the eve of March Madness, I'd like to look back on a hallowed sports tradition from my past. My buddy Scott's house was always NCAA tournament headquarters. There my friends congregated to watch basketball for hours on end. When there was a break in the action, we would hit the basketball court on his back patio.

Our game of choice was always "Lightning" (also known as "Speed" or "Elimination"). For those who may be unfamiliar with the rules, you form a line and try to eliminate the player in front of you by making a basket before them, and the last player standing wins. It's a simple premise, but where we got creative was in the designating and naming of spots on the patio to play from.

To aid with my descriptions, I created this diagram of Scott's backyard with a little help from Google Earth.

1. Pantsless Point
The right corner of the key (next to the clothesline). Whether or not a pantsless game actually took place from this spot has since faded into legend.

2. The Abyss
The far left corner of the court, positioned in the narrow alleyway on the side of the house. The hitch was that there was literally a trailer hitch parked there. Pretty much anytime someone had to chase a bouncing ball into the abyss, they would emerge with a limp.

3. Coffin Corner
The right corner of the court, which was actually out on the grass. After a while, the patch of grass where we lined up started to get trampled down, and looked like a coffin had been recently buried there. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that Scott's dad didn't bury one of us for monopolizing his TV and destroying his lawn.

4. Suicide Station
The far end of the patio in front of the picnic table—about the equivalent of a half court shot. It was especially agonizing when some of our less athletic friends lucked into being the final two, and the rest of us had to watch them bumble back and forth across the patio for what seemed like an eternity.

5. Tyler Memorial
Scott's younger brother Tyler was more athletic than the rest of us. He probably won 75% of the time when he joined in. When he was on his mission, we designated a spot close to the basket in his honor because it made the rest of us feel like we were as good as him.

6. The Himalayas
At the back of the yard, there was a steep slope with a switchback trail that led up to Farmington's Main Street. We foolishly tried to play from the sidewalk above a few times, running up and down the switchbacks. I don't think we ever actually finished a game that started up there. We always ended up passed out at Pantsless Point.