Day of Firsts and Lasts

We did it! We completed our first annual 3 Generation Maher 5K. It was rainy and cold at 7 am, the weather didn't cooperate at all, but we rose above it!! Sixteen of our family members, plus adopted friend Kelly, ran, walked, hobbled, and skipped through the E.M. 5K race today. It was a little scary at some points, like my 20 minute registration process that could've and should've taken 2 minutes...and the fact that they ran out of t-shirts at the end... and we almost didn't have pins to put our bibs on... and they were writing out everyone's registration info *by hand* 10 minutes before the race was to begin... and the fact that the path wasn't really marked, they just said, "Look for the police cars"... you know, that's okay. It was a small town race.



Randy, my brother in law, designed the coolest t-shirts for all of us (above), and we were able to order them for our entire family, even 2 year old Ashley! They looked fabulous. The colors were inspired by the Irish flag. The logo is "M3" for Maher 3 generations. Check out Jill's blog to see all the photos, she's even got a slide show with music!

Anyway, the idea was planted back in April after Mom brought Austin and Landon to see Jared and I run the SL Half Marathon. Watching the interesting types you see there, Mom thought, "We could do this!" Not the half marathon mind you... but a 5K for sure. She asked them if they wanted to do it and they said yes. We all came home and got to talking- soon my dad was excited, then Lori was on board. She talked her friend Kelly into doing it too. Then we asked Adam/Amy, Jill/Randy, etc. The whole family was IN! We thought it was really cool to have 3 generations running together in a race. Naturally we had to design a cool shirt.



My kids have been so excited. They have been asking me for weeks, "Mom, when is the race?" The other day when we saw Landon and Whitney, Austin was asking them, "So, are you going to run the race? Are you going to walk or jog? I'm going to run the whole way." Etc. It was cute to see him getting pumped up for the event. Since running is something Jared and I have always had an interest in, it's fun to see my kids getting into it too. I just want them to have a good attitude about exercise and keeping their bodies healthy. We don't talk about weight or about exercise as a means to be thinner. We only talk about the benefits of being fit- that your body feels better, you don't get sick as often, that you can do more, etc.



Austin was very proud of his medal. He and Landon did a great job the whole race. They stayed with Jared and finished in about 30 minutes. I told Austin that I was so proud of him and that he should be very happy with himself as this is a great accomplishment. I hope he remembers that little taste of success and pride in himself. I just want to help him have little experiences like this to build his self-esteem and show him that he can do things if he puts his mind to it.



Olivia also did a great job. She ran, quite fast actually, for the first mile or so of the race. She stayed with my dad, which was very cute. Then she burned out suddenly, so they slowed to a walk. That is where I caught up with them, jogging stroller and Ashley in tow. Once she saw me, Olivia decided it was time to get in the stroller, just to make my load a little heavier. It wasn't so bad on the downhill, but the second half was uphill and the E.M. wind was creating a nice parachute-like effect with the stoller, not so fun. I walked part of the last mile since it was just too hard trying to jog with that resistance.



Finally, we turned a corner (escaping the wind) and I could finish the last 1/2 mile or so jogging. Me, Pop, and the girls came in at 35 minutes. Woo hoo! Not my best 5K but I don't usually drag a stroller along. I had planned to walk most of it and thought I would finish closer to 45 min, so really I did fantastic when you look at it that way!



I love this group photo that Kelly took for us. The shirts look great and it's such a fun memory. For some of our family members, this was the first race they've ever done, and I don't just mean the kids. I am proud of us!



After the race we went home to have a nice breakfast. We had tons of fruit, bacon/egg/cheese sandwiches on bagels, juice, etc. The kids had pancakes (Nana's tradition) and we all relaxed and warmed up. It was only about 48 degrees out there, in addition to rain and wind, so we really had to keep moving to stay warm!

I was so glad that we did this- Thank you to all my family who supported it, especially Mom and Pop for buying us these awesome t-shirts and to Randy for designing it. I hope that you were all happy that you did this race in the end (despite rising early, rain, etc.) and I hope that the kids feel so proud of themselves for doing a 5K!

Another FIRST today was Austin's first swim meet, which we missed! We not only had the family 5K that we already committed to, but we also had Austin and Olivia's LAST soccer games of the season. I had hardly finished breakfast when I had to get Olivia in her soccer gear and head down to the field.



Olivia really jumped right into soccer this year. She has never played before, and hardly even kicked a ball in the backyard for that matter. She's such a girly-girl, I honestly had no idea how she would do. I knew that she loved her pink cleats and pink soccer ball, but beyond that... there was no telling. Well, she had a fantastic coach, which was such a blessing. Coach Dave emailed us a 5 page PDF the first night after he was assigned to our team. It was so impressive! He had all the drinks/snacks assigned, all practices/game times listed, rules, recommendations, his email/phone, etc. You name it. I said to Jared, "We got a good one!" He was great at talking to the kids on their level and helping to keep them focused, despite their short attention span. I loved how he gave ALL the kids a high-five when a goal was scored, not just the one who made it. Olivia really loved playing this year and had so much fun. I really enjoyed all of the other parents on her team too. I am torn about which city to sign up with for Fall soccer b/c we can do the same as this season or do the city closer to where we live- which means we wouldn't have Coach Dave and those same teammates.



Austin played on a tough team this year. They were so talented! We played him up a year, which the local league allows you to do, and I was glad we did. Otherwise, he would have played on a tiny little field along side kindergartners! Instead, we put him on the 2nd grade team which plays on a full-sized field. There were some amazing players on his team, including his close friend, Will, who lives a few houses away. This really pushed him to work harder and try to improve. He learned how to be aggressive and to play defense. His coach taught him to think about where the ball is going to go and get there so that he's ready to help his team. Although he wasn't the star player on the team, I know he had fun, grew as a player, and enjoyed some of the new friends he made.



Again, with Austin's team, we were so lucky to get an amazing coach. I had no idea who we'd get when I signed him up. Will's mom had told me to write down a different name, which we didn't get. In the end, it was such a blessing. Both she and I were so happy with Coach Bjorn. He has a real talent for teaching the kids; correcting them when needed, while still encouraging them and not criticizing them in a way that makes them feel like they did something wrong. Does that make sense? Like if a player is not where he should be, he will kindly remind them, "Where do you need to be? or What position are you playing? You're left midfield" then immediately praise them for doing a great job and tell them something they're doing well. I don't know how to explain. He treats them like mature people too- not like little 8 year olds. He expects more and they deliver more. He's just good.

Our team, Reese's Pieces, didn't lose one game. Not even close. We usually won by about 10 goals. Technically, we're not supposed to keep score, but we didn't have to. I often heard the referees and other parents talking during games with this funny mix of awe and disbelief. Just today, the opposing coaches were standing near me and talking to each other, saying, "I don't know how you get such talented kids all on the same team" and "I saw that goalie do things that no other kids that age would know how to do" and stuff like that. I know that some of the kids came to the team with talents and skills that are above average. But I think that our coach is so good at what he does, it's this combination that brings the best result. I would love for Austin to be on his team again in the Fall but I think he's teaching an older, competition team that Austin probably isn't ready for. I guess we'll just be glad we had a great Spring season.



I will miss watching the kids play soccer but it will be nice to only have one thing going on this summer- Austin's swimming. I am not really looking forward to meets every Saturday, but I figure we don't do much on Sat. mornings anyway and we still have the rest of the day to do stuff. Austin's already thriving at swim team. He proudly came home yesterday and told me that he swam an IM at practice (individual medley- back, breast, free, butterfly). I am glad that he likes it, though I know his favorite part is the ride home with the boys from the neighborhood, not the swimming.

I feel like we need to find something for Olivia to do this summer since Austin has the swimming and is continuing piano on Thursdays. It's kind of hard b/c dance is off until the Fall and gymnastics is just too far away. She technically could do swimming, since she's 5, but I didn't think she was emotionally ready for that yet. It's pretty demanding going to practice for an hour everyday and meets on Saturdays. I guess I will just have to figure something out so she doesn't get bored.