Youth Sports Weekend: Active Play at Home

When I first has the idea of a Youth Sports Weekend blog post, I envisaged it to me more than organized sport, but to celebrate and encourage an active lifestyle. So, today, I thought I’d share with you some of the ways  that help me maintain an active lifestyle for my children at home.

I have always enjoyed physical activity myself and this was something that I desperately wanted to share with my children. In the early days, before the girls stated school, physical activity was an absolute necessity. It was my strategy for surviving the long lonely days with the children…. Getting out of the house to go for a walk, a play in the playground, a bike ride or playing in the yard. Keeping my oldest daughter active (and tiered)  was seriously the only way I could manage her behavior and get her to sleep at night!

This is some of the equipment I have found indispensable for having an active lifestyle at home. I believe that encouraging active play at home has established the foundations for more organized sport. My kids have developed fitness, strength and perseverance through play. They have also developed essential skills of catching, hitting, kicking, balancing and many others…just though playing and having fun  in the back garden!

 Trampoline

If I was to name the single best purchase I have made for my kids then it would be the trampoline! It has provided hours and hours of active play for my kids when they were smaller. Now it also serves as a practice mat for practicing gymnastics skills

Totem tennis

Our family just love this retro game! It’s great for practicing hand-eye coordination with out always chasing the ball!

Swing set

My kids have spent countless hours on the swing set. The swings are not just swings…they are a  climbing frame, obstacle course, a space ship and a submarine!.........

Bikes, scooters, rip sticks, rollerblades etc

My kids have gotten so much enjoyment from this equipment

Tyre swing....always good for smiles!!

How have you managed to keep the kids active at home?? What equipment or toys have you found the most useful or cost effective. I would love to hear  your suggestions in the comments below, or on my Facebook page. You can even add a Blog post to the linky tool at the end of the post.

Picture This: Things That Make Me Smile

That Awesome roller-deby'n blogger over at Edenland has asked us to share our recent favourite photos for this weeks Fresh Horses Brigade.

I thought that I'd show some pictures of things that make me smile

When I'm in Sydney, this shop-front always makes me smile :)

My new 'do'...getting my haircut always makes me feel happy! (note: not done at the same  salon as above photo!!)

After days and days and days of rain, the sun finally came out and so did this daisy

Lame, I know....but conquering the folding gives me a sense of achievement and put's a smile on my face!

These three crazy kids make me smile!

Watcing the kids play together nicely always makes me smile

I think Ken would be smiling too...don't you think :)

Why I Love to Run!

A question I often get asked is “…why do you run?..” I guess pounding the pavement, exhausting myself, risking injury, waking at the crack of dawn, sometimes in the Canberra cold….it  does seem like an odd thing to do doesn’t it?!

Why I started running

Before I had kids a had a little experience with running when I took part in some triathlon and dualthon events at university…lets just say that I very quickly chose to take up cycling, running was just so hard! It felt like cycling up hill…all the time…even when running down hill!

After having children and not doing much exercise, I started running because my daughter wanted to train for her school cross country run. I remember the first time I went running with her she was loping along beside side me, chatting away. She asked me…

“…What’s that tree called Mummy?…Mummy??….mummy???...”

and all I could reply with was..

 “…too puffed…..can’t talk…”

After that experience, I decided that running would be a great way for me to exercise and burn some extra kilojoules for the weight loss efforts I was consumed by at the time. For me, running ticked all the boxes.

Because I so sucked at running, a 30min run was enough to absolutely exhaust me! Having been a competitive cyclist before having the children, I knew I would have had to ride my bike for hours to get the same effect and with three young children, I just didn’t have the time for that!

It suited my schedule to run early in the mornings when GrumpyDaddy was still at home to look after the kids. Usually I’d go before they even woke up!

I thought running would be cost effective because I didn’t need to pay for gym membership and equipment….little did I know how expensive running shoes, cloths and electronic gadgets were J

Nervous before my first 10k fun run!

Running now means a whole lot more to me than just a way to burn calories and lose weight.

I love running now for the example it sets for my kids! In my experience kids seem to copy the behavior of the important adults in their lives. They can see for them selves that I think physical activity is important because I do it myself! I even think they were a little proud of me when I finish the fun runs…even though I definitely don’t finish at the front of the pack! In a small way, I hope my running inspires my kids in their sports!

I also just love running for the sake of running! I love that I can get away from the kids for just a little while and have some time to think! There is something about the rhythm of running, or the stress on the body that seems to free up my mind. Sometimes I get so involved in a thought, I haven’t even noticed that I have run kilometers! I love to plan while I’m running…every thing from what to make for dinner, shopping lists, birthday parties, the kids activities…everything!

I also love how I feel after I run! Although it is probably just in my head I feel stronger, I feel like I have accomplished something that day! I remember the first time I ever ran 10km…I was exhausted but man I felt so good!! It was such a high!! Even though running uses energy I find that I seem to have much more energy for the rest of the day. I love running because I love the way that it makes me feel…..Fitter, stronger, and more energetic.

Are  you a runner? I’d love to know why you run?

I'm linking up today with Kate Says Stuff for Fitness Friday...come on over and read some informative and motivational posts about fitness!

Buster’s ENT Specialist Appointment

You may have guessed by now that I am a bit of a sporting tragic J. So, you can imagine that I was a little irritated at having to miss the school swimming carnival (where both my daughters were swimming)….Just so I could do my least favorite parenting job…no, not scrubbing mold off the shower, even worse than that!....taking my son to another pointless medical appointment!

I have written earlier, here, how Buster's speech therapist is convinced that Buster has a structural abnormality in his nose or palette which is the cause of his speech difficulties. Given our family history of apraxia, the fact he sounds much like my daughter who was also diagnosed with apraxia and the absence of any evidence for a structural abnormality, I very much doubted there was a structural problem. However, I was happy to see the specialist to rule a structural abnormality out. We have been waiting for our appointment since November last year!

In a way…it would be sort of good news if there was a structural problem. Then perhaps it could be ‘fixed’ with a operation or procedure!! Man, it would sure be easier for me  than the hours and hours of painstaking and frustrating (for Buster and me) speech therapy.

The Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist listened to Buster speak, then examined his nose, throat and ears. He said that he couldn’t find anything physically wrong with his mouth or palette. He said that his palette was capable of a full range of movements to produce the correct sounds (weather or not he makes the correct moment corresponding to a certain sound or not is not a structural problem).

The specialist also noted Busters gigantic tonsils…but said lots of kids have big tonsils and they can talk well!! He said unless there was problems with constant infection, that he had no reason to remove them! I was a little relieved about this because I had a feeling that his ‘super’ tonsils would need to be removed.

So, for the ENT specialist I am thankful! I am really thankful that Buster does not need to undergo a scary (for him and me) and painful operation! I am thankful l that I now have professional opinion to state that buster does not have a structural abnormality and that his best hope for fluent speech is…..Speech Therapy!! (notice I have said that with a sense of irony!)

 I’m not that thankful though, for the cost of this assessment and it feels a little like a waste of time…..

 Anyway, I am thankful that structural problems have been ruled out and I am now hoping that the speech therapist will commit 100% to speech therapy that will help Buster‘s speech be more readily understood. 

For this Thankful Thursday I'm linking up with Kate at Kate Says Stuff  (who has just the BEST post today :)

Go over and see what others are thankful for!

Wordless Wednesday: Lake George....with Water!!

Travelling to Sydney form Canberra this weekend, we couldn't help but stop and take some photos of lake George. Usually, the lake is a dry plain for cattle grazing. The last time I remember there being so much water was when I first came to the ACT about 20 years ago to start University!!

Sitting alone on that bus...20 years ago, I wonder what I would have thought if someone told me that in 20 years, I'd be standing at that lookout with my three children, taking photos!

Today I'm sharing Wordless Wednesday at My Little Drummer Boys, Sakura Haruka and Tina's pic story. Pop over and see some great Wordless Wednesday posts!

Youth Sports Weekend: Swimming Speedo Sprints Finals

This weekend we traveled to Sydney for the Speedo Sprint Finals; A NSW state competition where the best 3 swimmers from each district came together for a day of competition at Sydney Olympic Park. The venue where the Olympic games were swum in 2000 and Ian Thorpe broke the world 400m freestyle record.

Flash was so excited about going, we literally couldn’t stop her from jumping up and down.  I was afraid she was going to exhaust herself with excitement and anticipation!!

Early that morning she proudly wore her ACT uniform and we drove nervously to SOPAC in the cold and quiet of the early morning.

But the pool was alive!!

The venue was simply a gigantic space, with so many people!! Just to be there and experience the atmosphere of such a competition was amazing!

I was so proud of my daughter. She showed no sign of nerves (but I knew they were there) as she went off to complete her warm-up in her new team swimming cap. She battled the absolute chaos of the marshalling area when the poor race official was swamped by 70 excited and anxious 8 year old girls in their first ever state competition.

Flash stood up on that diving block, dived in and swam her little heart out. I’m not sure I could have done that at 8 years old.

The competition itself was dominated by the Sydney Metropolitan Clubs. I’m not really sure of the reason for this, but the city clubs definitely dominated in the medals in every age group. The Sprint 50m events are not Flashes strength , but she swam really well in desperately close races (just compare some of the times) to win a couple of her heats. When the overall times were calculated Flash fininshed 11th, 12th, 16th and 24th in her events.

Flash swam four personal best times and is getting faster at every meet! She has come such a long way. This time last year, she was still in learn-to-swim lessons in the 20m baby pool!! I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

After the races, Flash and her friend celebrated by running through the fountains at SOPAC with smiles from ear-to-ear!

The day was long. exhausting and nerve wracking…and I didn’t even swim! It was a fabulous experience though, and one that we will remember.

Has your child been involved in a youth sport this weekend? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below, or on the SportyMummy  facebook page. You can also link the URL of your blog post to the linky tool below. 

One of my aims for this little SportyMummy blog, is to develop a Youth Sports community where parents can support, encourage and motivate each other to support their children’s participation in youth sports. If your children have participated in a youth sport or an active pursuit, you can link up your post with the linky below and share the fun!


Usually I aim to have a Youth Sports post up every Sunday, but has we arrived home from Sydney yesterday, I am a little late and blogging on Tuesday....and you know what that means!


I'm linking up with Jess at Diary of a SAHM for #IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays) pop over and read some fantastic Tuesday posts!

The Power of Words

For The Fresh Horses Brigade Meme this week, Eden has asked us....

“...If you were invited to a birthday party and the party-thrower had an open mic ready for you to say some of your favourite words, which ones would you choose?....”

I have been thinking about this on our drive to Sydney today and I kept coming back to a poem I studied at highschool.

For me (and many others) senior highschool was challenging and exciting in terms of making life changing decisions against a backdrop of untested independence, idealism, first love, social pressure, alcohol.... I was impressionable and desperately eager to learn.

Words seemed to have so much meaning then!

I have inadvertently memorised this poem. It has been in my brain for 20 years. I love the imagery of autumn and the sense of introspection and thought contained within the beautiful words.

Often, when I am faced with making a decision, be it unconventional, unpopular or even insignificant, the words of this poem fill my head.

...and I image myself ages and ages hence.....

I’ve written the poem down here from memory, so I apologise if I have got some of the words wrong, but this is just how I remember it.....

The Road Less Travelled by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

Wanting to travel both, but be one traveller,

Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could,

until it bent in the undergrowth.

I then took the other as just as fair and wanting perhaps the better claim,

because it was grassy and wanted wear.

But as for that, the passing there had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay, in leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day

But knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should ever come back.....

I will be saying this with a sigh, ages and ages hence.

Two roads diverged in a wood and I......

...I took the one less travelled by...

And that has made all the difference.