30 Days of Gratitude: Days 12 and 13

I know that I was already grateful for a lot with Natalie this weekend, but I'll have to continue that trend for Days 12 and 13. Yesterday when Natalie went to practice, she found out that she moved up into another team, "Team Atlanta". I spoke to her previous coach, Coach Tanya, who said that Natalie and one of the boys from her team (Jackson) had to move up because they were so much faster than the others. They often had a lot of down time waiting for the others to finish. Coach Tanya said that it was good when they were both on her team because they were able to challenge each other. Now both of them have moved up. Natalie was excited because now she will be on the same team as her friend Kate, who used to also swim at Lifetime Fitness.

Patrick and I were pretty happy with Coach Tanya's coaching. I mean--look how much Natalie has improved in the less than month and a half she has been there. Now she will be in Coach Nyssa's team. They started out swimming two 100 yard butterflies, then they swam 100 yards of each of the other strokes too. Natalie needs to be challenged, and this will be a great move for that.

This picture is of Natalie in her new swim parka. This seems to be standard wear for the swimmers, to keep their muscles warm in between events, and to keep them warm after practice when the weather turns colder. Patrick only ordered it last Thursday, and it was already ready, so he was able to pick it up today, just in time for tonight's temps in the 40s. We're definitely thankful for that! Natalie was so excited that she could barely hold still for this picture. Patrick complained a little about how fidgety she was, but I asked him if he would rather have "always enthusiastic" Natalie or "never enthusiastic" Alex. He agreed that the excitement was easier to handle.

That parka is huge on her! We were told to buy it big, because it supposedly lasts a long time. I'm not sure she'll grow into that parka, but buying it long also keeps her legs covered--again, a plus for keeping her warm when she's wearing her swimsuit in the winter months. She had her name embroidered in red, of course. I was amused when she told me that she also had her last name initial on there, because she's "not the only Natalie around". No, she's not the only Natalie, but she's the only one that's important to me.

Tonight I'm grateful to be able to eat together as a family and that we were able to give back to the kids' school. Natalie and Eric's school has a fundraiser "school night" at the local Willie's Icehouse on the second Tuesday of each month, where 15% goes to their school. Really, it was an excuse to eat out. The schedule was a little tight, because we usually have to leave by 6pm to get to Natalie's swim practice. We got there at around 5pm and they served us pretty quickly. Of course our family eats pretty fast, except for Eric, and we were pretty much done by 5:30. Family togetherness AND a good cause--you can't beat that!