Don't watch the high jump. At some point every single competitor misses. The exciting part for me is the constant push for excellence; for more power, more rotations, more difficulty. If athletes didn't do this, how long would audiences keep watching - and how long would athletes keep training? You see this in every sport. World and Olympic records broken are thrilling for both the crowds and the competitors.

It's rather insulting your method of commenting. If it doesn't interest you, why start a thread about it?

Volleyball is a game, a team sport, more specifically - and it requires a huge amount of skill, strategy and athleticism. You didn't notice the digging, diving, spiking? I don't understand your negativity about the sport. Other team sports, such as basketball, soccer, and field hockey, have every right to be included in the Olympics. Now, other events, like trap shooting, just don't seem to me to be Olympic sport material. If you had to run or ski and then shoot, then I'd be more supportive. Biathlon in the winter Olympics is a very challenging and worthy sport.

I wouldn't do this. If you really, really want to ride with two children in a safe way, invest in a tandem bike and pull your trailer. It's expensive, and safe. The tandem bikes can have the back seat fit even 4 year old children. Friends of ours have two tandems which they shipped to Europe and biked around France. Their children were 4 and 8 at the time. This family also has a quad, so the whole family can bike together. Big bucks, but that is their passion. Other options are just unsafe.

It was the Jellystone Park campground in Sturbridge. They have cabins if you don't want to transport all your camping gear. There are state campgrounds very close by, too, if you want more quiet and rustic camping.

That is a hoot!!! Heaps of talented herders and dogs, for sure. You know, if Disney tried this they'd get in so much trouble. :lol:

That's a wonderful idea! Thanks so sharing. Now why didn't I buy some supplies while I was on vacation in the US where things are super cheap. :confused:

I'd also suggest Boston area. We just camped in Sturbridge, and it was fantastic! Very close to Boston and the coast. You may want to try whale watching - there are apparently various types of whale to see. This is what I'm going to do the next time I'm visiting the ocean. Old Sturbridge is supposed to be very interesting. Salem has maritime historic museums. Boston has a ton of historical sites to see and lots of other cool things. Do some on-line research about tourist and historical sites, as well as cheap accomodation and car rental.

Congratulations Columbia!! Spoiler alert Canada just won a bronze medal in the men's high jump!! :001_smile: It's the first medal Canada has won in this event since 1976. The Russian jumper who won the gold was amazing. His nerves must be made of steel, as at one point he lost his singlet and was frantically trying to find it while the timer was on for his jump. He didn't find it, put on another shirt, stuck on a bib, and went and jumped perfectly! This goes totally against all the mental training research I've ever read. How on earth.....? He certainly is a character and will be forcing some academics to relook at just what an athlete "needs" before a competition.

We'll call this geography and physical education to keep it slightly academic. I knew I catch more internationals in this forum. So, how is your home country doing in these games? Canada is doing about average, I think, for summer Olympics. Winter Olympics is much stronger. Last I checked Canada has 1 gold (women's trampoline) and 11 medals total. I'm loving watching all the different countries and seeing where their amazing athletes are. South Africa, for example, is much stronger in swimming than I had ever heard before. Great job! Oscar Pistorium was really amazing to watch run, too. Great Britian is doing so well over-all. That is really nice for the host country. Chime in with your success stories! I'd love to hear about them.

You're doing great! Congratulations and keep on going. Your body will be changing a ways difficult to see, including your aerobic fitness - heart and lung capacity. Have you had a trainer help you set up a training schedule so you can gradually increase your intensity, etc. in a safe and healthy way? I would do this, for sure. It's worth the money, and will probably motivate you to keep going as you see and feel more positive changes.

We've been flipping back and forth between NBC and CTV (Canadian station), and I was SHOCKED and delighted to see NBC show an event that didn't have a single American in it! The announcer even talked about the athletes competing in the event. I was so amazed I forget which event it was. Way to go NBC! You CAN be more international focused and show more obscure events.

Let them play all day and take lots of pictures. You can freeze snowballs in the freezer to savour the experience. And if you want your dc to experience snow again in their childhood, come visit us in Canada. We have lots to spare! I'll let them shovel my driveway - they'll love it! And just to put things in perspective, we get snow every winter for 3+ months. Yet the first snow fall of the year is always a playday for the dc. It's just FUN to play in the stuff. Go ahead and let them enjoy it.

Great ideas! I personally need those scheduled activities at times to get me going, so I don't let anyone else down. Think of them as the kick in the pants you need, then just keep moving when the scheduled stuff is done. Momentum is the key - you can stay sitting, or you can keep moving once you've had to start moving.

I'd much rather spread the opportunities over a few activities in the pre-teen years. If the individual showed potential for skill and interest to get really serious about an activity in the teens (particularly the mid to late teens), then I'd support it as much as possible. This would include music training as well as athletic training (dance, too, though my dc are not interested in dance after the initial classes). In addition, there are usually more options available through schools/colleges for older teens to further the training than there are for young children. Even if there was a "career" ending injury in one activity (or just a change of mind for whatever reason), they would have other options to pursue, or even try something completely different.

:iagree: Grumpiness, in my experience, is more about lack of proper nutrition when needed than sleep. One can be grumpy right before breakfast, but that often leaves as soon as the belly is full again.

For me, it depends on what you want the dc up for 8:30am to do. If it's to travel in a car for 8 hours, then 10pm bed time might be fine. If it's to go to a sports camp for 8 hours, then 8:30pm would be more appropriate.

This wouldn't bother me, as there was warning ahead of time and the effect of the clips was relevant to the sermon. If it only happens a few times a year, then I'd be fine with it. I PREFER a message that is suitable for any age, but I don't demand it, as long as there is a prior warning.

Now I'm learning something about my own country. I'd never heard of the Blue Mountains before, and I've lived in Ontario for 17 years! I've heard people say Georgian Bay area, but never refer to the area as Blue Mountains. Just how big are these "mountains?"

We are called to serve where our gifts lie. There are countless ways you can serve the church that isn't with child care. Building care, garden care, baking, volunteer coordination, fundraising, special events, etc.

We LOVE our tent trailer, and have been across Canada in it twice. It is a really economical way for larger familes to travel. We use our trailer for sleeping and relaxing/playing board games and changing. Because we camp in the Rockies and Ontario where there are bears, we never prepare food or eat in our trailer. We have our "kitchen" set up outdoors. We store food in the car at night. It's a trailer, but essentially a soft sided tent, so not much protection from larger animals. Over the years, we've slowly built up the equipment we like to use. For the first few times camping we just walked around and looked to see what equipment other tent-trailer users had and what we thought we'd like.

I've been training Taekwon-Do for 13 years. I got back into it when my third child was a baby and it's been a life-saver for my health and sanity. My newest adventure is training for a marathon. A few weeks ago my dh and I got back into playing tennis again. It is so wonderful doing an activity together. The dc are learning to play, too. I also sing, play piano and percussion in our church music ministry group. It is my favourite part of the week playing at the Sunday 8:00pm mass! :001_smile:

LOVE Ikea!! I REALLY love their Christmas decorations.

As other moms have mentioned, you're in a very demanding season of parenting right now. Even if your weren't homeschooling, life would be crazy. Things WILL get better, though, but not right away. Pregnancy is tough, but having a baby will keep you even busier. You can do it!! So: - Pace yourself and don't try to do it all perfectly (cleaning, schooling, laundry). - Get out of the house w/o kids at least once a week to do physical activity. It will give you more energy, even if you think it won't it will. Insist on this time - dh is fully capable to be at home with the dc. If he can't or won't, put a very good babysitter into your budget. You need to be fit and healthy to survive these challenging years. - Make time for short alone breaks for you. This might be family nap time in the afternoon, TV break for dc and computer time for you, or something similar. - Stay at home to homeschool. Avoid bringing one child to an activity, unless there is child care for the others and YOU can have a break, too. The organization and stress of getting all the dc out of the house for a specific time can be exhausting. :grouphug: and lastly, try to relax and have fun with the darling children you have. Soak up every day of it, because those baby and toddlers years pass by far to quickly.

You're right. For some strange reason I just hadn't noticed I was watching CBC Olympic coverage in the early 2000s. Perhaps I was distracted by lots of little kids? :001_smile: In the 90s I was either living in Norway or in Canada but without a TV. Very strange - I was so sure I'd been watching CTV the entire time.