The Day Hannah drank irrigation water

Last weekend, Hannah and Maddix were outside tormenting Big G - our 9-yr old, neighborhood cop/ghost buster. They were splashing water on him and teasing him. He was getting pretty ticked off because they were getting his ghost busting equipment wet (he captured 2 ghosts from my piano for a whopping ten cents. We got a discount because Jeremy advertised for him by writing his number on his arm...) He tried to chase them down and when he couldn't catch them, he came up with a different plan. He splashed some water on his face and pretended to drink the irrigation water that was in the gutter. Apparently, Hannah was suckered and followed suit. She really drank it (Gag, gag. I'm about to barf just writing this) I lectured her and told her how disgusting the water was and how unsafe it was and how many germs and toxins were in the water and on and on and on. While I was lecturing Hannah, Big G went over to Jeremy and whispered, "I didn't really drink the water."

Well wouldn't you know it, but by Sunday, Hannah was full on sick. Now call me crazy, it might just be a coincidence or the lingering effects of her cold or allergies or whatever's been affecting her, but I'm kinda suspecting it could have been the water. The sad part about this is that Jeremy and I were outside the whole time with her watching them play and I didn't even see it. Even sadder, is that when I asked her if she really drank the water she answered, "yeah, it was good."

Let's now pray that there are no lingering parasites growing inside her. Yuck!

What a Bum!

Each night we go through the same routine. The kids bathe or shower (most nights), we read scriptures as a family, say family prayer, go potty, brush our teeth and then off to bed. I read a few picture books to Hannah and Annie, usually Mercer Mayer's and Jeremy takes Jake and Abby to read Percy Jackson. They are now in the middle of book 3 and are loving it. I have heard a lot of laughter coming from the room as they've read, especially from this one. I haven't read them yet, but I get that they're pretty good. The kids are always telling me about what's going on or a funny part.

Tonight at dinner, they were talking about P.J. So Jake asks,

"Dad, is that homeless guy really a butt?"

"What?" Jeremy asks.

"In the book, it says the homeless guy is a butt."

After thinking for a minute, it finally dawned on Jeremy what he meant. He was a bum. "Oh my gosh, no. A bum is another name for a homeless person." Then Jeremy looks at me and says, "That explains why they laughed so hard at that spot. I couldn't get them to stop. I didn't get what was so funny."

Ha Ha Ha Ha!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Whenever Jeremy and I go out on a date and leave our kids with a babysitter, we always get a call or calls from our kids. We answer it thinking it might be an emergency, but it's always something like:
Mom can I have some ice cream?
or
Can I sleep in the living room? my answer - NO
or
Why not?

We tell them before we leave that they aren't supposed to call us unless it's an emergency because when it really is an emergency, we won't answer the phone call because we'll think it is them calling for something dumb.
Well last night Jeremy and I had a girl's camp meeting. It was running a little long and the kids were home with a babysitter. U of A was on TV playing in the sweet sixteen and we only got to watch the first half - bummer, especially for Jeremy who hasn't gotten to watch a game yet.
Anyway, my cellphone vibrates in my pocket. I check it and it's the home phone number. I excused myself because it might be something important
Hello?
Mom, It's Jake. U of A is killing Duke with only 4 minutes left.
Really? What's the score?
77-62 ish (I don't remember exactly)
Thanks. Don't call again unless it's an emergency
Or was it an emergency? By all means call again and again, especially if they win. Needless to say Jeremy was quite happy and we survived the rest of our meeting.
You gotta love Jake.
To quote Jeremy, "That's my boy!"

This week's Recap

Here is quick rundown of this wonderful spring break - some with pictures, most without.

Monday

Second annual Goodman family breakfast at Usery Pass. Delicious, greasy food, great company and a fun hike. When the cousins got so far ahead of us slowpokes (Julie, Annie, Dad and me) they decided to stop and rest. They apparently got a little worried when we didn't show quickly and decided to pray for us. Seconds later, we rounded the corner and there they were. It was a quick answer to prayers and a great chance to talk to my kids about the importance of prayer and listening to the spirit when it prompts you to do something.

Tuesday

Jake and Abby got to go spend the night with the Chesley's. So fun for them, plus they got a spa treatment from Kyley. BEST THING EVER! Because - I'm skipping ahead to Wed. - Wednesday night, Jake and Abby gave Jeremy and me massages with lotion. Not too long before we were both passed out on the floor. I woke up at midnight and Jake and Abby were crashed in front of Disney Channel. Who knows what they did after they so cunningly got their parents to sleep early.

Wednesday

Hannah, Annie and I got to go pick up the older kids at the Chesley's. They had had a great time and I got to chill with Dyan and Julie. I love my sisters! After an exhausting day on the South side, we came back to our neck of the woods and decided to go the movies. We headed to the dollars and saw Yogi Bear in 3D. The kids' first ever and they were so pumped to have their own glasses.

Thursday

I was feeling kinda cruddy, but nonetheless The Hall's and Platt's headed across the street to run a lemonade stand. I made the lemonade, which I must say was delicious, and Alex prepared the rest. The kids did all the selling. The cause - Japan. They harassed everyone they saw to buy lemonade, always shouting out a big "thank you from Japan" to all their customers. They raised almost $100 to send to Japan. I'm so proud of them. Except for Annie, not one single complaint came out of their mouths. They were proudly waving signs, running around, shamelessly asking anyone and everyone they saw to buy lemonade.

Also, March Madness started in full swing.

Friday

A quick park day, then home to watch UofA beat Memphis in a nail biter! Then it was time to get ready for the McBrides. Hannah was in heaven having Brakelle to play with all weekend. Jake was hysterical at all of baby Drew's antics.

Saturday

Yardwork, playing with the McBrides, and then some alone time for me. I got to go shopping all by myself. I moseyed around Tempe Marketplace for hours. It was so wonderful.

It was a great spring break, but I'm so glad school is back tomorrow. I need a routine.

It's Madness for Sure

This is one of my favorite non-holiday days of the year. I love Selection Sunday where I fill out my March Madness brackets based partly on strategy, but mostly on mascots I like, or people I know living by a school, or places I've been. For the record, I have Arizona beating Purdue in the Finals. I'm a Wildcat fan, but there is no rhyme or reason for Purdue making it that far except that they are the BoilerMakers (who even knows what a boilermaker is). Also for the record, Jake picked Duke (a 1 seed) to lose to Hampton (a 16 seed) in the first round.

But the madness doesn't end there.

This morning Annie and Hannah both announced that they are the real Taylor Swifts. The other one on magazines and tv is just fake. Then they rocked the front yard with their own concert complete with a hose, a hiking stick and a shovel for microphones. They know every tune of every one of her songs, but only about 60 percent of the lyrics and make up sound-alike words to fill the gaps.

Abby is back on her meena bobber kick. I swear I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff. She just started calling me and Jeremy meena bobbers when she thought we were being mean. And if she calls you a queena quobber, well let's just say, that's pretty awful. There is really no end to the names she can rhyme with those nonsense words. There's beena bobber, car-a bobber, sheena shobber, light-a bobber... You get the idea. She and I made up insults all the way home from Wal-mart last night. It's madness I tell ya!

Finally, I don't know if it was because Jeremy was just being kind, tired, oblivious or what, but the girls did his hair tonight and he looked fabulous. It takes a real man to wear pink flowers in his hair.

Tomorrow starts Spring Break and we are hopefully on our last leg of the stomach bug that's plagued our family. Abby's got it now and we're praying it is just a once-through-the-family thing.

Bring on the Madness!

Go Wildcats!

Lehi Days

It's that time of year again. Saturday we made our trek down to Lehi to watch the rodeo and eat cotton candy to our heart's content. I think I have gone to Lehi Days more as an adult not living in Lehi Stake than I ever did growing up in the stake. It never changes, except nowadays there are cell phones and more people, but really that's it. Cowboys come out from all corners of Mesa, some real, some not (sporting their shiny buckles and boots that they only wear once a year).

We always see so many people we'd never otherwise see. This year, the highlight was seeing my second cousin Kevin Christiansen. He was my very favorite DQ worker back in the day. In fact, after about 15 years of not even thinking of their family it was eerily coincidental that we saw them because just last week I was talking about the Christiansen's with my mom.

We made ourselves sick eating cotton candy and popsicles. We waited in line for about 30 minutes so the kids could ride the horses for 25 seconds. (That was in preparation for our first Disneyland trip that's coming up in May). Thankfully Jeremy had his mtn. bike so he could let the girls practice riding a horse before the real event. They even sat side saddle like real ladies for the entire half hour wait. Hannah was disappointed that she didn't get to catch a chicken, but I think I convinced her Bodgie would eat it anyway.

Lehi Days marks the beginning of spring and our first, and hopefully last, sunburn of the year.

Happy March

Here's what we've been up to:

Jake had his second pinewood derby. He was a solid middle of the pack-er. He placed 8th out of 16. The theme was anything but a car, so Jake and Jeremy made a bat. They didn't carve it out until the day before the race and were working on it right up until race time. Jake had fun and I love his car.

Jake's basketball season is also winding down. If you ask me, he's the best player in the league. He ball handles so well, can cross over and is so fun to watch. He scores so many points a game, it's beautiful. He also just started minors baseball. As he ages it is amazing how much more intense things get. For crying out loud, he's only in third grade and the games get so stressful.

Jake is also still trucking away at the piano. He hates it, but he's steadily getting better.

On another note, Jake's home sick today. He's had a bit of a stomach bug this week, but as I found out from his friend's mom, the clincher for staying home is that a girl in his class said she was going to beat him up today. When I asked him about it, he just grinned then quickly went back to his sick face. Can we say third grade crush?

Abby is awesome. She started gymnastics again this semester (she took tumbling when she was in pre-school). She can now do a back bend and is close to mastering her back handspring. It freaks me out watching her. Once I was spotting her and accidentally let her bonk her head on the ground. She was too quick, I wasn't expecting it. She's so dang strong. She has the most beautiful arms I've ever seen on a 7 year old.

Abby also has started her first year of softball. And guess who's her coach? - yep, me. We had our first practice yesterday and I think it's going to be a fun season. we have a lot of work ahead of us with our girls, but they are darling and a spunky group.

(Picture of Abby is coming soon - sorry)

Hannah is still on her Ramona and Beezus kick. Not only did she wear her rainboots to church once, she now has a bathrobe, thanks to Rylee's garage sale. She puts it on and pretends she's Beezus - "Ramona what's my desk doing on the lawn?!" She still is a bit of a tormentor and teaser, but makes me laugh every day.

Annie is in "hand-me-down heaven" (that too is from R and B). She gets hand-me-downs from everyone - her sisters, friends, neighbors, Dyan's neighbors, primary kids.... And they are all adorable clothes. While most people would pick one outfit a day to wear, Annie wears them all together. Alex gave her 4 dresses and a skirt the other day. She wore them all at the same time. The layers kept coming off when it was time for her bath that night. Fortunately, I only had to wash the outer layer. Yesterday she was given two pairs of Mary Janes. She couldn't decide what ones to wear, so for a while she was mismatched, but then for the rest of the day, she made sure she had both pairs with her at all times. One pair on her feet, the other in her hands or on a doll. Last night she slept with them. I made her take them off, but they were tucked in nice and snug next to her. She was up this morning with them in her hands.

That's what we've been up to as of late.

Bring on the orange blossoms - my favorite time of year!