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!

we CAN do hard things

My Brother Joe started harassing us about a month ago about a fantastic, hard hike up the Superstition Mountains to Flat Iron. I kinda blew him off, but he was a persistent one and wouldn't ya know it, Monday morning Jake and I were up bright and early waiting for Joe to pick us up for the adventure (secretly hoping to be the one to find the Lost Dutchman's mine). We started the hike admiring the beauty of the mountain before us. It was a nice gradual incline, not at all intimidating. Then the next thing we knew we were staring at a rock slide of sorts. It was in the crevice of the mountains and Joe says, let's go. I thought that beyond that there was surely a nice trail, but alas, we went straight up from there. We literally rock climbed. I now know what it means to do mountain climbers in gym class. We were hoisting ourselves up huge boulders for the next mile or so.

(This was our destination - the rock that looks like an iron or the front of Titanic. The crack on the left is what we hiked straight up! )

All along the way, Jake kept complaining and I was quietly wondering why in the world I brought the whiner. He continually said, "I can't do it. It's too hard. I'm quitting." At one point he sat his butt down and didn't budge until I told him he could stay there, but he was paying the babysitter who was at home with the girls if I didn't get to go to the top. He was up in a flash and off, but the complaining continued. I even recited poetry:

Somebody said that it couldn't be done

But he with a chuckle replied

That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one

Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;

At least no one ever has done it;”

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat

And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure,

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing

That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

(Jake in front of the rock that I thought looked like the Sorting Hat)

That poem was by Edgar A. Guest. I thought I'd annoy Jake into climbing that mountain. But in the end it came down to sheer bribery. I promised him a treat if he finished without complaining. We decided on 3 donuts. I told him that for every illegitimate complaint, I got to eat a half of his donut. By the end he earned himself 2 1/2 donuts. We deemed a few complaints legit as he fell down a couple of times and earned some scrapes on his legs.

The view from the top was spectacular. I couldn't believe my eyes. I love AZ and all its diversity. Four Peaks was capped in snow. There were some lovely clouds hanging low to the northeast, and the whole valley was crystal clear from all the rain over the weekend that

washed all the pollution away.

The funniest part of the hike was when we were sitting at the top just chillin', taking in the views when Jake sat down and said, "My butt's cold." A few minutes later, still sitting in the same spot, "Am I sitting in water?" He finally stood up and sure enough he was sitting in a puddle of water that probably started out frozen. He had a nice big circle of water on his bum. Then he stuck it out to the sun to try to dry it out, but no luck.

After it was all over, I asked Jake if it was worth it. He still said no and that he will never do that hike again. But I say, I'm proud of my boy and the fact that he did something hard that he was

ready to give up on.

(The whole crew at the top - Jake, Me, Dyan, Cassie, and Joe)

Dinnertime

I've always heard how important it is to have dinner together with your family. I'm not sure who to cite here, probably church leaders, Reader's Digest or public service announcements, but I have discovered that our most memorable moments as a family seem to come when eating dinner together.

For instance...

Annie just told us tonight at dinner that her butt (I've taught her to say bum) had a crack in it and she needs to go to the doctor.

Jake has discussed at length our insurance. He's concerned with who our carrier is (it's USAA if anyone cares). Should he go with Progressive who is cheaper or State Farm who has more customers? It is a true dilemma for a 9 year old. And obvious that he watches too much TV. If I had to choose based on commercials, I'd go with Flo at Progressive. She cracks me up.

Last night at dinner we were talking about the recent kidnapping in the area. We discussed stranger danger and what to do. Hannah told us that if someone tried to take her she would "Handcuff his feet and handcuff his arms, put jelly on his head, then lemonade and then let Bodgie eat him." Jeremy was recording the conversation so that is a direct quote. It's a little extreme, and not at all what we told her to do. Hopefully if the situation ever comes (heaven forbid it will) she will follow our advice, not her own ideas. (Which reminds me - Last year Alex and I had a friend of hers stage a kidnapping in the neighborhood. He pulled up and asked the kids if they wanted to help him look for his dog. Hannah, Annie and Maddix almost got in the car with him. It made me sick and broke my heart. Luckily, the older kids in the neighborhood had better sense and wouldn't let them get in the car)

Abby just told us this evening that there is a new girl on the bus named Kaylee. She told the family that Jake likes her. He obviously, very adamantly disagreed. Then Abby told us she can tell he likes her because he tries to act cool around her. How does he try to act cool? He acts like he has a baby in his tummy by using his soccer ball. He laughed, denied it and then turned beet red. Oh, nine year old crushes.

Speaking of "cool", I have learned that cool does not mean awesome or rad as I used to. Really it means - Constipated, Overweighted, Out of style, Loser. I thank Ty Chesley for that one, but it surfaces every night at dinner. We now have to be careful and call everyone awesome or neat just to avoid any further discussions on what COOL really means. (See above with the new girl Kaylee. It seems Jake really was acting "cool".)

I love dinnertime. It's the best time of the day for me. (Then, immediately after that is when I hit the wall). Always a surprise and always a treat.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Yesterday was a full day.

The Bad:

• I got fingernail polish on my favorite pair of jeans, and I only have two pairs - ugh.
• Hannah lifted up my shirt and told me I have a cute baby in my tummy - I'm not even pregnant. Time to go to the gym!

The Ugly:

• Back in December, I got a freckle removed on my back that looked suspicious. It turned out to have atypical cells (I'm my daddy's girl for sure) so yesterday I had to get more removed and now I have 7 stitches on my back and I'm not supposed to get it wet for another 24 hours. I'm heading to bootcamp now (see the "bad") and will then be stinky for the rest of the day.

The Good:

• I vacuumed, mopped and swept my entire house
• I got Hannah registered for half day kindergarten
• I registered me for Spanish 101 at Rio Salado and I picked up my books - muy bien!
• This is the doozy - I got an email from Cheramie Rahaim Hawkins, my old roommate from UNO and best friend. She told me that she's going to the temple in March when they come here for spring break and then she and her husband and son are going to be sealed a few days later. I cried as I read the email. I'm so happy for her. To any of my family reading this, she invited all to come to support her, the date is not set in stone yet! Cheramie was my best friend all through college and a few weeks after I left she got baptized. Fast forward 12 years and many ups and down - she married a guy, Cory Hawkins, from my singles ward 1 1/2 years ago that I introduced to her back at UNO, she now has a darling little boy Kai and is reactivitated and ready to go to the temple! I'm so happy for her I can hardly stand it.
• 

Hide 'N' Seek

I remember playing hide and go seek a lot as a kid. We'd play it outside or inside during the day or night. I remember vividly playing with ALL the lights off inside and really being freaked out (mainly scared of scorpions and black widows). I remember playing when I was younger with my older siblings and Kelli and Mike and then when I was a bit older with Jodi, my little bros and the growing neighborhood. I also remember a saying when you were done counting that went, "Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie whoever's not ready holler I" I think that's how it went cause that's how I remember it.

A few weeks ago for our FHE game, we were playing hide n seek. I was "it" and finished counting so I hollered out that good ol' phrase, then went on my way finding the fam. Well a few rounds later, Jeremy was "it" with Annie and when he finished counting he called out - "Apples and peaches at the county fair, if you're not ready, we don't care!" Then he took off looking for us. It wasn't hard to find Hannah and me because Hannah was rolling laughing harder than I've ever heard her at Jeremy's little rhyme he made up.

That poem has become legendary in our home. I think Jeremy needs to get it published because it is recited at least 10 times a day. Jeremy's coolness has catapulted to the highest level imaginable in the kids' eyes because of that silly little poem. In fact, they'd nominate him for stand up comedy because they think he's the funniest human being ever now. He can be a dud the rest of his life but it wouldn't matter because he is at least a "one hit (poem) wonder".

Tonight as dinner was winding down, all the kids took turns with their own dramatic interpretation of the poem. Jake's included his famous jerky dancing moves that are a cross between a touchdown celebration and Beyonce dry heaving. Abby and Hannah's included actions and moves from dance class - Abby's a bit more hip, Hannah's more on the dramatic side - "Whoever is not ready, we do n-o-o-o-t care". Annie just copied the others. I even decided to get in on the fun and did my own cheer with a split jump.

Jeremy seems to think the kids get their oddness from me. I mean, really, he's the one who made up the wacky poem that inspired all the moves and dances in the first place.

(Yes, I crimped the girls' hair for church today - they looked awesome)