Friday, March 26, 2010

It's a Great Day to be Alive

That Travis Tritt song kept playing in my head today as I ran errands. Beautiful weather (thank you Jesus for the sunshine today!) fun errands, and it's Friday! This year in particular I've needed Spring to show up....sooner than later. The blah wintery months were sucking the JOY from my life. With spring comes new things...in the yard, on our social calendar, and in our closets! :)

Our yard is getting green, we've got new flowers already starting to sprout, the kids are outside every evening, and dinner time is getting later and later........hooray for warm weather! Isn't it fun to drag the flip flops out of the closet and start thinking about what color of flowers to plant this spring? Kate and I have already started talking about our color scheme for this year.

I also love that our calendar is getting filled up with activites...end of school stuff, softball x 2 girls, Royals baseball, church camp, swim lessons for both girls, Bible school, Vacations = JOY. Plan on lots of blog posts about our fun summer activities....that is IF I have time to sit down and type!

I love shopping for spring clothes....for the girls especially, and sometimes for myself too. With 3 girls, it is pretty easy to get stuck in a rut with hand-me-downs for Kate and Jane. I could buy a yacht with the money I would save if I could just not buy so much for the girls, but walking through the little girl stuff is torture....in a fun, brightly colored, usually embellished, girly way.
Today mom and I were on a mission to find the perfect Easter dress. Not for my kids, my girls already have Palm Sunday and Easter dresses, but for my friend's 4 month old daughter M'Brace. Baby M'Brace needs an Easter dress whether her parents know it or not. And who better to shop for a first Easter dress, than the woman with 3 girls and lots of dress shopping experience?! In other words I said "does M'Brace have an Easter dress?" "No? Well, she will now."

I came home with two dresses.

Tonight we celebrate my father-in-law's birthday with a family party....should be a great time. Happy Birthday Pops! The Mayor loves ya!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Hassle

Funny story. A few weeks ago we found out that a girls 8 and under softball team was being formed to play in a league over in Platte Co. The team was going to be "hand picked" and coached by the same guy that was Tess's coach last year. Great Guy. Dedicated guy. Long story short, we were asked if Tess has been asked to play on this team by another mom(whose daughter had been asked) and we had to admit we didn't even know this team existed. In other words...no, we hadn't been asked.

Later that afternoon, Andy and I both agreed that we felt "left out" by not being asked. Tess is no superstar, but she is certainly good enough to play with this group of girls. Even though we were disappointed, we knew that with Kate also playing this year, it would be such a hassle to have to drive Tess to Platte county for practices and games. It's totally out of our way, and on nights when I'm a single parent it would require outside help from the grandparents or carpooling with a friend. So it was really a blessing in disguise that we weren't asked, right?

A week later, we find out that the coach thought Tess was in the 3rd grade and too old to play in this league. We got a call from the mother who originally told us about the team saying that Coach Rob was excited to hear that Tess was still 8 and that if we wanted to play just give him a call.

We gave him a call.

Remember all the hassle we wanted to avoid? Turns out some of the obstacles won't be there......the practices will be in Kearney, and games in Platte Co are once a week. What changed our mind, you ask? Several things.

We were asked. That is a great boost to the parent self esteem. Secondly, we came to the realization that the older Tess gets, the more we are going to appreciate a good coach and good team mates to help her progress in sports. It is a lot of work to seek out these opportunities, so when they fall in your lap, you gotta take notice.

Hardest to realize is that our little girl is growing up and is getting to the age where sports are a little more than just having fun.......yes, fun is imperative to the process.....but so is learning the skills and team building. It feels good to be good at something. And it feels even better if you are surrounded by friends. This goes for the parents watching their kids. The families that we sat with last year along the sidelines, are the same ones we will be hangin' with this year.

I don't know what sport niche Tess is going to eventually find is her comfort zone. She has parents that genetically passed along coordination and enough natural ability to be average at most sports. She loves being a part of a team, but hasn't found a sport that just blows her mind.......she loved basketball this year and really excelled for it being her first exposure to the sport. However, she had her dad as a coach, and their team was waaaaay better than their competition. She has played softball the longest and enjoys it.....her parents love it, but not so sure that she does. This year might be a real telling summer for us, and her. The older she gets, and the more the focus turns from fun to competition, the easier it will be for her (and us) to say "no, thanks" to the multitude of activites that are out there, and focus on what truly brings her JOY.

Now, don't even get me started on all the "arts" that Tess could want to participate in........

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Sight for Sore Eyes

Here is the scene from last night in our cul de sac! Count the kids! Nine! (minus Thomas and Isiah, the two boys that live at the other end that weren't home, but are usually out with us, Audrie from next door...and baby Khloe that was born late Saturday night, so she has an excuse.) This is what our street looks like every night during the spring, summer and fall. If you aren't outside, then you must not be home.
Pictured are Hannah; Braden, Blaine, and Landon; Kyla and Kymon; Tess, Kate and Jane.


The "old" kids on the block.....Tess and new big sister Kyla





Monday, March 22, 2010

Finally!

My life of Bon Bons and complete relaxation has officially ended.

The repair guy finally came today and fixed the dryer. Can't say that I'm too sad, it was getting to be a real drag having to take laundry over to mom and dad's. Too much like college, without the college fun.

Why did it take so long you ask? (because you do want to know, right?)

I wish the heck I knew. I'm thinking we have a one of a kind dryer that requires parts from a small island in the Caspian Sea.
I actually don't know if such a place even exists....maybe that's why it took so long. They had to make the flippin' island first! Do I sound bitter? Cause I'm not. Nope. Not at all. But the name of the place that gave me two weeks without a dryer is called..............
AT YOU SERVICE APPLIANCE REPAIR, from North Kansas City.
Can anyone else smell the irony?

When the technician gave me my receipt he said "thank you ma'am" and Kate looked at me with a funny weird/shocked face and whispered "he called you ma'am!"
The Mayor is old enough to be called a "ma'am" now.
poop.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Bad Shirt....No, No!

Cause I'm pretty sure it's the shirt's fault that this happened.....AGAIN!
(see post from 2-16-10)

So, do I toss the bad karma Dora shirt, or just start monitoring my kid better when she is within a mile of magic markers?
Right.
The shirt is soooo outta here.

Friday, March 19, 2010

My Ear...Up close and personal

Just in case you are wondering how my ear is doing.....first of all, thank you for caring and secondly, here is a picture of my ear 3 weeks post surgery. It is soooooo much better. Still tender near the wound, but I don't have to wear a band-aid(thank you Jesus) and slept on my left side for the first time two nights ago(again, my thanks to Jesus).

My sincere thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. It has been awesome the number of people that have shown they care about my lil ol' ear.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Dinner Theatre

I love my girls. Seriously. And I'm not just saying it because I have to.....
Tonight we ordered pizza(a rare treat) and ate it in the family room...on the new carpet(another rare treat, don't tell Andy!) and watched RAW ANATOMY on the National Geographic channel.

This is a show that dissects animals that have died for unknown reasons, for the purpose of education and research. Totally cool stuff. We watched as they peeled back skin, cut through bone, pulled out small and large intestines and went through the undigested food, explained the heart, lungs, stomach, brain, muscles and ligaments. They even discuss how the animal has evolved and adapted through the years to the structure that it is now. Did you know that whales used to have hind legs? They actually showed the residual hind legs that the whale has tucked up in its blubbler. Anyhoooo..

Such a great experience and learning/teaching opportunity for both the girls and me. When they would pull out an organ etc. I'd ask the girls to point to where their similar "part" is. Did I mention I have some crazy smart girls? I asked them at the beginning if they minded we watched the dissection while we ate, thinking it might gross them out. Nope. They were cool with it.
Wow, cool and smart.