Preparing for the MADNESS

Connor stayed busy over the weekend, preparing for the upcoming NCAA tournament. He made a poster-sized bracket for our house, so we can stay on top of every single game's outcome. Then, since he is so generous (or possibly because he is OBSESSED with brackets), he made three more and gave them away to his grandparents and two families of cousins. Now if they'll just hurry up and tell us who gets to play, we can have some fun with this. Selection Sunday can't come fast enough for one 7-year-old I know!

Carefree

I grew up on the ski hill. My dad was in the ski patrol, and if he put in x number of hours each year, our family could ski for free! It was always important to him that we skiied, so he always put in the hours. And I LOVED skiing! Then, it was all about the rush--going fast, hitting jumps, telling your friends all about the "major air" you got, etc.

Now that I'm an adult, don't have any ski patrol connections, and have to pay full price, I don't ski very often. But this year, my dad paid for a day of skiing for Tony and I as a Christmas gift, and so I ended up going twice. And oh, how I wish I could go more! I don't do any crazy tricks on jumps anymore, however. I often say that a mom with broken bones isn't much of a mom, so I play it safe. But I still LOVE skiing! I cannot believe the complete carefree feeling that I get up there on the top of a mountain, sun shining down on glittering snow, breathing the freshest, crispest air anywhere. I completely forget about what needs to be done tomorrow, or about any other worries and just live in the moment.

For the Love of the Game

Sometime in my childhood, I fell in love with basketball. I loved going to my dad's practices, shooting hoops, and watching the NBA. Over time, I became somewhat obsessive (imagine me being obsessive about something?!?) about my favorite teams and players. Of course, since it took four tries to finally get a son, my dad was very supportive of his oldest daughter's love of basketball. He would watch games with me, and even spent a little money, taking me to a Jazz game and buying me this awesome Celtics shirt.

Now, over twenty years later, Connor loves the shirt and wears it regularly. Also pictured above is a testament of my NBA obsession. Sometime in middle school, I got this great idea to make a scrapbook for a Young Women in Excellence Project. However, I couldn't just make the regular type of scrapbook with pictures of family and friends, decorated with cutsie paper and stickers. No, I wanted to make an NBA scrapbook. So I wrote a letter to the management of every single NBA team and basically asked for free stuff. Most of the teams responded, and I organized all the paraphernalia alphabetically and put it on display for all the other parents to judge. I'm grateful that my mom kept her embarrassment about the "project" to herself and allowed me to just be excited about what I had made. When justifying why this was a worthy project for a young women's project, I remember saying something like, "My kids will love this someday!" I'm pretty sure I got a few eye rolls with this remark. But guess what? Connor thinks this book is the best thing ever made! So there, doubters.

Apparently, this love of the game may be a genetic trait, as Connor definitely has it, and in a much more intense way than I ever experienced. Right now, he is laying asleep on the couch, exhausted from watching the NBA All-star Saturday night not once, but twice, thanks to DVR. Also, last week was his school's celebration of the 100th day of school. Every student in his class was asked to bring a collection of 100 items and display the collection in a creative way.

Yes, there are 100 basketball cards on that basketball court, with some awesome match-ups playing against each other.

Connor's class also does "book talks," where once a week they share a book that they have read with the class. A couple of weeks ago, Connor was trying to select a book to share with his class and came out of his bedroom with this--a program from last year's state basketball tournament. I told him that I didn't really think this was the kind of book Mrs. Walker had in mind, to which he replied, "What? It has lots of good information in here!" And it is information that Connor knows, like which team in the state has the tallest player or which team didn't graduate anyone from last year's team. He truly has studied this program in the past year!

Although I rarely watch the NBA anymore, and will probably watch it even less now that Jerry Sloan resigned (I'm SO upset about this!), I do enjoy sharing this love of the game with my son. And when the time is right, I have a box of videos in the basement that I've been hanging onto for years, including some great playoff games and Michael Jordan's first game coming back from retirement.

Curiouser and Curiouser

Strange things have been happening around here this week . . .

It all started when Connor got sick--sick enough to stay home from school! In his two years of school, this is the first time that he has ever stayed home sick.

Then on Tuesday, this happened:

I know windows are breakable, but I didn't realize a very small 5-year-old could break one with a very small rock! (Neither did she, apparently.)

And then today, Mariah grew a beard. Or at least something that looks like one.

And finally, I see other people post pictures of their kids falling asleep in various places in their homes, but that really never happens around here. My kids only go to sleep when put to bed (with a full bedtime routine, mind you). But here is Mariah yesterday afternoon:

And Mylie tonight before dinner in the playroom:

And then after I moved Mylie to her bed, I came out into the family room to find Connor and Mariah asleep in their fort.
What is going on?!?

Valentine's Day

Until I was married, I never really cared much for Valentine's Day. But since then, I have really enjoyed it. We never really buy gifts, we just make sure we do something together, which is so much better than gifts for me! Last night was definitely one of the best Valentine's Days we've spent together.

Two of Tony's sisters, Haley and Angela, planned a Valentine's dinner for all the couples in the family that live here (4 siblings plus Tony's parents) as well as Haley and Randy and Grandma Smith, who are all here visiting this week.

The food was amazing! We had grilled steaks, shrimp, crab legs, salad, rolls, and some yummy herbed mashed potatoes. Then we had an amazing peanut butter chocolate cheesecake that I think nearly clogged an artery, but it tasted great!


The decor was pretty incredible, too. There were candles everywhere, china place settings complete with all the knives, forks, and spoons you would need (looked just like the table settings on a cruise), red chair covers, and flowers. They even took our pictures when we arrived.

We had a great time together enjoying the food and some fun conversation (which was actually pretty hilarious at times, thanks to my witty brothers-in-law), and everybody went home with a Valentine's gift. Tony got a box of chocolates, and I got chocolates AND these flowers, which I am enjoying today.

When we got home, we started reminiscing about some of our past Valentine's Day, and then I pulled out my journal so we could read about our first Valentine's Day together. It was in Laramie, when we were just starting to get to know each other, but had been on a couple of dates. We gave some amazing gifts to each other that year. Tony gave me Smarties (my FAV), and I gave him an 'NSync Valentine card (his FAV--okay probably not, but I used to like them!)

We then continued to read things about our dating days and got a few good laughs. But the conclusion we came to is that even though those days were fun and exciting, they don't compare to what we have now. I am so thankful for my Valentine and for the nine years that he has been a part of my life. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

(boring) Update

So, my blogging has been pretty sparse lately. There's a reason. Nothing incredibly exciting has been happening in my life lately. (However, both of my sisters have had babies--but I'll let them blog about that!)

But for anyone who cares, here are a few random tidbits of what we've been up to lately.

Last weekend, Tony was gone on an overnight basketball trip, so the kids and I headed to Cokeville for the weekend. Tami and her boys (including precious little Owen) were there, too. The kids had a great time having a movie party in the basement. Aren't they so cute--all lined up like that? We got to watch Livi and Tessa play basketball, and on Saturday, Connor, Tessa, and I enjoyed a day skiing. So much fun!

I've been playing the piano for the high school choir here again, and so I've been going in 2-3 times a week for about an hour and a half. I've really enjoyed that. Other than that, we've been home a lot lately. I also just started digital scrapbooking again--this time with a program called Heritage Makers. I love it! So user friendly and so many perks.

They say that kids learn by example. So you can see that my "handy man" skills are rubbing off on Mariah. You can fix anything with tape, right?

And a post about what we've been up to lately would NOT be complete without mentioning our BUFFS. Tony is the head coach for the boys' basketball team here. He is working so hard, and so are the boys. Although the girls don't always love going to the games, they were all decked out today to cheer for our team! Here are my little basketball player and cheerleader.

HOME

So, a lot of people have asked me if I've adjusted back to being home since my cruise. If they mean, are you glad you got to clean your bathrooms this week, then the answer is a big fat no. But, in most ways, yes! I'm very glad to be home. It was a great experience, but the last couple days I was very ready to see my family again.

And how nice to be welcomed home to a clean house, laundry clean and folded, and several of these cute signs taped up around the house! (My husband is the best!)

And who wouldn't be excited to start spending every day with these two cuties!?!

I find that each time I'm away for a few days, I always come back ready to be super-mom. Here are the projects I jumped right into after arriving home.

Don't ask me how this is going. I have decided to quit at least a dozen times in my mind before then deciding to be a little more patient with it. My first two were so easy to train, but this one is driving me crazy!

This, however, is going a little better. I started both Connor and Mylie a little over a week ago, and we've already had two or three lessons with each. They are progressing well and having fun with it (especially Mylie, who LOVES it!)

So, do I wish that somebody was still cooking, cleaning, and taking care of my every need? Sure. Do I plan to go one more vacations? Absolutely. But although I'm tired, busy, and often frustrated, the fun of cruising really can't compare with the true joy of motherhood.