Our Family "March Madness"

The Month of March in Review

Collin and Mary had field day at school at the beginning of March. They both came home with ribbons, which was a relief (no tears and resentment). Collin won 3rd place in the softball throw, and Mary won 1st place in the Javelin (a swimming pool noddle). Our kids sure can throw I guess.

We had a garage sale the following week. I am always amazed at the junk people will buy. And they don’t buy the good stuff! Oh well. We made out OK for a few hours work. That’s our babysitting fund.

Spring break was a nice reprieve. Jay took off work early just about every day. We didn’t go out-of-town, unless you count Surprise (which seems like it's about half-way to L.A.)…. we went to visit my sister, and see her new baby. We spent most of the day there, and then picked up Jay at his office and took him home with us. We spent another day at the zoo and had a good time. And on Friday we met Jay downtown and went to lunch, and visited the hotel site. Actually, Jay and Collin toured the hotel, while I hung out at the Arizona Center with Mary and Jack. (They were too young to be on a construction site.) They enjoyed playing in all the water fountains, and we got ice cream to make them feel better about missing out on the tour. We took the free bus (The Dash) around the downtown area, which the kids thought was cool.

The celebration of Jay’s 30-something-th birthday had to be postponed due to me getting sick on the very day. Instead of making the filet mignon dinner I had planned, I went to bed and Jay took the kids to What-a-Burger. Oh well.

We had a fun ward party last weekend. They had karaoke, but few people volunteered. So, the M.C. started announcing people as the next act, unbeknownst to the performers. He would get people up on the stage, and then announce the song they would be singing… which would surprise even the singers. Jay and I got chosen for “Love Shack.” Jay did a great job and was hilarious. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even sing because I was laughing so hard. Jay definitely stole the show.

The next night we hosted a going-away party for our friends who are moving to California. It was originally supposed to be in our backyard, but we had 15 families RSVP, so we moved it to my parents' yard. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) It turned out really fun. I was really worried it was going to rain, but the weather turned out to be perfect. The night before, Jay and I (mostly me) stayed up until 1:00 a.m. writing a parody that we sang at the party. It turned out pretty good. It was to the tune of the song “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers. You wouldn’t get all the inside jokes unless you know Jason King and Jocelyn, but it was pretty clever, and we got some good laughs.

The next night we had dinner with my cousin's family. They are such a great family, and we had a really good time.

Baseball/T-Ball season has started. Collin is playing his second year of coach-pitch baseball, and has improved much since last year. Mary is playing her first year of T-Ball (first sport ever for her), and is enjoying it. She is the ONLY girl on her co-ed team. On the first day of practice, when it came time to find a partner for catch, 5 or 6 boys crowded around her. It was funny. When they line up to take their turn catching a grounder from the coach, or batting, each of the kids runs back to the end of the line after finishing their turn… except Mary. She SKIPS back to the end of the line…. with her head bobbing, and her ponytail swinging. She loves her pink and purple glove, and doesn’t have to worry about it getting mixed up with any of the other gloves.

To finish off the month, we went to the Mesa Arts Center to hear the Mesa Symphony on Saturday night. This was part of Jay’s birthday present. I was quite impressed with the orchestra. I was also excited to finally see the MAC. It is beautiful! We went with some friends, and we had a great time.