Finishing off February

Thursday night was the Cub Scout Blue & Gold banquet. Each boy was supposed to bring a cake he decorated with his dad. I thought Collin's turned out really cute. I helped by finding the idea on the internet, buying all the stuff, and making the frosting.

Friday night Mary and I went to see "Mary Poppins" (Broadway Across America).... it was so much fun, and the first time Mary had seen a production that big. A very fun show! Mary was absolutely delighted to see the other Mary actually fly across the theatre at the end. Very cool.
Saturday was Jack's last basketball game. He had been talking about it being the last game, and "the day I'm going to get my trophy, Mom." So, I was a little worried when I saw that they were giving out medals instead this year. (Because it's an Olympic year?) Thankfully, Jack was still thrilled.... even more so about the giant doughnut he received as the post-game snack.
Six-year-olds are pretty easy to please.

Roses

Jay got me these gorgeous roses for Valentine's Day. I am amazed at how long they lasted....I only just threw them away today, and they were still looking pretty good!

Bubble Boy

Jack got a VERY large pack of bubble gum for his birthday. I don't usually let him chew gum, but I finally relented. He was determined to learn how to blow bubbles, and he didn't give up until he had accomplished his goal. I have noticed that he is a pretty determined little boy.

Jack turns 6

Jack decided to have a "Carnival" birthday party this year. It turned out really fun. I borrowed some "real" carnival games and used older siblings/cousins to run them.
Jay did face-painting, which was a huge hit! There were lots of fun prizes, and corn dogs for lunch.
Another one down... and only 2 more to go. We only do birthday parties until the kids turn 8. I think I will be sort of disappointed though when we are done. Jay and I both like throwing parties.

Jay's cousin passed away recently. He was only my age, with a wife and young children, and it was very sudden. It is quite sad.

Jay and I went to the funeral, in another city a few hours away. We spent one night in Bisbee, a nearby town and sort of tourist destination. We stayed at the Copper Queen Hotel, which opened in 1902 and is the oldest continually running hotel in the state.
The funeral was very nice. He was a Gulf War veteran so he was buried with full military honors. I had never seen one before.... it was very impressive and touching.

Guitar and Basketball

Jay is learning to play the guitar I gave him for Christmas, and doing very well. He takes lessons (with Collin) from a neighbor. I love hearing them practice, and I'm kind of jealous that I'm not learning myself. Jay is a natural!
Jack is loving being able to play with Oliver and Nicholas just about every day. I'm dreading the day they go back to Utah.

Jack has been playing basketball with two of his friends. He does quite well, considering he is pretty new at it. It's so fun to watch these little boys take it so seriously. They have a good coach.

1940

My Dad turned 70, so my Mom threw a party with a "1940" theme (the year Dad was born). We were supposed to dress up, so I "rolled" my hair (didn't get a photo of myself, but got my sister with "victory rolls" and my mom as "Rosie the Riveter").
The boys all wore their scout uniforms (Collin is still a cub scout, but wore Jay's old uniform, and vintage hat from Jay's grandpa, and Jack wore Collin's cub uniform).

Mary wore her "Dorothy" costume from Halloween... and so did her cousin.
It was a very fun party.

Exhaustion

Every Wednesday when I workout with Dixie I want to cry, but today I actually DID cry.... literally broke down and sobbed. (I looked at the calendar, and it's not even PMS!) After only 2 sets of the workout! (Five was the plan.) The exhaustion just hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt like I couldn't go on. Of course, she talked me through it and I did two more sets (4 total).

Then I ran 2 miles on Jello-legs. Ugh.

THEN I got back and read an inspiring email from Dixie, and cried again...for a different reason.

THANKS DIXIE! I love you even though I want to curse you sometimes. :)

* I'm down 9 pounds without feeling deprived... eating whatever I want but learning how to control myself and stop eating when I'm no longer hungry.

** If you are ready to change your life, consider signing up at Race Day Training. You can do it anywhere in the world, out of your home.

Ollie and Gigs

Jack is so thrilled to have Ollie back in town. Every day after school* he rushes to get his homework done so he can go to Grandma's house to play with Ollie.

Today Ollie and Gigs are at our house playing with Jack, Legos, Mr. Potatohead... and collecting potato bugs. And eating peanut butter sandwiches and clementines.


* Jack goes to half-day kindergarten in the morning, and all his friends in the neighborhood go all day, so he usually gets bored in the afternoon without a playmate.

Peace Like a River

I just finished reading "Peace Like a River" for book club. I really enjoyed it. Leif Enger is a fantastic story teller. I hear there is a movie in the works, so hurry and read it before that comes out.

Run!

Remember how I ran my first race last month? Yes, 5K/3.1 miles. Remember how it took me an embarrassing 46:36 minutes? Pretty pathetic.

Remember how I could hardly walk the rest of the day and how my knee hurt like crazy for about a week afterward? Oh yeah, you wouldn't remember that, but I sure do.

Guess what! Yesterday, about a month later, I ran 3.31 miles in 36:43... without walking once! That is monumental for me.

AND, my knee isn't killing me!

My new goal = run a 10K (6.2 miles)

Next goal after that = work up to a half marathon



I have been training with Dixie of "Race Day Training." You can workout with her online even if you don't live near me. You can't beat $10 a month. Try it!

Carcassonne

My parents gave Collin this game for Christmas. Very fun! A great game to play together as a family... it's not complicated, moves quickly, and doesn't take too long to play.

Beau Jest

Last night I went with my sister to the Hale Theatre in Gilbert and saw Beau Jest. It was so fun! This is actually the first show the theatre produced back when this location opened several years ago... and I saw that one too. It was very well done, both times. A little romance, lots of laughs.... what's not to love?

It plays through February 13th, so there are still lots of opportunities to go see it. You won't be disappointed. Get tickets here.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Funny, but we did almost an exact repeat of our New Year's Eve last year..... the kids spent the night at with their cousins, Jay and I had dinner at Carrabba's and sat at the counter (so fun!), and then we went to a movie, which was pretty much the only thing different; last time we saw "Valkyrie" and this time we saw "Sherlock Holmes." Good food, great movie, my favorite dinner companion.... it doesn't get any better than that!

Sledding

Last night we got back (and I was worried for a while there that we wouldn't.... ran into a snow storm, icy roads, several car accidents/road closures) from spending a few days in Pinetop for some adventures in the snow.

I'm not sure why we wanted to leave our gorgeous desert winter and go freeze, but it was fun.

The kids (and Jay) had a great time sledding (I decided to forgo the sledding and just take photos).

I crack up at these photos because of our mismatched, ill-fitting, "vintage" show gear. Since we are desert dwellers we don't own any, so we have to make due with whatever we can find. Beggars can't be choosers. Jack's coat had a ski lift ticket attached to it.... from 1984.