bracketology

I have to spend a few minutes in my glory, because this has never happened to me. I started filling out an NCAA tournament bracket several years ago, just for fun. This really peaks my interest in basketball during the entire March Madness post season, at least in the game outcomes. Right now I am the leader for both my family and my work bracket challenges. My picks never align with the games like they have this year! Wahoo! I know, I know...gloating in this will probably jinx my current winning status, but I'm already convinced it probably won't last long, so I have to celebrate in the mean time!

macy smarts

I've been trying to teach Macy her parents' names and her address in case of an emergency. We'd gone over everything several times, and she had our city and state down. Then I asked her again, "Where do you live?" To which she replied quite emphatically, "Down the street!"

the gift that keeps on giving

Many of you may not know that I sew. I say that as a confession, because, for many years I would not actually admit to knowing how to sew. I suppose that peer-awareness in those fragile junior high / high school years probably contributed to this. I didn't think sewing was cool. Now, I'm thankful to my mom for spending countless (I'm sure, frustrating) hours to teach me all about sewing and 4-H quality.

I've been working on a few projects the last several weeks. Side note: not because the projects themselves are actually several-weeks worth, of course, just because I'm good at dragging them out as long as possible and keeping all my sewing things strewn about the family room, right, Jer?

Anyhow, I've been really thankful for this most-thoughtful gift Jer gave me about 6-1/2 years ago. He went to the fabric store, all by himself, bought this and completely surprised me with this limousine-version serger that I had been dreaming about! It was one of the best surprises ever!

Yeah, the women who were working at the fabric store that day must have been totally jealous of my thoughtful husband! Thanks again, honey! It has made my life much easier! And, not to mention, "4-H quality" that much closer to attainable. hahaha

happy '5'

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to Nolan!

It's hard to believe my oldest is five-years-old already!

...Seems like just yesterday!

These are some of my favorite things about Nolan:

1. I love his smile, and he has the cutest,

contagious giggle when he laughs really hard!

2. I love his ability to focus. This is the house

he built with his books during quiet time.

3. I love his creativity. He always wants to

work on a project....his "homework".

4. I love that Nolan likes to help me clean.

(Better hang on to that one while it lasts!

And I have to write it down to document it,

in anticipation for those teenage years!)

This picture was taken one day when he was looking for some clothes in the dryer. He decided to fold the clothes that he took out while looking for his favorite shirt!

This is Nolan vacuuming Macy's room, after he moved her furniture away from the wall all by himself! I couldn't believe it! Then he re-arranged her furniture to make her room look nice when he finished vacuuming!

Thanks, Nolan, for taking on the role as the oldest and having to train your parents!

banana face

Nolan's biggest smiley face ever,

as told by Nolan himself. :-)

four eyes

New glasses for me today. Since my sister is out of state and won't get to see them in person, she wanted to see a pic, so here you go Conn....

cheese!

this is my favorite feature - the bling!

flame ball

One of Nolan's favorite things is when Daddy pitches him baseballs. He's actually getting quite good (Nolan, that is), and we have to duck on several occasions to avoid getting hit with his speed-balls. While he was practicing tonight, one of his hits almost made it all the way over the house. Nolan announced that we should call him "FLAME BALL"! I thought this was hilarious!

So here he is, my very own Flame Ball, perhaps the next "Will the Thrill", "Big Cat", "Frenchie", or "Big Papi" (there's my attempt at impressing Jer)........p l a y b a l l !

By the way, if you're wondering about Nolan's hat, it's the new-and-improved-ever-so-fashionable batting helmet, a.k.a. birthday crown from preschool today.

Oh, and this is Macy entertaining herself

while Flame Ball was at batting practice.

rexed out!

Tonight the ultimate crabby mommy came to visit at my house. I really try to keep her locked in the dungeon, but tonight she escaped again.

It was a long night, and all my patience was gone! I was warning Nolan that I had had enough, and I really needed him to obey.

Me: Nolan, I'm maxed out! I really need you to be good.
(It didn't sound this nice when I said it.)

Nolan, confused: What's "maxed" out? .....(thinking for a second)....Oh, I have a cousin "Max"....maybe you should be "Rexed" out instead!
(Rex, the brother of Max)

And here they all are together....What a great pic! Taken last summer on our campout in Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

take-your-wife-to-work day

I was lucky enough to be able to tag along with Jer on a 24-hour layover in San Fran this last weekend. We had a great time, and thanks again to Nan for watching the kids. They had as much fun as we did, of course!

self portraits waiting for CalTrain

out on the pier by AT&T stadium

one of the highlights for Jer - eating at the nastalagic Brasilian restaurant that reminded him so much of Brazil that I thought he was going to start crying! I even enjoyed it more than I thought I would...yummy!

thought(s) for the day

There is a Baptist church by my house that posts a weekly thought on the marquee. I like this one:
Exercise daily. Walk with the Lord.

Jeremy's favorite is this one:
Stop, drop and roll doesn't work in Hell.
(He just walked by when I was posting, noticed what I was typing, and told me about his favorite quote, so I learned something new about him today.)

winter-style shorts

When winter set it, we let Nolan know he couldn't wear shorts again until the spring. This caused several major meltdowns, practically every day when it was time to get dressed. That is, until one day, several weeks ago, when he invented his own shorts - created by rolling his pants up past his knees!

(I actually thought it was a pretty creative solution to appease Mom and Dad.) Now Nolan's modified pant-shorts are one of his wardrobe staples. Well, apparently Macy's taking her fashion cues from her older brother these days. This pic is what I noticed while they were chillin' on my bed.

blast from the past

Hello out there....so I'm back on the bandwagon, at least for today. Is anyone out there still reading? Well, there is certainly too much to catch up on since the last post in October, so I'm opting to not catch up at all. After all, what else should I do after such a big gap??? So, instead, here's a bit of a game from some friends' blog tags.

Here are the official rules:
1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to the 6th file folder.
3. Go to the 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.



Here's the winner! I love this picture of Jer and Nolan, fishing with PawPaw and Uncle Dick in August of 2005. I love that Jer is so adventurous and loves to take the kids on outings. He loves to take them ice fishing, to Wendy's for frosties, and for walks in the wagon. They are lucky to get to spend two days a week with him, while I'm at work. What a great daddy!

Okay, here is the tag, that is if anyone still checks this blog!
Shannon, Lisita, Lisa, Moey, Alisa, & Nat