the trip

Sorry, Corb, we went to Frisco again without you. Don't worry, we enjoyed it for you. Here are some highlights of our Take-Your-Family-To-Work Day, with Jeremy on his 24 hour layover. We met up with Jer in the SFO airport and made the most of our 24 hours!

.

look closely...there's a Macy in there!

on the shuttle bus to the hotel, already exhausted.

.

flying paper airplanes off the 8th floor....oh, and of course we picked up all the airplanes we could find down below....no littering on this trip. (conn, looks like this has become a tradition.)

.
this cool water feature, pre-cast concrete, built in 1971.

this pic doesn't do it justice.

it makes me think about being underground in an urban city with water gushing in from the pipes. sounds amazing.

.

the bay .

love this sign....seriously, I'm so there!

.

the sea lions at pier 39, of course. Nolan does a great impersonnation. The out-takes:

Nolan, making the sea lion sound: Arrr Arrr Arrr

Me: Macy, what makes that sound

Macy: Nolan!

.

swimming...gotta love those goggles!

.

the not-so-highlights

the two guys that almost got in a fight on the BART, dropping [swear] bombs right and left, about six feet from us. Question, if someone is threatening to beat you up, do you keep yelling "Loser! Loser! Loser!" at said person??? Duh. the one time I would have preferred to be on a packed train - not practically empty. very uncomfortable.

.

and the little too much "frisco" we saw while visiting the fountain mentioned above...stop there, you get the idea.

security check

This is HUGE for me. Yesterday I managed to make it all the way through security for the first time by myself with Nolan, Macy, the stroller, and all our carry-on luggage. FYI - Flying standby, we never check any bags, because we never quite know where or when we (or they) will land.




Those of you who travel with kids, will appreciate this accomplishment of mine! And, BONUS, I didn't even forget anyone! or anything!

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.)