March Happenings

Nobody can accuse us of not thoroughly enjoying the gorgeous March weather we have had. We are pretty much outside during all daylight hours. Unfortunately this creates inherent risks for the boys as they try to pass the time with new and ever more exciting activities to surpass the ones from the day before. Today, they got the bike ramps out. DB caught the ramp just right (or wrong I guess I should say) and wiped out. That stubborn front tooth didn't survive the crash. It's a heck of a way to earn some Tooth Fairy money, but I would expect no less from our Deebs. I think Jake summed it up best at dinner:

"DB, I'm 90 to 95 percent sure you are going to have kids some day and just think you can tell them all about how you lost your front tooth in a huge crash." (Not sure what those statistics were based upon, but there have been a lot of them floating around lately.)
We are super proud of Jake for passing his Math Blasters exam. It is quite a feat and one that he has worked all year at achieving. He will wear his new shirt with pride. To celebrate, he chose Ocean Blue fro yo. Great job, Jake!
And Sophie?.. well between play dates with all her BFFs, she is busy creating some of the world's best bed head. I mean at this point it is almost art.

Star Wars Disconnect

For reasons I can't really pinpoint, my family never got into Star Wars. (In fact, there are entire segments of pop culture that I some how missed. But that's for another post.) I've heard of Star Wars, but I am clueless about the story line and the characters. I've tried to watch it but never make it awake past the opening scene. Maybe I am hypnotized by the moving words. I am married to a Star Wars geek too. It wasn't a deal killer, but he did have to get used to my blank stares when he would reference a scene or line or character from Star Wars. Initially I tried to play along with it like you sometimes do in a new relationship, but it didn't last long.

Wes: "Remember when Darth Vader said blah blah blah to so and so and then this and that happen."

Me: "Yeah, that was awesome."

Wes: "Noooo, it was horrible."

Me: "Ok, I've never watched it!"

To make matters worse, one of the Star Wars movies debuted on our honeymoon in Hawaii. There was no way that I was going to sit in a movie about some made up galactic war on my honeymoon, and I knew he must truly love me when he knew better than to even suggest it. I recall driving past a long line that snaked around the block in downtown Honolulu. I asked what that was about and Wes just calmly said, "Oh, it might be that new Star Wars movie." That may have marked the beginning of me being the boss of him.

As fate would have it, I ended up working closely with a guy who's legal name was Luke Walker. I think he probably appreciated that I was the only person ever who did not immediately make a Luke Sky Walker joke to him the first time we met. I went to a lot of business meetings with him and I heard this joke more times than I can count. To his credit, he somehow managed a polite chuckle EVERY SINGLE TIME. But I digress..

This weekend Karla treated Wes and I and Cory and Ashley to Phoenix Symphony tickets. The concert was devoted to Space, and the entire second half comprised the Star Wars sound track. I don't have any idea what happens in the movie, but now I know that it had some pretty amazing music in it. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and it felt good to add some much needed culture to my life.

They say everyone has a twin. I think we may have found Jake's. During the show they showed various characters on a big screen. When young Anikan Sky Walker came up on the screen. Wes and I looked at each other and whispered "Jake!" at the same time.

Eight Going On 18

An administrative note: Jake informed me the other day that I am no longer allowed to tell stories about him to my friends because I embarrass him when I do. I don't believe he is a blog follower of mine, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he wouldn't appreciate his antidotes on this site either. Sadly, he is the best material I've got of late, so if I strictly adhere to his advice, this blog just got a whole lot less entertaining. So my dilemma is if your blog is boring, what is the point of blogging at all? So I can't pretend he doesn't exist but I have to raise my standards as to what is bloggable as it pertains to him, meaning if it would cause embarrassment to him now or in the future I will have to abstain, unless I can't help myself. As far as I know DB and Sophie are still fair game until they wise up and figure out that their every move is chronicled on my public web site.

So anyway, back to Jake. It seemed like he had matured and grown up a lot recently, but it seemed really stark when I got his spring school portraits. He looks four years older not four months older when compared to his fall photo. He refuses to cut his hair, thinks it's ridiculous that he can't stay home alone or roam the neighborhood until dark, and has been put in charge of grading papers at school. He even comments on the papers like "You Rock, Holy Cow, Nice Job!" His teacher says the comments are hilarious. Jake has always been in a hurry to grow up.

This spring break we stayed close to home. We've braved Disneyland the past couple years but decided that March is our sweet spot weather wise and we may as well save those vacation dollars for when you can fry eggs on the sidewalk. The kids took full advantage of the gorgeous weather and played outside from dawn to dark. Jake, Dylan and the neighbor boys caught over a dozen unfortunate lizards. Jake's Valentine's box magically transformed into a lizard habitat. As it turns out DB is a lizard whisperer of sorts. (I'm not sure the long term value of that particular talent, but who's to say?It's worked out pretty well for Grandpa Jim.) Sophie rode her princess bike like there was no tomorrow and by the end of the week was asking to take those pesky training wheels off. We hiked up Squaw Peak at Grandpa and Grandma Hatch's house and took in our annual spring training game. Wes and the boys were in the ice cream line at just the right time as a foul ball bounced into the vendors box. She gave the ball to the boys. Once you've got a ball and ice cream it's time to go home. So we did.

Last night we took the kids to the dress rehearsal version of the Easter Pageant. That show is unbelievable. It is a truly professional production that keeps getting better every year. I don't know if it because we got there early enough to have front row seats or that this is the first year that I didn't have a wiggly, whiny, and bored kid on my lap but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun that a few of the kids' friends in the neighborhood have starring roles in the play. Even Sophie was enthralled by it. She got so excited during the part where Jesus was blessing the children. She started to sing a primary song about Jesus and the children and stopped just long enough to ask if that was the real Jesus. So for one final plug: if you haven't been to the pageant for a few years, you need to. It's only an hour long now and really well done.

Overheard

The older my kids get, the more interesting/entertaining/frightening their comments and thought processes become. Jake's had a few good ones lately. I thought I would share:

On the ride back from skiing, we stopped at Subway in Flagstaff. Jake was the only one of the three kids awake, so we ordered a sandwich for him. He took two bites then fell asleep. No sooner did we pull out of town than did DB wake up hungry. So I broke off all but a small piece of Jake's sandwich and gave it to DB to eat. Jake woke up an hour later and says from the back seat:

"Mom, it's really weird. I ate my ENTIRE sandwich and I am STILL starving."

*******

After flooding our swimming pool sized sandbox with water, creating a giant mud pit that my kids and the neighbor kids were playing in, Jake announces to the participants:

"Everybody just stop what you are doing for a second and enjoy this moment, because when my mom sees this, she's not going to be happy."

*******

We've been reading the illustrated scriptures before bed at night (sometimes) and we were talking about Adam and Eve. We read about how if Adam and Eve didn't decide to leave the Garden of Eden, we wouldn't have been born. So, Jake starts thinking out loud.

"So was it God that created us, but we were born to Eve. Well what the heck does Adam have to do with that? "

Me: "Nothing - scriptures are over, time for bed."

The Phoenix Zoo

Lani and Sophie in hot pursuit of an unsuspecting goat.
It's all fun and games until you put Lani on the Camel.
Sophie loved the camel ride.
Lani wanted nothing to do with it.

I like animals well enough. I prefer people, but enjoy a good zoo visit every so often especially when you get to see it through the eyes of a child. I just don't really care for the Phoenix Zoo and the tram tour conductor finally clarified why I leave this zoo disappointed every time. You can't see the stinkin' animals! The tour conductor explained that this is a sanctuary zoo, therefore making the habitats as authentic as possible. As luck would have it, in nature animals do not want to be seen by their predators. And guess what, we are the biggest predators of all and that my friends is why you can almost never actually see the animals at the Phoenix Zoo. And that is also why I no longer carry an annual zoo membership in my wallet. (That, and seven of the twelve months are intolerable weather for all that is living.)

Sophie's preschool class had a trip to the zoo today. I recruited Cheryl and Lani to go with us. We took advantage of the four dollar group tickets and lived it up. We took the tram, hit the petting zoo, Sophie went on a Camel ride and then I marked it off my list until next year.

Hyundai, Yep They Are Good Cars.

The best thing about buying a Hyundai is that you have this conversation every time the topic of the new car comes up. "What kind of car did you buy?" "A Hyundai." "Oh good choice, Hondas are good cars." To which I usually reply, "Yep."

Despite replacing the transmission twice in my Camry, I loved that car. For some reason, when I was expecting my second kid, we felt compelled to buy a minivan. It's amazing how much stuff you think you need with your first kid. When we took Jake to the beach for the first time, we borrowed Cheryl's minivan because we figured there was no possible way to fit three of us and our gear in a Sedan with a huge trunk and two spare seats. Considering that what we determined as necessary included a porta-crib, a bouncy seat, a breast pump, bottles, formula, the exersaucer, two car seats - on infant and one forward facing, a regular stroller, a running stroller, a back pack, a front pack, beach toys, picnic gear, a Costco pack of diapers and wipes, cold, colic, teething, and pain meds, a month supply of food (since there are no grocery stores in So Cal), blankets, bedding, and outfits for every possible weather scenario- including ones that have never in the history of California occurred. Did I mention we were staying for three nights?

By the time Sophie joined us, she was lucky if I remembered to shove a spare diaper under the seat before heading out. She's no worse for the wear. What we deem as necessary is usually not. Images from Haiti have reinforced that for me.

Wes and I have pushed the limits of his truck beyond what is reasonable and finally bit the bullet this week. We found a great deal on a Hyundai Sonata. It doesn't score points for prestige, but it has the same safety ratings, reliability, and aesthetics as the Accord and Camry without the price tag. I'm all about value and practicality, so to get a three year old car with only 28,000 miles on it for less than 10 grand out the door fit the bill for us.

Twofer Tuesday

I don't recall the last time I strapped on the old rental ski boots and hit the slopes, but I know it was before people started wearing helmets. When I was young and carefree, I desperately wanted to learn how to ski. So desperate that I paid a visit to my brothers who lived in Utah at the time, and begged them to take me skiing. To their credit they did, but they were poor college students and sure did not want to pay for a lift ticket and waste it helping me on the bunny hill all day. So they assisted me to the top of the ski lift and wished me luck as they zoomed away. I started down the hill with no idea how to stop myself. I'm sure for a few seconds I must have looked like an Olympic speed skier. It always ended badly, usually with one ski up the hill a few hundred feet, and my head slamming against the snow somewhere below. Where were these helmets then?

I swore off skiing until several years later when my long suffering husband took on the task of really teaching me how to ski and more importantly how to stop. I'm glad he did, because it turns out that skiing is quite fun when you are not screaming and swearing due to sheer terror on the way down at 60 MPH.

Snowbowl in Flagstaff has a Two for One lift ticket deal on Tuesdays, so we let the boys play hooky and enrolled them in snowboard school for the day, while Wes and I skied. When we caught up with them at lunch time they were all smiles and loving it. A couple hours later Wes spotted DB cruising down the hill on his snowboard. He is a natural. It was not surprising considering there is no fear anywhere to be found in that boy. We kept looking for Jake but couldn't find him anywhere. We finally found him laying on the wet cold floor of the ski school asleep. The instructor had tried to call us but the cell service was so spotty that we didn't get any of the calls. (Ironically, the insurance salesman did manage to get through -go figure.) Jake has a sensitive stomach, and the altitude coupled with the exertion was not agreeing with him. We cut the day short, but had a few great runs in near perfect ski conditions.DB (left), some other kid, the ski instructor, and Jake (right)
Why yes my ski jacket was purchased in the early 90s, thanks for asking. I said I don't ski that much!