Tears, Hotdogs, and Mud: A Basketball Story

Dan and I went to George Mason University. While I was never a huge fan of the school, I have to admit I had great professors. And we loved some of the perks. Such as free tickets to the Concert Hall (we saw so many incredible performances that, on our poor college student budget, we never could have afforded). And free tickets to sporting events. Our favorites were the basketball games. I will forever be a fan of GMU basketball.

Now, fast forward seven years (am I really that old?), and you'll find us paying to take our children to at least one game a year. When they were tiny they cried because of the noise. Then they got a little bigger and thought climbing up and down the stands was a good idea (those years were rough on my nerves). But this year... this year was awesome! Dan and I got to watch the whole game. And even more exciting, both boys followed every play, understood the game, cheered and had a blast!

Some thoughts on the experience:

*You know you're getting old when, not only do you think the graduating (college) seniors look like babies, but you tear up when they walk their mom's out onto the court.

*My boys can eat their weight in hotdogs and nachos. I guess the days of sneaking in pbj's and apple slices are over.

*Our ultra-competitive Camden cried when the Patriots lost. It was a tough loss, I have to admit.

*There's nothing like a body of water and a lot of mud to make a sad little boy feel better. We scared away the ever-present geese, stabbed things with sticks, and only lost one shoe.

*They may have struggled a bit this season, but some of those freshman boys are seriously good. I have high hopes for the coming years!

My Gator

Before we begin, I feel like I should let you know that this post is just going to be me bragging on my boy. I debated whether it was really appropriate to use this forum to straight-out brag. Then I decided that, you know what? It's my blog, and if there's anywhere I can brag, this would be it. So please forgive me. You've been warned.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the First Grade Awards Ceremony at Gatorland. Let me tell you, those kids are cute and fun! And the teachers are sweet and wonderful. It's a good place.

After sitting through many awards, many of them given to our buddies (so proud of those cuties, too!), Jake's name was finally called. He received the GATOR Award, which was given to two children from each class.

Without boring you with the details, this pretty much sums up what we already knew about Jake. He's a really good kid. He works hard at school, does well in his studies, and is consistently on his best behavior.

Dan and I are so proud (in a good way, of course) of this kid. We sure do like him a lot!

Oh, and Jake is pretty pleased with his award, as well. But his excitement is focused primarily on the bright orange pencil and a gift certificate for nasty pizza that came with the certificate. We all have our priorities.

Lent (sorta)

I've never celebrated Lent. I celebrate Easter. But not Lent. In fact, when I brought up the subject of Lent a week ago, it was to ask Dan exactly what it was all about. He didn't know any more than I did. Hmmm...

Well, thanks to the internet, I now understand at least the basic idea behind Lent. And I love it. I love that we can take forty days, just as the Savior did, to "fast" in a way and come closer to our Father in Heaven. And I love that it leads us right up to Easter, that most wonderful and glorious of all holidays, when we can really remember our Savior's gift to us.

So, I decided I was going to celebrate Lent this year. I decided I'd give up sugar - really, my biggest vice, and one I'd love to gain a little more control over. Only one problem. I didn't actually know when it started. So back to the internet I went and you'll never believe what I found out. Lent began the next day. The next day, people!

Can you see my dilemma? Can you see how hard it would be to give up sugar for forty whole days with so little preparation time (i.e. binge eating time)?

But guess what! I decided to do it anyway! And day one was awesome. I didn't even feel too tempted. Woohoo! I'm pretty great, huh?

Day two... I ate a cookie. I really didn't mean to cheat, I just ate a cookie. And I didn't even realize what I'd done until Dan asked me how Lent was going. Many hours later. Oops.

So I jumped right back in and got back on track, right? Wrong. I figured I'd failed (and didn't even feel all that bad about it) and went ahead and had a lovely time with all my sugary friends for the rest of the week.

But today I woke up re-resolved. I am going to do this. It may not be forty days. I mean, honestly, I am not going to skip out on the Easter goodness. But from now until Easter, no sugar will cross these cute little lips of mine.

Think I can do it? If you do, you wanna give me a little of that love? Cause honestly, I'm still not so sure myself. So any encouragement would be welcome - and very appreciated!

Don't let her fool you.

That dog knows exactly what she's doing.

Thank you, Mandisa, for being so very cooperative.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it.

A Sunday Stroll

Yesterday morning, we decided to take a pleasant family stroll through the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, Camden's ankle started to itch.

Luckily for Cam, he's got a nice Daddy.

We all made it home. And Camden got a good ankle-scratching from his Mommy.

The End.

Wow. Again.

Did you know that Virginia gets an average of about 19 inches of snow each winter? Last year we got about two. This winter, however, we're making up for that.

The weekend before Christmas we were hit by what we affectionately call "The Blizzard of 2009." It wasn't really a blizzard. Believe me, I've lived through those elsewhere, and this was definitely not a blizzard. But for Virginia... It was pretty great. We had two feet of snow and a real White Christmas!

After Christmas break, the kids returned to school for a few days before we got hit by another snow storm. This one was much more our style - just a few inches, but as we generally like to do things around here it turned to ice... We enjoyed the ice rink that formed in our neighbors' yard. Oh, and did I mention the temperatures we experienced in January? Let's just say I think Mother Nature forgot we're below the Mason Dixon line...

Last weekend we had snow again. The kids were already off school on Monday for a teacher workday, so it seemed a little wasted. But don't you fret! We got more Monday night. That was the best snow yet. Great, wet packing snow. Perfect for sledding and snowballs. I also really liked having a shoveler in residence. The boys went to school for four and a half hours last week. That's right - part of one day!

Because... Yesterday it started snowing at 10 am. That was a full 24 hours ago. And guess what? It's not supposed to stop until 10 tonight. Given the eight inches on the ground before this one started, and the forecasted two feet by tonight, I'd say we won't be going anywhere for quite some time.

And in case you were wondering, we're LOVING IT!

(We may feel differently when our children are stuck in school all summer, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

A Sledding Equation

What happens when you start at the top of the hill with FIVE - count 'em, FIVE - boys (of varying sizes) on ONE - that's right, ONE snow tube?

Well, you might lose one - or THREE - along the way.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is...

FIVE BOYS + ONE SNOW TUBE = LOTS OF FUN!

Disclaimer:

No boys - of any size - were harmed in the making of this blog post.

He's Home

And all is right with the world.

No Time for Blogging

It's been a while.

Sorry.

But not really.

(Just being honest.)

Wanna know why it's been a while?

Trust me, it's not that exciting.

But I'll tell you anyway.

I'm nesting.

I feel like I'm about to have a baby.

Except that would be kind of impossible.

But my cute hubby's coming home in a week.

So that must be what's got me going through closets.

And taking a toothbrush to lightswitches.

Yeah, I'm a little out of control.

Don't worry, though.

I'm not spending all of my time cleaning.

I'm also watching Glee.

And that's why I don't have time for blogging.

Right now.

I'll be back.

When the house is sparkling.

And the glee club wins sectionals.

The End.

We do our part.

This handsome guy is my brother.  He looks just like me.  Except that you'd be hard-pressed to find a picture of me holding that dog.  We don't get along.  The dog and I, that is.  My brother and I get along great.  Glad we got that cleared up.

Well, Clark's heading off to Iraq for a year.  We figured that with Dan coming home we were leaving a vacancy in the Middle East.  And apparently those spots can only be filled by members of our family.  Yeah, we try to do our part.

Good luck, Boy.  We'll miss you!  But we know you're going to do great.  We love you and can't wait to get you home next year!

Deep Freeze

We are, quite literally, frozen.

Happy New Year!

2009 was just fine.  We were busy.  We had lots of fun times.  But if we're being totally honest here (and I do try to be honest with y'all), it wasn't the best year I've ever had.  I'm kinda glad to see it come to an end.

2010, on the other hand, has me really excited!  This is going to be an incredible year.  I can just feel it.  This year...

Dan is coming home!  That's right folks, my handsome husband is coming home in a few weeks. Life is definitely looking good.

A Decade in Review

December 30, 2005

On December 31, 1999, we rang in a new millennium.  I celebrated this historic event at a huge LDS singles dance.  I went with a group of friends, including one really cute boy with bright blue eyes named Dan.  My friend told me she thought Dan might have a crush on me.  I was surprised at how happy that idea made me.

December 30, 2000 - Dan and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Temperature for pictures: 17 degrees. We didn't care.  At least the blizzard missed us.

December 30, 2001 - We attended the rehearsal dinner for Uncle Bob and Aunt Ro's wedding. Dan taught cousin Rachel (age 4) to touch her nose with her tongue.  A proud moment for all.

December 30, 2002 - We had a four-week-old baby.  We were tired.  But happy.

December 30, 2003 - We left one-year-old Jake and the dog overnight for the first time.  We saw Mama Mia at the National Theater.  Oh, and did I mention I was three months pregnant? Our family was growing fast - as was my belly.

December 30, 2004 - We were settling into our new home in Cape Cod, MA with two little boys.  We ate dinner out somewhere.  With two little boys.

December 30, 2005 - We said goodbye to our Cape Cod home by cleaning, turning in our key, and visiting Dan's ship in dry dock.

December 30, 2006 - We left two little boys with their grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt, and uncle.  We went out with their other grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  We got mocked for our young age on our sixth anniversary.  It was worth it for the special desert.

December 30, 2007 - We were settling into our new home in VA.  "The Seven Year Itch" was on television.  We watched.  We decided our marriage would make it as long as Marilyn Monroe doesn't show up.

December 30, 2008 - We hung out at home.  We were happy to spend time together as a family.  We knew we wouldn't have much of that kind of time for quite a while.

December 30, 2009 - Dan is in Iraq.  I'm in VA.  We're far apart.  But in love.  And that's really what matters most.

This has been a good decade.  I married the man of my dreams.  We both graduated college. We had two incredibly handsome and brilliant sons, and adopted an incredibly beautiful and neurotic dog.  We moved nine times.  We've begun the adventure of a lifetime, and it's been a great one.  Can't wait to see what the next years bring!

P.S. For next year's anniversary (ten years!), I expect a trip with my husband.  Without kids. You can let him know I said that.

Max and Mayo

Mandisa has a best friend.  His name is Max and he lives next door.  He came to stay with us the weekend before Christmas and the two of them had a wonderful time together.  He taught her to stick her head in the dishwasher.  She taught him to frolic in the snow (Max is from Arizona).  A good time was had by all.  And now that he is back home, well, Mayo is moping.

Thanks, Santa!

Santa was very good to us this year.

Merry Christmas

May we all feel His love on this very special day.

Blizzard of '09

Day 1:

It snowed all day Saturday.  By the time we went to bed we had about two feet of snow! Remember, this is Virginia.  This is Virginia in December.  This is unheard of!  And pretty much the best thing ever.

Day 2:
Please excuse my poor snowman-building skills.  I've never been very good at the art.  But my boys thought our snowman was the greatest one since Frosty himself.  The dogs were incredibly wary of the strange man lurking around our house.

Day 3:
When you're out playing and get hungry, just snack on the snow.  It sure beats the hassle of stripping off the wet clothes so Mommy will let you in the house.  Our diet for the last few days has definitely been heavy on the snow and hot chocolate categories.

Day 4:
Some people think they're really clever.  Yes, I did get hit by that (well-aimed) snowball.  And yes, I did get him back!

Day 5:
We have really great friends and neighbors, who dug us out.  We have a pretty pitiful county who did not plow us.  There were plows.  I saw two go by yesterday.  But they weren't actually plowing.  Just driving along on top of the foot of snow left on the street.

On Day 5, we ventured out.  I would have been perfectly content to stay snowed in for several more weeks, but there's a little holiday called Christmas coming up pretty soon.  And Santa already stowed his gifts at the great-grandparents' house...

Posted from the great-grandparents' house.  That's right, we made it!

The Angels Did Sing

We went to our Ward Christmas Party on Friday evening.  It was supposed to be two weeks ago, but got snowed out.  Somebody (it was the Bishop) was listening to the Spirit when he rescheduled for Friday instead of Saturday.  By the time we left the party Friday the snow was falling hard.  Had we rescheduled for Saturday...  well, that just wouldn't have worked.

To be perfectly honest, I had a really bad attitude about the party.  I just wasn't feeling it.  My children were being hoodlums, I was tired and thinking about the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to get up my obnoxiously steep driveway in the snow, and I just wanted to go home and wallow is self pity.  Especially when two other deployed husbands skyped in to read the Christmas story to us.  My deployed husband can't skype.  Bummer.

But then.  Then the children got up to sing.  My little hoodlums (and I'm not using that term loosely here - they really were terrible!) got up to sing.  And you know what?  As the little angels (again, not loosely - they really were angels) sang "The First Noel" I was hit by the Christmas Spirit.  I remembered why we were there.  We were celebrating the birth of Christ. Our Savior.  We were celebrating His love for us, and our love for Him. 

And you know what?  It's okay that my children went right back to their hoodlum ways immediately following the song.  And it' s okay that my car is still in the neighbors' driveway because we slid sideways down ours that night.  And it's okay that my husband can't skype.  God loves me so much that He sent His Son.  A little boy like mine.

And I feel so blessed to spend this season celebrating His birth.  With my hoodlums and my steep driveway.

PS.  I want you all to notice the children's costumes.  Forget the traditional towels draped over their heads.  Yes, there were plenty of those, but my children chose to wear what their Daddy wears in that part of the world.  And I bet you didn't know that Cleopatra came to the First Christmas, now did you?

Cam and the Cow

I have a lot to say; thoughts I've been stewing over for some time now.  But they're not coming out into words.  Seriously, I know it's hard to believe since I usually have trouble shutting up, but this time the words just aren't coming.  Hopefully it'll happen soon.

But I couldn't wait any longer to share my favorite photo from the Kindergator trip to the Children's Museum.  We had a great time, and Camden learned that milking a cow is a little tougher than it looks!

Decking the Halls

Camden loves to decorate for Christmas.