March Madness

Why can't I just let some cute pictures, funny faces, playtime poses, etc. go by the wayside?
I surely don't know.

But, alas, here are some of the in-between, no particular event to be linked to, type pictures from March. Ones I still felt compelled to make readily available for amusement's sake...I am beginning to realize that I probably won't get these blog posts turned into a keepsake book any time soon.
I am beginning to realize that about a lot of things lately. And finally make peace with it.
Those kinds of things will probably have to wait until the kids are in school all day. Just about three years from now.
ONLY THREE YEARS???
Yikes.
Well, anyway, here is a loosely arranged manual slideshow of our month...

Whole Foods shopping trip.
So far...sort of worth it (especially when it's so big it's overwhelming...and we have a Trader Joe's practically in walking distance)
But, we did make our own custom trail mix, which has been very yummy.

Bethany, in strange lighting, with Dad's hat, Mom's glasses, and an attitude all her own.

Old Navy shopping trip. Right around St. Patty's Day, if you can't tell.
Ben likes to check himself out in the mirror. Like every other child (and adult) on the planet.

Remember how Ben moved into James' room and now it is The Boys' Room?
What shall become of his old room, you might ask?
You know how I always have a million things swimming around in my head, needing a place to be written down, folded up, filed away and tucked onto a shelf somewhere in a room I can access when I have a moment to examine my projects-a-mundo?
Meet my "office."
"Project Room."
"Hideout."
"Whatever you want to call it, it will probably take me a couple years to get it organized, decorated, and actually functioning."
Here we are with the first couple of steps:
Get everything in there in a haphazard manner AND choose paint colors.
Done.

The kids participated in a little spring cleaning.
I love that they love to vacuum.
It used to be my least favorite chore. Now it's one of my favorites. Because I can sing really loud while I vacuum and nobody really knows.
Except now you do.

James got a new deer "action figure" (?) and I have a not-so-new love for dark chocolate chips.
One day, JC combined the two into a model of wildlife.
Hilarious, honey.

In case you were wondering, the ball pit is still alive and kicking.
Though, right after I typed that, I remembered that just yesterday we noticed that it had deflated irreparably and had to buy a new swimming pool.
So...it is soon to be alive and kicking again.

It rained a couple of times in March. And we got a lot of cloudy days.
It was beautiful.

I discovered that it drives James nuts if I toss things at him through the skylight in the playhouse. This is him investigating.

The kids continue to worship Michael, who lives two houses down, and Brendan, his friend who comes to visit a couple of times a week.
Here, they are chasing some sort of flying toy into Reggie's yard. (another neighbor they worship)

Eating popcorn on the stairs. I don't know why.

Watching Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, or Little Einsteins on a lazy morning is a treat for us.

And for Scout.

Accidental naptime is a treat for Mom.
And, really, for everyone involved.

James should have come up with this game in time for the olympics!
It was awesome...one night, while I was making dinner, we noticed James involved in some sort of event. After watching for a minute, it became clear that the object of the game was the bowl Ben's Elmo sandals through the kitty door to the pantry.

And it's in!

Proud participant.

Red Light, Green Light with Michael and his little sister, Shorey.
It sure is fun to have little neighborhood friends!

This was an especially entertaining evening...
JC was wrestling with the kids and Ben decided to approach the event superhero style. He kept coming over to me, "You put it in, mama?" and I would stuff his blanket into his pj top so he could fly over to JC, cape streaming behind him. JC would grab the cape away, Ben would take off, and JC would hurl it at him, usually knocking him down.
Then, "You put it in, mama?"
Fun times.

Bethany usually loses interest in wrestling matches before long.
If the camera is out (usually is), that becomes her new game.

JC and I spent a date night in dehydrating some delicious fruit. It was a good time.
We need to do this more often!

One Saturday, our much-loved neighbor, Reggie, wandered over with his dad, Brother Jones. (We like him too.) The kids got to feed him his treats and it was so much fun for them!
Though, a little confusing for Reggie. He's used to being fed by just one person at a time.

I got this United States puzzle a while back, planning on it being more for Bethany when she gets a bit older but JC and the boys tackled it on a Sunday morning.
Smarties.

March brought Rowdy back to visit us! We lost him to Utah a few months back and it was wonderful to spend some time with him and his mama, Heidi again!
Here is the moment of arrival...

and the greeting! Awww, we sure miss them!

The kids invented some game involving drumming on the couch in the mornings.
Don't ask.
But Bethany's smile is adorable, yes?

Remember back at Christmas, I got a pasta maker? And was so excited??
It took me until March to use it but once I did, I fell in love even more!
It was so fun. Here we are, all set to go!

Then, part way through the process...

...and as it dries...
Isn't it pretty?

On the same day as pasta day, Ben fell asleep in the car on the way home from church.
Even the transfer inside didn't wake him. Such a tired boy.
And so cute. Kind of looks like a mini missionary.

I actually have no idea.

On a rainy day, Ben peers out the music room window.
I love this window.
There is little I love better than playing the piano near a clear window on a rainy day.
This window is perfect.
Now...can't wait until I can play the piano someday. :)
Again, maybe once the kids are in school!
For now, it's still perfect for peering out.

A bit later, we all enjoyed the rain. Bethany rode her bike, as usual.

James tried setting up some sort of rain-catcher.

And Ben mostly enjoyed the puddles.

We did a little bit of warm-weather shopping this month, getting ready for the triple digits headed our way to stay! A little splurge - hats. This is the first time EVER that the kids have been willing to wear hats. They are that cool.
James and his Lightning McQueen.
He is so excited.

Pretty Bethany with a Princess Ariel hat. Some nice shade for her eyes!

Ben, of course, has a Buzz hat.
And he ALWAYS wears it like this.
No matter what, he turns it backwards. Doesn't do much for shade but it is SUPER adorable.
(Eating a pickle, by the way. Favorite food around here.)

As the days warmed up, we discovered that if you color with chalk on a driveway sprayed down with the hose, then rub your hands around in your artwork, you get this:

And if you have a daddy who is thoughtful and mindful of recent conversations in which you were asking what a tulip flower looks like, you will get this one day after work:

More drumming.
In hats.
(And, of course, just to prove me wrong, Ben has his hat turned around for this one.)

I discovered that Bethany has the same tendency toward our trees as I do.
Every once in a while I find her running over to check on them.

Peach? Good.

Pomegranate? Good.

And good they will stay, my dear. This is their time!
Springtime has been coming on wonderfully. One of the ways I plan to celebrate is to paint my toe nails sky blue. Because it feels fresh. And clean. For spring.
And will give me something to take a picture of.
Heaven knows I need that.

(Did you make it all the way to the end??? Wow, my warmest regards!)

One About Me.

It was my birthday on the 26th.
Yay. :)

I like birthdays because you can do fun things or do nothing at all and, no matter what, it's all justifiable because...it's your birthday.

For my birthday, I took full advantage of that and had a really great time. The weekend before, JC and I did our little stint in Gold Canyon, enjoying the resort there, then went and rocked the Renaissance Festival. It was fantastic.
Before we headed 'out of town', we did some fun stuff. The Mesa Center St. Farmers' Market. FANTASTIC. All kinds of gems. Best shopping ever.

Then, we did some of this:

(By the way, it was my first time golfing and JC took me to this indoor place, saving me from sure humiliation. I attempted to learn all the secrets of golf in one session, went against a friend's advice to 'not get frustrated,' and realized something...golf is hard. I really hate not being good at hard things on the first try. It would only make sense to not like golf very much on account of that...but I actually am eager to get back at it. And not just to prove to myself that I can be good at it. :) I actually really liked it.)

Thanks again, hon, for teaching me!!

After we golfed, we headed out to the resort for a fantastically relaxing evening!
Pretty, huh?

A few shots from the Renaissance Festival where we walked, shopped, and watched.
When I saw this girl dressed up like a fairy, I turned into a five-year-old girl and couldn't stop saying "She's so pretty!" and I kind of wanted to be a fairy when I grew up for a few moments there...

These guys were awesome.
For someone who really dislikes loud noises, people, places, etc. I really really love drums.

I enjoyed that almost as much as I did this:
bellydancers

and this:
JC and the Strong-Man-o-Meter.
He hit the bell at the top with every swing. Just like last time.
Yay. :)

It was a fun time. And I still had my actual birthday to look forward to!
What was awesome was throwing my back out the day before the big day. I always thought I would feel super cool if I ever threw my back out working out. You know, all those super awesome reps with my 5 pound weights leaves a lot of room for injury...haha, seriously, dragging myself out of bed at 5:45am to work out has its downfalls...sometimes I get started before I am really ready and warmed up. (Closing your eyes while lifting weights, no matter how light, is probably not a good idea) So, anyway, I was a little bit out of commission for a few days.
But, that also made it a little easier to convince myself to not clean or do anything else un-fun on my birthday...because I literally couldn't. And, I spent some time browsing the net for shoes that I am not in the market for right now. Just for fun. (My sister's idea.) :)
I did that, hung out with my kiddos, enjoyed being outside most of the day, and after the kids went to bed that night, JC said I could pick any movie I wanted to watch. I thought about all these fantastic, culturally inspired movies I had been wanting to watch...then remembered that he bought me New Moon that week and somehow I am the same as all those 12 yr olds out there and I couldn't help myself. Yep. Vampires and Werewolves make for a great birthday. Slightly embarrassing but true.

One more birthday story - the week before, I found these really fantastic boots online that were on sale and just what I had been casually searching for for years. I felt a little silly but approached JC and started telling him about them, where I found them, for how much, etc. He didn't really seem to be paying much attention so I started going into a bunch of detail about them. All the while, he was fiddling with his fancy phone, making me feel a little bummed and a bit irritated. So, after a while, I just said, 'Well, anyway, I am thinking about buying them." to which he replied, "You just did." and showed me the screen on his phone where he had been looking up and purchasing my boots while I was rambling.
Happy birthday to me. :)
They arrived on my birthday too. Right before dinner. I put them on and wore them through dinner, getting kids into pj's, putting them to bed and all.
I love my birthday boots.
And my husband.

(He also surprised me with the "Surf's Up" soundtrack to listen to as we drove around on our little overnight getaway. I love the music on that silly little movie.)

(We also got to go see 'Guy's and Dolls' at Hale Theatre, courtesy of JC's mom...it was SPECTACULAR. Lots of talent, lots of fun.)

(I also get to go to Time Out for Women in October courtesy of - and with - my mom!!!)

(I also get to make super yummy fresh popcorn with my new air popper courtesy of my sisters...made our first batch just tonight! SO good! And, speaking of good, we get to eat at Red Lobster soon courtesy of Andrew and Bonnie. Ohhh yes please!)

That is all I think. I was going to write something more reflective in honor of my birthday but I have grown bored of talking about myself.
I just had to acknowledge all of the wonderful things I got to do for my birthday. :)
Thanks to all who make the whole year fantastically worth celebrating life. I love you all!!!!