April Showers Emma: Wordless!

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

A few more Spring Things around here....

 

The last week (or so) around here has been absolutely insanely wild. Pretty sure I need notes to remember it all. If I fall back on the photos I've taken, they tell just a bit of the story.

 

Please note, I have softball photos, too: 3 double-headers in four days! But I'll save softball stuff for another post. In the meantime, here are a few for you.

 

So, this is Emma's second year of doing Mother Goose Preschool. We do the curriculum as a group of moms, taking turns teaching in our own homes. It is similar to the Joy School program that I used to do with my older kids. I totally would do Joy School again, because I enjoyed it, but it's not the program that the other moms are doing right now.

 

These last two weeks, it was our turn to have preschool at our house, and it's actually our last turn this year. That's how I snapped a few photos of the kids "playing soccer" one sunny morning...

 

I love the blooming forsythia in the background! And I do love that we have a really large grass area in the back yard where the kids can run to their hearts' content. Todd had just mowed this for the first time this year.

Another day, I was taking pictures of the forsythia and cherry blossoms, and Emma was showing off on the trampoline for me. I try to take advantage of the times that she poses for me and the camera, even if sometimes it's the cheesiest smiles and fakey poses.

... because sometimes, I get a shot that I absolutely love:

Alyssa and Darcie have been screamin'-busy with school-related stuff. Softball, as I mentioned before, is daily after school for 3 hours, plus games. Both girls have been trying to stave off injuries and soreness, and the trainer has been taping them (different locations, and for different reasons) constantly. Don't ever let anyone tell you that there's anything "soft" about softball.

Alyssa has been working hard to get her presentation completed for her Senior Project, and the deadline is looming. And that's another blog post to get written: she's gotten some great photos to share with you.

Darcie has been campaigning for the junior class secretary. This year, she's been the sophomore class vice president. I think she enjoys student council -- and I'm proud of her for having the confidence to put herself forward. You might remember her campaign for vice president in 9th grade. This latest campaign wasn't as involved, but it was successful: I found out just this morning that she won! Congrats to my baby girl-that isn't a baby anymore.

By far, though, the most exciting thing to happen around here is still going on right now: the girls are off on a trip with the high school band to sunny California and Disneyland!! "Thrilled" doesn't even begin to describe their excitement for this getaway. It's like having a second Spring Break. I hope they're taking a lot of pictures for me.

On the day they left, they stopped by Welenco to tell us goodbye before heading down to board the bus. (Yes, they took a bus to get there. It's close to a 24-hour drive to get there. Yikes!!) Todd and Alys sat down together for a look at some new cleats for her -- we order online for the brand and style that works best:

 

That's her look for me. The caption would be, "You're actually going to take a picture of this?"

Yes, I am. Because I have a lot of memories of sitting on my dad's lap when I was much too big to sit on his lap anymore.

 

Darcie grabbed a picture of our good-bye hug. Oh, how I love these girls!!

 

Then she turned  camera on herself. I hope this is her, "I'm so excited to go to Disneyland" look:

Bahahahahahahaha!!!!

Fun Finds for a Spring Spruce-up

I don't know about you, but for me, ... one of the best things about fun trips, is that I get to go shopping at stores that we simply don't have in our small Idaho town.

 

So whenever we're gone, I try to slip in a shopping trip. I have to thank some of our softball friends, who thoughtfully offered to bring our girls' gear bags back home for us, while we continued on the road. Without them, I'm not sure if I would have had the room for this little shopping excursion. There's only SO much you can fit in the back of a Suburban.

 

Having said that, Todd is a master packer, and he can manage to fit more things than anyone would imagine in that vehicle. Anyway .... that's where this post comes from. While we were down in Utah, I went to this wholesale home decor outlet. SCORE!!!

 

(They kind of look at you a bit funny when you ask them to, "Yes, please wrap that -- it has to make it all the way back to Northern Idaho.")

 

So here's a quick mini-tour, showing you a few of my new-favorite things that we picked up. First, I'm a sucker for another lantern:

 

I've kinda got a small lantern collection going. This isn't all of them, just a few that were out and handy for a photo moment:

Then, I added to my antique-looking, movie-themed wall in the family room:

 

The large reel in the center is the new addition.

The four-year-old camera hog wanted to participate.

 

I've also got an antique theme happening in the dining room. Maybe you remember this post with the really dark photo of a few of my old things. Anyway, when I saw that pencil, I knew I wanted it for the theme. And you can tell we haven't made it this far with the removal of popcorn ceilings around here. We'll get there, eventually.

And finally,  ... for years (and years) we've kept a whiteboard in our kitchen to help me stay organized. We make shopping lists, write messages, appointments, phone numbers, reminders -- it all would go on the board. It wasn't pretty, but it was functional. It looks like this:

 

 (I had to take the picture after it was taken down. It's not usually on the floor) Well, I finally updated it -- by going retro. It's not nearly as fancy as the chalkboards I told you about here, but that's ok, because it fits with our style:

It's hanging right where the white board was -- and I love the extra hooks and nooks that it has. Way better than the old whiteboard!!

 

I smile when I walk by it. It makes me happy!

 

Now all I need is to grab a bunch of daffodils out of the yard for a spot of color there! Have a great spring-y day!!

 

P.S. Extra thanks go to Todd, who actually shopped with me in the store, and was super-awesome about packing it with us for the rest of the trip. Love you, Babe!!

And the old whiteboard might have a second life inside the pantry... which is a better place for shopping lists anway!

Let Me Sum Up ...

 

 

(My Beautiful Girls!!)

 

Headsup ..... this is a really long post! You might want to grab an icy drink and some popcorn or something. You've been warned. 

Ok, so do you remember this scene from "Princess Bride"?

(LOVE that movie!)

Anyway. I feel a bit like Inigo Montoya...... when he says, "Let me 'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up."

There is just so much that has happened in the last two weeks that I can't try to explain it all. So, let me sum up......

Oh, and there might be photos involved, too.......

Where to begin? Well, the high school softball season has started!! And as of right now, their win-loss record stands at  6-2. But they still have some tough teams to face, so we'll see what happens here!

Alyssa is one of two pitchers on the varsity team. Darcie is The Catcher. So far, Darcie has "caught" almost every game, with one exception (tell ya about that in a minute!). Alyssa pitches for half of the games. When she's not pitching, she plays First Base.

Alys has been up against some soreness this year, which affects her overhand throws. It has less effect on the underhand pitching motion,  ... so what that really means is that she can still pitch (she is taped for it, and ices afterwards), but the trainer has not cleared her to overhand throw across the diamond yet -- which means that Third Base is out for her. Which is fine, too -- she plays a GREAT First Base. Case in point:

Yes, she made that foul-ball catch! She's only stretched into the splits once so far this season, but she got the call from the umpire for it.

And here's one that Darcie threw down to Alyssa for a pick-off:

See the ball in her glove? That one was not quite in time. I have yet to get a good photo of Darcie throwing down in a game, because she's had some really good pick-offs. I can't seem to find a good place to stand -- and I'm sure they wouldn't approve of me standing on the field for it! Darcie has also been dealing with tendonitis in her elbow (throwing arm), but she puts the arm-strap on and keeps going. Neither one of the girls are big complainers, so if I starting hearing them say, "I hurt", it usually means that they're serious.

And then came the spring concerts. First was the Jazz Concert -- in which Alyssa performed with Gold Voices. Kind of a sad moment for this mom, because although it was not the final concert of the year, it *was* the final performance in their formal attire:

 

It's been a lot of fun having Alyssa in Gold Voices. Pretty sure she's enjoyed it, too.

 

A few days later was the Concert Band performance. This was one of those nights where you can't be everywhere at once, and the Music Department and the Athletic Department were not on the same page. There was a softball double-header scheduled the same evening as the band concert. And the only two kids affected by that was Alyssa and Darcie. Nobody else is involved in both Band and Softball.

 

 

 (I was not at the greatest angle to get good photos of my girls!) So Alyssa and Darcie played all but the last inning of the first game of the double-header, then had to leave for this concert. The second game had to be played without them, and it's the only game that Darcie has not played catcher. The coach and Athletic Director have worked at getting the schedule tweaked so that the team will not have to be without Alyssa and Darcie during games -- and I really appreciate the efforts they've gone to. It's also a testament to how needed Darcie and Alyssa are, as well. Last weekend, the coach told us that they have the #1 and #2 batting averages on the team right now, so I'm sure he wants them around as much as he can.

I was a bit surprised to see Alyssa had a solo in the concert, too:

 

These kids never tell me ANYthing!! (Proud of her!)

 

One day, Todd called me to tell me about the icy orchard that he passed on his way to work. I grabbed the camera and snapped a couple dozen photos, which I won't bore you with.

 

Ok, well, just one:

 

 

And the owner's sprinkler technique worked -- because I drove past this same orchard this morning, and these fruit trees are all blooming beautifully!

 

And Alyssa has been working on her Senior Project!

 

She chose photography for her project, and she's been working with the same photographer that took her senior photos. She's pretty awesome and really great to work with. You can check out her website here. One Saturday afternoon, we had a mini photo-session:

 

 

 

Hmmmm..... maybe Alyssa has a future in photography? If nothing else, it could be a side job after nursing.

 

As soon as we finished up, we dashed out of town, because ....

 

(Here comes the story!) Two of Cameron's friends returned home from serving their missions at the end of March. One went to Riverside, California, and one went to Kiev, Ukraine. Both of these young men had their families move from our town while they were out on their missions. So they returned "home" to an new house and an unfamiliar ward. (One family moved two hours away from us, and the other moved to Utah, near Provo.) I consider myself very, very fortunate to get to travel, visit, and hear each of their homecoming talks in church. (The first was after that photoshoot.)

 

As a side note, I felt for these two young men, who would not have the typical missionary homecoming/airport arrival experience -- especially the part about having friends and ward members come to the airport to greet them. So I followed a bit of inspiration, and I had a local business print a welcome-home poster for each of them. Then I took the posters to church, and had our ward members sign them and write a short message. Boxed up each poster and mailed them to their respective families in time for the family to bring the poster to the airport with them when their missionary arrived home.

 

Each of these families expressed their gratitude to me for the gesture -- it was really meaningful to them. I tell you this, not to "toot my own horn", but because I feel that inspiration from the Lord often comes as a thought of, "I ought to..." or "I should ...". And I think that's what happened here. Perhaps I was more aware of them because they are Cameron's friends. But I think it all happened because I acted on the thought in my head that said, "You ought to do this."  I wasn't asked to, and I wasn't looking for pats on the back, .... but I felt I ought to do it. I felt it was the right thing to do. Because it had to be inspiration from Heavenly Father.

 

So, we went to the first missionary's homecoming, and heard him speak in his new ward (the one that's 2 hours away). He spoke on the Atonement, and did a really great job. A few days later, we were off and travelling again -- this time, for a statewide high school softball tournament.

 

As usual, I took dozens of photos. So, let me sum up....

 

 

That was Alyssa fielding her position (pitching that game), fielding the bunt, and throwing the runner out at First.

 

I love pitcher-catcher conferences when my daughter is the pitcher, and my other daugher is the catcher. Darcie has a big smile on here... I think she was telling Alyssa she was doing a great job!

Between innings on the main field, they played music over the loudspeakers. I know Alyssa is in a good mood when she's dancing along. Here comes the shoulder-roll:

 

My photo goal on catcher pictures is to get the ball just as it's coming into the mitt. Darcie does a great job behind the plate -- I don't think she had a single passed ball at all. Not much gets past her in general. No generalized "ditzy" comments will be allowed.....   ;-)

 

 

So here's the story behind this last photo. Alyssa was at bat (Darcie's on the right, since she bats right after Alys in the lineup), and she fouled off a pitch, which hit a fan on the sidelines. He paused, and then slowly toppled over to the ground. It's a good thing he was JOKING! Alyssa's heart was in her throat, thinking she'd seriously hurt him, and I was too busy watching to snap a photo of that moment. But right after that, this photo is the smile of relief on Alyssa's face, when she realized that he was ok!

How about a little sideline entertainment, too? Emma sure loves her daddy!
 

 

 

So we really appreciated that Todd's parents and his sister & her family came to watch our girls play softball that day! It was a ton of fun to grab a late lunch with them and get to just sit and visit!

 

 
 (Alyssa is icing her shoulder after the game... she doesn't really have a hunchback)

We left Idaho after that, and headed to Utah for the other missionary homecoming. And THAT, my friends, is why it just so happened that we spent the morning of Easter Sunday in a hotel room.

Our 2013 Easter was not our typical or traditional family Easter. We didn't have a big family dinner. We didn't color eggs. And we didn't have our Egg Cracking Contest. (Fully explained here, and more on it here, too.)  There were no baskets, but we did manage some candy and a plastic Easter Egg Hunt in the hotel room:

 

 
(Did I mention that it was first thing in the morning... while Miss Emma was still in her jammies?)

 

And off we went to church for Easter, and the second missionary homecoming!

 

 

Can you see the lovely scrape on Alyssa's leg? Gotta love those softball sliding injuries! Darcie's injuries are not as visible, but don't kid yourself into thinking they're not there.

 

 

I love Easter Sunday, even when we're gone and things aren't "normal". Easter is such a great reminder to me of Christ and His sacrifice and the Atonement. I need that reminder! Our homecoming missionary spoke on being converted, he did a great job, and I thought it went really well with Easter, too.

So, it was also really fun to visit with some wonderful people that have all moved away from our ward. Love these ladies, and they're so inspiring to me!!



(The two in the center are the missionary moms!)

We did spend a wonderful Easter afternoon with our friends, spent hours chatting and catching up and eating her really amazing food. It was so nice! And I can see that I'm going to need to "up" my game when Cameron returns home in July/August!

Having said this, there was a tradeoff, which was that I missed seeing my sister in Salt Lake that day. I picked the very week that she went up to Pocatello for my niece's baby's blessing, so she wasn't even home. And yes, .... I missed the baby blessing, too.

But we love getting to go shopping in "a big mall" and having great stores at our fingertips. Todd was amazing to take us to all our favorite spots the next day. All of us girls got new some new spring clothes. Emma scored a new Hello Kitty at Build-a-Bear. (That is almost a tradition for Todd to take her there while the teens and I shop clothing stores!)

And then, ... there was Tai Pan Trading. Oh. My. Goodness. I have to thank my friend Syd (the mom in pink in the above photo) for introducing me to that place. I'm too tired lazy to post a link. Just Google it, if you're interested! Here's a couple of phone pictures I grabbed while in there:

 

Isn't that the best chalkboard EVER? I love the pediment frame... so cool! It was up high, but looked about six feet tall.  LOVE! (When I checked the price, it said, "Not for Sale"!)

 

Then there was this smaller one in front of the food stop (still inside Tai Pan Trading):

 

There may or may not have been a chalkboard that came home with us after that. It didn't look like these, but I'm kinda partial to it. And another lantern. And a few wall-hangings. Photos to follow later.

And I kick myself for not getting photos of the rest of our trip. Because we went up to Pocatello after this, and saw my OTHER sister, and that same niece with her beautiful brand-new baby. Alyssa had a case of baby-love and snuggled that sweet girl & put her right to sleep! Aarrgh ...... no photos!

And we got to visit with Brandon and Cecilia in Rexburg -- so great to see those guys again! Dinner and swimming .... but alas -- again, no photos!

We got a final shopping trip in at the brand new Deseret Book store in Rexburg. Yet another place that I could drop a huge sum of money without even trying. Oh, wait ....... I did. And I was trying to be careful!!  :-D

And we got a quick visit with another niece who's attending school there at BYU-I. Alyssa got a good look at the campus while we were there, and got some good ideas about where she would like to live when she goes there next January. It's always nice to see this stuff in person. And yet, I still got no photos. It's like I forgot I had a camera with me!

:-(

Note to self: take pictures, for pity's sake! And send a few thank-you notes. And make a few phone calls. And don't let this whole blogging thing get behind. Because you end up with huge posts LIKE THIS ONE!!

It was a great trip -- but it's also good to be home. Time to hit the spring yard spruce-up in a big way!!