I Heart April

Look what we woke up to a coupla Sundays ago!!

Brrrrrrrrrr!!

But very pretty...

We did lose a favorite tree though.

There was so much snow and it was icy.

The trees had just enough growth on them to hold on to all that snow

AND SNAP!!

It melted very fast

(the best kind of snow I say)

April is one of my favorite months, for many reasons,

even though it brings wacky weather.

I can't decide which reason is the best, so I'll give them to you in no particular order.

I became a MOTHER in April.

BEST JOB EVVAHHH!

It was supposed to be May

but little (6lbs 3oz) Heef

decided to come a month early -YAY!

He wanted to get the show on the road

and has became a very fine BRO-riarch to his brother and sister.

This month he turned the big 1..3

Yikes a teenager!

(an electric guitar playing teenager)

Double Yikes!

SPRING BREAK

Who doesn't love no school I say.

A whole week of playing with my peeps.

No where to be.

Hopefully laying in the sun like cats.

That first sign of warmth, reminding you the sun is still there.

I need that for my mental health.

I feel scurvy-like if I don't have it!

I LOVE just hanging with my fam.

CONFERENCE WEEKEND

Church in your jammies.

(Obvious bonus)

I feel spiritually fed, motivated and safe when I listen to conference.

It's so validating and calming.

I feel like I'm in good hands.

It's a reminder of what the gospel really is,

not all the busy work we get caught up in.

THE MASTERS

Ahhhhhhhh!

The masters has a very special place of reverence and respect in this house.

My father and husband are pure golfers.

They don't love golf....

They live golf........

I'm kind of jealous of the passion,

Although I do respect and enjoy the whole experience myself,

I don't have it in my DNA as they do.

There is something very special about Augusta National Golf Course.

The history, the beauty, sacred to pure golfers.

Every year we enjoy the respite of kicking back and partaking of a little bit of heaven on TV.

The rolling greens,

magnificent flowers,

incredible golf,

(three aussies on the leader board this year)

the lilting, Irish voice of witty David Feherty as he takes us through the course.

It's a tradition and ritual in our house.

OUT WITH WINTER - IN WITH SUMMER

It's that anticipated time of year when we MOSTLY say good bye to Winter,

(it's still waving in the rear view mirror)

and Summer is still dangling there to look forward to.

Lots of opportunities to lay like a cat in the sun.

Yet all that Summer still ahead.

Looking forward to days at the pool.

NO SCHOOOOL!!

No coats.

Flip flops

Swimsuits

AND

Pink Cheeks!!!!!

Snow Caving Shmow Caving!!!

Can't believe I let my biggest baby

sleep in ten feet of snow...

overnight !!......

in the wilderness!!.......

What was I thinking?

Clearly there must be some hormone, that overtakes a mother's brain, so they have the ability to say...

"Sure honey, what fun!!"

with a big goofy smile on
their face while their insides are screaming

"WARNING, WARNING, DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!"

(that's a test to see how old the readers of this blog are!)

AND you want to vomit, until they return home safely.

Wasn't particularly worried about the cold - 26 degrees F, that is.

He has slept in the cold before-pffft-no biggie

I knew he had the gear,

we have the REI receipts to prove it!

Scouts is spendy, man!!

Wasn't even concerned about how hard he would have to work all day building it-suck it up dude!

I was more concerned about the thing falling in on them.

Then people start telling you their stories...

NEVER GOOD!

• Oh yeah, my uncle died in a snow cave, thing collapsed on him, couldn't get him out in time.
• Remember so and so, collapsed on him and they got him out right before he suffocated, hit him in the head with the shovel, they did.
• Make sure you keep a candle lit, you may get a pocket o' bad air-if the candle goes out - you're a gonna!!!

VALIUM PLEASE?

Happy to say my man survived.

He declared it a 'one and only' experience and he learned he can do hard things.

Besides where else will he get all those great "Dad stories" to tell his kids.

Thank you to all those men, who braved the cold, especially Pres M who kept them safe and gave them a unique experience.

WAIT!!

Sorry pal, you have to take your brother in two years!!!

The Avatar Room

Okay, you may ask why I called this post

"The Avatar Room"

seeing as I am WAY not an Avatar lover

(did I just lose some fans?)

Most over-rated, boring, movie EVER made!!

(did I just lose some more fans??)

Soooo very tedious and monotonous!

Ahhh! That's why I used the title

(just lost all my fans, down to one)

About a YEAR ago, husband and I were watching one of our usual fave shows.

(not telling you which one-you'll judge us)

Hus says

"What is wrong with that little girl she looks ill"

Then we noticed every character in the show, that stood in that part of the screen, was coming down with the same disease.

(Same disease that little girl had on Willy Wonka,

the one that turned into a blueberry- VIOLET BEAUREDGARDE...)

Curses!!!!

THE PERILS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY!!

Something else that needs repairing.

UUUGGGGHHHH!

Slowly the whole screen filled up with blue people.

(sound familiar?)

Annoying huh!

(sound familiar, yet?)

So many Avatar parallels, so little blog space.

We watched blue people for about a year.

You start to forget what real people look like.

We got kind of used to it,

until one day the whole screen started to bleed YELLOW!!!!

Now, there is no movie analogy for that one,

SO- we had no choice but to fix it!

Everything is back to normal

The AVATAR ROOM is no more......

Let's hope they don't make a sequel.....

Happy Australia Day!!!

HAPPY 223 rd BIRTHDAY AUSTRALIA!

Wow....that's old. Only a baby in country years, though.

Yes, it has been 223 years since the first fleet of prisoners landed on the shores of Botany Bay, New South Wales.

My own great, great, great (I don't know how many greats) grandma was actually sent to Australia for stealing a blanket to keep her babies warm-RUDE!

(Rude of the British that is, for sending her away)

What mother wouldn't steal to keep their angels warm I say. Quite frankly, I'm glad she did it. For the babies' sake and mine. I am happy to have been born in the land down under-as you call it.

Wait..What???We never thought of ourselves as down under. Under what?

Anyway I hope all the Aussies have a fantastic day on the beach, playing cricket, having barbies (no shrimp-we call them prawns),lazing in the sun.

I'm thankful the sun decided to show itself here today in celebration.

I, myself had a happy Aussie day. Yesterday I went to tell Crazy's second grade class about Australia and that was actually the real Australia Day. (They are about 17 hours ahead)

They are learning about immigrants to the U.S.

Hmmmm. Never considered myself an immigrant-not that there is anything wrong with that.

AND

Today I visited with some lovely ladies from our neighborhood and we talked about their experiences in

Australia.

I know Oprah is all things Australian right now. Even though the Aussies spent $4m to get her there. All in the name of tourism. She did spend some of her own cash, so maybe I won't be so quick to doubt the sincerity of her love fest.

The only down side, I am all out of Vegemite. Grrr

Maui Wowi'i

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

A week in Maui!!

My little family within throwing distance

(my throwing that is-which, hello, isn't very far!)

Ocean breezes.

Sounds of crashing waves

Doors open

Sand under my feet

NO SHOESIES!!!

Walking around in a swimsuit

(and NO ONE cares-seriously, I thought there was some kind of common decency rule about who can wear a bikini and who CANNOT-but,not so much, no. Apparently I could wear an itsy bitsy teeny weeny if I had some self esteem!! and the state of Hawai'i

would be totally on board with that.)

Sand between my toes

Sand between... oh, I'll spare you

Being dumped by waves

Watching your children get dumped by waves

Watching your boys get chafed-

Saving the day by buying ye olde vasoline!

(Speedos aren't such a dumb idea, huh?)

Snorkeling with the fishies

Ahh, the nightly cliff dive-not by me?

Swimming, more swimming and even more swimming

Lazy breakfasts

Lazy by-the-pool snacks

Extra lazy dinners

Cheeseburger Babies!!!!!!

Very expensive but oh-so-yummy dinners

(Great idea boys-mmm!)

Free dessert

(Great idea Heef)

And who can resist a pig cooked in the ground?

Fluffy grass skirts on hips that move VERY fast

Humidity

Humidity + Me = No Wrinkles = negative 10 years

Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples = increasing Crazy's vocab by, um, like, a lot

Crooning guitar playing (can a guitar croon?)

My 60 year old children on boogie boards in the pool soaking up the performance

Foo requesting "Blue Hawai'i" for the old folks

(that would be us!)

Little bodies in sand like crumbed chicken

Crazy using sand as a towel AND sunscreen

Dad allowing us a photo

Sandcastles

Whale Watching-and yes, boys the raft IS the way to go.

Whale watch anticipation

So many whales, so much frolicking

Whale watch nonchalance

Ungrateful whale watchers!

Swimming in a rain storm

(there's always the hot tub, and you're only going to get wet)

Crazy's doll winning all the staring contests

(she's gooood)

Discovering the "Dog Whisperer" on TV

(Turns out Dad is a bit of a "Dog"tor Dolittle-according to him the dogs don't love Caesar Millan all that much)

Riding the paddle board, some better than others

Turns out I would sacrifice my tiny daughter rather than fall in the drink myself

Never mind her pain from her mother falling on her,

what about my pride?--'barrassing

Potato wedges with aioli

Nachos carnitas

A very cool 80's radio station

Discovering the Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters aeiouhlkwnmp-HA!

Their flag has the union jack on it

Thank you Captain Cook

What a great vay-cay!!!

Thank you Family

We were so sad to leave, but

WE"LL BE BAAA-AACK!