Mutch

Last night I was proof reading a paragraph the prince had to write as part of his try-outs for next year's cheer team. He wrote a sentence in which he used the work "much", but he spelled it "mutch". When I mentioned it to him he said, "You mean I've been spelling it wrong all these years???" Just because you put a "t" before the "ch" in your name does not mean every word that ends in a "ch" needs a "t" to make it perfect! Good golly, did we laugh!!

Naughty

When a teacher writes a student up for a minor infraction (tardy, hands-on...) I enter it into a computer data base where we track such things. I often can go several weeks only entering one or two items (usually tardies) over that time period. Clearly it is springtime in the Rockies! Since Monday I have entered 13 write ups!!! Thirteen! Most are hands-on types of things. My favorite was two students who were written up for throwing paper mache "goop" at each other. It's going to get crazy! Watch out!

The Dentist

A couple of weeks ago my sister took her 5 kids to the dentist. For the three older ones this is no big deal. But the 2 younger kids are amusing. Here's Isaiah. He's tough. In fact, he's so tough that, "I don't need no numbin' stuff." It was a cleaning so that wasn't going to happen anyway, but it's good to know.

And then there's the princess, Ariana. She's like a lot of people with a HUGE fear of the dentist. Major dental work when she was younger made her that way. In fact, for anything more than a cleaning she has to be put to sleep! This was a cleaning, but still the anxiety was there. Her hygienist was GREAT. She told Little Miss Thing that the reason she gets so stressed out is because the lights are so bright in the dentist's office. Then she gave her these cool sunglasses to help with the glare. It worked too!!! That's one smart lady!

One More!

I almost forgot this one! No trip is complete without your beer goggles!

Spring Training Final Shots

In the hub-bub of the last couple of weeks, these photos didn't make it onto the blog in a timely manner. Still, here are the three amigos in all their baseball-watching/beer-drinking glory. And don't worry: if you are going to Phoenix in the near future, they have restocked their beer supply. There will be plenty of beer for you!

So Jealous!

The young adults headed to Grandpa and Grandma's for some R&R in the 85* AZ sun. They were quickly followed by their parents and siblings who wanted a little warmth too. We are soooooo jealous!

Matt and Liz

Becky

Track Meet

The prince participated in his first track meet of the season yesterday. They were supposed to travel about 200 miles, but that area was expecting lots of snow and canceled their meet. That left his school to tag onto a meet that was taking place here in town. There was plenty of wind, but otherwise, the weather was decent. He threw in discus and shot put and came close to last year's best throw in shot. This was his first attempt at discus since 8th grade, but he had a nice release so now he's going to work on his spin. Afterward he headed out to the Chinese buffet with some of his friends from track. I can't imagine there was much food left at the buffet when those kids were done!

Green Eyes

Ever wonder what the princess would look like with green eyes? One of her friends did some fancy photo editing, and now we know!

Go Falcons!

First track meet of the season...in the rain.

Go Falcons!! Stay warm.

Happy Birthday Shelley!

I have 2 wonderful sisties, and one of them is a birthday girl today! Happy Birthday, Shelley! Have a wonderful year. Wish I was with you to celebrate this today!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jajuan. In the crazy that was last weekend, I didn't get this posted, and I'm terribly sorry. Worse yet, you had to have your tonsils out a day or two before your birthday. Bad timing!! Here's hoping next year's birthday is a little more fun-filled. Have a great year. We love you!

Dance-a-palooza!

It was another big dance weekend, and competition #2 is in the record books. This was a 2 day affair, with over 340 dances. We saw most of them! The princess didn't dance at all on Saturday, but we were there to support others all day. Sunday found us up at the crack of dawn to get ready for more dance. Our day went a little like this:

Get your aunt to get up really early and do your hair. Fuel up with Fuse.

Her group dances were at about 8:30 and 9:00 in the morning. I don't really have any photos, but they did well, and performed "Swing" for the last time. In my opinion it was the best they had ever done that dance! Great job, ladies.

After that there were awards, a lunch break, a dance off, and then time to get ready for her solo.

Doing a little blocking on stage with her coach

before dancing a couple of hours later.

One of the awards she got for her solo was this judge's choice award. This judge gave her a "Perfect Posture" award which she said made her leaps look even higher than they already are. When the princess came up to get the award, the judge said, "See, I thought you'd be taller!" This photo captures that! :)

She also got a category winner award for her musical theater category, as seen here.

Here are many of our weekend dancers.

Good job to one and all!

One more competition the weekend of April 9 then it's on to recital preparations! This year has gone by quickly!

My only regret is that I didn't get photos of the princess with Shelley, Grandma, Kathi, her dad, and Mary Beth, who were all there to support her. She's a lucky girl!

Is there a life guard in the house?

This weekend the prince completed life guard training through the American Red Cross. He learned that, contrary to what his father suggested, one should not "thump" a drowning person over the head to calm them down. Now he can go apply for some jobs! And now he can save his father, who isn't really happy about swimming in water deeper than a hot tub.

Another Volleyball Game

The princess only got to play in two games this season due to dance. These come from the second game. The royal court photographer had other duties that day so this is as good as it gets with my camera...and this is after I cleaned them up. These girls she's playing against are the girls she'll play with if she plays in high school!

Second from the left--everyone's looking at her. Though you can't see the ball, she just knocked it over the net.

She just hit it...you can see the ball this time.



I'll get it.
No, I'll get it.
Here, let's both get it.
She's on the left.

Huddle up.

#15

Until next spring...

Male Domination

Looking at this photo, it seems to me that most of the people who go to Arizona for Spring Training baseball are men. Not only that, but look at all the people in the stands. That's a lot of men on vacation in Arizona right now. And, judging by the phone call I got last night from the 3 stooges, there's no beer left in Arizona either.

Beer Guy

The boys made a new friend in Arizona. I think he's their new hero!

Dude! Get some sun!

The king is in AZ for some fun and sun. Clearly, looking at those legs, he's in need of some serious sun! Okay, okay, maybe it's the lighting, but I'm not 100% sure on that!

Good Eats!

Two things:

Broccoli: The kids and I love it. The king does not, but to his credit, when the kids were younger he would pretend to like it and was "just not hungry for it" on the nights I served it. He's a good daddy. Last night I made omelettes and offered the kids these choices in theirs: broccoli, mushrooms, ham, cheese. BOTH kids chose broccoli, ham, and cheese. Gotta love a kid who will put a veggie in an omelette!

Mushrooms: I like mushrooms...a lot. More than anyone else in my family. But I do not understand why companies try to can mushrooms. They are a totally different substance when they are canned, with weird color and taste. Really, why bother? Oh wait, I know. Because dummies like me will sometimes buy a can of them! Dumb--me, not them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hey, Mom!

Thanks for our Irish heritage!

Love you!

Urinal Cake Update

Yesterday Suzi told me that she had checked the urinals before she left on Monday, and all was well. Tuesday, when she came to work, someone had flipped all the cakes around to the other side. They were all still there, but they were backward. Okay, now someone's just messing with her!

Sonic

Sonic announced last fall that they would be coming to our fine town and even to our part of town. We've watched the building go up over the cold winter. A few weeks ago they hired 80 new employees. Last weekend we watched them (good thing the weather was good) rollerskating around the parking lot, practicing. They opened Monday. Traffic has been backed up for BLOCKS, with all the crazy knuckleheads who can't wait to get their Sonic fix. As for us, we'll wait until the new wears off a bit. It can't be THAT good! :)

Missing Vegas

This time last year we were in Vegas...

The Princess' Concert

The princess had her winter concert Monday night. It was a great show, featuring the choirs and bands. Well done!

Volleyball

The princess, not one to rest on her dance laurels, is also in the middle of her middle school volleyball season. She really likes volleyball, and has a great serve. We hope she'll continue into high school because then the season will be in the fall and not interfere so much with the dance season. But we'll cross that bridge in a couple more years. Because of dance she'll only get to do 2 of her 4 matches. Her team won this past weekend. We'll see what Saturday brings! Go Lions!

The first 3 photos are of her powerful serve, but she does well at the net too. If only she were taller...

Our thanks to MB for the great photos. We appreciate you being the royal photographer of late!

This is a good thing:

Consistent with the proclamation issued by President Obama and by order of Governor Schweitzer, all U.S. and Montana flags in the State of Montana will be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in honor of Army Corporal Frank W. Buckles, the last surviving American Veteran of World War I, and in remembrance of the generation of American veterans of World War I.

Fresh Air!

We slept with the windows open for the first time since October. Life is good!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Each year the middle school band marches in the St. Patrick's Day parade. This year the princess, who is NOT in the band, was invited to help carry the banner. She was excited to participate. Here's a glimpse of the fun:

Coffee with Caylin to fuel up before the parade.

Looking very green and ready to go.

Here they come!

There she is!!

The weather was PERFECT!

What a beautiful morning to get our Irish on!

That's SICK!

Over the last week, our janitor, Suzi, has gone through an alarming amount of the cakes that go into urinals to help keep them clean. I'm talking about a CASE of them. So she alerted the principal. He called to the sherif to find out if there was a mad, urinal cake ring of thieves out there. Turns out there is not. But they are being stolen by kids who then grind the cake up into powder, mix it in orange juice, and drink it to get high. SICK!!! First of all, it came out of the urinal!!!! Second, those are powerful chemicals that are eating the lining of their stomachs and killing brain cells. Seriously, how badly do you want to get high??? SICK!

Shamrock Shake

Tuesday the princess needed a drink between volleyball and dance. I asked what and she decided a soda from McDonald's would do the trick. In the drive through she saw the advertisement for a Shamrock shake and asked if she could have one. I told her "Sure. You do know they are mint, right?" "WHAT? MINT? I'll just have vanilla." What a sheltered life she lives to not know that. She must be living under a blarney stone.

Paul in Germany

You may have noticed that I added a couple of new blogs to my sidebar. I work with a woman whose son's name is Paul. He is a junior in college and has been subbing at our school for the last few weeks. He left today on a trip to Germany where he will study for 5 months. He has a blog about his travels that I have added. In addition, he is corresponding with some of the younger students at our school while he's gone and has a blog designed for them (one group will be using clues on his blog to figure out where he will next be traveling). I have also added the link to that blog. Feel free to follow along on Paul's journey with us! He's a great kid, and I know his mom is at home today, trying to pull herself together. It's one thing to send your kid off to a university 300 miles away. It's another thing to send them half way around the world! Good Luck, Paul!