Putt-Putt

It seems I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. Partly because I pretty much have nothing going on and partly because I HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY SICK! Like sick in bed, can't eat or drink anything for days type of sick. I am slowly healing, but now SADE IS SICK. Oh the humanity!

Anyway....Now that I have the complaining out of the way, onto miniature golf. The kids didn't have school on Monday, and Eric didn't have work, so we decided to do a bit of golfing. Although still on deaths door, I pulled myself together and went too.

First we did a little practice putting:



Sade had the swing of a maniac, so Eric stepped in and gave her a little lesson:



Now the course. Eric is pretty much good at everything, including mini golf.



Like in regular golf, I am inconsistent. Doing very well on one hole and then very unwell on the next.

 

I only made it through half of the 18 holes before I was overtaken by sickness and had to go sit in the car. I may or may not have thrown up in a garbage can.

As a sidenote: While laying in bed on Saturday the kids were periodically coming in to ask me things, like "Can we have a piece of candy?" Or...."Can we play the Wii?" At one point Jackson came in and asked if they could have chocolate chip cookies for lunch. I answered, "Yes." As he was leaving my room I heard him joyfully tell Megan and Sadie, "It's kind of nice when mom is sick because she says yes to everything!" And it's true. Saying yes doesn't require the explanation that a no does, so I did say yes to everything. It was a highlight to my sickness. The other highlight was that I got to miss Primary! Sad, but true.

Sadie. As I mentioned, her swing was a bit maniacal, but surprisingly accurate. She killed it! Beating both Megan and Jackson on the first 9 holes. However the back 9 was a different story. It was super hot and everyone lost a little steam.



Jackson is a good little player and enjoyed himself the entire time:



Megan! Let's just say there was some (a lot) of complaining and general unhappiness going on.




But we all remember that being a pre-teen and a teenager is just plain hard!

 It is sort of like having a toddler all over again. They have all of these emotions that they can't regulate, they want independence (I can do it myself!) and they are a bit self-centered. But aren't we all.

Adventure Angels - Chrome Showroom

The plan for our Adventure Angels activity this month was Karaoke, which I found to be equal parts exhilarating and frightening. However when we arrived at the designated Karaoke place (Rocco's Pizza) we discovered they no longer did Karaoke on Friday nights! Oy vey! But we decided to stay and have dinner there anyway:

Me, Cassi and Tia modeling our awesome friendship wallets:



As we finished dinner we were ho-humming about what to do next and seemed to have no real direction. Until.......Amy with a stroke of brilliance suggested a night out at the Chrome Showroom at the Santa Fe Station to see local country singer Sam Riddle (who I am constantly calling Tom Riddle to Jacksons delight). I have seen Sam once before so I knew it would be fun.

Amy has some serious connections (she knows him personally) and was able to get us a special "reserved" booth:



The hardcore group that came to party after dinner:



Pretty soon Sam came out on stage. I have a bit of a soft-spot for country piano players (Phil Vassar), so I was having quite a good time from the beginning:



If you have never been with me to an event where there is music and dancing you should know that I kind of lose my mind. I am the girl that is on the dance floor, dancing like no one is watching and singing at the top of her lungs. Seriously. At the time it is great, but the next day it is kind of like waking up after a night of drinking (not that I have ever done that, I am only guessing :)) and wanting to disappear because of your behavior. BUT I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF!!!!!!

Luckily I had three other dancing partners:



Not to mention a hilarious and fun woman, who was dubbed "Sarah in 30 years" that taught us a new line dance and entertained us to no end:



We all agreed that Sam looked pretty good in his jeans, and one member of our group who shall remain nameless remarked, "I bet he would look pretty good out of them too." Having friends is the best!



We stayed until the bitter end and were able to snap this picture with Sam:



It was our best activity yet! Even better than paintball. :)

12 X 12 - April 2013

I spent most of my day with Sade, so this 12 X 12 is heavy on the Sadie Cake.

Right before school Jackson reminded me that it was the last day to bring in old tennis shoes for a fundraiser at Somerset. Luckily I hoard my kids old clothes and shoes so we had plenty to give:



After saying goodbye to Jackson (Megan was still on her field trip), I had my breakfast. I only allow myself to buy the muffins from Costco occasionally because when we have them in the house I am compelled to eat the 1000 calorie delights often. Of course I had to have my morning peanuts too:



After breakfast I retired to my bed for a few minutes. I am almost finished with a 3 book fiction series about the Amish. I have not particularly enjoyed it, but am so far in I have to finish!



Soon I had to pull myself out of bed to get us ready for the gym. I tried to have Eric sneakily capture a picture of Sadie screaming while I do her hair (as she does everyday), but she spotted him and smiled instead:



 Then it was into the car. Although Sade has been having issues concerning socializing with friends as of late, she willingly goes to preschool and the gym daycare. Thank goodness!



My little sunshined ponytailed girl:



Upon arriving home she chose to have half of a chocolate muffin and a large piece of lettuce from her preschool teachers garden. She ate that entire thing.



After lunch is house cleaning time! I have nowhere to put my recycling so everyday it gets stacked on top of the stove before getting taken out. Where do you put your recycling?



The weather! I can't tell you how much I have been loving it. Friday was hot, but I still couldn't resist having my front door and backdoor open all afternoon.



Tucker lost a toy under the armoire so Sade took it upon herself to get it out, along with approximately 10 other toys and a whole lot of dust balls. It was rather unpleasant.



Megan was supposed to arrive back at the school from her field trip at 4:30, so the kids and I trekked down there and waited. And waited. And waited. While waiting I checked facebook and discovered at post from the school at 4:31 saying they were running an hour late, which is information I would have appreciated an hour before. I was unable to pick Megan up at 5:30, but luckily a friend was able to bring her home. After the 3 day trip:



I hugged her hello, quickly heard all about it, and then left for a night out with my fellow Adventure Angels.



IT WAS AWESOME!

Post forthcoming..........

Five For Friday - Instagram Pics

I fairly recently joined Instagram, and really enjoy it.
And although most of the pictures I take for it usually end up on my blog, a few have not yet made it.
So a bit of a catch up:

1. Our backyard is going through a transformation.

I happily purchased and in ground basketball hoop from the D.I. for $50!!! Seriously $50!!!

But it has meant that we now need to put in some kind of court for it in the backyard. To enable us to start using it right away, Eric dug a hole in the grass and placed the hoop in concrete. Uncle Todd was here to help!



I am fraught with indecision about the project, so in the meantime, Jackson has been doing a lot of grass playing.



Anyone know of someone that does concrete work? I'm ultimately going to need a lot of it.

2. Just me and Megan enjoying a perfect weathered day in the backyard:



I feel like this has been one of THE BEST springs we have ever had in the 12 years we have been living in Vegas. It has been gorgeously warm.

3. For April Fools Day I provided my children and Eric with "Brown E's" (Brownies) for dessert!



I found the hilarious idea on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it. I was extremely entertained, but the children were not.

4. While shopping for new swimming suits for the triathlon, Eric dressed Sade up in Seahawks wear. It entertained us to no end, but she wasn't thrilled with me taking her picture. If only she knew that the frowny face she was sporting makes her look even tougher.



5. And finally.....Megan left us this week for a 3 day field trip!



Say what? I'm not sure when she became old enough for these type of activities.

She left on Wednesday morning for the Adventure Science Camp in the San Bernardino National Forest, and she gets back today! I can't wait to hear all about it.

And if  you haven't joined Instagram, do it! It's fun.

Trying Out A Triathlon

As previously mentioned, Megan and Jackson have been working hard towards training for a triathlon this past weekend in St. George. They both did the Kid Sprint Triathlon which included a 200 yard swim, a 2 mile bike ride, and a 3/4 of a mile run.

Before the race:



Lining up for the swim. Jackson tolerates a lot of picture taking, but Megan was quite ready for me to leave and go sit down:




Megan is a strong swimmer and was out in and out of the water super fast:



Although Jackson is a good swimmer, it is not his strongest event and he was slightly worried about it:



But his time ended up being great, and right on par with the other boys in his age group!

Next up: The Bikes!

Although parents are not allowed to help their children on the course, you are allowed to help them in the transition areas. Which basically means you pick up all of their discarded items (goggles, swim caps, etc.) and make sure they get properly dressed for the next event.

I really didn't think the kids triathlon would be all that intense, but it is! The kids are super laser-focused and determined to make it to the next event quickly. Megan made it to the bike transition area first where she threw on her shorts and helmet and tried to take off on her bike. Eric had to stop her and remind her that she needed her shoes and socks. He also tried to get her to put on her shirt, but after attempting to put it on and determining after 1.5 seconds that it was taking too long, she threw it back at him and said, "Forget the shirt!" The entire transition was hilarious.



But her intensity paid off! She was in and out in no time at all:



Next up: Jackson!

 Although about a minute behind Megan at this point, he quickly got ready and was on his way. In day to day life Jackson is rather, shall we say, lackadaisical about time frames. But put him in a competition setting and he transforms! His drive to win takes over:



And he's off:



What I believed would be Megan's second best event, the bike ride, for some reason ended up being her most difficult. Eric and I were waiting and waiting for her to finish, and had just started to worry that something must have happened, when she appeared. Right behind Jackson, who had caught up.



They dropped their bikes (literally) for Eric to pick up and place on the racks, and were off to complete their final event: The Run!

Megan had pulled ahead, but running is Jackson's best event, so Eric and I knew he would catch up.



And he did.

With a time of 24 minutes and 20 seconds he crossed the finish line:



Megan was right behind him, finishing with a time of 25 minutes and 38 seconds:



Eric and I were so very proud of them and so impressed by how well they both did.

It was a serious blast to watch!

Posing with their medals:




Megan said the race was harder than she thought it would be, that her easiest event was the swim, and that her hardest event was the bike ride.



Jackson said that the race was easier than he thought it would be, that his hardest event was also the bike ride, and that his easiest event was the run:



They both can't wait to do it again in October.