I plan on showing everyone a picture of Kirsti's new haircut. To be clear, I cut it, not her. Plus, I took her to a salon later that week and had it fixed; it looks great now. Anyway, I will post a picture soon.
But first I thought I would explain my lack of posting last month. The best explanation would be a repost from my extended family's monthly blog. No obligation to read it as it is long, picture heavy, and we CRAMMED a lot into the month. My goal is to fit blogging into my schedule somehow because it really helps me keep a good perspective.
Isn't March supposed to enter like a lion and leave like a lamb? 'Cause last month did enter like a lion, but it exited like a T-Rex on steroids. So take a deep breath, strap in and get ready for an UPDATE.
The month started with
Peter leaving me. Don't worry, it was just for the weekend (give or take). He went down with his brothers and in-laws to BYU's basketball league playoffs. They all had fun, even if BYU lost on Saturday, but their flight home wasn't until Tuesday (Who, you may be asking, designed a tournament that ends on Monday? Someone who wants people to not attend next year.)
He is still losing crazy weight and gaining crazy muscle with P90X. Even with a Las Vegas vacation thrown in, he hasn't broken his diet or missed a workout. He and Elise are almost at their halfway point.
Elise turned 15 this month! She asked if she could throw a party if she paid for it and did all the work. I agreed. And then cleaned the whole house, took her to the store, bought pizzas. chaperoned, drove all over town looking for the right cake display, and fixed the cake when she found out it wasn't as easy to decorate as Mom makes it seem. And freaked out because -HELLO- SHE'S 15! Good thing she did all the work. She actually did all the planning, decorating, inviting, entertainment, and snacks and paid for all but the pizza, so I was impressed.
This month she also registered for her sophomore year. She went with a friend to the midnight showing of the Hunger Games. She's also doing great with P90X.
Ryan has kept me hopping this month. He had an archery competition half way through the month which meant the first two weeks he had practices
before and after school every day. The competition was two hours away and ALL DAY LONG. But he had fun and I enjoyed watching him. He also had a band concert. Good thing he told us about it, bad thing it was the morning of the concert! He is playing the percussion with the large yellow arrow over his head. He registered for his freshman year of high school and has become obsessed with the Rubik Cube. This month he baked a pie for Pi Day and baked a cake for the last day of chess club.
Ethan and Kirsti finished up hockey after school twice a week. They also finished up Math Club and Chess Club. Now I just have Strings for Kirsti before school three times a week and Spring Training (an athletic exercise modge podge) after school once a week for
Ethan, Kirsti, and Joseph.
Ryan, Ethan, Kirsti, and Joseph all ran in a Leprechaun Race. It was a mile and the older 3 all ran it faster than I could. Even Joseph was close.
Ethan had a science fair this month and, much to my surprise, we managed to get it done on time!
Kirsti had a stake Activity Day activity that lasted from 2 till 8 on a Friday. Guess who was one of the volunteers? Yep, me. Guess what day it was? (Hint: the day before the all day archery competition.)
Joseph, Kirsti and Ethan all went to Jump Rope for Heart. They also dressed up for Character Day to celebrate Dr. Suess's Birthday. The book they're holding is where their characters came from.
Of course this month also included our annual Pi Day celebration. Ryan baked his Pi pie. I made T-shirts (Pi make the world go Round) and we ate pizza pie for dinner with chocolate pie for dessert.
Matthew made the pie at special days with his cousins. I was nice and included the lesser holiday (St Patrick's Day) hats, too.
And finally, the T-Rex of our March schedule: baseball. This year we have 4 kids playing on 3 different teams. That is a total of 7-9 practices
and 5-6 games
per week.
Ethan has already started games and has pitched for the first time and did great. He is hitting the ball (even swinging is an improvement from last year!) and is a lot faster than last year.
Kirsti, Joseph, and Matthew have all started practices last week and will begin games after spring break next week. I am enjoying it a lot more this year. Partly because their practices are all a lot closer to home, partly because I know to bring my chair, blanket and a nice hot chocolate cup, and partly because this year I managed to
avoid getting hit in the face with the ball at the first game.
I am still hitting the gym twice a week. I am slowly getting faster with my runs. With all the driving around, I'm reading much and cleaning little.
I read 8 books last month, but only posted once. We finally got a new rug for the front room and living room. It changed the look of the rooms a lot and we love it!
The month ended with a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt and general conference. And if I missed pictures of the event, I'll just blame exhaustion.
I'm going to lose my street cred. (As if using the term "street cred" weren't reason enough to lose it)
I know, I know. I'm the mom who comes to kids' sports sign-ups kicking and screaming. Although I tend to replace "kicking" with "eye rolling" and "screaming" with "muttered complaints". I don't enjoy sports and baseball is the most boring. Last year felt like two months of after-school, twice-on-Saturday torture. This year I added another whole team to the mix (which should make it thrice-on-Saturday torture) and still for some reason ... it's kind of, sort of, well ... nice. 
Maybe it's because practices are all closer to home. Maybe it's because the kids are all a year older and more independent. Maybe it's because this season I've yet to be hit in the head with a baseball. Or maybe I've been hit in the head one too many times.
For whatever inexplicable reason, all of a sudden, I enjoy watching the kids play. I enjoy sitting and chatting with the other parents. I enjoy watching the teams get better as the season progresses. I haven't opened a book during an actual game once this whole time. Even when my kids aren't actually on the field. Weird, right?
Sure the timing is still a bear and my schedule looks like a complex scientific proof. Dinnertime is more like eat-what-you-can-as-you-run-out-the-door time and Me-time is in temporary hibernation. And yet when I'm watching one of the 5 to 7 games scheduled each week, I find myself relaxing, smiling, and enjoying myself. Go figure.
