feelin' the love.

Tonight I was reading with Beckham on the couch. As he ran to get book number three he jumped back on the couch, snuggled really close to me and said, "mom, I am your best friend ever." He emphasized 'ever.' Like when we were at Baskin Robbins earlier this week, sitting outside consuming our ice cream and he declared, "this is the best party ever!" I'm grateful to be in the 'best friend' category and hope I remain there forEVER.

Seneca will often stop whatever she's doing to remind me that her dad is love with her. And she'll remind him, too. "dad, you are in love with me." and he will always reply, ''yes, I am." She will also let me know when Beckham is being the best brother ever, and when he's not.

Cooper was giving me a new name on the Wii this morning and tried to enter me as "Gorgeous." I'm also the "best mom ever" in his book, except when he's not happy with me and then I get, "mom, you are really not being a nice mom right now."

The mister and I are also under lovie spells as we are making decorating decisions and are actually agreeing with each other. Divine intervention, indeed.

And, aren't Kate and Will the cutest ever?? How fun it's been to watch their fairytale this week. She is classy without being stuffy and the best part about him is how he adores her. I hope it's all as perfect as it seems and lasts until happily ever after.

snipits.

- Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate on a sugar cone officially makes it summer.

- Sometimes music class is my favorite after-school activity. It requires no swimming suits, sunscreen, goggles, tights, leotards, shin guards, cleats, ballet slippers or tap shoes.

- Shared frankincense oil, among others, with a cancer family today. With all the poison and medication they are dumping in her body, they were anxious to use something that made them feel peaceful. I'm grateful to be able to contribute something positive to their journey.

- Spent the last two days in a mini-van. I will admit that automatic sliding doors have their appeal. Until all the little people learn how to operate them. Then they are just a pain. The split seat is nice though. That was an option with Dutch I passed up in favor of an additional seat. I might reconsider that now.

- Dutch has visited the dealership 3 times in the last 5 months for the same issue. let's pray that darn mechanic got it right this time, shall we?

- played chess with coop for 45 minutes tonight. I won, but he's getting better. and he has some hilarious one-liners.

Overheard today:

Seneca: mom, I better stop eating so much food or I will be sick. I better stop eating lots of candy and doughnuts too or my tummy will be sick.

Cooper: Guys, she's honest! if we leave stuff out, she will throw it away!

Easter, 2011

Cooper 6 1/2, Seneca 3 1/2, Beckham 3.  Getting a decent picture of all three:  impossible.

look, we have roses!  anybody want them? 

coop had already taken off his belt after church before we made him come take pictures. 

he’s contemplating something very deep in this one.

cheesy face.

the dress was perfect, Gram.  thank you!

piano recital, spring 2011

Cooper’s first piano recital.  He played, “How to Skip” while the rest of his class sang along. 

 

Jacob, Zachary, Cooper and Miss Cindy- his best music friends!

(think he’s tall for his age?  geesh)

double click the video to open a new window. 

How to Skip, Cooper B.

dance recital, spring 2011

Before the show.

tap, Mambo No. 5.

*video notes:  double click so it opens in a new window, it will load much faster (dad). excuse the excited mom cheering in your ear and the bouncy camera.  the excited mom had another 3-year-old attempting to climb all over her while filming.

Mambo No. 5. Hailey, Lolo, Seneca, Abby, Izzy and Sophie

ballet, Heebie Jeebies

Ballet, Heebie Jeebies.

finale,

receiving a rose from her brothers

*photo credits are all D. 

dad, brace yourself.

there was a reason beckham was gunning to be grandpa banks' favorite. it was so when he did things grandpa might not approve of, he wouldn't be disowned. he has made several deposits into grandpa's emotional bank account. hopefully the account is at a high enough balance to counter the following:

he pulled out one candyland guy and one card. he put the guy on the card and then took the guy snowboarding all over the family room. there were ramps and jumps and lots of "swooshes." dad, don't be mad. it wasn't me. I took him skiing, remember? I have not mentioned snowboards. promise.

right now.

5:15 a.m. has become standard wake-up time for this household. well, for those of us who are not out the door by 4:30 for a work-out. I pray for another hour and seldom get it but instead have cute little bodies climb in bed with me. sometimes they sleep for tiny bit and sometimes they just curl up right next to me and tell me I'm the "bestest mom ever." I'm ok with that. sometimes they need their back tickled and sometimes I can't get enough kisses in. I think I am going through beckham withdrawals as I have been nursing a sore throat and in an effort to keep it to myself have been staying out of these little faces. sometimes I just need to smooch them!

happiness came in a box this week from gram with easter exploding out all over the place. one of cooper's treasures was a book of riddles. some of us laugh a lot. some of us pretend to laugh a lot. some of us laugh but have no idea why we're laughing. sometimes he reads the riddle, I laugh and he stands there trying to figure it out. gram also sent some junie b. jones which has been a magnet for coop's face since it arrived.

second week of swim lessons and after a quick teacher switch we are ready to roll. beckham has already shown much more progress than I expected, floating on his own and using very big arms. he jumped in on tuesday fulling believing he could swim all the way across the pool on his own. and he did. thank heavens he is lifting his head up to breathe once in a while. miss senny is a little spaz in the pool. she is happy as can be but man, the amount of energy she can exert in 30 minutes is incredible.

as crazy as life is lately, I'm one lucky mama to spend my crazy days with these hilarious littles. for the most part, they are pleasant and kind and funny. and even though they are getting bigger, and I keep telling them not to, I still squeeze them every day and try to freeze time.

I need a maid.

we made it through wednesday.  that is something.  well, almost through wednesday.  my house needs some attention, but all of the running around is done and kids are in bed.  gym to shipping store to preschool drop-off to groceries.  home to put away groceries then back to get seneca.  home to put the kids down for naps, welcome cooper home, jump in the shower.  wake senny up and send her out the door to dance.  return doTerra phone calls and emails, put boys in the car to get the girls from dance.  drop off little tutus and head to music dress rehearsal.  deliver oils and visit with Tara while Coop is at music.  pick up the coopster and race to end-of-season soccer party.  an entire league crammed into a frozen custard joint- just how I was hoping to end my run-around day!  got three ice cream cones and one trophy and came home to find jammies, read, brush teeth and throw them in bed. 

my house looks as though it was simply a transition zone today and I’m pretty sure that aside from breakfast there was no actual meal prepared all day.  I’m surely grateful my husband does not base his love for me on the condition of home or food because today I would fail.  a 10-minute pick-up is now in order and then to find something to eat.  I am grateful for many things today but I can’t sit here any more.  there are more interesting posts in my head, really.  perhaps when this week is over I’ll be coherent enough to spit them out.  until then, I’m grateful for the end of crazy days and a peaceful place to crash.

recharging.

we had a wonderful, busy week with grandma and grandpa robinson last week.  everyone went to bed exhausted every night, most especially grandpa who busied himself solving electrical and sprinkler mysteries in this crazy yard.  beckham was his little sidekick and did not want to miss a trip to home depot.  grandma and grandpa played board games, pushed kids on swings, played baseball, football, tetherball and cleaned the kitchen regularly.  you can only imagine how much they have been missed the past few days!

yesterday cooper and I finished our undefeated soccer season.  in a league where you’re not supposed to keep score… you try telling that to 6-8-year olds.  we had a really fun little team and a great time although I will be glad not to be giving up two evenings and saturday mornings for a while.  I spent yesterday with some in-depth training on doTerra products and was grateful once again to have this blessing in our lives.  D rode his bike and ran his legs for more than 7 hours in a last big push before tapering for St. George iron in a few weeks.  I was grateful that his recovery time was quick and that he is finding as much satisfaction in oils and supplements as I am.

today we’re taking deep breaths and recharging for one more crazy week before things slow down a little.. hopefully.  we have both a music recital and a dance recital, both of which have dress rehearsals involved as well as the regular weekly class.  and swimming is moving into full gear.  we are involved in fun things and are grateful every day for the opportunities that are ours.

Catching up

Dianna and I went shopping for the kids Saturday morning.  When we returned we discovered the boys’ shaggy mops had been taken care of!  Before:

After:

I came into the kitchen Monday to start breakfast.  It was quiet.  I looked around into the family room to find this:

Seriously, couldn’t have loved it more.  Beckham kept bringing him books and he kept reading.  Loved it on so many levels.

I also found this:

And in case you’ve been hiding under a rock as far as this blog is concerned, you should know that Joete’s Playground is holding it’s Mother’s Day auction this week… beginning tomorrow. 

Go HERE and bid on your favorites… we’ll ship them right to your mama.  Or you.  Let’s be honest. 

What else has been going on?

Grandpa has been working on fix-it projects since he got here… random electrical issues, sprinkler repairs… you know, the stuff that husbands might do if they had time for such things. 

Bex and Senny started swimming lessons today.  We are trying a new teacher.  I think she’ll be good but she’ll have to challenge these two more than she did today.  I’ll be patient.  It was only day one.

Essential Oils class Thursday evening.  I’m excited to share them with a few friends who I know are ready for answers to health issues.

Last week of soccer.  Sure, now that it’s finally warm enough that I don’t freeze at practices and games it’s over.  Ah, well, it will be nice to have our evenings back for a while before swim team kicks in.

And that’s your quick catch-up.  Thanks for tuning in.

monkeys, pieces of thoughts, joete’s this week.

My children turn into monkeys when Grandma and Grandpa are here.  Good grief, you’d think we have never covered table manners at this house.  Hopefully getting back into the weekly routine will normalize their behavior a little.  I have many-a-blog post running through my head, but I am not clear enough right now to give them proper attention. 

Snipets:  the Word of Wisdom.  My understanding of this subject has been lengthened lately and I have many thoughts to explore, mostly how most of my life that commandment has been centered on the things we should avoid rather than the things we should be partaking in.  I am learning more about what we should be doing and it is interesting to me where the church leaders usually place emphasis. 

Swim lessons start this week.  It is not warm enough for me to consider getting in a pool, but I have no reservations telling the kids to jump in, especially when the pool is heated.  Hopefully we can just skip the whole cry-through-the first-lesson situation and get right to the I-love-to-swim part.

My laundry room is being taken over by Joete’s Playground baskets and I want them all!  We have such fun things this year, I hope we have a fantastic turnout on our site and generous bidders.  I am excited for the projects in the works to make some progress with the money we raise this week.  Joete’s board has been working hard to make this great, I love being a part of it.  The auction will run April 13-16 on Joete’s Blog.  Just a few things to finish up tomorrow and we’ll be ready to roll!

Mark Your Calendars…

Sorry, I couldn’t handle Adam Beach’s face smiling way too big at me anymore, time for something new.  Like how fantastic my yard looks!  Husband, please don’t take offense.  If you specialized in lawn care as your profession and had a team of workers helping you out, I’m sure it would look this good all the time, but…  your current occupation is elsewhere and while we love your profession, our poor yard was suffering!  Ignacio and his crew whipped it into shape yesterday and it looks like a dream.  I’m not taking pictures, just trust me. 

Later this morning I’m chatting with fun friends from all across the country about essential oils.  I’m excited about this information and for them to know how to use them in their homes.  Sometimes that’s the hardest part… knowing what to do.  It will be a fun hour, I am looking forward to it.  Let me know if you’d like to join us!

Denten has been so swamped at work that he could use another attorney and still not get caught up.  That doesn’t bode well for how often we’ll be seeing him lately, but being busy is a fantastic problem to have.  He’s currently hunkered down at Buffalo Thunder or somewhere of that sort squeezing actual work in between conferences.  He’ll be home this weekend, hopefully he’ll take it easy for a day or two. 

Grandma and Grandpa Robinson are headed our way tomorrow night… we can’t wait!  I was hoping to have an easy week while they were here but it is jam-packed.  We have so many things going on that we are exhausted every night but all of the current activities are great things that we love doing. 

One of which is Joete’s Playground’s annual Mother’s Day Auction… which is NEXT WEEK!  Mark your calendars, people… April 13-16 is your chance to find amazing, unique gift baskets for all of the women in your life.  Feel free to choose your favorite and I’ll be happy to whisper a secret message to your significant other.  Our gift baskets will be loaded to our site soon and you may be free to bid away!

And now to brush my teeth.  Because no matter how long my list is today, that really should have happened first. 

hung out with these guys last night…

Adam Beach

Danny Glover

Govenor Rhodes of the Gila River Indian Community was honored with the prestigious Wendell Chino Award last night. My husband needed a plus-one for the banquet and wadda-ya-know, he asked me.

Did you know Danny Glover is part choc-taw? Neither did I.

Did you know Sawyer Brown still plays the same stuff they did 15 years ago? It’s true.

Did you know that Adam Beach has the reputation for being the hottest Native to ever hit Hollywood? Oh, yes. Although, let’s count on two hands how many there are…

Good food, Indian humor and old-school entertainment.

Oceanside Half-Ironman

We were walking back toward the car, which was parked a significant distance away, through impossibly narrow walk-ways and way, way too many people navigating the tight and overcrowded space with a precious bike, large bags, a blanket and three children.  Denten looked at me and wondered if we would make it.  I told him, no problem, we had done it three times already today.  I think he was wondering if he would make it considering the 70.3 miles he had already covered today through the water, on his bike and in his running shoes.

Later, back at our landing ground for the weekend, I collapsed on the couch and said, “I feel like I ran a triathlon today.”  To his credit, he said, “you did.”  And it’s kinda true. 

Denten is meticulous the night before a race, making sure all appropriate clothing is clean and laid out and ready to go.  He double checks for clothing changes and equipment needed so that transitions go smoothly.  He spends time scheduling his nutrition and when he’ll need to intake what calories to make sure the day is successful- what he’ll need to carry with him and what he thinks will be available on the course.  During the race he has learned to pace himself, when to push it and when to reserve energy for what’s left to come.  When it gets hard and the thought comes, “why do I do this, again?”  he pushes it away and enjoys the journey, pushing forward and challenging himself.

I am meticulous the night before a race, making sure all appropriate clothing is clean and laid out and ready to go.  I double check for necessary clothing changes so that as 5:30 a.m. chilliness moves to 11:30 warmth we are all dressed appropriately.  The right shoes for everyone are important as is other equipment.  This time around that included beach toys and swimming suits as we were stationed on the beach for much of the race.  I spend time laying out our nutrition seeing as there would normally be two meals and several snacks in between 5:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.  I determine what I need to carry with me and what might be found on the course.  This race provided no access to food, so snack overload was in the bag.  I have learned to pace myself and the cheering crew- sometimes we run to see dad pass by and sometimes we relax and cheer for others while we wait for another dad sighting.   Sometimes we push through the crowd in maddening fashion but if we’ve timed it right we can take our time and enjoy the journey.  If the overwhelming feeling of, “why do I do this, again?” comes, it just takes a step back to take in the electric atmosphere of the race and love the feeling of being there and supporting our dad who worked his tail off in preparation.

We wake up when he does and while we don’t push our bodies quite the same way, we endure all of the hours in whatever elements mother nature happens to provide and frankly it’s exhausting.  But I’d do it again tomorrow.  The toll on me is actually not near what is on the athletes as I passed by one woman saying, “it’s like childbirth.  you say you’ll never do it again then time passes, the bad memories fade and you sign up again.” 

This was a good trial run for us as this was just half the distance that is coming at us both in May and November this year.  Those days, my friends, will be 14 hour-days minimum from when we wake up to when we’re done and home.  He talks about a semi-retirement after this year.  Anyone wanna place bets on that happening??