7th-circle game

 While browsing the games section in anticipation of family arriving for Spring Break/General Conference, I noticed a game that we will never own in our home.

During a particularly difficult time after Caden passed away, Randy and I played this game.  Let's just say, Randy did something that was totally against the rules and argued with me pretty heatedly about it.  I was so mad, I packed up the game before a winner could be announced and literally drove it back to Jamie's house right then.  I was so mad, in fact, that I was literally thinking and praying on the way home, "Heavenly Father, please don't let my anger end in divorce."  I can laugh about it now, me being so mad over a game that I literally thought my anger would lead me down a scary path, but it was real.  Emotions and thoughts are dark and ugly sometimes when you are drowning in grief.

As I walked down the aisle, I literally felt myself shy away from this game.  Get thee hence, Satan!!  My eye was drawn to the price reduction.  $29.99 to $10.00.  I thought, "You couldn't pay me to take that game!!"  Then my eyes registered what I was seeing!!!  That white price tag is from another store: Craft Warehouse!!!  What the heck is Walmart doing selling a game from another store?!  Just one more reason I wouldn't buy that game!  As if I needed another reason:)

p.s.  I wonder if I need therapy for my competitive game nature?  I know I am ridiculous, as I have swept games off the table in rage and literally wondered if a game would lead to divorce, but my feelings are real.  Granted, I was out-of-my-mind with grief, but is that a strong enough excuse for my thoughts?  If I ever have thoughts such as these again, I'll sweep the game or drive it back to its true owner and call a psychologist directly after, I promise.  Please continue to be my friend...

Colors of the wind

 There are many things I miss about Casper, Wyoming, but the wind is not one of them.  I remember being excited to move away from the wind and instantly disappointed that wind was almost as bad during the Winter and Spring months here.  Although we had wind storms in Casper, one thing I don't remember often was wind storms that bring so much dust that you cannot see a "mountain" that is just 1/4 mile behind your house.

This is the second storm like this in my memory where we literally watched the wall of dust roll over and then mask the mountain.  Super glad we were able to stay indoors!

Light

Before Sacrament meeting began yesterday, one of my Nursery kids from years ago, Ella Barrow, brought me a picture.  I couldn't resist, I had to give her a hug.  I LOVE that my Nursery kids still love me as much as I love them.  I will never tire of their gifts and hugs.  They are still bringing light to my life.
 

Adventures

 I love it when someone else offers an adventure for your kids that they wouldn't have been able to do with you.

Cameron and Jamie own some pretty awesome electric bikes.  He called and asked if Shelby and Brennon could ride with him and his kids to DQ yesterday afternoon.  How fun is that?  They had a blast!!  We are so blessed in our friendships!

Mask?!

 Having made it to the entrance of Walmart, I realized that I had forgotten my mask in the car.  I was about to turn back to go grab it when Randy asked if they had any extra.  They did... luckily?...

  I had never seen anything like it.  People kept giving me the weirdest looks through the entire store.  I don't blame them.  When I got home, I set it down on the counter and gasped.  Doesn't it look like a pair of postpartum panties?  I cringed realizing that that had been on my face.  Lesson learned-- go back for your own mask if you forget yours in the car at Walmart!!

Mail

I LOVE getting mail!

 

Orange Shelby

 Shelby was inspired on Saturday.  She joined us for her free class today.  Love that the four names on the board belong to our family!  Brennon cannot wait until he turns 14, the minimum age they'll allow kids to join.  One day, I hope to have the entire family join a class!  For now, I'll enjoy looking down the row and seeing my Mister and both girls working hard to be healthy.

Walks

 Just a boy, walking his dog on a beautiful Spring morning.  Perfectly adorable!

Games

 Just a boy, playing family games.  It's so funny when I catch my boys doing this.  They both do.  Cuties.

Dri-Tri 2021

 The kids and I got to go watch something incredibly inspiring today!  Randy competed in a challenge at Orange Theory known as Dri-Tri.  2,000m of rowing, 300 bodyweight exercises on the floor, and 3.1 miles on the treadmill as fast as he could do it.  When he signed up, I asked if kids could come.  One coach said they weren't doing that this year.  But I couldn't take no for an answer, so I asked the Head Coach of our location and he said yes!  I feel no shame because I needed my kids to support their Dad and cheer him on while he was busting it!

I love that you can see him, front and center.

Between 2,000m row and 3.1-mile run:

40 hop-overs (hands on the bench, hopping over from side to side as fast as you can)

20 step-ups, each leg

20 squats, the butt has to touch the bench

20 push-ups

20 plank-jacks (forearm plank, jumping your legs out wide and back in)

10 burpees

REPEAT as fast as you can.

Right before he finished, his heart rate hit 111% of his max heart rate.  I've never seen it so high, not even when he was 50 pounds heavier in his first class.

STATS:

First Dri-Tri

51 minutes

6th to finish

One year ago, almost to the exact day, Randy and I went out for our first run outdoors.  It was Randy's first outdoor run ever.  We barely made 3 miles in 40 minutes.  Since that run, Randy's run multiple 13.1-mile "races," getting from 3-miles to 13.1 miles in four months.  And here he is, 1 year later, during a worldwide Pandemic, doing ALL OF THAT in 51-minutes.

His words the second we walk in the door:

"I know my benchmark.  I'm going to do that every time they offer it.  I'm going to do better."

There's no doubt in my mind, Mister.  No doubt in my mind.

When Tieler, our coach and the one holding the sign, saw me on Monday, she pulled me aside to tell me that she choked up and couldn't talk when we all rushed in to cheer him on his last .3-mile.  "I'm glad others were there, because I lost my voice watching his kids watching their Dad."  And THAT'S why I went over Raul's head.  Because my kids needed to watch their Dad KILL IT!

I told Randy I planned to find a place to showcase the medal.  Jokingly, he placed it here.  And just like that, a home is found.  I do think it will move to the left of the BLESSED sign.  This wall does represent my joy after all.

Mommy Bird

 My Mommy Bird came back yesterday to get things ready.  I felt guilt for taking away her safe haven.  I know why we took out the grapes, but it doesn't make it any easier seeing her come back to nothing.  I'm sorry, Mommy Bird!  When it comes to you and my Mira, I'll choose Mira every time.

Curly Cuties

 I got a new hair tool yesterday that makes curling your hair SO easy.  You lay a piece of hair across the top, press a button that swirls the hair around the wand in the direction the button says, and then you wait till it beeps and pull the wand away.  Ta-Da, ringlet.  No more holding my hands above my head and counting!  It takes less than 5-minutes to curl my hair.  

I called Shelby in to curl her hair before Mutual, and Keilie ended up wanting to try it too.  I LOVE that we all have our hair curled the same, even though you can't tell as well on my hair.  My goodness, I have the most gorgeous girls!  I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Grape Vines

 Because of the mess the grapes leave behind each year, even though we spend hours trying to take care of them come November, we sort of got tired of them faster than we thought we would.  I LOVE the shade the leaves provide during the summer, love that those same leaves give protection to a mommy bird that comes back year after year and has multiple baby birds, and I love the smell of the grapes come Fall, but the mess just wasn't worth all that.  Then we find out that grapes are actually toxic to dogs and can lead to death, and those grapevines didn't stand a chance for even another weekend.  While I was in Seattle with Ashlee at the first of the month, Randy got to work cutting down and ripping out the vines.

With the vines and leftover grapes (that fed birds during the winter) gone, Randy borrowed a power washer to clean both the cement and the pergola.  We knew it was bad, but we didn't realize just how bad!

See how black the cement got?  I love that he tried to power wash me a heart!

I'll miss the leaves and shade, but not much else.  Seeing it so clean and bright makes me want outdoor furniture.  Alas, budget year...

Classroom

I LOVE that this is what our classroom looks like every once in a while.  I wanted to stay warm and cozy, so he joined me for some Spanish in my room.  Awesome!
 

Braces... off?

 

Before

After...ish

He was supposed to get them all of today.  But one of the bottom teeth came in slightly behind the others, so they bonded a bracket to it and gave him another seven weeks for the bottoms.  He didn't care much, because they took out the expander that filled the roof of his mouth and took off the top brackets.   Exactly five minutes after we got home, he'd already pulled out one of the three teeth that were loose.  One down, two to go, plus seven more weeks.  He doesn't mind.

 Cutie

License Plate

 While driving home from Ashlee's today, I pulled up behind a truck about a mile from our exit and nearly choked after my gasp.

As I was pulling up close, I giggled that the only thing clean on the truck was the plate.  When I got closer, I couldn't believe my eyes.  The license plate reads, DIRKS.  They got off on our exit, too!  I'd heard that there were more Dirks here, have even seen the name on receipts in the HOLD section of the library as I was picking up my own books, but nothing like this.  Wonder if we should 1-up them with a Dirks+1.  Just neat.  My eyes are always drawn to license plates, but I've never found more enjoyment in them as I did at that moment.

Spa treatment

 Everly and Aria love playing Spa.  Aria asked if she could paint my nails (it has been four months since I've nibbled on my nails.  I am so proud of myself!), and Everly asked if she could do my hair at the same time while she waited to paint my toe nails.

This is the life!

It didn't take long for things to get a little out of hand with Everly.  She'd almost go into a trance for a second and forget that she was painting toes, not canvas.

I had to tell her no multiple times, tell her to stay on the nails, then I threatened, then I had to get forceful and tell her to stop.  With lightning-quick reflexes, she dipped the brush one more time and whipped it over to get one more swipe.  The forceful tone was not enough, it took me actually grabbing it from her cute little hands.  The stinker.

Grabbing a paper towel, "Aunt Steph, you're not supposed to have paint on your skin," she begins wiping with fervor.  I had to giggle.  Aria hadn't been paying attention to her painting, so when she saw my toes, she gasped.  "Aunt Steph!  You need to get in the bath to get that off your skin!"  Apparently, you're not supposed to have polish on the skin.  Who knew?

Everly also taught me that these are not squirrels, but "Mip-chunks."  I learned a whole lot while I was with them this weekend!

Honor

 The moment I received this text

I couldn't help being grateful again that covid "forced" us into homeschool.  She has done better this year than any other, with FAR LESS stress than ever before.  LOVE THIS!!!!!  I truly wish she'd consider doing it for one more year, as Tyson and Brennon have decided, but she's too excited about high school.  I don't blame her, I would just love to have her as stress-free and succeeding as she is this year!

Spring Surprises

 While out and about, one of Shelby's friends dropped me by a little gift.

My heart!

Smiley

Mira got called up on the couch

and couldn't be happier with the situation.

We just love her to bits.