The Bits: February 24th Through March 31st

Playing catch-up: starting with The Bits!

This is one of those weird, devastating milestones that I think are more likely to happen in a big family that has been living in one place for nearly 10 years: our last "Influential Person" report is done!  All of the boys have done one.  We've had Lionel Messi, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, and now Bill Gates.  Now I'm crying.  Well done, Tommy!

A sample of Josh's fantastic sense of humor discovered on one of his homework assignments.

The four of us were up early and out into the frigid, windy morning for the Rampart Bald For Bucks 5k.  Ben and his buddy Caleb finished together for 4th for the boys, and amazingly, my old lady legs carried me into a 3rd place finish for the "girls" (as my plaque says).  The pro of having only 100 people racing is that you you don't have to be exceptionally fast!  I was also about a minute behind Zac, who really should be a runner.  He has the same easy stride as Ben, and had a great finish time considering that he hasn't run since soccer season.  It was a fun, freezing morning!

Back at the AFA for the men's basketball game versus Utah State...but really to see Luke and the 4th/5th AIES choir open the game with the National Anthem.

We hosted a 2-night Clue-themed group date and it was awesome!  Clue has long been one of Adam and my favorite movies.  I remember seeing it with my family at the Factoria theater and staying to watch it a second time so we could see another ending.  So when we heard one of the missionaries we had over for dinner talking about his "favorite date--a Clue theme date" we were kind of obsessed.  Zac fortunately had friends who were game to give it a go: Becky, Kyrie, Ian, Nathan and Mickey!  The first night we had the kids over to watch the movie, play the board game and receive their invitation to "a dinner party" wherein a "Mr. Boddy will bring to an end a certain long-standing confidential and painful financial liability.  Included in that was their randomly selected character assignment.  Look at the amazing costumes they came up with!  So fantastic!

The second night we played a life-sized game of Clue that Adam and I put together using ideas from the board game, the movie, the internet and our own crazy brains.  What fun!  And so grateful for awesome teens who were willing to come and play! 

This picture really should be in February, since that is when the 2018 Olympic Winter Games occurred, but I forgot to post it and Adam's curling obsession during these Games must be recorded.  I think he related because the team was basically middle-aged dads.  Ha!  His enthusiasm sucked all the boys in, and, more than snowboarding, skiing, skating, any other event, curling was the most watched!

A recent note from Tommy's friend Noella (not this one, a different one) had me laughing out loud over a very important lesson I wish EVERY girl and woman could learn to help them understand how the male brain works and how to improve their relationships with their men.  Tommy brought home a note that said something along the lines of: "Dear Tommy, I am sorry!  I don't want you to be mad.  I'm sorry I was mean to you. You are one of my favorite friends."  When I found it while cleaning out his pockets at the end of the day, I said, "What happened with Noella?!?"  He looked at me and with absolute confusion on his face said, "I have NO idea, Mom!  She just gave me that note, and I don't even know what she's talking about."  I prodded--asking if there had been an event he could remember where she seemed upset, or if it had felt like she was mad, and he said he really didn't think that there was a time that things were weird, everything was the same as it always was.  I laughed and laughed.  This is just one example we've had over the years of boy brain vs. girl brain--ladies, if there is something going on, you've got to just say it, spell it out clearly and kindly, because them boys...they DO NOT notice!  Not because they are mean or don't care, but because they just simply don't pick up cues!

Math humor.

In March, Zac and his long-time girlfriend, Mickey, his first love, broke up.  The had both seen it coming for awhile, and were actually really mature and cool about the whole thing, but it was still hard, and Zac's heart hurt.  Between that and Josh's broken arm (see the ski post), we had some glum boys around our house, so I thought I'd make a special treat to cheer them up.  Good thing this Pinterest fail still tasted delicious, because my version of these cute little Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies turned into one giant cookie with a hide-and-seek Oreo feature!

Blue cast, to match his baby blues.  Also, mama got to be the first to sign it!

For the first week after the break, Josh needed some help with homework as he adjusted to having his dominant right arm casted.  The irony was not lost on us that one of the first assignments he needed help with was cutting and gluing a skeleton!

On March 8th, our family said goodbye to my Uncle Steve.  He was married to my dad's sister, Marianne, until she passed away when I was 12, but following her heartbreaking loss, we stayed close with him and my cousins, JJ and Jordi.  We spent many Thanksgivings together while I was growing up and into my young married life.  He was a man with a zeal for life who never let the Lupus that he was diagnosed with when he was a young man stop him from enjoying it all.  He was so smart and had an incredible sense of humor.  After losing my aunt, he was able to find love again with a wonderful woman, Cathy, and brought my cousin Brooke into the family, too.  So many of my favorite holiday memories include him!  He will be missed by all of us who loved him.

Sunday shadow fun.

With an arm in a cast, Josh stayed with our neighbors during our second ski weekend, so we left him in charge of feeding and letting Ruby out for potty breaks for the one night and day we'd be gone.  Unfortunately, the day we left, Ruby had gotten into a bag of bagels that I had put out to pack for our ski trip, and she had eaten 5 of the 6 bagels.  This was super uncharacteristic of her, she doesn't typically get into things like that!  Over the course of the day, we didn't notice anything unusual (she normally is in and out often during the day), so we left without worry.  It was a nice day, so she was outside from the time we left until Josh fed her dinner and let her out once more, then he put her in our room where she sleeps.  Later, before he went to bed, Josh came home to let her out once more...and she had had doggie diarrhea ALL OVER our bedroom.  Josh let her out and then he and our neighbor, Micah, valiantly tried to clean it (Micah has had his own dog, April, since she was a puppy, so he knows the drill), and then they tucked her back into our room, thinking she was OK.  Well, she was not.  The second mess Josh discovered in the morning, he just let be, since we'd be home that day and he was at a loss for what to do.  When we got home from skiing that evening and saw what happened, the ski day bliss came to an abrupt halt.  I sobbed, told Adam we would never have another dog, and tried to clean the carpets with everything I have in my arsenal.  Adam had pulled a stomach muscle skiing, so he was not much good for helping.  Although I hand scrubbed, then used the small scrubbing wetvac, and then the carpet cleaning feature on the regular vacuum (crying the whole time), it just didn't feel clean.  I think the boys thought I had lost my mind.  I basically wanted to tear the carpet out that instant.  Adam brought me back to earth, put down tarps and told me we'd call carpet cleaners in the morning.  Oh, Ruby....  Look at that smile!  How could we stay mad for long?!  Although I'm not over it enough yet to think we will ever have another dog.

The trees and I are giving up on winter.  It was a bummer of a winter.

Scrolling through our shared Apple Music account and seeing my children's music choices makes me feel like I did something right along the way.

I had the awesome opportunity to long-term sub during the month of March for one of the paraprofessionals at AIES.  It was so fun working with kids and teachers I love in a familiar place!  I barely ever saw Luke, but I crossed paths with Tommy a couple of times a day.

3.14: Pi-School-Science-Daze-National-School-Walkout-Start-of-Book-Fair-Dental-Check-up Day!

Hooray!  Zac was selected to be a part of the district's new Cybersecurity pathway program for next year.  He will spend every other day at the new D20 Learning and Innovation center taking a half-day block of classes based around cybersecurity, plus he will earn college credit.  This is right in line with one of his main career interests, and will get him kicked off in the right direction.  Best of all, he is so excited about all that he will learn!

Black Panther with my younger squad: so good!

Line dancing is hard for the rookie like me, but it's awfully fun when surrounded by friends!  I had a great night celebrating my friend Alexia's birthday at The Whiskey Barron Dance Hall and Saloon, even if I looked like an uncoordinated weirdo and have a cyborg eye in the picture with the birthday girl.

When Adam and I went to bed the night before St. Pat's, we realized that no one had set a leprechaun trap this year.  GASP!  I have convinced myself that this was because the house was in upheaval due to having the carpet cleaners come, rather than because my kids are growing out of that phase.  Fortunately for the boys, Adam likes his once-annual bowl of Lucky Charms, too, so when he dropped Ben off for an early track meet bus, he swung by the grocery store, grabbed a box and staged a sprung trap in the backyard with the cereal inside before the rest of the family woke up.  Dad for the win!

Track season has begun!  In his first varsity meet, Ben ran leg 3 of the 4 x 800, his team finishing 2nd for the meet, and the mile, with a time of 4:51.63.  He was home sick on Wednesday and Thursday of the same week, so I was glad to see him out there crushing it anyhow.

Saint Patrick's Day dinner: Irish beef stew, bread twists topped with Dublin cheddar, and the best, yummiest chocolate-Guinness cupcakes with chocolate-Irish Whiskey ganache filling, topped with an Irish Cream buttercream frosting cupcakes.  Delish!

Ben's book list.

 

Snow.  Because Spring Break starts tomorrow.

March is just simply so busy, and this year, adding in work made it especially so.  The last day of school before Spring Break included: work, making a meal for the middle school conference dinner, packing for the Spring Break road trip, hosting the elementary school PTO conference dinner for the teachers, having our night when the Book Fair stays open late, and attending (great) conferences for Josh, Ben and Zac.  Whew!  Luke's and Tommy's were thankfully the next day.  It's days like this that make me feel like Super Mom and so extra thankful for my amazing tribe: my family, my PTO mates and all the great people who show up and do the things despite their own busy lives!

Ben turned 15 seven months ago, and it took some serious arm twisting to convince the kid that he wanted to get his driver's permit.  We actually had to set a Spring Break deadline for him!  He finally gave in, and just like that--we have two teen drivers.  Congrats, Benny!

First drive!

Two Ski Days at Copper and Our Second Conlin Broken Bone

Last year, Adam and I discussed teaching Tommy to ski this winter, rather than waiting for him to get the 5th grade ski-free pass like his brothers have all had to do, so that we could have a couple of winters of skiing as a family before Zac graduated.  In March, we planned 2 days of skiing to use up our lift passes, get Luke more comfortable and confident since his lesson after Christmas, and to get Tommy started.

Up we went the first weekend of March, planning on staying at the Simonds' lodge for two nights and two days of skiing at Copper Mountain.

Our first ski day as a family (plus Micah, who is basically ours) was wonderful!  Tommy took to skiing really quickly, and was soon zipping down the slopes faster than his more cautious brother, Luke.  Adam and I stuck with the little boys for the morning on the easy runs while the older boys did their thing, and then we all met up for lunch and took a run together.  I had asked the older boys for just one family run, but when we were down, they all said, "Which should we do next?"  It made me so glad that they were happy to stick together!  It was so fantastic.  Skiing with my whole family: a little dream come true!

And then it wasn't.  We were taking one of our last runs of the day around 3:30pm (the lifts close at 4) off the lift that takes you to the top of a terrain park.  Luke, Tommy and I had gone down the 13' pipe and were waiting for the brothers, who were on one of the chairs behind us, to come down, but they weren't coming.  We waited and waited....  Then we saw a telltale orange helmet on someone high above us, riding the lift back down: Josh.  Not a good sign!  Zac, Ben and Micah came down to us and told us that Josh had taken a funky fall just after he got off the lift, had caught himself awkwardly, and hurt his wrist.  Adam speed-skied to the bottom to meet Josh and take him to Ski Patrol, while the rest of us finished off the last run of the day and went to get our things.  Valerie drove up from the lodge to pick up the other boys, while I went to the clinic where they had taken Josh.

After a long wait at the clinic, we had results.  Josh's wrist was broken, a nice clean "slip" break through his radius on his right arm.  The clinic at Copper was a really great, and we appreciated the good care they took of us, even though the wait was long.  The staff was pleasant, positive and chill, just like you'd expect from a crew of docs, nurses and aides at a ski resort, and, thanks to adrenaline, Josh was in good spirits.  They said that day had to be a clinic record for broken wrists.  There was a Big Air competition on the mountain that day, so....  We had x-rays and instructions to get the wrist casted after the swelling went down back in The Springs.  Poor Josh!!  Needless to say, we didn't take our second planned day of skiing, but headed home instead.  We still had to use up our passes, so we made plans to go up the following weekend.  Josh would be able to stay with the Simonds back at home.  Luckily, it's only the second time one of our boys has had a broken bone, the first being Tommy's broken collar bone when he was 14 months.

Ski day two was also wonderful, although we missed Josh a bunch.  There had been a couple of inches of fresh snow overnight, and it snowed off and on throughout the day, which makes for great skiing.  Both little boys had their one "I can't do this anymore" run early on, but then turned it around to make for a nice day of skiing.  In the afternoon, Tommy insisted on trying his first black diamond, Rattler, which he sideways-slid-traverse-skied down in the most inglorious way possible, tangling with me so badly at one point that I was pretty sure we were just going to have to set up camp and live there, halfway down Rattler, forever.  I was grateful for Zac and Ben that helped me help him slowly make his way down.  The older boys had great suggestions for new green and easy blue runs to try, and the younger two enjoyed trying out new areas of the mountain, having stuck to just a couple of lifts the weekend before.  This time, the only injury was when Adam pulled a stomach muscle going off a jump--but a little ibuprofen helped him finish off the day.

I love these special adventures with my family and cannot wait until next year!