Butt Busters!

For the record,

there is no way in heck

I would run at top speed toward something waist high

and then attempt to jump over it!

I have so much respect for those

who can hurdle!

Michael tried it for the first time a few days ago

and while he jumps a bit unconventionally,

he does clear the hurdles with ease.

And he actually LIKES doing it!

Yes, he is my son,

but I don't know where this gene came from!

Michael came in third in the 8th grade hurdles.

Madison and I held our breath the whole time.

We were afraid that he'd trip on one of them,

and we'd have to embarrass him by

frantically running onto the track to pick gravel out of his face!

But he flew over them like they were nothing.

Thankfully he remained gravel free all afternoon.

It was so fun to watch!

Michael also ran the boy's relay.

Here his team is strategizing over how they were going to run it.

It is a very strong team and

Michael ran the second leg of it.

His adrenaline kicked in

and he was able to give the third guy a nice lead.

I just love watching this boy run!

Love. It.

Michael's team came in first for the relay,

and Michael was so pumped!

He had told me earlier that he was not going to be running

the 200 like he had planned.

Some of you know that he fell in the hallway at school

a few weeks back and bruised/cracked his tailbone.

It kept him out of track for a week and a half,

and caused him to miss the first meet,

but he finally went back to practice and ran

a bit last Friday.

He still has alot of pain, but is able to push through it

most of the time.

When they called for the 200,

I saw him line up for it

and thought that he must have a boost in confidence

after that relay win

and maybe wasn't having as much pain as he thought he would.

He came in forth, but I could see that he wasn't really pushing it.

When I could see his face, I could tell that he was in alot of pain.

When he was showed his time,

I heard him say,

"That stinks! I couldn't run my best!"

As soon as the timer left, he went to his knees

and crawled to the sideline.

He was in so much pain!

Poor guy!

His coach brought him a bag of ice to sit on.

Madison ran right over to make sure he was OK.

I love seeing that sibling love in the middle of all the

"Michael SHUT-UP!"

and "Madison, you are so annoying"

rants that we get daily!

In classic Michael style,

he still manages a smile my way.

Gosh, I love him.

Ice-sitting.

It's not for whimps!

Michael's good friend,

(and a regular at our house)

Darien tried to comfort him.

Michael says it was on Darien's

"Come on man, you can do this

and you will score some points for us"

post-relay win cheers

that Michael decided he would run the 200.

So naturally Darien was the one to make sure Michael

got the ice bag immediately

and he sat with him until

Michael could get up.

Yeee-ouch!

If you know the pain of a bruised/cracked tailbone,

you can surely sympathize with this face!

After about 20 minutes,

and a sufficienty frozen derriere,

Michael was able to get up.

I'm so proud of the job he did!

He put his all into it despite being injured

and really did well without all engines firing.

He's a rock star, that boy.

American Idol top Five!

Last night was Rat Pack night!!!

I always enjoy this evening because

it comes with really great wardrobe!

Everyone looked so nice and

dare I say debonair?

We are getting down to it now and

it's getting harder and harder for me to choose favorites.

So, I will say that my favorite of the night was

Jamie Foxx.

After seeing him like this though,

It is super hard to get used to him like this.....

I kept waiting for him to purse out his lips

and cross his eyes!

I am still mad at him over his ridiculous new song

"Blame it on the al-al-al-al-alcohol"

but,

I really enjoyed Jamie's mentoring style

and I agree with Simon who said

that Jamie was pulling really great things out of the contestants

tonight.

Now, on with the show!

1. Kris:

"The Way You Look Tonight".

I love this song because of this.......

I know, right? How romantic is that?

Kris's performance tonight is now another reason

why I love that song!

He was amazing! I got major goosebumps and I agree

with the judges that this was his best to date!

I'm thinking he might overtake my boy Danny.

Gasp! I know, I know, it would be a bitter sweet

night, but there is no denying that Kris is hot on the heels

of both front runners Adam and Danny.

2. Allison.

"Someone to Watch Over Me".

You know how you hear those throaty, sexy songs sometimes

in shows like Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice

during particularly tender moments?

Well, Allison's version of this song belongs in a show like that.

I really loved it!

I thought she was at her best tonight

and I'm definitely a new fan.

I haven't loved her up until now,

but I'm afraid I may be a little bit too late.

With her track record, I'm afraid she'll be in danger

even though tonights performance was awesome.

3. Matt:

"My Funny Valentine"

Matt was definitely in his element tonight.

You can tell he loves this genre and he did great with his song.

I'm glad he took Jamie's advice and held that one strong note.

I liked it, but I just didn't get goosebumps,

and at this stage in the game,

I needed goosebumps.

4. Danny:

"Come Rain or Come Shine"

Man, that boy can wail, can't he???

I agree with I think it was Randy who said

that he could have an album of songs like this

and be really successful with it.

He did have that confident swaggar and

his performance was very strong.

5. Adam:

"Feeling Good"

Um....WOW!!!!!!

I really have no words!

But let me try to find some.

Adam is like a rebellious teenager that drives you insane.

Even if you don't particularly like him,

you just have to love him!

His not so inner drama king was out in full force

tonight as he sauntered down that red lit staircase,

and his entire performance teetered right on the

line of over the top indulgence and absolute brilliance.

But, nonetheless, like Cara,

I was left sitting there on my red couch

mouth open,

eyes wide,

wondering why this boy has gone unnoticed

until American Idol!

Strongest of the night.....

I'm gonna have to say Kris

just because there are some who might be afraid of Adam's

broadway-esque prowess.

In danger tonight....

It's really unfair, but if I had to name two

it would be Allison and Matt.

So, do you agree with me?

Feeling Dandy!

The girls came bursting through the front door a few days ago

with handfuls of dandelions that they had picked for me

at the neighborhood park.

They were so excited to hand me

their treasured bouquets.

I "oooohed and ahhhed" with them over their gift.

I snapped some photos of Bren and her friend

and the evidence of Spring

that they held in their

excited little fists.

But later I got to thinking about the dandelion plant.

Who would think that these bright yellow flowers

were considered weeds and that many a homeowner

had waged war against them?

They are so pretty!

Raising their sunny faces to the blue Spring sky,

these flowers are enchanting to those who

enjoy their distinctive pop of color after a very grey winter.

Soon these blooms will give way to white puff balls,
laden with feathery winged seeds.

More magic and giggles can be found then!
How fun it is to watch the seeds take flight
on your own breath!



It is in this joy, that the dandelion weed is spread.
And boy does it spread!
With the help of the spring time breeze
{and the huffs and puffs of many enchanted little ones}
a few dandelion plants can be transformed
to take over an entire neighborhood!


What if we thought of our actions as being like
the seeds of the dandelion plant.
Whirling and swirling throughout our days,
weeks and months
the seeds of our actions ascending.
Their flight taking affect even farther than we can imagine.
What if we stopped waging war against
the seeds of physical human connectedness?
Against the seeds of feeling out of our own comfort zone?
Against reaching out and being available to someone else?
Maybe even someone a bit undesireable?
In a world of instant connectedness through
facebook, twitter and texting,
why is it that we are still so disconnected
in deeper ways?





One little act of kindness.
One encouraging conversation.
One sincere smile.
One sympathetic hug.
One unsolicited act of assistance.
One gesture of selflessness.
Taking flight, implanting in one soul
and growing there
until a blossom forms and
the process is begun again.


What if it started with me.
With you.
What if you had the power to change
the place where you live?
Your home.
Your town.
Just by simply treating others
with the same kindness that you would
want to be treated with?
Going beyond the expected
and doing the unexpected.


And what if that simple attitude
took flight and grew?
What if that attitude spread like
dandelions in your world?
Wouldn't you want to live in a place like that?
I sure would!
So what do you say?
Are you feeling Dandy?

Party in the Park

When we first moved here last Spring

and I found this park,

I thought it would be the perfect place

for a birthday party.

I remember saying, "It's too bad

that we can't count on the weather in

April because I'd love to have

Bren's birthday party here next year."

Well, here we are a year later,

and I'm so glad we took the chance

and booked this room for Bren's party.

We gambled with the weather,

and it turned out to be in our favor.

We couldn't have asked for a better day!

We invited Bren's entire class of 22

and a few friends outside of school.

18 Kindergarteners plus parents and

a few siblings came out to help us celebrate!

Everyone had such a great time!

The kids enjoyed playing on the playground

equipment the most.

It was hard to drag them away for

my relay races.

But a little more than half of them

came over for a few relays.

They balanced plastic jungle animals on

spoons and raced each other.

Most of the time though,

they just ran from playground to party room.

We had Madagascar 2 playing in the party room

as well as a station set up to make

little bracelets with wild animal beads.

Of course we had to have a pinata!

Bren was the most excited about this!

After the pinata,

we went inside for pizza, cake, ice cream and

present opening.

This was Bren's first ever birthday party

where she's gotten to invite all of her friends.

Every year since she was three years old,

we have moved in April.

Because of that, she associates birthdays with moving.

When some of her friends had birthdays earlier this year,

she was very concerned that they were moving.

She also asked me several times if

we were moving since it was her birthday.

Bren will get to have two more birthdays

here in Washington before we move again.

I'm so glad she was able to experience her own

full blown birthday party!

We also had our own little family celebration

on her actual birthday day.

I got a few cute shots from that,

so I thought I'd share them too.

Thanks to everyone who has

watched her grow along with us over the life of my blog.

Your sweet comments about her over the

past two years have brought us alot of joy.

I have the best blog readers ever!!