Dance Wars...or....Competition season has begun

First competition was this last weekend and we are so tired! Solos were on Friday night. Crazygirl, who gave up dancing on a team this year to pursue her dream of having soccer balls kicked at her face at warp speeds as team goalie got 3rd (yea!!!!). Dancingqueen and Bug both got queen and qualified for nationals in May (yea!!!)
I'm not sure where Bug was in this picture, probably trying to lug her trophy around to anyone who would look at it. Notice the size of it in Dancingqueen's arms? The thing is 3/4's Bug's heighth! This picture is taken around 11:15 pm by the way. And yes, we had to be back by 9 am the next morning for the team competition. See the cute tiara? Bug wanted to wear it to church today. I vetoed that, since the 4 sisters were the musical number for sacrament meeting. :)
All I asked for was for Bug to say cheese for the camera, during a break between dances. I think she is a natural born ham.
Here's Bug with her participation trophy for the team events. She is actually more excited about the granola bar she got from her teacher, and wouldn't put it down for the picture.

The Cathedral

I got this story from a friend, I have no idea who wrote it, but I loved it immediately! This one is for all of the moms and dads out there!
The Cathedral
"It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible; 'The Invisible Mom.'Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride..I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women."

Happy Birthday Crazygirl!

You've been making us jump for joy, while turning our world upside down for 11 years now....and we wouldn't have it any other way! We love you Crazygirl!

Go speed Racer

while in California, we all got to play on cousin's go cart that he got for Christmas.
Even Grandma!

After ripping up and down the street over and over on the go cart, crazygirl took excitement to the next level on Bud's bike.

Hoppy Easter!!!!!

The obligatory Easter picture on the front steps...if you look closely you will notice that Bug's mouth is already blue, due to the fact that I forgot to take the picture BEFORE church and she got a blue lollipop in Primary. I think of it as accesorizing to match the blue in her dress. I have to think outside of the box like that, or I would go insane in my quest to have everyone clean and presentable all at the same time.
And here is the real picture... after posing for the first couple of pictures I had a request from them for a diva shot.

And this would be our reality. Yes, behind closed doors, when no one is looking, we run around with Easter buckets on our heads. See the things that are brought to light when you read our family blog?

Happy Easter everyone!

3 men and a teacup

somewhere, a long time ago, for no sane reason a tradition was born. One in which the boys try to fit into tiny rides TOGETHER and we gather round to take pictures. Actually, the first time, the picture taking was a fluke. I believe they honestly thought they could fit together into the dragon roller coaster ride. They left having ridden the ride as single riders and with no dignity, but lots of pictures for posterity. It has now become a tradition of sorts, for daddy and brother in laws to entertain us with their attempts to find the tiniest rides possible that they can ride together. The poor teacup operator, He kept trying to tell them " I do not think this is a good idea, you will throw off the balance of the ride....this will not work." well duh...we KNEW THAT! So, once again, after the photo they all had their own teacups. Nothing says manly like a pastel teacup on a spring day!!! Love you guys!
This picture is slightly blurry, because the ride is going so fast, but I love the look on Crazygirl's face. behind is cousin and then dancingqueen.
Here's dramaqueen with 2 of her cousins. It was so fun to see everyone, and we were loving the warm weather of California. It has been so long since we have seen green grass!!!
Just think, in 2 1/2 years this will be our reality....if only we could keep them driving on little tracks, and if only the boys in her car were always only 18 months old...
Here's Bug and Bud. She loves her cousins! Too bad the majority of them are in California and Arizona.
We had such a great trip. Keep checking back for pictures of speed racers and the baptism!

Leprechaun kisses for you

Bug was getting ready for dance class and had to wear her black shorts with the green polka dots in honor of St. Patty's day. Here's wishing everyone a happy, pinch free St. Patrick's day!

Weak Stomachs please go about your daily business and ignore this post

Some blogs are about rainbows and butterflies...ours is about our family, and we are all about keepin it real, folks. Sorry to all of you who were trying to eat something while playing on the computer, but I did warn you in the title!!!! This is poor Bug's big toe about 10 seconds before she FINALLY lost the toenail (thanks to a little help from daddy). The thing has been hanging on for 2 weeks now. Word of warning...it's never really a good idea to run barefoot in a church gym on Saturday mornings when there are swinging doors leading out to the foyer. "nuff said? I debated about blogging this, but this is my only version of family journalling right now, and this was definitely a moment for us...the whole family was gathered around to see her lose it, Crazygirl had the bandaid ready, Dancingqueen had the tissues for tears and snot and Dramaqueen had the moral support going. And of course mommy had the camera and lack of circulation from Bug holding on so tight. It was truly a team effort!

Crazygirl can see now!

Crazygirl finally got her glasses. She is so excited to see. I thought it would be a pretty weak prescription, but I held them up and everything went blurry for me. Wow!
This picture was taken right after her indoor soccer game. She was voted team captain tonight. She played forward and goalie. There was a 2 minute time frame in there where she had 9 attempts on goal and she blocked them all. Nice! They are an all girl team, actually it's her competition team playing an off season to keep fresh. They played a team of all boys and 2 girls. We won 2-1. The games are getting a lot more fun to watch now that they are getting older and scrappier!

Dilating, Dancing, Disease and Dad, a Leap Day Drama

Crazygirl had to go to the eye doctor this morning and found out she was getting glasses. She had to get her eyes dilated, and wear these silly sunglasses that stick to your face for 4 hours. (although it took much, much longer for her eyes to return to normal). She thought it was pretty cool....at first
SO to kill time, we met our good friends at Classic Skate to hang out. Here is Dancingqueen on DDR with Crush. Yes, THAT Crush. the one that induced the trampoline jumping in previous posts.
Alas, three hours into it, wearing the glasses has now become dumb. But, unfortunatly, light was still killing her eyes, so she kept having to put them back on.
And the disease...Bug has a pretty good cold, which decided to manifest itself while at Classic skate into a full blown fevered state. Nice. This was her until a High School Musical song came on, then she jumped up, shaking her arms and skated, then came back and went right back to this position. Needless to say, we left rather quickly after this.

The best part of Leap Day was that Daddy came home from St. Louis that night...yea!!!!!