WYATT is for WaY Awesome Totally Terrific

My oldest son Wyatt is such an awesome kid. I've felt a little guilty lately because he hasn't been the subject of a post yet, but it's not because he's less loved or anything like that (though some days he does make me want to tear my hair out). Wyatt's favorite thing, besides teasing his siblings, is sports. All sports. When he's not talking about sports, he's drawing pictures about them. They usually feature him in a uniform bearing the BYU logo, versus one of his siblings or buddies in a uniform bearing the UofU logo. I try to tell him that's backwards, but it seems his father has brainwashed him into believing otherwise. About every other day or so he's asking if I can sign him up for football, basketball, karate, wrestling, etc. I told him he can't wrestle until they get rid of those gross one-piece spandex uniform things that show all the- well, you know. Anyways, Wyatt was super excited when baseball season came around. He is on the Indians team with his best buddy Hunter, which might not be so fun for the coaches, because those two together are goof-offs. It's a good thing the coaches are Hunter's dad and Wyatt's dad!! The first game of the season was Wednesday. Wyatt was all ready for the game two hours early, and could hardly wait for Zane to get home from work. He had on new baseball pants and cleats, and was sporting a brand new lefty mitt that is genuine leather. Zane said he'd be able to catch way better with that than with his fake leather mitt from last year, though I think that's just a dad talking that would like to relive his childhood through his kid. During the game, Wyatt was all business. He was lookin' alive and ready for anything out on the field, and assumed the "ready" pose at all times. The funniest part of the game was when Wyatt got a hit and started running to first base, then abruptly stopped halfway there. He tore off his batting helmet and threw it back to home plate, and barely made it to the base before the ball got there. I'm not sure why he did it; maybe it stunk from all the little boy sweat that had been accumulating in it. Over all, he did a great job and played well, and I was very proud of him. It's looking like it'll be a great season, and then we'll be back to begging for football, basketball, karate, etc. I'm sure Wyatt will go pro in one of them someday, and if not, maybe he'll make it big drawing sports cartoons for the New York Times. Either way, he sure is one way awesome totally terrific kid!

Catching Up

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, but I've had a lot going on lately, so I'm writing this post to catch up. I also have a few thoughts I need to get off my chest. I'll start with Mother's day- it was a great day for me, but I was more excited for my Mom this year. It all started with a cadbury cream egg this easter- I was eating one at my mom's and she commented that she loves those things (who doesn't, with all the creamy, fattening goodness oozing in the inside. Whoever says they don't like them is totally lying). Anyways, I got to thinking that's where I got my love of them from, as well as my love of just about every treat that I like. My mom used to hide chocolate licorice in her underwear drawer, and so do I. We also used to love to stop at the Hostess store and get lemon pies. The list goes on, but I'll get to the point. After reminiscing about all the things I remember my mother loving when I was younger, I decided to do a Mom's Favorite Things basket- you know, kind of like Oprah's Favorite Things, except without the car. Anyways, I asked my siblings to help me think of all the things mom loved so I could put them in a basket for her gift. I got all her favorite treats, and a few of the things she loves most, like a purse and gift cards to her favorite places to shop and eat. I made a card and typed a list of my favorite things about my mother. I was so excited to give it to her I could hardly wait- and I was desperate to get the darn thing off my counter before I ate all the treats in it. Anyways, I wanted her to really like it because she does a lot for me, and I think she did. I love you, Mom- you're great.

Next on my list is Alivia's birthday. She turned 10 this year, and I feel really old having a kid in the double digits. We went to Fat Cats to bowl with the family, but she wanted a friend party- and not just any party, but a slumber party! I don't usually do big parties, but decided this was a milestone birthday, so I gave in. Every girl needs to have a true slumber party once in her life, and every mother needs the experience of hosting one. Her list of friends was big, but we couldn't really shorten it, so I geared up for the coming craziness. And with 12 girls plus Alivia, it was just that. I'm not complaining, because it actually was a lot of fun. We played games and had a dance and karoake party, then watched a movie until late. The giggling didn't stop until after midnight, but I didn't really mind. It brought back memories of sleep-overs when I was young, and I found myself participating more than Alivia probably wanted me to. By the way- I found out that I'm terrible at Dance Dance Revolution, but not too bad at American Idol karaoke...
Anyways, I've since recovered and Alivia's already planning her next big birthday bash (which probably won't happen until she's 12 or 13).

Alivia also participated in the 4th grade Hershey Track meet this week, as well as her school program. She did well in her track events, and got to run in the semi-finals in the 50m and the 200m. I was very proud of her and enjoyed getting to watch, especially the 200m since that was one of my events back when I was in high school.
At her school program, Alivia got to teach Zane some old fashioned dances that her class has been working on all year. It was quite humorous watching all the kids trying to lead their clueless parents around the gym floor, while Mr. Thorpe called out the steps. Then they sang songs and acted out bits of history of the State of Utah. Alivia was the cutest pioneer in her song/skit, and I have the photos to prove it. All that made for a busy week for us, though I'm glad Zane got the chance to brush up on his dancing skills- he was getting quite rusty.

And now, a desperate plea for help. I've been wondering if the ability to nap is hereditary, or if it's a learned skill. All my kids have been terrible nappers, and I don't think it's a coincidence. Either I'm wrecking them with crappy napping habits, or it's just not in their genes to nap well. Probably it's a combination of both, but I'm just not ready to throw in the towel when it comes to Maycie. She's napped okay up till now, but this last week or so she's been on a napping strike and we've been battling over it. I've tried letting her cry it out, but my poor heart can't take much more of it, so if anyone has any tips, please feel free to share.

Last and most certainly least, I just might be a little bit white trash. While I've always wondered, there are several things that have led me to the conclusion that I probably am. Here's a few of the most recent. I bought what I thought was a cute tunic dress, and wore it out shopping. I thought I was looking pretty good, but was informed that it was in fact a nightgown. I guess that's okay, because I frequently wander around my neighborhood in pj bottoms, and I have no problem driving my kids to school in my bathrobe. Don't look too close at my yard, because my lawn needs a haircut worse than Donald Trump (it's so long that Maycie could get lost in it) and my window wells had weeds so high in them that they could put a south American jungle to shame. Lastly, the point that drove it all home was at my monday morning biscuit brunch. I started feeding Maycie a jar of Hawaiian Delight baby food while she still had a piece of cracker in her mouth. She spit the cracker piece out, covered in the baby food. I picked it off her shirt and put it on a napkin, then licked the sticky baby food off my fingers (hawaiian delight is seriously tasty). A couple of the girls I was visiting with started laughing, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. I've never had a problem sharing my drinks or food with my kids, and a little bit of baby spit didn't even phase me. What's backwash amongst family? j/k to all you germaphobes out there. I've never been one, nor have I ever been a neat freak. Surprisingly, my kids are never sick, so I guess we've built up good germ-resistant immune systems. Anyways, I don't think I'll ever be categorized as the classy sort, but in the end, that's okay.

All in all, it's been a very busy couple of weeks for me. That's alright, because summer's almost here and I'm looking forward to having a little less on the schedule. Though I'm sure after a couple of weeks of my kids fighting and driving me crazy, I'll wish them back in school. Here's to crazy- life would sure be boring without it, now wouldn't it?

Pig Business

Though I could write a post about how big of slobs my kids are with the same title, this is actually a post about the stock show. The Utah State Jr. Livestock Show, to be more exact (since Zane is the Secretary, I better use it's proper title). The stock show comes to Spanish Fork every year on the first weekend of May, and has for the last million years. Zane and his siblings used to show pigs when they were growing up, and he became the Secretary about six years ago. Kids aged 8-18 who are involved in 4-H or FFA come from all over the State to show cows, sheep, and of course, pigs. This is a big deal to some people, and those who win wear their shiny award belt buckles with pride. Let me just tell you, Zane was SO excited for Alivia to turn 8 and be old enough to show a pig last year, and this year was no exception. He would bring her down to the farm almost every day to feed her pig, clean it's pen, and play with it. We bit our nails waiting to find out if her pig was going to be big enough to show. And we made sure to cover all the details. Her pig was washed and trimmed (yes, pigs have hair, but you have to look close to see it), and we oiled and powdered it up with the finest Johnson's Baby Products has to offer. Alivia had her pig ready for weigh in on Wednesday, then was up bright and early Thursday morning to have it judged. Apparantly pigs have to have nice haunches- muscular, but not too meaty. Now that's a nice rump, don't you think?
On Friday morning, the kids participate in a category called Fitting and Showmanship, where the kids are judged on how well they control their animal while keeping eye contact with the judge and a smile on their face. We got her ready in her white collared shirt and clean dark jeans, pinned on her new 4-H badge, and did her hair all up so she'd be the cutest hog handler in the arena. She was, too. Her pig didn't win this year, but she sure had fun and her parents were proud- especially Dad (I think sometimes we are allowed to relive our childhoods through our kids).

On Saturday, the kids sold their animals at the auction, which is their favorite part (no surprise, considering Alivia's pig went for a whopping $475 this year). So Oinkers II went off to the butchers, and someone will sure get some nice hams, roasts, and pork chops out of him. Alivia's okay with that because next year will roll around all too quickly, and she'll start working on Oinkers III. I just wish she'd keep her room as clean as she keeps her pig-pen.