Oh, Max....

I really like this little boy of mine.

On Monday morning the week of Easter he woke up and the first thing he asked was how many days it was until Thursday.  He was excited that it was only three days away and I asked why.  He said that for show & tell he was going to tell everyone the TRUE meaning of Easter.  He had a whole dialogue planned out "First I'll ask Cierra what Easter is about, then she'll say....well, I don't know what she'll say, but probably something about easter eggs and stuff like that and I'll say, 'No, but close...' Then I'll ask Mrs. Robillard and...well, she might know the answer (chuckles).  But I'll tell them that it's about Jesus and His resurrection..."  I wasn't sure how it would go down {the whole separation of church and state bit} but I figured that his teacher could handle it well and I didn't want to discourage him from sharing his beliefs.  He tried it out in music the other day first.  The music teacher was talking about the Easter bunny and Max raised his hand and said that he wanted to tell the REAL meaning behind Easter.  She said that she couldn't have him tell everyone right then, but that if anyone wanted to know the answer to that question, they could talk to Max.  Good teacher.  So Max said that he told Dylan...even though Dylan didn't ask. :) I love him and I love the testimony he is developing.

He {and I :) } worked hard to ensure that he got enough minutes to get a gold medal in the Reading Olympics at school.  He does so well in school and loves it so much.

We're both big fans of spirit week...one of my favorite weeks of the year!  I love having a son who gets into it. (Crazy Hair Day, Nerd Day, Mustache Day...not pictured: Hat Day, Neon Day)

A few weeks ago Max told me that he really liked a girl in his class named Eva.  I volunteer in the class every week but couldn't picture her for the life of me.  The next day I nonchalantly asked her name again {I couldn't remember it} because I planned to figure out which one she was when I went in this week {I remembered before I went in though}.  After I asked her name, Max took a loooong deep breath in with a slight smile on his lips, looking like he wanted to say something but was really hesitant.  I said, "What is it?  Just say it, bud.  You can tell me anything."  Smiling, but nervous, he said, "You know what kind of 'like' I mean, right? "  I couldn't keep a bit of a giggle from coming out because he was so dramatic about it.  I said that I thought so, but what did he mean by it.  He said that he thought she was pretty.  "She wears this really pretty black dress with snowflakes and other shapes on it and it has diamonds.  The skirt is black too and matches.  She looks really pretty in it.  I bet she won't wear it today, but it is really pretty."  Oh man.  "She probably doesn't like me back like that, but I don't care.  I just really like her.  I mean, I don't play with her or anything.  She's not a sports girl, she likes being chased and I'm not on the Dino Team {the Dino Team is the group of boys and one girl who chase girls around at recess}."  I have to say that based on last year's crush in Kindergarten and Eva this year, my boy has good taste.  They are adorable little girls.  I once again encouraged his sports playing at recess and discouraged involvement with the Dino Team. Ha!  He's not even 7...

He pulled out his own tooth - 8th tooth lost.  Just went in the bathroom and yanked it out.  It ain't no thang.

Max had a great basketball season.  I love watching him dribble like a mad man around the much bigger guys and girls he plays against.  There was one other guy smaller than him on his team this year.  But he is a really good player and gets better all the time.  One time he was in the middle of a huge group of players from the opposing team...they just surrounded him and he had nobody to pass to and no way to get out.  He just kept dribbling {like, for a l o n g time}, looking for an opening.  Finally he found one and dribbled out of the group and made a shot!  He has so much confidence and really loves the game.

 

Tuesday night Max was wearing a tight pajama shirt and playing football {as usual} when he stopped after seeing his reflection in the sliding glass door and said, "Look!  You can see my muscles through this shirt!"  Then he pointed to the line that separates his rib cage {because when he's shirtless you can see every.single.rib.  He does that all the time, thinks the definition of his rib cage is muscle.  It brings joy to my heart.  He is so stinkin' skinny but has no idea.  Max has been surprised lately to find out that he's kinda short.  He said to me one day that one of the boys playing football at recess was mad that the QB kept throwing to Max because he's so short.  He was genuinely surprised to hear someone say that he was short.  And last night out of the blue he said, "Mom, I'm kind of short."  I assured him he was just right.  Ty is incredulous, "How could he not know??"  There are a few kids shorter than him in his class, but he is definitely among the short group of boys.  It will be fun to see what his body and height do as he gets older.  I'll love that boy's body no matter what it looks like.  He does say that he's glad he's so skinny because it will give him a better chance of bring a wide receiver someday.  :)

{For most of the pictures below, he had no idea I was taking them.  He was looking at himself in the mirror...hahaha!  He's such a hoot}

 

This boy makes me laugh every single day.  He is a character with a capital C and I love him so much.

Spring Break 2013!

Man, Spring Break was...

What's the word I'm looking for?

It was....somethin' else.

No, that's not an accurate descritption.  How do I describe it?

Well...

It was awful, terrible, a big disappointment.

Seriously.

We started the week with big plans and hopes for a great week.  The first three days were supposed to be sunny and decent temps so those days were going to be filled with fun outdoors.  Later in the week we would hit up the library {that was the 1st thing on Max's list that he wanted to do}.  There was also going to be a lot of football and basketball playing with Max's friend, Nathan.

Except, that's not what happened.  Sunday night Tucker threw up.  I wasn't sure if it was because he was just getting started on cow's milk, but when Ev did the same thing the next morning I knew we had the flu on our hands.  24 hours later and we would be back in the Spring Break business!

Except....

we weren't.  Because Everett was still throwing up.  You know, the same little boy who just got stitches a few days before?  That's the one.  He was utterly miserable and got himself so dehydrated that we were on the verge of taking him to urgent care {he absolutely refused to drink anything for hours - as in squeezed his lips shut when I tried even forcing some liquid down - and became so listless that he couldn't even sit up or talk.}  The triage nurse over the phone suggested trying ice chips...and I did...and it worked!  Urgent care averted.

But Wednesday was more of the same.  Except the added twist on this day was that Tyler and I joined the flu party.  It wasn't as bad for us and didn't last terribly long.  That night I was feeling so bad for Kelly and Max {but much better myself flu-wise} having been cooped up in the house so I told them to get their shoes on and surprised them by taking them to see The Croods.  {Wasn't expecting to like the movie...but I LOVED it.  I even cried.}  I thought that SURELY the next day Everett would be better and we could get on with our festivities.  I was, sadly, very wrong.  And worried.  How long can one little guy do this flu business?  His awesome cheeks were getting so skinny and his big belly was totally gone.  I decided to take him to the doc.  And, whaddya know?  He starts to get pretty chipper right before the appt.  But I still took him in.  Felt a little dumb, but whatever.  He was finally on an up-swing after that.

Friday was redemption day!  I took the kids to the park and then the library in the morning while Tyler stayed with Tuck who was napping.  I love the library.  Afterward we stopped by 7-11 for slurpees.  That evening we took the kids to the Bainbridge Aquatic Center and it was SO fun.  I loved it and so did they.  It was a really good night.  Saturday was General Conference and really great as well.  The weekend turned out wonderful.

There were a few other redemptive moments of the week:

• On Monday Ty walked in after work and I started to cry.  It had been a long, flu-filled day with so much cleaning up of nastiness and so much crying and having to be so vigilant with two little boys, one of whom couldn't tell me what was coming and when. At one point I was changing a blowout diaper and heard Kelly yell from downstairs that Ev had just thrown up. Ugh. Anyway, back to the good evening.  I went upstairs to take care of Tucker and put some laundry away and came down to the "Tyler & Max Restaurant".  A table was set up in front of the entry to the kitchen so that nobody else would come in.  On the table was a sign: "Kichen Staff Only".  Max even created a menu for us to order off of.  He played manager/kitchen staff/waiter, Ty was the chef, and Kelly was the marketing director {in charge of decor, mostly}.  Oh man, I love them!  Such a sweet night.

•  On Tuesday late evening Ev was a weepy mess.  I took him out on the porch bench to snuggle and to try and distract his sadness.  While we were out there, he climbed into the jogging stroller so I thought we would go get the mail and put the garbage out for the next day.  And then we kept walking around.  And then we asked if anyone wanted to join us on a walk.  I ended up with all of the kids and we went to the school where Kelly and I ran on the track and Max played football.  SO nice to be outside with all of my little people.

So it was awful, terrible, and a big disappointment...but it was also good, low-key, and I loved the time spent with my little fam.  I love them.  SO much.  And I am so glad that it is behind us.  

Cruisin'

Last year Tyler's youngest brother, Drew, and his wife, Kristen, called and asked if we wanted to join them for a cruise.  They planned to take one to celebrate Drew graduating from dental school {which will officially happen this May}.  We said, "Ummm...YES!"  Then it looked for a bit like it might be off, then it was back on, then we weren't sure it was going to work out with the craziness of summer schedules, then *ahem* I had the brilliant idea of going over Drew's spring break...and that's what worked out for everyone involved!

It is quite the undertaking to get out on a cruise when you have seven children between the two couples.  Drew and Kristen live close to a lot of family and split up their three girls amongst the fam in Colorado.  We decided the best plan for us was to drive to Vegas and let my sisters and parents take turns with our kiddos.  So that's just what we did!  We drove there in one day {a first for us, it usually takes two} and it went really well.  We had a day to spend with my fam and we even got to have the Mann Fam Easter Part-ay with them, which was fabulous since we are never around for those shin-digs.  And it was oh-so-good to be in the sunshine!

Sunday night, Drew and Kristen flew into Vegas and we stayed up talking to them for a while that night.  I need to say here that I LOOOOOOVE Drew and Kristen.  They were the perfect travelling companions.  I will forever love that we share this memory.

So.  Leading up to the cruise, everyone asked me if I was so excited.  I....wasn't.  I knew I would love it, I knew it would be a great time, I was excited about the idea of it, but I was having a hard time getting over the stress and worry of dumping my kids on my family for 5 days/4 nights.  Would Tuck sleep for them?  Would Ev melt down at bedtime?  What if there was crying - LOTS of crying - and little to no sleep for my sisters, their husbands, and my parents?!  What if there was some kind of emergency?  We wouldn't even be reach-able by cell phone for a chunk of the cruise.  And what if we died and left our children parent-less?  I'm a little morbid.  I thought of several possibilities of death for us.  I was worried, okay?!

So Monday morning, we said goodbye to kiddos and got in the car.  And guess what?  I was SO excited!!!!  Finally.  I'm such a drama queen sometimes.  Maybe more than sometimes.  I felt like we were newly married couples without a care in the world and very little time constraints.  Kristen and I were super giddy.  We stopped at State Line to check out the Old Navy Outlet {disappointment} but ended up getting flip-flops on a good sale at Children's Place {so maybe I felt like newlyweds with kids}.  The men weren't as excited about the shopping trip...but they were excited about the massage chairs.  We tried to ride the Desperado roller coaster at Buffalo Bills, but it wasn't working that day.  So we journeyed on.  We stopped in CA to eat at In N Out, of course, and then kept making our way to Long Beach where we'd GET ON A CRUISE SHIP!  The universe tried to stop us by way of a flat tire, but we were way too tough and smart for the universe {okay, so the men we married can change a mean tire}.  We dropped off the tire and said we'd come back and pick it up on a Friday because we had to skedaddle and catch OUR CRUISE SHIP!  Can you tell the kid worries were totally forgotten at this point?

Oh man, we were so excited and had no idea what to expect.  We got on the ship, took our suitcases to our rooms {so glad we got rooms with ocean views} and met up with Drew and Kristen to explore.  We were walking through one of the restaurants when they started putting a bunch of food out and were ridiculously excited about the fact that we could just grab what we wanted to grab.  Even though we'd be eating in an hour or so, we grabbed some hot chocolate, ice cream, and a few even got some pizza.  That would kind of be the theme of the cruise - snacks of the 24-hour hot chocolate, pizza, and ice cream in between most meals.  I know, glutenous.  I don't care. :)

The dinners were really fun.  Especially because Drew made it his mission to eat as much as possible.  He ordered so much food every time.  The last night, he ordered 4 starters, 2 entrees, and {I think} 4 desserts.  It was incredible!  And the obligatory pictures the cruise staff would come and take of each person at the table were bizarre and funny.  We'd have to do couple and then solo shots. And, seriously, there wasn't a choice.  Just a camera suddenly in your face and a man clicking away.  I was laughing in most of them.  We did some funny-faced ones, when that clearly wasn't what they wanted us to do.  We loved our service staff at dinner...such a nice group of men.  And the people who ate at our table were great too.  Three of them didn't speak English, so we did a lot of nodding and smiling at each other.  The other three were a couple and their teenage son.  They were super nice and we enjoyed getting to know them!  Oh, and the wife asked me if anyone had ever told me that I look like Katy Perry.  My word.  I need to capitalize on that somehow.

After dinner the first night we were on our way to the hot tub and walking through the ship when we came upon some karaoke.  We walked in and sat down and within minutes Drew and Ty decided they were going to sign up.  What?!  I love being married to Tyler!!!  The cool thing is that it was just about to switch over to Super Star Live, which is karaoke with a live band!  So we waited it out and Drew sang "Call Me Maybe" {it was a little higher than he was prepared for, but he did great :)} and Ty did Jessie's Girl.  Oh my gosh, I loved that they did that.  Kristen and I couldn't stop laughing...and cheering.  So fun.  We almost had the hot tub to ourselves after that.

The first port was Catalina Island.  I am in love with that place.  We took a small boat from the cruise ship to shore early the next morning and just started walking.  We ended up on a long, windy, beautiful road.  It was gorgeous.  Zip lining was on the agenda {for three of us, they only had three spots left when we bought them so Ty took one for the team} later in the afternoon, so we just took our time exploring.  I kept having to remind myself I was the mother of four children with a ton of responsibility. Ahhh, it was nice.  Drew and Ty decided to check out the museum, which left Kristen and I to shop.  Perfection.  I freaking love Kristen!  We had a great time.  And, of course, bought matching fedoras.  Of course. :)  We had a little lunch and then said goodbye to Ty who went back to the ship while we went zip lining.  I felt bad, but he didn't so I got over it.  Zip lining was rad!  I wasn't expecting to be nervous, but I was the first time.  There were 5 zip lines and the scenery was gorgeous.  Super fun.

We had little to no plans for Ensenada the next day.  We thought snorkeling?  But the weather wasn't super good and turns out that wouldn't have worked anyway.  We got off the ship, a lady asked if we wanted to go to town, we shrugged, she pointed us toward a shuttle bus, we paid and got on it, we got off the shuttle bus and a big guy asked if we wanted to go to La Bufadora, we shrugged, bought tickets, and were soon on another bus headed to a natural blow hole and open market.  Our tour guide was Big Tony and he was somethin' else.  We made a stop for some "spirits" and he drank with a bunch of other passengers on the way there.  Big Tony told us some touristy info and then started to give us the skinny on the open market and bargaining for things.  Then he told us about the "pharmacies" and how we could ask them to package things in a way that we could get them through customs.  What the what?!  La Bufadora turned out to be pretty awesome.  But want to know what was even more awesome?  Talking a sweet lady from $12 down to $6 for a beautiful bracelet.  Turns out negotiating is pretty fun.  And even more awesome than that?! THE CHURROS.  A.m.a.z.i.n.g!  I've never had such goodness. Mmmmm.  They were just passing out churro samples all over the place and we took every single one.   And then we bought some.  And then we ate more samples. Oh, the churros....Ensenada was pretty great.

The shows, the ice cream, the hot tubs, the melting chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert every night {except one}, the freezing cold water slides {I was the only one who didn't venture}, Rick the crazy head bobber, the tambourine lady with her oxygen tank, dancing on the lido deck with my hubs, hot chocolate on the upper deck, watching the stars & ocean in my hubby's arms, getting a wee seasick the final night, dancing to Gangnam Style with our dinner staff, time to just be me and my man, awesome convos with Kristen {and Drew too!}, reading an entire book in a few days {Heaven Is Here...loved it}, laughing about the photo ops with the cheesy backdrops...I've already gone on long enough.  I did have a tearful moment on Wednesday night in Tyler's arms missing the kids, but mostly I lived it up and loved the memories!

On the way home we stopped at State Line again and got to ride the roller coaster.  As good as I remember!  Great way to end an amazing vacation!

It was simply fabulous and I am SO glad we did it!  AND everything went great back in Vegas while we were gone.  Phew!  So thankful to my wonderful fam for making it possible.  Now I'm wondering when I get to go on another cruise.  Anyone want to watch our kids? :)