Pie Eating Contest

As part of our "American ABC's" theme at Pack Meeting, we had a pie-eating contest with some of the dads. Jeremy was such a good sport!

Bridging

Last month at Pack Meeting, Noah had his "bridging" ceremony as he received his Webelos badge. This symbolizes the steps he has made through Cub Scouting and that the Webelos badge is the bridge to Boy Scouts. Brother Rencher, the 11-year-old Scout leader, welcomed him at the other side of the bridge with the Scout handshake. Now, Noah has a goal to earn the rest of the Webelos activity badges and his Arrow of Light before he turns 11. You are awesome, Noah!

Suns Game

Jeremy, ever the brilliant one, made a winning guess in a contest at work and won four Suns tickets to last night's game against the Mavericks. They were nice seats, too ($125 each) plus free parking passes! So, the lucky ducks who got to go were Jeremy, Spencer, Noah and Jacob. I took Isaac to the nursery at our Relief Society birthday party ("Fiesta" complete with pinata...use your imagination...it was just like that!). Anyway, the big boys had a "ball" with their dad. Noah got to see his favorite player, Steve Nash, and Jacob got his pizza, nachos and hot dog. Spencer would rather have stayed home and played video games. Love that kid, but it was good for him to get out into the real world! He did enjoy being the designated photographer and took some good pictures of Shaq. Even though the Suns lost and everyone was soooo tired this morning, it turned out to be a great time for all of them!

Cavalcade of Rhythm

After months of preparation and HARD WORK, the big night was last night. The 2009 Cavalcade of Rhythm sponsored by the Desert Valley Music Teachers' Association (of which I am a member) was last night. Oh my, what a show! Spencer and Noah both performed as well as another of my students, Sarah. Basically, the Cavalcade is twenty-five pianos on stage, with fifty pianists playing duets at the same time! Amazing! We have rehearsed for weeks and it all came together in a phenomenal way. Spencer and his friend Jacob played "Super Mario Brothers" and "Legend of Zelda" with their group, and Noah and Sarah played "Star Wars" and "Batman." The whole performance was staged as a skit involving the evil "Madame Treble," with Batman and Robin showing up to save the day. (I am SO sad that the videos we took are too huge to send, but trust me, it was awe-inspiring!)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

March, hands down, is my most favorite time of the year in Arizona. Beautiful weather, great temperatures, everything blooming (thank goodness I'm not one with bad allergies). I just savor every breath of cool air because I know what's lurking around the corner. I've been gardening and loving watching what re-seeded from last year. It's so fun to peek every day at what is coming up and trying to guess what it is! (You never know, we ended up with a HUGE mulberry tree in our backyard just by waiting to see what grew.) So, in the flower garden I've planted big multi-colored pansies and "little purple pansies", but also have lots of sunflowers and snapdragons coming back from last year, as well as hyacinth bulbs that my dad planted when we first moved in. And a bunch of seeds that I can't remember what they were but I scattered them about a month ago. In the vegetable garden, the chard is still holding strong, as is the broccoli. I finally pulled all the different lettuces. We're still getting a few peas every day but they will soon be gone. The artichoke plant has gone crazy again and we even have a few starts from last year when we let it go to seed. I'm loving the carrots, they've never done so well, but the radishes are gone. I planted onions and cilantro about a month ago and tomatoes, tomatillos, squash, watermelon (Jacob's idea), and beans last week. And some seed I didn't recognize that my dad left for me. We'll be surprised with whatever comes up! Also, the heavenly blossoms on the orange tree are in bloom. You've never experienced such an intoxicating smell. I savor it every year. We've got to get eating the oranges and grapefruits before it gets hot. So, sorry for the ramblings, it's just been so fun and relaxing for me this year to be outside. Thanks, honey, for fixing the sprinklers because our lawn is gorgeous, too. Just loving life...