Spring Break, Yard Work and Our Math Olympian

We had a quiet spring break at home this year (at least John, Lawrence and I did).  This was the first year since Sarah was in kindergarten that we didn't go somewhere for spring break, and I must say, it was quite relaxing.  It was sooooo nice to have a week off of everything - boot camp, the morning routine, sports games and practices.  Sarah was invited to go to West Virginia with the Jesse family, where she got to zip line, mountain bike, rock climb and go white water rafting.  Needless to say, she had a blast!

Who hoo!  Looks fun - and COLD!

The weather was nice here, and John, Lawrence and Tanner headed down to the lake for a few days of fishing and boy time.  They cooked over the campfire, attempted to fish (I don't think they caught anything!) and achieved their first sun burns of the season (just because it's only 70 degrees doesn't mean you don't need sunscreen!).  While they were gone I relaxed, read, scrapbooked and watch a ton of Downton Abbey on Apple TV (I'm hooked on that show).  So nice.

On Wednesday John and I went bowling with my godson, Oliver, and his little brother, Dylan.  It was so great to spend time with them!  I only see Oliver a time or two a year, but he and John always pick right up where they left off.  As soon as we picked them up the boys were all chattering away in the car about school, video games and sports.  They are such fun boys to be around, and we had a great time at King Pin.  I was the exact same age as John when I met their momma, Mary Oliver.  Time has flown!

Go Dylan! 

Nice moves, Oliver! 

Three good looking boys 

Arcade time!

Who's going to win?? 

Jackpot!  Lots of tickets!

This week it was hard to get back in the routine, but we've managed okay.  Sarah went to Papa's house yesterday and learned to cut the grass.  Now, I just want to point out that when I had to cut his grass, it was NEVER on a riding lawn mower!  It still probably wouldn't have stopped me from complaining about it...I was a terrible teenage grass cutter....I moaned and groaned the entire time, took a break about every five minutes (resulting in an hour job taking twice as long).  I also think I only got paid $3, which is a bit less than the going rate these days.  Regardless, she enjoyed herself, made some good money, and now she has learned a valuable life skill.

Almost done!

Not even sweating! 

Master lawn care instructor and his student

When we were leaving I peeked into the garage to see some signage that my dad has been working on for my niece Claire's "Lacrosse Jamboree" coming up at the end of the month.  It looks so good!  Here's an example of one of the signs he made:

Such an artist!

A really cool thing happened today.  A few months ago, John was preoccupied with making the "Math Olympics" at school.  He is so competitive, and he always gets obsessed with winning the spelling bee and stuff like that.  Every year they pick three kids from the third, fourth and fifth grades to represent the school in the ASCI Math Olympics.  I believe they said over 300 kids compete (they take a written test) from 11 schools.  Well, after much stress and fretting, John made it for the fourth grade, and back in March he took the final test.  Today in chapel they recognized the kids who had represented our school, and he asked me to come see him (even though he figured he was just getting a participation ribbon).  They called all the kids up there from each grade, and then they recognized a few that had placed in the top 5 among all the schools.  There were a few that came in 5th place, and a 5th grader even got 2nd place.  Then Mrs. Warlick said we even had one student who won FIRST PLACE in the fourth grade division, and it was....drumroll please....John Young!  He was so shocked!  He couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he made his way back to his seat.  As soon as chapel ended he wanted to call his dad (so glad he heard his phone and picked up on the first ring!).  I am so proud of him!  

Getting his blue ribbon and MEDAL

Guess what, Dad?? 

Proud of this boy! 

A congratulatory hug from his wonderful
teacher, Mrs. Dennison.  She's proud too!

Spring is wonderful these days...one beautiful day after the next.  My azealas make me smile right now.  Why can't they stay this way all summer?

Easter Blessings

After a wonderful Good Friday we enjoyed an even better Easter weekend.  The weather was glorious, and Lawrence and John tackled the mulching on Saturday morning (in Sarah's defense, she pitched in to help them finish the job on Sunday afternoon!). 

Well done!

Lawrence and I had a lovely date night at Corbett's on Saturday night, and we went to church on Sunday morning before heading to Hurstbourne for Easter brunch with my parents and Mary Lawrence.  We had a nice morning catching up and enjoying some delicious food (french toast casserole!  soooo good!).

Me and my handsome Easter date 

Sarah and her handsome Daddy (love his purple shirt!) 

Happy Easter!

Lawrence and his pretty mama 

Mom and Dad

That evening we went over to Dick's for more family time and another delicious meal.  Ham, deviled eggs, baked beans and potato salad - one of my all time favorite meals. 

Swapping stories around the table 

The men all watched the Masters (go, Bubba!), while the cousins played outside.

The drama of the Masters!

Hide and seek? 

Gotcha!

That night I took Sarah over to the Jesse's because she is going on Spring Break with them and they had plans to hit the road early Monday morning.  Lawrence and John headed down to the lake, which left me all alone for a few nights.  What sort of trouble can I find to get into?  We'll just have to see...

An Especially Good Friday

Oh, how I love Good Friday (first and foremost, because without Good Friday we can't have Easter).  But selfishly, I love Good Friday because both our school AND my office is closed.  It's always such a nice way to start the Easter holiday, and this year was no exception.  Sarah had to babysit for the Beard family most of the day, but that didn't stop John and me from embarking on a lovely day with nowhere to be and all day to get there.

First, we met Lawrence down at Toast on Market for breakfast.  I've been wanting to go there for a while, but the weekends just always seem too busy and crowded.  This morning was the perfect day to try this local hot spot, and we had a delicious breakfast of omelettes, chocolate chocolate chip pancakes (isn't that like chocolate cake?) and hot chocolate.  Yes, it's a Friday for sure!

After leaving Toast we went over to my friend Jill's antique mall, The Crazy Daisy.  John is my shopper child...Sarah would have been miserable nosing around an antique mall for an hour, but John was in heaven.  He could poke around and look for all sorts of interesting things for days.  

From the Daisy we went by Cave Hill cemetery.  John had never seen Cave Hill, and we drove around for at least an hour, stopping to see interesting monuments and statues.  Brenda (Ma'am) and Matthew are there, and on such a lovely spring morning I can't imagine a better place to be laid to rest.  It was so gorgeous and peaceful.  John was astounded at the size of some of the monuments.

Next up was a trip to Oxmoor so that John could spend more of his NCAA bracket winnings.  He was the lucky (he would claimed "skilled") winner of Lawrence's office pool, and he's been having a ball with the jackpot.  His big splurge was new Beats headphones, which he has yet to take off his body since getting them, and with his remaining money he had his sights set on a UK championship hat.  He ended up choosing a shirt instead.

After we got home Lawrence came home early from work and they went to play golf.  That night we did our traditional Good Friday egg decorating.  We're going to be eating hardboiled eggs for the next week!  I love to decorate eggs, no matter how old I am.

Tomorrow is Easter, my favorite holiday.  Looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection with family!

Baseball, Birthday and Basketball

Tonight was John's first baseball game in the East Louisville Sports league.  He's playing with a team made up of all 4th graders from CAL, and they are playing in two leagues this season...the competitive league at J'town and the ELS recreational league in Middletown.  The rec league is the one I've been looking forward to...laid back, with lots of instruction.  Tonight was a beautiful night for a game, and he was excited to play.

Let's go!

He hit a great double his first time up at bat, and he had some fabulous throws when playing catcher.  

Although Sarah officially turned 14 today, you wouldn't know it by seeing her on the swings during the game.  She still looks like a little girl!

Speaking of turning 14, we couldn't let her birthday end watching a bunch of 10 year old boys play baseball, so we headed to PF Chang's after the game for a birthday dinner.

Great Wall of Chocolate!

Now it's time to watch the Cats play for the national championship.  I still remember the last time they won, in 1998.  I was a week overdue with Sarah!  She was born just a few days later.  Maybe that's why she loves the Cats!

Big Blue Birthday

Tomorrow is Sarah's 14th birthday, and at the age of 14 she loves nothing more than Kentucky basketball.  She has become a huge UK basketball fan this past year, and on any given afternoon I can find her looking at videos of past games or reading statistics about Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  To put it mildly, she bleeds blue.  

Of course we've been enjoying the fun of March Madness, and our city has been bananas this week because Kentucky and Louisville were set to meet in the Final Four.  All she wanted to do for her birthday was have the family over to watch the game...now, in our family, we have Kentucky fans...and we have Louisville fans.  Would this be a very fun party?  Of course!  We had a great time watching the game, and Sarah got an early birthday present with the Cats winning and moving on to the championship game.  

She requested her favorite cake (strawberry cake with strawberry icing), but asked I make it UK themed (I tried my best)...

There were Cards and Cats fan, ready to rumble...

Bruce and John - representing!

Looks like an even match up!

There was some dunk ball in the driveway...

John and Bruce can't catch Tanner!

There were fun presents...

Sock monkey!

Fun new T-shirt 

A new digital camera

Sarah made a wish, and I helped her blow out her candles (she's recovery from oral surgery and didn't trust herself to not spit on the cake!).

We had fun the rest of the night enjoying cake and ice cream and watching Kansas beat Ohio State.  

We cater to both sides in this house!

Soon it was time to say good bye...Sarah is so lucky to have all her grandparents here!

She loves Meme and Papa even though they
cheered for the Cards!

Her UK loving Badoo - must be where she gets it!

Her Nana - Sarah is now taller than she is!  

Tanner had worn a MKG "jersey" that looked so real!  It was actually a T-shirt that he had drawn on with a blue marker.  John loved it, and Tanner gave it to him to keep.  John said, "Take a picture with me, like we're in the draft!"  

This was a super fun, big blue birthday.  She's looking forward to watching Kentucky play in the finals on her real birthday on Monday night - will they give her the present she's looking for?

Since she leaves for school tomorrow at 7:30 am, and Lawrence will be at work when we get home in the afternoon, and John has a 6:00 baseball game, AND the NCAA championship is on after that, she asked if she could open her gifts from us today.  I'm a staunch opponent of opening gifts BEFORE your actual birthday, but I decided she was right, there's no other time!  

I was so excited to give her her present...she's starting high school in the fall, and I thought it would be great to give her her own laptop.  The guys at work helped me find just the right one, and I ordered her an adorable monogrammed case (my favorite part!).

I had already loaded a UK screensaver for her

Gotta have a cute laptop cover!

I can't believe my girl is 14.  I love this phase of parenting...seeing her become her own person, owning her successes and failures.  I love who she is and who she is becoming.  Looking forward to my 15th year of motherhood...where has the time gone?!?  Happy birthday Sarah!  We love you!