Random bits of life...

The big question is why the heck am I awake right now? Why after I tuck the kids in bed do I not just crawl into my own that very second? First off, Josh is asleep on top of my bed as I type. He came in complaining that it was too hot to fall asleep in his bed. He was out in 10 seconds flat. I need to go up and move him. Secondly, Rich is on call. I am terrible at going to bed when he's not here. I guess it's because I don't like going to sleep alone and that I can stay up late typing emails, reading or whatever and there's no guilt. Except that I'll be very tired in the morning. That while that is a tried and true fact, the sleepiness never stops me from staying up late. Even when I'm groggy when the alarm goes off I don't mind since my house is clean because I stayed up and straightened it, my laundry is done because I folded it at 11 PM and I got 2 whole hours of ALONE time with no one asking for a drink, diaper change, popsicles or change of doll clothes. Two hours of adult heaven. Priceless. Now I'll just hope I can somehow fit a nap in tomorrow. Doubtful.

Today I spied 3 robin eggs in my little nest under the deck. I am thrilled. I am really trying to not get to attached, but it's so hard. I know what day each egg was laid, I am going to see them right after they hatch, when they have fuzz and then feathers. I know I'm going to pray for the birds and so will my kids. It really is such a miracle to see new life. It just all has to go well. The girls watch me get on my knees and peer in between the boards to sneak a peek. They have no idea there is a nest with a bird and eggs underneath, so when they go on the deck they kneel down where they are and put their forehead to the grounds. It's like we are doing ritual prayers in the backyard. Such a site to see I'm sure.

I saw a street sweeper in my neighborhood this morning and felt so privileged. Growing up in Salem this was a luxury the tiny city could not afford. It happily buzzed right next to the gutter and got up all the little rocks and leaves. I was so pleased. It saved me a job. I'm one lucky girl. Sorry mom, you'll just have to keep sweeping your own gutters!

Our neighborhood is full of "popcorn" trees. I can't get enough of the arrival of warm days and lovely trees. It's even more impressive when the sun is shining and the sky is bright blue.

If you can believe it my NCAA tournament brackets actually came out on top of the Jackson Bash. I took 1st place. Hard to believe since I had UNC winning UCLA. No one saw a Kansas victory coming. Not sure how I fared on the Nance one. When I tried to pull it up tonight, I realized the site might be shut down. I think Jeff's upset bracket beat me, but I'm still not sure if I could count that as a loss since he had 2 brackets in the mix. It's like Mike Golic from Mike and Mike in the Morning. Everyone was giving him a hard time for the multiple brackets he filled out. I think that's cheating. I'm a one bracket girl and going to stay that way.

Somehow we have avoided any major rainfall the past 2 days. They had predicted major storms and yet we got only a few drops. Thank heavens. 21 inches so far in 2008 sound like plenty to me right now, but just watch, in August they'll start complaining of a drought again and ask people to ration their water on their lawns (though most don't water them anyway). After one major downpour the city officials will say never mind. Crazy stuff since where I come from drought means water shortage for years instead of days!

I watched the 2nd half of Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kings today with the boys while I rode the bike. Love the movies, but have only ever watched them all once in the theater years ago, though we own the all boxed sets. I love the books even more. If there ever was a part in a movie I would have LOVE to play it would be Eowyn. Really. She goes to battle and when her Uncle King Theoden of Rohan is knocked off his horse by a flying Nazgul, she comes to his aid and battles the fiercest opponent possible- the WitchKing leader of the Ringwrath. Just before he is going to kill her the evil king says he should die since no man can kill me. Eowyn flings off her helmet exclaims, "I am no MAN!" and puts a sword through the dark face killing him. Awesome. Truly a brilliant bit of fiction.

The boys baseball started for real yesterday. I love it. There is nothing like being at a game on a summer night with the smell of hamburgers in the air, the roar of the crowd on an exciting play and the ting of the bat. Love it. The boys played awesome (post to come). I was very pleased that our days of inning after inning of left field are behind us. It's infield time this year and the boys couldn't be more thrilled. Matt even got the game ball. Who cares that Josh and Matt lost by 1 measly run and that Trey's team got trounced 12-6. They were stars and I was one proud momma!

Today I put Kaitlyn's hair in pigtails and for the first time they looked really cute. So glad that after 25 months we are seeing improvement on the hair front.

Yesterday the girls found these old umbrella strollers in the garage and can't get enough of them. In fact Brynn has some teeth marks on her arms proving that she was in possession of the one Kaitlyn desired. Also note Brynn's PJ's at 11:30 AM. It was her second pair after her bath. She's killing me! You can see from this photo this morning that Kaitlyn's got a mean bite, but Brynn's often quick enough to avoid getting chomped on. Here I was trying to take a picture of them playing and suddenly Kaitlyn tried to bite Brynn's arm. She pulled away just in time and Kaitlyn was wise enough to not clamp down on her own skin. And here was Brynn's latest make up production. Trey was seriously scared she had cuts on her face. Nope just berry scented lip gloss.

I think mighty Stanford has been cursed. Yesterday it was announced that their head coach Trent Johnson was leaving the Farm for green pastures- aka LSU. What is going on with the Pac-10? First Monty jumps ship and now hangs his hat at Cal and then Trent goes and runs off to the SEC. Bad for them. Maybe good for us. I think we could get some pretty great tickets for the LSU Vs UK basketball game at Rupp next season!

After months of being in a hibernation type state, our little hermit crabs are finally becoming active again. For ages the only time they would pop out of their shells was when I would dunk the poor things in water. It's so fun to hear their little click, click of the rock from in the kitchen while I typing on the computer.

And a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rich's Dad on the 8th of April. We love you. Also a birthday shout out to my brother-in-law's Andrew on his birthday TODAY (4/10) and Kris who celebrated his on the 7th. Good times!