Random bits of life...

Things overheard this week:

* My parents and 2 brothers are on spring break and are visiting Nauvoo today. I told the boys this information this morning over breakfast and Matt (Star Wars aficionado) said, "They went to Naboo? That's cool." As in where Queen Amidala was from.

* Trey told me there were cool guns and swords used in the "Silver" War. Ah, that's Civil War bud. He also had me check his cut for "puff." Nope, that would be puss, my dear.

* Josh is downstairs rapping, "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me. Don't you wish your girlfriend could dance like me." Which Matt followed up with "Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me." Not good. When asked where they learned this uplifting song their reply was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Nice. Not sure if I'll be purchasing this DVD now.

* At Trey's game during an in between inning pep talk by the coach he ended the chat with "Have Fun!" I was shocked to hear him utter this and told Rich it was nice to hear. His wife was standing by us called him over and laughed when she teased him and asked if she heard him correctly. "Have fun?" The Coach Blythe gave a smile and said jokingly, "You only have fun when you're winning."

* Kaitlyn's new phrase is 'want some', though half the time it sounds like 'awesome' which makes me grin. Did I ever mention that I hate glitter?I mean really, really HATE the stuff. One quick move by the girls and 3 days later I'm still finding red bits in my sink, on the floor and even in my dryer.Here's a peek at my 4 robin eggs in their nest under the deck. Momma bird has stayed on the nest 24 hours a day until the warm weather found us today, so she hopped off in search of some much needed food. I was thrilled to get a shot of her precious babies. So excited for them to hatch!This morning I heard Brynn squealing "STUCK" in the kitchen. It seems that her hand could fit in the jug's mouth, but pulling it out was a bit more difficult. She didn't seem to mind that I waited to set her free until after I took a quick photo.So while you are thinking why is this girl the lucky recipient of such lovely flowers, don't get too worked up. They were actually for my neighbor who was gone all afternoon and the delivery man asked me to keep them, saving him a trip back. I have to admit that I didn't mind gazing upon their beauty for a few hours. There is something about flowers that just make you smile. I find myself parking my the lawn and garden section of Wal-mart and use the "secret entrance" as we call it to enter the building. I just LOVE to walk through and see the flowers. I think my mission today and tomorrow will be buying some flowers for our planters. Can't wait! I also am in love with our neighbor gorgeous orangish/peach tulips. They close at night and in the cold and open in the sunshine. Amazing.Something that's not a thing of beauty is my poor Japanese Maple tree that didn't quite make it through the hard freeze last April. I had high hopes that it would come back this year, but no such luck. After I hacked off 75% of its branches I'm left wondering if it would be better to cut the entire thing down. I'll just wait and see what it looks like when the leaves come out.Thankfully my ivy by the front door looks healthy. The Japanese Beatles nearly did it in last summer. I'll have to give it some good sprays of bug killer soon.When we drove through Versailles headed for Thunder we passed a few fields that were covered by a purple weed. Don't get me wrong, I am a weed killer, but the effect from far away was very beautiful.Josh's arm gave us quite the scare this week. It started out as a small ingrown hair or cut type thing and a few days later turned into this horrible abscess type infection. I noticed it had grown worse on Tuesday night when Rich was on call, so after taking some photos and emailing them to my dad, Rich's mom and Dad and Rich and then found out that Rich's mom sent them to her brother David who's a dermatologist in SLC I knew I had my bases covered. Minutes after my dad looked at the photos, he called in some Keflex. At 10 PM all 5 kids and I headed to Rite Aid to pick up the medicine. Thankfully they were all very well behaved. Soon Rich's parents called and the next day Rich's uncle called. What a blessing to have such knowledgeable and caring family. It has been getting smaller, but I am still making him wear a long sleeve shirt to school to avoid any questions. Rich thinks we could have made a small incision to drain the thing, but just the though nearly made Josh pass out. Thank heavens for antibiotics!When Meijer had an add for $4.99 watermelon it was too tempting to not buy one. I was terrified it was too early and asked the produce fellow what he thought. He just said good luck. Not very encouraging. When I made the first cut I peeked in hoping not to see pink. Thankfully we got a good one. There is NOTHING better than crisp, cold, sweet watermelon. Just ask Brynn.

I rented and watched Juno this week. I really liked it. It had this strange vibe and quirky songs, but I thought it was well done. I really liked Ellen Page's character. Now I just need to stop humming that weird song at the end of the movie.

Swim sign ups are tonight from 6-8 PM and Trey's school chess club had their wrap up party after school. It seems like summer will soon be upon us!

I had a bit of fun watching the American Idol clips on youtube this week. I thought both David's were great. I love Brooke and while I think she has a future in singing, I know she won't be winning this competition. The best part of the whole bit was as 10:15 PM I was talking to my family last night on the phone as they trekked across Illinois toward Nauvoo they asked me who got kicked off. I came down on the computer and found out who was in the bottom 3, who got kicked off and let them listen to David A's Tuesday night song over the phone via youtube. Crazy how connected we can be, even miles apart.

My other goal this week is to find a Derby Hat. Thanks to Jamie for offering to let me wears yours. I'll let you know if I can't come up with something. I think my theme will be: Over the top but not obnoxious. Big, but still pretty. I mean this is a once in a life time thing. I'll let you know what I find.
I had a good laugh when I got this email from J.Crew two days ago. It seems like even they know I'm headed off to the races.

Best news of the week: When Rich comes home from his call night tomorrow- it marks the beginning of his vacation week. He doesn't have to go back to the hospital until April 28. Woo Hoo! One of the things on our (OK, that should read MY) 'to do' list is to hit Keenland with the girls for some races. Sure we'll probably only stay for 2, but it's fun to just be there. Gotta love a good horse race when you live in Kentucky! We also will be headed to Louisville glow on the night of the 25th, will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday the 26th and we'll be calling my Dad to wish him a happy birthday on the 27th. Good times ahead.