T-Ball

Another successful season of T-Ball has come to an end. Barik is hitting really well now. Paul taught him to take a step when he swings, and oh boy...you should see how far that ball flies!

The final game of the Spring season was held in the Surprise Stadium, where the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals have their spring training. The game is preceded by the singing (or in this case, trumpet playing) of the National Anthem. "Let's Play Ball!" is sounded through the loud speakers. And if that wasn't enough to get you excited, then surely seeing your team photo displayed on the jumbo tron will.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

The Mother's Day weekend started with beautiful flowers (one red rose that Barik insisted on getting me, despite Paul trying to convince him that it wasn't my favorite flower) mixed in with some beautiful tulips, and chocolate. A great start! Then Sunday morning, my boys treated me to pancakes in bed. The boys LOVE to make mama breakfast in bed because that means they get to join me in bed for breakfast. This can get a little tricky trying to keep the syrup from flying all over the bed as each of the four anxious, loving, hungry boys want their turn at taking a bite. But this year, Paul was extra prepared...He had extras on HIS plate to give the boys. So I got to eat breakfast in bed, surrounded by my favorite boys, and not have to worry about spilling!

The BEST part of this Mother's day was having Paul around all day. No meetings for him to rush off to. He was home to help get the boys ready for church, and even made me lunch. That was wonderful! Off to church we go.

We got home from church, and the dishwasher needed to be unloaded. Now, for those of you who don't know this about Paul, he HATES to unload the dishwasher. He's the champ at cleaning up meals, washing pots and pans and loading the dishwasher. But when it comes to unloading the dishwasher, that's just not something he does. So, when I caught him UN-loading the dishwasher, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. And THEN he made dinner on top of all that! He MUST love me!

Thanks to all my favorite boys for making this day so special! It's because of all of you that I am able to celebrate motherhood.

A trip to Krispy Kreme

Who doesn't LOVE a Krispy Kreme glazed donut?! NO WAY would we miss out on this little Pre-School field trip! We were able to visit one of the highest producing Krispy Kreme's in the world! Right here in Glendale, AZ! Did you know this is only one of two Krispy Kreme's with out a drive through? Well, now you do. Did you also know that not all Krispy Kreme's make their donuts fresh? Well, the store we visited makes all the donuts (including the cake donuts) and then deliver them all over the Phoenix valley. But the most interesting part of visiting the Krispy Kreme is the taste testing. I knew it wouldn't be fair to only let Cooper, Drake and I participate in the taste test, so I bought a dozen to share with the other boys. I think I only ate one more...What will power!

THE Pinewood Derby

I had NO idea Pinewood Derby's could be so technical! Did you know to sand down the wheels to create less friction on the track? Did you know to sand the nails (axles) so there's less friction on the wheels? And that if you sand a groove in said axle, there will be even less friction on the wheel? Did you know to run your car on three wheels instead of all four so there's less friction on the track? Did you know about graphite? That it makes even LESS friction on the wheels? No. I didn't know any of these things. Until this past month. And oh boy did we all learn a lot!

Paul and Andrew got together with the Mechams (Jeremiah and Matthew) to make some awesome pinewood derby cars. With Jeremiah's wood shop, and his "Pinewood Derby Bible" (did you know there was such a thing?), they were destined for success.

Every night for a week, Paul hummed and hawed about how to get this little car to weigh more than a feather. With Andrew's sleek design, there wasn't much "pine wood" actually left to attach any weights to. And while I gave Paul an awful time about all the time he spent obsessing about Andrew's car, it sure paid off!

The BIG Race Cars



The Check In


The Track



The Line Up (Lane 1)


The Watching and Waiting



The Finish (Lane 3)

(I know the car is in a different lane than the "start"--that's because the car is run on all 4 tracks to make up any difference in a "faster track". And don't let this picture fool you. While it looks like Andrew's car is in last place, this photo actually captured the bounce back. His car hit first and so hard that it was THAT much further back on the track when this image was captured.)

Four Heats. Four Wins! And look at the enthusiasm on this boy! He really was super excited that his car was doing so well! And Barik was just as excited as Andrew--constantly cheering him on! (sweet brothers)

Having won each heat and setting new record times with each race, Andrew was not only the winner of his Pack, but the overall winner as well! With a quick lesson on being a gracious winner from mom, he was off to claim his blue ribbons.

Way to go Team Boley on an amazing first Pinewood Derby!

Patience

Oh, how I wish I had more patience. Patience with whining, crying kids. Patience when they don't clean up as quickly as I'd like. Patience when they don't do what I asked the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Or even the fourth. When will I gain more patience? I pray for it. The kids constantly try to teach it to me. Am I just too stubborn to accept what they're trying to teach me? If I had more patience, would there be more peace, more quiet, less whining, less crying in our home? Is all this discontent really for my benefit?

I think of my mom. All the patience she has. I wonder if she was this patient as a young mother. Or is the ample amount of patience she possesses due to not having small children running around the house, throwing their food, spilling their milk, peeing on the floor, fighting with their brothers, hitting, crying over every small "owie"? I don't have the answer to that question.

Will I have more patience as my small children grown older and are more able to communicate their wants and needs? Or will the challenges of teenagers far surpass the challenges of young children? Right now, while in the midst of what often feels like absolute madness to me, I want to scream. And far too often, I do. But what does that accomplish? My kids think I'm mean. And then I feel horrible.

I hate losing my patience. I am always filled with regret after losing it. I know it's not the right way to handle things. I should always be filled with nurturing love, kindness, sympathy, and understanding. That's what a mother is supposed to be, right? And thankfully, I'm not always a raving lunatic. But far more often than I like to admit. Just ask my kids.

I hope they know of my love for them. I hope they feel of my absolute adoration toward them. I tell them often. But do my actions speak louder than my words? Do I show them enough love and kindness to overshadow my mean actions? Probably not. I know I need to try harder. Everyday. I know this time is short and that soon I won't hear the pitter patter of little feet running on the tile. Very soon, they might be easily influenced by outside sources. Sources that might not be in accord with what I'm trying to teach them. I have an eternity to love them. But I only have now to guide them in the ways they should go.

Please continue to love me. Please know how much I love you. Please know that I try hard everyday. I know my attempts often fall short of what you deserve. You bless my life everyday. And after all is said and done, your hugs always make me smile. Thank you for giving them so freely.


Hugs go a long way toward melting all hearts.

Boys and their Toys

Oh boy, do these boys love their toys!

Sabbath Swimming

I've always felt that swimming on the Sabbath was a very appropriate family activity. But some other Sabbath Nazi's (you know who you are) might disagree. Well, we've come up with a solution to satisfy us all.

Swimming in our Sabbath clothing!




There. Don't you feel better?

The Cooley/Murfitt Visit

More visits! We feel so loved and absolutely LOVE visits! Debbi and clan showed up to our warm home at 10 am Thursday morning. The pool was the first stop for Bailee while Brent took Dillan and Austin to a new "sick" skate park. So Debbi, Bailee and I had some quality girl time together. Can you ever get too much of that?

The next few days were filled with a visit from Brent's son Austin and his wife Whitney, lots of time in our 68 degree pool,

plenty of days at the skate park, Cooper's birthday, a Dam Good Run (both Debbi's and Brent's first organized run), Easter egg hunts,

trying to listen to Conference (all 11 of us around a small lap top computer), steak, potatoes, pancakes, chicken tacos, biscuits, bacon, chocolate, chocolate cake, glory bars, peanut butter M&M's, red vines, peanuts and raisins, On the Border, and lots and lots of laughing.

Bailee was such a great babysitter and attached herself to Drake the moment she got here. I was convinced he would go through withdrawls as soon as they left. She refused to learn how to change a poopy diaper though (can you blame her?) So, I guess we won't be able to hire her as a babysitter until either Drake is potty trained, or until she gives in and learns to change that nasty business.

Andrew and Barik loved playing X-Box with Dillan. And Barik was especially attached to 15 year old Austin as he shared his IPod games with Barik. It was so cute to see Austin holding Barik's hand as they walked through the grocery store. And that was followed up with a "I like you, Austin." by Barik. I love seeing that "cool teenager" facade melt away with the love of a little Bear.

We LOVE you, Murfitt/Cooleys!!! Come back real soon, ya hear?!

Happy 4th Birthday, Cooper!

Cooper-kazi

Super Duper Cooper

Cooper-man

You are so full of life! You literally climb and bounce off the walls.

You are very smart. Just yesterday you wanted to learn all about where honey comes from. And today you could tell me all about the honey bee.

You are very thoughtful. You are often the first to thank me for helping you, getting you food, or reading stories to you. In fact, you are so thoughtful, that during our "bee" conversation, you said, "I haven't thanked the bees yet." Who thinks to thank the bees? Why, you do, of course.

The things you say constantly crack me up. I love that you still have a little boy voice and can't quite pronounce all your letters. But you speak the words of a big boy.

You often talk about your "bess frens" who are Austin Wilson and Parker Thompson.

You LOVE naked swimming and asked me to take you to the pool at 7:30 this morning.

You love to be with all your brothers (except when you don't, because sometimes you don't).

You love your "guys" (all those squatty super hero action figures) and you are always found with at least one of them in tow. You sleep with them, take baths with them, take them to preschool, have them watch as you get your hair cut. Your favorite super heroes right now are Batman and Iron man.

I love having you in Sunbeams with me. You love sitting at the front of the class with me as I teach. And I let you because you are my son. I love you!

This year for your birthday, you asked for the chocolate cake that we all love. But you didn't want "white stuff" (powdered sugar) or strawberries on top. No. That wouldn't do. You wanted worms on your cake. I'm still not sure how you came up with that idea, but when you got a piece of your chocolate/worm cake, all you ate were the worms. And you ate a lot of them! I had no idea you liked worms so much.

Arianne's Visit

Our 5 day adventure began with Adrienne and I picking up our sweet friend at 9:30 am and whisking her away for a new adventure (of course Adrienne put this fun, out of the ordinary adventure together). We spent the day at the Tempe arts festival. And while we didn't pay too much attention to the art, the food definitely didn't escape our radars. I had a navajo taco (a must, every time I see them, which isn't often). Then we found this great self-serve frozen yogurt place called MOJO's. I love the food at places like this. It's always so different than what we can find around our homes. Adrienne (always up for a new adventure, and never intimidated to be in the middle of things) assisted a street performer.


After walking the street of the art festival, we took off to Arizona Mills and walked the halls of the mall. And then we hurried off for our 5:30 pedicure appointments at our favorite Surprise Nails. And then shuffled our newly painted toes across the parking lot to Macayos for yummy chips, salsa and baja sauce (my FAVORITE). (Did I mention before that the best events are surrounded by good food?)


April, Michelle, Adrienne and I split Arianne's time equally. We all had a chance to have her over for a sleep over. The first night we all (minus Michelle who had a nursing baby awaiting her at home) slept at April's. It felt like we were 12 again. Staying up late, playing the color game, watching a movie, eating more good food (this time it was gormet popcorn), with no kids around (April's were already asleep). A special thanks to all of our husbands who so willingly took over so us grown women could act like little girls again.

We all got together as often as possible. Making and eating Adrienne's yummy home made pizza, playing card games, eating more chewy deserts, drinking limeades, going out to Big Buddah for lunch, going on a run. And all of these things were in remembrance of things we did when our sweet friend lived many, many, many miles closer.

Oh how I miss this girl and wish she lived closer! Spending 5 days with her reminded me of what an amazing gal she is! I miss her sense of humor, her ability to lovingly laugh at herself her "best"ies. I often tell her she should be a psychologist--her ability to read and understand people beyond surface level astounds me. She is much wiser than her meager 29 years of experience should allow. And while I know my pleading won't do a bit of good, I do it shamelessly anyway, PLEASE COME BACK TO US PEARCE FAMILY!!!