The real end of Basketball and other frozen treats

Okay, so we have been on Spring Break all week, and for 'not having anything to do' my 'list of things to accomplish' has not seemed much shorter. HOWEVER, I did get a lot of stuff accomplished - I think. Shane has been gone a lot, and the weather has been HORRIBLE - to say the least. I really don't think you should call it 'Spring Break' when it is 19 degrees and there is snow everywhere. That kind of Spring Break makes Moms crazy as the kids are trapped inside. At least at Christmas they have new stuff mess with!

I finished writing the Elementary School play; that was a project. I also planned all other aspects of the show - costumes, set, lights, music, choreography, so I can just show up and do my thing with the new, short actors.

Tacey kept up her busy evening schedule, but it will be lighter as she had her last Basketball game last night. This Tacey making faces at, and generally annoying our neighbor Matt. They play intimidation ball in the driveway ALL THE TIME, so this is nothing new. We were happily disappointed that Tacey did not almost kill Matt like she did last time she played him. He went to stuff her during a layup and she ducked and turned, forcing him into an airborne position parallel to the ground. At least he has a hard head. I think he is fully recovered - even his pride. I can't say her team was amazing scorers, but if they gave points for fun, determination, and hitting the rim - they would have totally kick everyone's butts. Now she is just down to her 5 dance classes and the school musical. But be aware - Softball starts soon!

We also got to play with Hayley a lot this week. I forgot to take pictures - we were having too much fun playing. We painted her toe nails. She tried to wipe it off with a rag. She also has an appetite for cell phones.

Dallin & McCade have just been hanging. Actually, the next thing on my list is to have them plan their Pinewood Derby cars. I am excited because I think this is the first year I have not had a rehearsal I COULD NOT get out of. SOOOOOOO...... I will get to go! Now, Shane does not look forward to this as I am - since he gets to build two cars. (Unfortunately, someone always has to lose.)

We had Blue & Gold Banquet last month. It was, and always is, interesting to try and make two different cakes. Not to mention the cake consumption that must go on for the following week. This year the theme was 'ABC's of America'. Dallin decided to make the famous 'Don't Tread On Me' flag. I think it was because I had mentioned I saw a 3 foot long Gummi snake at the Army Surplus store. (I was there getting hand and foot warmers for the movie thing). So, really he did this whole cake himself. He helped significantly with the baking and did all the decorating himself. McCade and I talked about it and we made cupcakes. (I don't want to eat anything a bunch of cub scouts have been cutting themselves and using their hands to scoop up - YUK!). Then I used white chocolate chips for the stars (I might as well throw out the left-overs. We NEVER eat white chocolate). and fruit roll up for the stripes. We did this because I am too lazy and too uptight to have stripes that aren't straight.

And of course, we didn't forget McCade's birthday - the big 0-9! This is the last year any of my kids will have only one candle on their cake. *sigh*.

And finally, a picture of the boy's Basketball team. Gotta love 3rd & 4Th graders!

No, they don't play at a jail; just the equivalent - a Junior High School.

Happy Spring?

Danielle

Is there anything to update?

I dunno, we have just been running around like we always do. Shane has been gone due to his current change in occupational status, I finished one of my FAVORITE shows to do in Pocatello on Friday. I also auditioned and cast a play for 3rd, 4th & 5th graders at the Elementary School. Now I just have to write it. Thank goodness for Spring Break. Dallin and McCade are done with Basketball, but up to their ears in Scouts and looking forward to baseball. They also have dance recital soon. Tacey has one basketball game left, dance recital coming up soon (she has 5 classes) as well as the District Musical. She also wants to run track, and will be playing her last year of city softball this year.

On friday I got the opportunity to play Catherine Scott Murphy Harkness again. This is her picture.

Isn't her dress AWESOME?!?! This part was given to me by my good friend and Mentor, Jamie Romine. She received a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council to write a show about the women who were influential and consequential in the settlement of this area. Catherine was an Irish immigrant who married an abusive alcoholic. He brought her west from New York when he received tariffs the build and operate toll roads in Southeast Idaho. He finally beat her so badly one night that he was arrested and taken to trial. While on trial he was waving his gun, hit his attorney on the head with a book and ran from the courtroom. He was told to stop, but didn't and was shot and killed by the Sheriff. Catherine then ran the tolls with the help of a man who her abusive husband had hired to run one of the tolls. This is an amazing feat for any woman, but especially an irish immigrant woman in the late 1800's. She then married the manager and built a ranch, sawmill and boarding house. She was an amazing woman, and I am honored to play her EVERYTIME! I hope to meet her in heaven someday. . . and I hope I do her justice.

I am putting together a script of Anansi tales for the Elementary School kids, but I am at a loss for musical numbers. I am hoping my creative block will soon lift. McCade will be in this show. This is not nepotism - he honestly had an amazing audition. At least I have all of Spring Break to work on it - along with the taxes, and cub scouts with the boys. I guess I won't get much rest. Especially since I am going to make the kids clean their rooms; which are atrocious! I had been enjoying evening walks with the doggie and one of the kids (they unintentionally rotated so I got quality time with each of them), but today it decided to go from a tolerable 60 degrees to SNOWING!!! Ugh - so sick of snow. I dread next winter. I never want to drive in snow - NEVER, EVER again.

I bought my cap, gown, tassle and hood to walk the line the other day. It is a little surreal to finally walk the line the begining of May as I graduated in August and received my diploma in October (via mail). However, ISU only has commencement once a year, so I had to wait until this May to walk the line and get the snazzy diploma holder. I sometimes wonder why I am going through all the hoopla, it seems like unecessary stress and a waste of time. But at the same time, I did work very hard and I am proud of my accomplishments. My Dad is coming out to watch, and I suppose it will be good for the kids to see what I expect from them in the future.

On another random note - the doggie had himself another all night party. He is IMPOSSIBLE to catch when he gets out at night as he is the color of dark. He broke his collar and was gone for 11 hours. I think it is funny he knocks on the door when he decides to come home. He was so tired. I kept him up for another hour just to make him suffer for the all worrying I did and all the tears and fears I had to calm in the kids - not to mention the time chasing him in the dark. Ugh. He didn't like it, but oh well.

I am currently trying to decide if my schedule allows for me to direct a production of 'A Midsummers Night Dream' in Pocatello. If time allows, I think I am going to do a weird concept and pull it out of Shakesperean time and put it in gangster-Chicago. I dunno - it is still just an idea - it hasn't quite solidified yet.

On a somber side note, one of my former students had a baby this week who has some severe problems. If you have an opportunity, please visit grantmeaheart.blogspot.com and learn about Alli and little Grant. I would appreciate it if you would keep their family in your prayers.

Now I have saved you all a rambling phone call from me - instead you got a rambling blog!

Love to you all!

Danielle

Quotes for the week. . .

Dallin

vs.

McCade

Round One

Dallin: I am going to be rich when I grow up.
McCade: No you're not, I'M going to be rich when I grow up!
Dallin: Well, I am smart, and smart people get all the good jobs and make all the money. I am going to be rich when I grow up.
McCade: I am going to be rich because I am SOOOO Good Looking!

Round Two
(Upon receiveing their paychecks for their recent extra work in the movie 'Snowmen'.)

Dallin: Hey! I thought I made $92.00! Why is my check only for $80.87?
McCade: Well, now I am going to do what all working men do: scratch my butt, then sit on it and play video games.

Yep. Put a STOP to that opinion VERY quickly.

Danielle

Oh, to be a Movie Star

Well, the last several weeks have been busy. More basketball, and basketball and basketball. Tacey began practice for her coed team, which added to her already busy schedule. Things should get really interesting when she starts rehearsal for the district musical. On the up side, by then I will be done with the musical I am directing so I will be home more. We are in the last two weeks. It is both stressful and exciting.

Here are some recent fun basketball pictures. . .

This is Dallin dribbling. I am not quite sure why McCade has his arms straight up in the air, but that is him behind Dallin. He is the only kid I know who purposely wears a long sleeve shirt to play basketball *whatever*.
This is one of two free throws McCade shot AND MADE! Pretty cool.
One of the few moments they are both out of the game. They look like brothers who actually get along in this picture.

The OTHER exciting stuff happened over Valentines weekend. We left Shelley Thursday night to go to Salt Lake City because the boys had been scheduled to be extras in a MOVIE! The working title is 'Snowmen', I heard that it is being produced by Mirage, and should have a PG rating. I don't know if that means it will be in theatres or go straight to video, but we had fun and learned alot. Most of all it was a long, cold day. We were outside filming in sub-freezing weather from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm. BRRRRRRR. I thought 'Certainly they won't keep 9, 10 & 11 yr-old kids outside all day in this weather'. But, they did. Our only relief cam from sitting in a school bus. I had bought hand and foot warmers. I am SO glad I did. They really saved us.

Those two kids on the end in the black and gray coat with the blue stripe and the blue and black coat are McCade and Dallin, respectively.

This is from the top of the field they were shooting in. That tent is the tent the director stood in while filming was taking place. There were about 25-30 hired extras that day. However, for this particular scene, they pulled the 5th grade out of the school back there. They did alot of semi-choreographed cheering and running. All of these shots were for about 4 lines in the movie. They had at least 5 different cameras/camera angles they used and did each one about 5 times. It was tedious, tedious work. The kids were really cold. They were troopers on film, but alot of the extra kids were crying when they finally got done with this particular scene.About then, craft service showed up with Hot Chocolate and snacks. That was a good thing. This is Mac with one of the prop 'Snowmen'.Dallin with the same 'Snowman'.This is the field of 'Snowmen' the kids 'built' later in the day. They are made out of foam. It was funny to see all these fake snowmen in a field full of real snow. They sprayed all the 'Snowmen' with water and then sprinkled real snow on them. They also piled up real snow along the bottom to help them look real.This is Dallin resting and getting warm(?) on the bus while playing his PSP.McCade can't sit still - even in the cold. He played in the snow ALL DAY.This is the boys and all the other extras building their fake snowmen. That is Dallin all the way on the right. McCade is in the middle about 3 kids away from Dallin.

We were scheduled to work the next day, except we had a car accident on the way there. I am not going to say much, mainly because I am still upset about it. Lets start by saying NO ONE got hurt - except the car; it may totalled. I have officially given up even attempting to drive in snow. Shane must find a job that allows me to have a personal driver between November and March.

Hopefully the movie will be a success -

Danielle

Weblos means WE'll BE LOyal Scouts. . .

Well, Dallin received his Weblos badge the other night, AND he has now officially earned enough belt loops that his belt no longer fits. He has 22 belt loops in all. McCade is following in his brother's footsteps and is not too far behind with 18 belt loops. I am very proud of my Cub Scouts.

Then, as is the season, we had Basketball games today. No baskets for us today, but both boys are becoming very good defenders. We just need to convince them the rule is that the ball actually has to go IN the hoop!

We also woke yesterday to a bunch of new snow. I know that I am usually against snow, but if it is going to be cold, icy and dangerous anyway - you might as well have something pretty to look at. These are the trees on our street. Aren't they pretty? I used to get so mad in San Diego when they would 'flock' Christmas trees so they were white all over. I thought the white should only fall from the top; certainly it would be more realistic, right? I now know that I was absolutely right!

Back to the events -

Dallin then had what they called the 'Weblos WOW'. It was basically an event that allowed credentialed BSA personnel to come in and help the boys with the requirements for their Weblos Pins. Some of them are fairly easy to do at home, or in a Den Meeting, but others are more difficult. This was an opportunity to do some of the more difficult ones. Dallin earned both his Readyman and Engineer Pins today, this is in addition to his Fitness, Citizen and Traveller Pins he earned previously. These are pictures from the Readyman class; basically First Aid for Cub Scouts. I wondered about the wisdom in having the boys TRY the Heimlich maneuver on each other, but as the guy was BSA certified, I figured we could trust him.

Apparently this is the international sign for choking. Several more of his pins are almost complete; as long as we can memorize all the BSA stuff that goes with it - we should have his Arrow of Light in just a few more months. I really hope his enthusiasm continues and he becomes an Eagle Scout.

Later in the day, when it began snowing again, I sent McCade outside to shovel the driveway. Now, Shane had shoveled earlier, and there wasn't much snow, but it was coming down so fast I wanted to stay ahead of it. After a few minutes I looked outside and saw him doing this:

I guess a big pile of snow is just too tempting for an 8-year-old boy.

However, the driveway WAS clear!

Danielle

other final thoughts. . .

We had basketball again today. Last week Dallin made a basket, and he continued that tradition this week. McCade played hard and make a couple of shots, but nothing actually went in. There is some disagreement as to whether or not the team won. The final score was 22-33, but the boys think they had 33 and I am pretty sure they had 22. Whichever way it went, they had fun, so it is all good. Tacey is still refereeing and enjoys it. I think she likes the power of a whistle. Here are pictures from today. This is Dallin making a shot

This is Dallin making the shot that went in - you can see it is on it's way.This is McCade dribbling

more dribbling

This kid DID NOT want to play last week when Tacey was refereeing, and he wanted to play even less this week. They even let his sister run with him, but she finally got frustrated with him and ran stole the ball and started dribbling. That would have been fine - if she had actually been on the team.

Tacey doing her thing.

As promised, this is the picture of Haley eating the sucker. It is sour apple; she really liked it. NOW, for all of you who are FREAKING OUT right now, we only let her suck on it long enough to take this picture. SHE DID NOT GET TO EAT THE WHOLE SUCKER. I understand however, that she has become really good at stealing suckers from her parents since then. Again I say hee-hee-hee.

And, for you enjoyment, this is McCade doing his impression of a frog.

Nothing else needs to be said.

Danielle

And the story goes on. . .

The next week we visited my Dad and Grandma and took trips to the Zoo and Knotts Berry Farm AND added to our methodical analysis of all the best pizza places everywhere we visit.

I have to admit I haven't been to Knotts Berry Farm since like 8th grade, neither had Andrea, and Shane had NEVER been; so it was a true adventure for our theme park crew. We started on what we thought was going to be an 'ok' rollercoaster. As we have several trips to all the Disney Theme parks under our belts, we felt like we could handle anything we were tall enough for. Well, we were wrong. . . we started on the Ghostrider. It was an old-wooden roller coaster. We figured: 'Heck, we've done California Screamin' AND Rockin' Roller Coaster WE'LL BE FINE.'

BUT as the Ghostrider went down the first hill, I realized we had a problem. The boys may have been tall enough, but they certainly didn't weigh enough: especially McCade. The bars that came down only on our laps were not remotely close enough to keep the boys safely inside; Tacey probably had the same problem, but at least she is big enough to hold on really tight. In addition, it was a really 'jerky' roller coaster; ugh. That scared McCade pretty badly, so it took a while for him to get brave again. Frankly, I don't balme him. Anyway, there wasn't a really good time to take pictures; cameras and roller coasters don't get along. This is the kids next to a pretty fountain outside the Johnny Rockets inside the park. I didn't take this picture - credit goes to Andrea.This is waiting in line for some roller coaster; there were so many I can't remember them all.We finally got to take a picture with SOMETHING that said Knotts Berry Farm, but by then it was dark.This was the last roller coaster of the day: Shane and I opted out because we both had to drive (We'd met Shane in L.A.). This one was called the sidewinder. The cars went in circles as they went on the track. It was guaranteed motion sickness as far as I was concerned.

Andrea and McCade in the twisty carTacey and Dallin in the twisty car.

And then there was the trip to Flippi's; which I would have to say was probably Shane's favorite part of the whole vacation. Maybe that was because he spent his official 'vacation' working. Shannon went with us on this trip; Dallin stayed and played with Uncle Scott.

Flippi's was a bunch of hot, cheezy yummyness except for when Tacey spilled her water all over the table. It was funny to us, but she didn't think so.

AND there was the trip to the Zoo.

Once again it was cold out, so the animals were happy.

This is Dallin being a monkey.Yep, this is my Mom. Hmmm, I guess it is easy to see where I get it.This is McCade being a Monkey. Once again McCade took my camera, but it paid off this time. He got this amazing picture of the Hippo as it came and sat right in front of him. I wonder if the Hippo can say cheese. . .

When we got back, we got to play with Haley one night; Laura had a dentist appointment and Ben didn't think Haley would like hanging out in her car seat on the floor while her mom had her teeth cleaned. She and Dallin got along really well. AND Shane and I were NAUGHTY; feeding Haley her FIRST lollipop. hehehe.Don't they look cute?

I actually HAVE a picture of the lollipop, but it is on my phone. I will email it to myself and post it later.

January also means MORE basketball! At least they boys are on the same team this year.

Dallin is Number 5, McCade is number 22.Dallin talking with his coach.

McCade taking a short break.AND this is Tacey at her first real job - reffing (?) basketball for kindergarten through second grade. She basically makes sure everyone gets a shot, remembers to try to dribble and shoots at the right basket.

More to come

Danielle