Farewell Iris :(

I can't believe it's already been 10 months!  It went by so fast.  Today, we took Iris to the airport to fly back to Japan.  It was so sad.  Especially that night- we had too much food at dinner and I had to do the dishes all by myself...  I made sure we got a family photo- probably the only "real" one this whole time- by setting up the tripod out front before she got in the car.

 Iris made us the cutest wall-hanging with pictures from throughout the year.  We hung it on the living room wall above the kids' craft table.

 We all love having it around and both of the kids can often be caught looking through the pictures and pointing out things.

We love you Iris!  We will all miss you so much!  Thank you for making it such a wonderful experience for our family.  We hope to see you again soon!

Backyard S'mores

The previous owners of our house left a small fire pit and during the last 4 years of living here, we've STILL never used it.  Until tonight, that is :)  Iris is leaving soon and we thought we had better make s'mores before she goes.  However, while looking for the ingredients at the grocery store, the Reese's bar caught my eye and I thought it might be fun to try some other kinds of chocolate as well:

 Luckily, the fire pit had a few logs in it, otherwise we would not have been able to do it.  Unluckily, we had no kindling and none of us present were boy scouts.  Luckily, I thought of a tip my mom randomly told me awhile ago where she mentioned that she was saving some of her drier lint to put in their 72-hour kits to use to start up fire.  So, I went to my drier lint catcher and dug a bit in the garbage in the laundry room, and had a small wad of drier lint.  I made a little teepee of logs and lit the lint on fire underneath.  Voila!  I'm saving my drier lint for 72-hour kits* from now on :)

 The Reese's bars were the all-around favorite, I think. :)

*did you hear, now they're saying to make 96-hour kits? and I JUST got caught up on the 72-hour ones...**
**CP, I thought of you when I made this footnote.

Iris Spring Break: Day 6

This was our last day of planned activities.  We had originally planned to go hike to a hotspring, but since it was so rainy the previous day, and Peach and I were still drippy and coughy, we decided to do something that required less exertion and outdoor nakedness.  We drove up to the Kennecott Copper mines.

 This is everyone on the drive up.  I'm still baffled because it was about 10:30am!  Maybe 7pm isn't an early enough bedtime?  Well relish it because it's the best group shot I got.

 I love that you can read the sign that says "Do Not Climb on the Railing" in the same picture where you can see little Peach hanging on the railing.  That's all The Frog basically wanted to do.  (that is, until he found the puddle...)

And that's it folks.  I couldn't get anyone to stay together at all the whole time we were there, so this is the evidence of our being at Kennecott.  I think Iris's camera has a shot with her and The Frog in front of the giant tire, but this is all you get from me, sorry.  I didn't really even get to look at anything because I spent the whole time chasing either one child or the other.  I don't know what we're going to do when the kids outnumber the parents...

Iris Springbreak: Days 4 & 5

On Thursday and Friday, Peach and I were clearly sick, and I asked to stay home and rejuvenate.  While Jay and Iris were up at the planetarium in Salt Lake all afternoon, The Frog was busy creating a masterpiece.

 An indoor playground.

Here's The Frog posing with his final work.  (He wanted to pose behind it...)  My favorite bits are the screwdriver hanging from the stepstool hole and the hidden sippy-cup balancing on the chair leg.  I feel like this might make a good "I Spy" photo for Marzollo and Wick's next book.

This is what Peach thought of it...

Friday, Jay, Iris and The Frog all went to the aquarium together while Peach and I had a mommy-daughter sicky day.  It was actually quite relaxing.

Not really spring break related but...  That night, Jay and I had tickets to see Ballet West, and so I went armed with one pocket full of wadded tissues and the other, a handful of cough drops.  (I ate every one too...)  Despite my drippiness, it was fabulous!  Best Christmas present ever :)

Iris's Spring Break: Day 3

I had originally planned on the family going on a "real" hike, but Jay realized he had a lot of work to do and he probably shouldn't take the day off and I started feeling like I was coming down with something, so I instead decided to drive up to Bridal Veil Falls and we'd make the short hike, on paved path, from the parking lot to the falls and call it good.  

The kids are wearing their Easter backpacks.  Both are carrying some apple slices and water.  I just want to SQUEEZE them both.

 After a 2 minute walk, there was a bridge over the river and the kids thought this was so awesome that I almost felt like we could just go home after that.  Peach kept saying "woooow! woooow!"  It was so funny.

It kills me when I see pictures of other people's kids all nicely posed, sitting next to each other.  That just never happens with my kids.  This is the best I could get.  Running.  I celebrate when I can see both their faces...

 Despite the short walk, I wish I had brought the stroller.  I ended up having to carry the kids some of the way.  I had packed a cute lunch and we brought a ball and bubbles and planned to spend some time up there, but it ended up being much cooler up there than it was down where we live and after being at the falls about 3 minutes, The Frog said he was cold and wanted to go home.

So we did.

Iris's Spring Break: Day 2

Iris and I painted nails in the morning and The Frog decided he wanted to help us paint our toes while I did Iris's fingers.  For my feet, he chose clear and a very pastel peachy color.  For Iris he chose something a bit more bold...

 And thought he had no reason to limit himself to only the toenails...  (it took me like 30 minutes to get it all off for her, while her hands dried and some of the red on the feet just wouldn't budge.)

 Jay came home early from work to get his blood drawn and we all went bowling before dinner.  (Though he didn't want to bowl.  He basically played babysitter once the kids got restless.)  We've never taken the kids before!  I think The Frog looks so cute in this shot.  His feet perfectly fit into the smallest bowling shoe size!

 Peach acting like a teenager on her cute daddy's lap.

 I think Iris and I were the only ones who took it seriously.

 She ended up winning. I thought about posting the score-card picture, but decided my pride couldn't handle it.  To give you a sense, my first set was a strike, and my second was 00.  Yeah.  I lost.  Even to the kids.

 The Frog didn't always use this ramp thingy, but he always went too fast for me to get a picture of him dropping the ball.  I supposed I had ample time to get a shot of his ball creeping down the alley though...  We opted not to play with bumpers.  'Cause we're serious like that.

 By the end, the kids were running around in the arcade equipment and Iris and I took turns bowling for the kids.  Of course we always did a great job on their turn, and a lousy one on our own.  I ended up giving the kids a spare on the last set.  I think that's the only spare I bowled the whole game.

It will be fun to come back when Peach is a bit older, but it was fun nonetheless!

Iris's Spring Break: Day 1

Iris gets the whole week off this week and we toyed with all kinds of little vacations, but everything just seemed too expensive for what we would get- expensive in time to get there, money, and the amount of enjoyment for the kids wouldn't be enough to make it worth the trouble, so we instead decided to have a "staycation" where we tried to do something fun every day, from a list of things Iris wanted to do here before she goes home.

 Day 1, we hooked up the bike trailer and pulled this kids along a bike path to a park about 2.5 miles away.  Here are the kids sporting their Easter shades and Red Sox hats, preparing to go.

 Thanks to Jay inventing the kids' favorite game (and one of my least favorite...)- The Jumping Game- I catch The Frog and Peach trying to jump off everything, lately.  I can't wait until I find one of them on the roof....

 The Frog was very proud of his ability to jump off this and wanted me to document it.  I think it's the highest thing he's jumped yet!

Leave it to The Frog to always find someway to get soaking wet or muddy when we have no convenient way of changing clothes.

 The Frog spends just as much time climbing up slides as sliding down them.

 I love this picture!

 Peach and Iris going down the dual slides.

 After many attempts, this was the best group shot I could manage...

We came home and had a much needed popsicle, as evident by Peach's little red cheeks.  I was terrified that she may have gotten sunburned on her face because I ended up with a little on on my arms, but I'm happy to say I think both of our kids lucked out and inherited Jay's skin.

Hurrah!

Someone needs a haircut...

Kid Conversations

I have been storing up a few of these.

The Frog comes up to me out of nowhere.
The Frog:  Oh no! Moooooom.  Uh-oh, you forgot something!
Me: What?
The Frog: You forgot to get me a puppy!

One time at dinner when Peach was coughing after a drink The Frog comments:
"It went down the wrong pipe.  It was supposed to go into her tummy, but it went down to her legs."

Iris, The Frog and I are all sitting at the table.  The Frog is talking to Iris.
The Frog: How old is your mom?
Iris: 46
The Frog: How old is your dad?
Iris: 45
The Frog: How old are you?
Iris: 17
The Frog: How old is your baby?
Iris: (laughing) I don't have a baby!
The Frog: (pointing at her breasts) But you have those!
Me: She's not married yet, Frog, she can't have a baby.
Iris: I don't even have a boyfriend.  Can you help me find one, Frog?
The Frog:  You mean like me... or daddy?
(we're lauging)
Me: Daddy is already married to me, Frog.
The Frog: Well, I'm not big yet.

Iris told me about this conversation when she put the kids to bed for Jay and I one night.
They're reading bedtime stories.
The Frog: (turns to Iris) Can you forgive me, Iris?
Iris:  For what?
The Frog:  I pooped.

and then this morning, I was getting the kids dressed and Peach was trying to open a dresser drawer.  I asked The Frog to help her.

The Frog:  Do you need help, Peach?  Here.  (opens the drawer)  Look! What's in there?  Just underpants and pajamas.  (to me)  I think she wants to look at my underpants.  (to Peach) Do you want to look at my underpants, Peach?
Peach: (nodding) yeah.
The Frog: (dumping them all on the floor) Of course you can look at my underpants!  Of course you can!

1000 Cranes

In Japan, they have a tradition where if there is something you really really want, you can show your sincerity by folding 1,000 origami paper cranes and then your wish will come true.  Iris started making some over Thanksgiving break and finally finished them!

Once they are made, you must string them all together and give them to whomever the wish is for.  We wanted them to look ordered, so we decided to sort them by color first.

Then we made 20 strands with 50 cranes on each strand.  Here they are all strung, and the first two (left) strings have been fitted together, so they are more compact.

Here is the finished product (at about midnight... it took awhile)

She gave them to her volleyball coach because she wishes that Timpview can take state in volleyball again this year.  :)

Triple Double Oreos? Iris Haircut!

I made some home-made oreos for a Dine-O-Round and we got to talking about the different Oreos.  Everyone seemed to be a fan of "cakesters" but I'd never heard of them!  I tried to find some at the grocery store next time I was there, but I couldn't see any.  I did, however, see the Triple Doubles.  Wha?  Iris and I thought we should give them a shot.

The Triple Double

Iris with "before" hair and the Triple Double package

Oh and these are my just-'cause-roses.  I love my boys :)

We also got Iris a haircut so her bangs would be out of her eyes.  Sorry for the blurry shot...  I her hair turned out super cute!

Super-cute new eye-revealing haircut

Volleyball State Championship!

So.  I'm too excited to save it 'til the end, the Timpview volleyball team won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!  I tell you, it was SUCH an exciting game.  We filmed the entire championship match but weren't able to sit close enough to get many good pictures.  However, we got plenty shots of the other games, so I'll try to include only a FEW of the best ones during this summary of events.  (I just might get carried away though.)

First things first, though.  Jay and I, like good, supportive parents, bought Timpview volleyball T-shirts at the beginning of the season to wear to all Iris's games, but I thought I was ordering a women's medium, and it was actually a men's medium, and it DROWNED me, so I altered it and basically made it a women's T-shirt.  I changed the neckline too.  I forgot to take a before picture, so here's the "halfway done" picture:

Jays was a tad large too, so I took his in a bit as well.  I never remembered to take the after picture so here we are as gung-ho supporters, all decked out in our alterations:

Now for the good stuff...

Our first game was against Cyprus.  I felt kinda bad because we completely KILLED them.  We never won a game this easily all season.  I guess our region must be very good?  The scores were 25-7, 25-13, 25-13.

Megan goes for the spike

Look at how much air Lauren gets!

Iris too!  For being so short, she can sure jump high!

Every picture I have of Jessie mid-air, her pony-tail looks like this.  She was named MVP of Timpview's team.

Huddle before next game.

Iris spikes again!

Iris, getting ready to serve.

Round two was against Box Elder. We lost the first, 25-22 but won the remaining three: 22-25, 21-25, 23-25.

Time-out

Iris bumps

Nice dig, Iris!

I love when they set behind themselves.  I think it's very artistic looking- like a dance move.

Lauren spikes again.

In the semi-finals we played one of my High School's old nemeses: Skyline.  I was extra happy about Timpview winning that one. :) Since I got to go to the two games on Friday while Jay was at work, I let him attend this one while I watched the kids.
25-20, 25-21, 14-25 (we lost), 18-25 (we lost), 15-9.

I love that you can tell Iris's spike makes it past their block in this shot.

Awesome save, Iris!

The final game was against our own region rivals, who we took second place to: Salem Hills. It was seriously, the most intense game I've ever watched.  In a nutshell, we lost the first two games: 22-25, 22-25.  But we came back and won the next two: 25-18, 25-22.  The final game should have been completely stressful, but I completely forgot that they only go to 15 on 5th matches.  At one point we were up 12-10, and then Salem Hills scored 3 in a row, putting us behind: 12-13.  Then we were tied at 13-13.  All Salem Hills needed was one more point and the game would be over, but Timpview miraculously scored 3 in a row and we won 16-14!!  If you want to relive the experience, I filmed the whole thing (although I got there and realized I only had 45 minutes of memory and so I constantly stopped and started the filming so that we wouldn't film in between serves.  I actually ran out of time and ended up filming the entire last match on my iPhone.) and am in the process of posting it to YouTube.  I'll post a link once I've done it.  (It's hardcore.  Seriously- I added a score to the bottom right corner, and put in some slow mo clips.  Make some popcorn though, it's about 45 minutes long.)
  It was much harder for Jay to get decent shots of this game because he had to sit so far back- zooming in all the way lends itself to blurry shots...  It was worth it to have the student support though- the whole Timpview football team was there and a lot of other students too.  (We also JUST got there before it started and a lot of people had come early to save seats.  DUH to us.)  Salem Hills probably still had more than we did, but I think our crowd was louder :)

I love their celebratory hugs.

Lauren played better than I'd ever seen her play in this game.

Timpview just won!! 

The trophy!

I think this picture just looks cool- the crowd rushing the floor.

The Daily Herald Interviewing Iris.  (our neighbor happens to be the camera man)

I think this picture is sooo funny- like it looks staged.

Self-explanatory!  You're awesome, Iris!

Tons of random people kept hugging Iris and telling her good job.  I think she was weirded out by it, but she was still polite.  Strangers don't usually even shake hands in Japan, let alone HUG!

A mom shot :)

The State Champions!!!

So many people came up to me after and thanked me for hosting Iris or told me she has perfect form and could get a sports scholarship here if she wanted.

Congratulations, Iris!  You have worked so hard and you deserve the title!