March Madness

So, late Thursday night I realized I'd done something horrible and terrible and after an extremely busy and productive day I became horribly depressed . . . I missed opening day of March Madness completely.  Didn't watch a single game!  Um, I usually watch the entire day.  Why did I not cancel every single thing I had to do that day?  What could be more important than that?  And to make matters worse, I forgot to fill out my bracket.  So, I hurried and printed one out.

Then in my depression, I didn't really watch any more over the weekend although I was keeping track of who won and lost.  So this morning I decided that there was only one thing that could be done with my bracket.

But Ben thought I needed to do it right.  So I did.  But really?  Was it worth the time?  I think it must go back to the garbage!

Besides, it's all about the NIT right now anyway.  Right?  Go BYU!!!

Best Day Ever

"This is the best day ever . . . in March.  Is it always going to be like this in March?"

Um, it's 49 degrees outside!

Only in Idaho does that mean you need t-shirt, shorts, and a picnic lunch out on the front rocks.

Who knew March would be so much better than February?!

I Love Lists

Everything around us seems to be breaking down, tearing apart, quitting  wearing out.  Is it because we are hitting the 15 year mark of marriage (I remember at the 10 year thinking that it was high time I replaced dish towels)?  Or because we have 5 busy crazy kids?  Or because we live on a rough dirt road (there aren't enough rocks on it to call it gravel)?  Or it it just because I started making a list finally and realized how behind I was.  Now if I could just find the time and money to fix everything (maybe I should get off the computer and get some super glue and a sewing machine and get to work).

The Broken List

Ice Maker (kids don't know how to live without out)
Printer (the new one is sitting here in the box after a year of messed up printing)
Outside air thing extra loud (you know, the big ugly thing sitting smack dab in front of our house)
Downstairs toilet (we think it was just the weeks of sub zero temps)
Laundry Drawers
Squeeky garage door
Van radio (um, the mechanic said "It's toast!" and I can't live w/o that clock--my life runs by it, and a new one costs $300 but he found a used one for $90.  Wahoo!)
Allie's coat
Sarah's dance bag
Kit's bag  (Google has all answers!)
Kit's backpack
Olive slicker
Piano screen (I pulled the piano apart, found the piece that I'm sure is causing the problem, but can't find the right piece online.  They seem to think you need an "expert" so I guess I'm going to have to make a phone call.  Allie thought it meant she got out of practicing, but alas, the piano keys still make sound w/o a screen.)
Silver watch
Crockpot
Phones
Cell phone (Score!  Thought we got to finally get a new one, but luckily we figured out the battery was just getting too cold since I always leave it in the van, so the girls get to continue to be embarrassed by our old fashioned cell phone.  But I tell them it's either an old fashioned cell phone and van or gym and dance and we all know which they will pick!)
Carpet Shampooer (It is broken, right mom?  And that's why it's been sitting in my garage for 3 years not being used).)
Allie's ice packs 
Main Bathroom Drain  (Packed with hair!  But with the help of a plastic glove and some tweezers, it now works!)


(I just have to explain everything, don't I?  No short posts or lists for me!)

Now back to crossing more things off the list before I have to add anything else!

And for your viewing enjoyment . . . we just love this girl!  She's funny and growing up so fast!

Uh, Charity is yelling Mollie's going poop in the tub!  Did I mention she's . . . fun?!!!  =)

**Honestly?!!!!  9:06 at night and trying to get Sarah's solo costume ready for in the morning (she has to leave at 5:30 for a temple trip and then rush to a dance performance) and I hit over the iron and it crashed and IT'S BROKEN!!!  Seriously?  Good grief!

Dishes

Anyone who knows me well knows I am horrible about doing my dishes.  I really don't mind it once I get going, but there's lots of things I'd rather be doing than hanging out in my kitchen.  It's much better now that we have a dishwasher and it's one of my favorite things about this house, but there's still lots of things that either don't work in the dishwasher or don't fit if you don't load/unload the dishwasher often enough.

But today I figured out why the whole kitchen thing is out of control and dirty.  It's not just me!  While washing five million water bottles (we go thru a huge variety every day) and a few pans from dinners from the week, I also discovered:

Sarah-pan from pizza (she made it for her "other" dinner after Sunday dinner), hash brown pan, large blue popcorn bowl

Allie-no bake cookie pans

Charity-muffin pans, bowls, muffin liners

Kit-nacho cheese bowl

Mollie-she helped Charity with the muffins

And the mess on the counter included leftover craft supplies from Allie's school project, play dishes and a sword and CD player from Charity and Mollie, prescription bottle that Kit just finished up and wanted to save, and a few hair things.

I think we need to all learn how to clean up after ourselves and finish up a project!  Silly family!  But I'm also glad they are all capable of making their own food and unloading the dishwasher consistently and occasionally helping with the other dishes.

And the dishes are completely finished . . . for a few hours!  And I think Sarah wins the prize because I don't think I found a single thing of hers on the counter!  (And she'll win a bigger prize if she makes dinner tonight before I get home from gym!)

Saturday is a Special Day . . .

It's the day we run around like crazy . . . at least during competition season which just got much longer with the addition of gymnastics.

10:00 am Snowy drive to Burley (but much better than we thought it would be).
10:30 am Fix printer at View Church
10:45 am  Get gas since we had been running on empty since Oakley
11:30 am  Lunch at Upper Crust  (our favorite)  *Check out Ben's tweet for a picture
12:20 pm  Clean Elevate (with two vacuums, two brooms, and 6 cleaners we got thru pretty fast)
1:00 pm  Drop Sarah off at Julie's Dance studio for a 4 hour long dance practice
1:10 pm  Drive to Twin Falls
2:00 pm  Stop at Sears to find boots.  We struck out again (we're not meant to get cute boots this year!)
2:45 pm  Magic Valley gymnastics for Allie's first meet as a Level 6 gymnast (she didn't do as well as she would have liked, but for going up one level in less than one month, it was awesome!)

7:15 pm  Rush home and grab some hot dogs and nachos for dinner
8:15 pm  Go to boy's basketball game to watch Sarah and Allie dance (Allie rocks as a hip hop dancer and Sarah's legs are gorgeous this year!!)
9:30 pm  Everyone was home and tired and ready to crash, but crash didn't mean sleep.

How does the McClure family relax and unwind?  Let us look at our house at 10:39 pm on Saturday night.

 Kit in her bedroom watching a movie on the laptop

 Charity on the family room couch watching a movie on the TV 

 Sarah and Allie in the office watching the BYU gymnastic meet on the computer

This is where you usually find our baby:
 Mollie in the library watching Primary songs on the ipad

Ben in the library watching You Tube videos on his iPod

(Mollie finally did what everyone should have been doing!)

And Steph .  . . Um, who needs to plug in when you have a book?

Steph in her bed reading a book.

Maybe we'd had enough of each other earlier and it was time for some space!  =)