. . . the yard guy . . .

. . . colby does a great job . . .

. . . i mean check out 

those nice straight lines . . .

. . . job well done, bud . . .

. . . time to put the mower away . . .

. . . and just chillax 

on the front porch . . .

. . . ha ha triple HA . . .

. . . this kid never chills OR relaxes . . .

{hence the blurry photo}

. . . i'm a runner . . .

. . . "i'm a runner" 

is the title of this video . . .

. . . it is not a statement 

that describes me . . .

. . . drew sent the link

in honor of his sister . . .

. . . i hope it clears up 

any questions 

you might have . . .

. . . twenty-six point two . . .

. . . proud grammy last saturday . . .

. . . proud mama today . . .

. . . our cheering section gathered . . .

. . . complete with signs . . .

. . . and max the mascot puppy . . . 

{tate, addi, amanda, halleigh, nikki, tagg, chris & max}

{please notice chris' expert bomb shading on that green sign}

. . . i mean who wouldn't be excited 

to see a group like this? . . . 

. . . especially already 

eighteen miles 

into the race? . . .

. . . amber and her good friend, jenny,

 stuck together the whole morning . . .

. . . their hair in twinsie topknots . . .

. . . jenny in neon salmon and 

amber in charcoal . . .

{if you live in mesa, you should be able to identify this intersection. 

clue at the three o'clock position}

. . . riding in the car 

with these two pyschos 

was quite 

the early morning experience . . .

. . . loud rap music 

with the windows down 

for passing runners' pleasure . . .

{and lots of car dancing}

. . . and, yes, the runners were

 definitely passing vehicles . . .

. . . the traffic was bananas . . .

{amanda and nikki had no problem recalling their pep rally sign making skills}

{let me interpret the finger spelling for you: H-E-R-O}

. . . the next time we saw them 

was at the finish line . . .

. . . side by side . . .

. . . champs, definitely . . .

. . . amber was very appreciative . . .

. . . she said her previous marathons

 {two in yuma, one in san diego, and one in st. george}

were kind of lonely . . .

. . . even though this was 

{HER words - not mine} 

her P.W. 

{personal worst} 

time . . .

. . . this proud mama 

had tears in her eyes . . .

. . . again . . .

. . . row row row eight . . .

. . . lori introduced this row 

on 5 december 2012 . . .

. . . which means i'm just under 

three months behind . . .

. . . sort of par for my course! . . .

. . . anyhooooo . . .

. . . mittens! . . .
{with shady photos ~ drat!}

. . . i've heard folks 

who live 

where it's cold . . .

. . . wear these 

to keep 

their hands warm . . .

. . . what a concept! . . .

. . . it's going to be 

eighty degrees 

here today . . .

. . . time for 

sandals and 

pedicures . . .

. . . i'm four rows behind . . .

. . . but here are 

the first eight 

all together . . .

 {ocd moment ~ shouldn't have started rows 

with a green apple and a green mug}

{total number of pieces in row 8: 125}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-8: 978}

. . . mass production . . .

. . . usually equals 

mass destruction . . .

. . . greasy pans . . .

. . . colorful trimmings . . .

. . . overflowing trash . . . 

. . . and the makings of dinner 

for three households . . .

. . . tonight's salads included 

romaine lettuce, fresh pineapple,

 oranges, strawberries, avocados,

 craisins, toasted pecans, blue cheese,

 bacon and grilled chicken 

dressed with a

balsamic poppy seed vinaigrette . . .

{p.s. the homemade rolls were doughy. 

i think something's wrong with my oven.}

{p.s.s. don't worry. the mess is all cleaned up.

#ifigotobedwithdirtydishesinthesinkiamcrankyinthemorning}

. . . in the navy . . .

{village people, anyone?}

. . . one easter . . .

. . . 1989 to be exact . . .

. . . i dressed the entire family 

in navy and white . . .

{when they were all still young enough to wear whatever i told them to wear}

. . . quite a departure 

from the usual springy pastels . . .

. . . and i really can't wait for the day

 when drew and jessalyn 

have a little boy . . .

. . . why? . . .

{feel free to discuss/laugh at our perms/bangs to heaven. it's fine.}

. . . because i still have 

that sweet outfit . . .

. . . and i will see 

that it is worn again! . . .

{love you, drew and jess!}

. . . perhaps this nostalgia 

is what inspired 

today's batch of oops! . . .

. . . there's just something crisp 

and kind of nautical 

about this color combination . . .

. . . a couple of these 

paired with a navy bloops! 

would make a wonderful gift

for any new boy baby . . .

{navy blue always makes me think of "franck" from father of the bride 

talking about steve martin's "nauffy blue tuxahdo"}

. . . none of these crazy girls 

were wearing navy last night,

{smooth segue?} 

but hanging out 

with my funny daughters 

is always entertaining . . .

. . . and amanda's hashtags 

crack me up . . .

. . . another shared birthday . . .

. . . at first, it was just me . . .

. . . and the darn wind . . .

. . . holding down the fort . . .

. . . but then 

the guests of honor 

arrived . . .

. . . nathel and amelia nathel . . .

. . . born exactly fifty years apart . . .

. . . i couldn't ask for a better mother . . .

. . . or a better daughter . . .

. . . happy birthday, girlies! . . .

. . . short stuff . . .

. . . alterations . . .

. . . that seems to be 

the name of the game 

when you're five foot nothing . . .

. . . here's what i cut off of 

one pair of skinnies, 

a pair of sweats, 

some other black pants 

and three maxi dresses . . .

. . . it's the least i could do 

for the girl of the hour . . .

. . . happy number twenty-seven,

 amelia . . .

. . . go, shorty . . .

. . . it's your birthday! . . .

. . . oratorical addi . . .

. . . addison competed today 

{for the third time ~ 

she already made it past her school and district competitions} 

in an oratorical contest . . .

. . . i never knew there was 

such a thing . . .

. . . all the contestants were dressed 

as their chosen character . . .

. . . addi chose helen keller . . .

. . . she was serious about it . . .

{how can it be that my grandchild is this old?} 

. . . she did an amazing job . . .

. . . her speech 

was completely memorized and 

~ AND ~ 

she signed the entire thing, too . . .

. . . she gave facts 

about the life of helen keller, 

her relationship with her teacher, 

annie sullivan, 

and she also included 

some of helen keller's 

own quotes . . .

. . . also represented were 

three georges and two abes . . .

{and molly pitcher, the printing press, baseball, walt disney, 

shirley temple, henry ford, and annie oakley ~ to name a few}

. . . after the speeches 

{and before the awards} 

the man on the left 

asked addi 

if she would visit 

his chapter of the lions club 

and give her speech 

at an upcoming meeting . . .

. . . addi was presented 

with the most coveted award 

of the competition . . . 

. . . an award named 

after a past grand master 

of the masonic lodge 

that sponsors the competition . . .

. . . addison could hardly wait 

to get home 

{it's a long drive from paradise valley to gilbert!} 

so she could pose for this photo 

and post it on instagram . . .

. . . as you might guess, 

i probably had a little tear in my eye 

as i watched her . . .

"walking with a friend 

in the dark 

is better than walking alone 

in the light."

~helen keller

{what a remarkable person}

. . . team spirit . . .

. . . raider fans are hard core . . .

. . . even raider fans 

who are expecting 

their first baby . . .

. . . not sure yet if it will be 

a little raider or a raiderette . . .

. . . but the bases are covered . . .

. . . either way . . .

. . . no question about which team

 these parents are rooting for . . .

. . . coming or going . . .

{does your little one have a favorite team? i'm happy to oblige}