Ten on Thursday? :)

Sorry I've been MIA lately... Just really busy! I'll try to give you the recap of the last couple of weeks, although nothing too exciting has happened. Just life.

1. Projects, projects, projects. Right now, I'm covered up with projects!! I'm madly working on the monstrosity known as the 5th grade video, programs for the Jr/Sr banquet at church, proofing 2 shoots, posters for the vb team--yes I brought that one on myself!, Bunko at MY house next week, changing some stuff on our computer, and probably something else... It feels like I'm overrun right now!

2. Easter was nice. We spent it at Anita's. She cooked a great meal for us and let the kids dye eggs at HER house. :) Not as big a deal since they're older, but still! The pictures for today's post are all from there. And, Tyler wants you all to know that we posed several of those pictures--just in case you thought he really hunted eggs. :)

3. Hadley played vb last weekend in Clovis. Her team was up against 14, 15 and 16 year olds. They actually did well and ended up winning the silver (aka: loser) bracket. All the girls were present and attitudes were somewhat improved. Yay!

4. She plays again this weekend--also against older girls. We'll see how they hold up.

5. The kids enjoyed their spring break. We did a lot of hanging out with friends. They like to stay up late and sleep in, so that's what they did. Poor David had to keep his regular schedule most of the week, though. I think we wore him out!

6. Gas is up to $3.25 $3.29 here. We may have to leave that Suburban in the garage permanently... Hard to believe a couple of years ago I freaked out when it started nearing $2.

7. Lance is devouring a book series by James Patterson. It's a youth series spin-off of one of his adult books about kids who can fly. The fourth one came out last week. We reserved it at the library and were the first to get it. It's sweet to see him loving it so much! I may have to pick them up one of these days and give 'em a try. Tyler read them, too, but I don't think he's loved them as much as Lance.

8. Remember the poster of Hadley I posted on my POTD blog? I had that one and one of Lance playing football against that really big boy printed up. They are pretty cool. Lance's is already hanging in his room--Hadley hasn't decided where to put hers yet. Neat!
9. Clyde II died. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the name.

10. Bunko next week will be themed "movie night". I printed up tickets as invitations and plan to use some cute popcorn boxes, etc. for snacks. I think it'll be fun. Of course, the prizes will be movie tickets! :)
Well, I'm sure I've left some super interesting tidbits out... Ha! Anyway, hope your week is going well.

Ten on Tuesday

1. It's great to be home! Hadley and I spent the last four days in Denver. We left early Friday morning and came back last night. The flights were uneventful--yay!, the hotel was awesome--right across the street from the convention center. The blue bear in the picture is the entrance to the cc--it was taken from our room window. The volleyball was just mediocre--ugh and the weather was terrific.


2. We loved downtown Denver! (a lot of these ten things will be about our trip--sorry) It has so much charm and so much going on. Lots of weirdos, too. Hadley got a big kick out of the street musicians. Her favorite was a harmonica player. She even tipped him. :)

3. LOVED spending the day with Bj and Ginny on Saturday. They came to watch Hadley play, then chauffeured us around. We ate at PF Chang's, visited a really cool REI store, and went to the big mall together. Nice!
4. Our flights, the hotels all around us and the convention center were filled with people we knew. Weird! Tons of hometown people were there. I was even approached about a volunteer job for next year. I'm 500 miles from home and I still can't get away. Go figure.

5. I have never seen as many volleyball courts in one place in my life. There were 72 in the same 'room'. 72!!

6. Saw two Tibetan Monks--best guess anyway-- on the streets of Denver. One of them was taking a picture of a guy with a platinum blonde, spikey mohawk---and lots of piercings and tattoos. It was hysterical! Mohawk guy was posing for them. Sure wish I'd had my camera out and ready for that one. Ha!

7. Our elevator at the Hyatt was one of those super fast ones. Hadley and I went to the top floor--37 and rode it from there to the first floor in app. 25-27 seconds. Probably 5 of those seconds were for slowing down on the last 3 floors. Zoom!

8. Ate at lots of fun places. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co was one of them. Run, Forrest, run!
9. Hadley is hooked on Starbuck's. We ended up there every day--I think they have one on every corner. Her drink is a hazelnut cream frapuccino.

10. Lance got to go paintballing and fishing while we were gone. Tyler did a little work and hanging out. They cooked steaks at least once. Sounds like they enjoyed their time, too.

Well, you have the brief re-cap of the weekend. As for the volleyball results, we did well on Saturday, but not at all on Sunday or Monday. Our team is struggling with some attitude problems--with both parents and girls. Not fun! It's so bad that I'm not even sure we'll be able to make it through the season together. Time will tell, I guess.

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

Check out this cutie!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We've had one fish casualty--Clyde. Funny how attached Lance was to him already, if you can be "attached" to a fish--we almost had tears! But he is now replaced with Clyde II and all is well on the waterfront.

2. Hadley and I fly out on Friday morning for a volleyball tournament. She's totally pumped about flying because she does not remember being on a commercial airliner, so it's kinda new and exciting. Me, not so much. I think I'd rather drive. Ah well. Peer pressure. I think the entire team is flying, most of us on the same flights. How could we possibly differ? We'll come home on Monday night. (Yes, she's missing two days of school!) Please pray for safe flights and good weather that weekend--we will be on foot the whole time-- our hotel is about a block from where we play. We're hoping there will be plenty of things to do/restaurants nearby as well. And, if we're lucky, we'll get to see Bj and Ginny! :)

3. The boys will probably live it up while we're gone--lots of meat, farting and video games. Almost makes me wish I could stay home.

4. Lance took off his undershirt and threw it in the wash last Wed. or Thurs. No fanfare---I didn't even realize at first. Still don't know what that was all about.

5. Girls night last night!! I went out with Debra, Debbie and Jayme. We ate at this cute little bistro, then had coffee and dessert at Starbucks. We laughed and talked and just had a great time. We've been able to get together pretty often since Debra moved back. I truly enjoy it---it so easy and fun to be together. Love those girls!!

6. Tomorrow is the dreaded TAKS test... The kids don't stress as much as they used to--thank goodness. But there is still a lot of pressure involved. I'm just ready for this one to be over. Next one in April, I think.

7. I think I'd like to appear on the show "How to Look Good Naked". Any ideas on how to get on? Speaking of, check THIS out. (Beware--naked adult bum, so watch at your own risk. It's pretty amazing, though, so I say GO FOR IT.)

8. Got our CBH confirmation packets a couple of days ago. T and H are going at the SAME TIME!! They'll both go 4th session. Upside--not as many trips back and forth and not as many weeks committed in the summer. Downside--Lance is gonna be bored out of his mind!

9. I think track is stressing Hadley a bit. The coach is making her work out with the relays--as the anchor, triple jump AND long jump. (even commented that she thinks Hadley has great potential at triple jump) She was working out with the hurdles group, too, but that was too many events and she chose to get out of it. I think the coach would have Hadley doing every event if possible.We're thinking of letting her drop out. They say you must do track, but one of the girls on our vb team successfully dropped out--using club volleyball as an excuse. If that worked, playing club soccer and club volleyball ought to, don't you think? It's just been hard for her to work out until 5:00 and then go on to other practices. No time for homework or downtime. We'll see. It's really hard to quit something, especially when I know she'd be so good at it. Hadley is also worried about letting her coach down. Ever the pleaser. And fickle. One day she hates it and wants to drop, the next she loves it and can't wait for the first meet. I'll let you know what we end up doing...

10. Tyler has his eye on a new jeep. He really wants a black one, and I think he needs one that's in a little better shape. Right now, I think every existing warning light on the dashboard is on. He's been checking ebay--even bid on one. (We were high bidder but the reserve was not met, so no dice.) So if you see any super cheap, like new black jeeps out there, let us know! :)

Wish my dog could do tricks. I visit a blog that always has the most interesting dog pictures--the dog wearing funny hats, balancing various fruits and vegetables on his nose, smiling for the camera. Good stuff! Especially handy for times your KIDS won't cooperate. I'm lucky to get Max (or the kids) to look at me while I'm holding the camera. He usually comes running straight at me if he notices I'm giving him even the slightest attention. After about 10 tries, though, I got this one. Guess he figured out I didn't want to pet him...

Not a whole lot going on right now. Just the ordinary stuff. Hadley and David are driving back from Midland as I write. She had her first soccer games there this weekend. The weather has been horrendous today----sooooooo windy. They say we might get snow. Combine that with the wind and it could be very nasty. I'm ready for them to be home, safe and sound. David said she did well---scored the first goal of the season. They won the first game and tied the second. Megan--the friend who's dad died a few months ago---rode with them. Ty thatched most of the day yesterday. It's that time of year, I guess. Dirty work, but he sure does make a lot of money! Lance has been out with friends today. His posse gathers at the park almost every day. Love that!

So, not a lot to report. Just wanted to say hello! And, for anyone interested, I'm trying to post on my POTD blog again. I'm not participating in the challenge---don't have time to visit fifty or sixty blogs a day---but I think I'll try to keep it up just for fun. Be prepared for some riveting photography... Especially today's.

Have a great week!