The Marchant's: April 2014

Monday, April 28, 2014

Jumping cholla

Mason had a horrible run in with a "jumping" cholla cactus the other day. We had been shooting his rubber band gun and a rubber band went into our neighbors yard. He went to go get it and was being so cautious to the big cactus plants they have. But he didn't notice some of the balls that had fallen off the main plant and onto the ground. I was in the garage and heard this blood curdling scream. I run out there to see this giant cacti ball embedded in masons calf. I thought it would be an easy fix so I grabbed my gardening gloves and quickly put them on, thinking I could just grab it and pull it off. It didn't budge and it poked me like crazy so I knew I had to do something way different. Long story short I ended up having to literally yank out each prickly thorn with tweezers, being careful to keep his leg elevated and away from the cactus as I pulled it out or it would get re-stuck. Poor mason was crying so hard and shaking in pain, but he miraculously sat still for me and allowed me to pull them all out. He was so brave. I kept telling him that and he would get so mad and say "no I not!!" I researched the cactus afterwards and found out that they are so hard to get out because once the prickles penetrate the skin they basically curve, creating a hook, so they are securely lodged in there and extremely difficult to get out. Hope we don't ever have to do it again!

11 years

On April 18th David and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary. It's crazy to think that we have been married for that long! Here's what we've done in those 11 years:

-Lived in 4 states and moved 5 times.

-Endured undergraduate schooling

-endured dental school

-had 4 kids

-bought a dental practice

-bought our first home

I guess that sums up the really big life events.. That I can think of right now anyway:)

We celebrated by going to dinner at a nice steakhouse here. I even had. We had a babysitter for the older kids and then a friend had offered to take Dash so we were actually able to really enjoy the evening without any distractions which hardly ever happens these days.

I'm so blessed to be married to David. He is such a good man. An excellent husband and father. He is a hard worker and attentive to me and the kids. He is good and going with the flow and keeping things balanced around here as I can too easily stress out about things. I couldn't have asked for a better partner!

Highland Manor Service

Over spring break I organized a little service project for the kiddos, thanks to an idea from a friend. We first met at a park and painted flower pots and planted flowers in them. Then we went to a local nursing home and delivered them to the residents there. It was a good experience for the kids! I want to make it an annual thing, it was such a hit with the kids as well as adults. On a sidenote.. Mason is going through a phase where he does NOT want to be in pictures. I love that I still captured him on the very edge of this picture:) he would have been furious if he had known.

Pool time

We have already braved the swimming pool a few times this year! Well, correction, the KIDS have braved the pool. I have observed them from the lounge chairs... See picture below:) we are sure going to love having a pool this summer and get lots of good use out of it I can already tell!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Soccer

Well soccer season has officially ended. It's always bittersweet. I'm ready to have my Saturdays back, but it sure is fun watching the girls play and to see how much they have improved. Maia has improved so much since starting 2 years ago. In the beginning, she was reserved and timid and didn't like to be in the middle of any of it. She was fine to sprint down the field and kick the ball as long as there weren't any other players around:) Now she gets right in the middle of it all. In fact today I overhead twooms talking and one of them said "she's mean!" About Maia. It really bothered me... She's not MEAN, she's just aggressive! That's how you play the game! I get tired of parents who complain about everything or think their kid needs to be babied. What ever happened to buck up?! Anyway, I'm so proud of her aggressiveness and her hard work this season. This picture is from tournament day. They had three games (9am, 10am, and 12 noon) to determine if they made it to the championship game. They won two of the three so they played the championship game at 3 pm. The poor girls were so tired. It was a long hot day in the sun for sure. Her team is really good tho and they played so hard! Maia had two awesome goals (the only two of the game!!!) but their team ended up losing by one point in overtime. Maia was so sad. She cried after. She wanted that big trophey so bad. She told me how hard she had tried and how bad she had wanted to win:(. It was a hard loss! But such is life. Have to accept it and move on:) (and DQ blizzards always help with that;) anyway, I'm just really proud of her and how far she has come. It's so fun to watch her play!

Not to leave miss Elsie out... She has improved a ton this season as well!! I somehow got suckered into being the coach for her team. That was exhausting/fun. I think it helped her break out of her shell a little having me right there on the field. Last season, she basically just stood on the field with her fingers in her mouth, doing nothing. This time around she was really getting into it! This age group is hard to coach and get them to stay focused but they did a good job. I grew to really love the kids on the team. Elsie even scored a really great goal today! She was so proud of it:) She played in 3 games today, so between her and Maia we had 7 games... Long and exhausting day! But I wouldn't have it any other way and I know its only going to get busier as the boys get old enough to play sports. It's so great to have the kids involved in sports and watching them learn and grow. Now were on to tball/coach pitch.... First time trying it out so we will see how it goes:)