Progress report

Here's a brief (am I ever brief?) synopsis of our life lately.

1. Doesn't the house looked lovely when dressed in Spring colors? Yesterday I updated our real estate fliers and online listings with this photo. I was so happy that the yellow tulips peeked out just in time for two showings in the late afternoon.


Those showings went really well, by the way. We would especially love it if the cute little family of six made us an offer today. They spent 90 minutes in our house, after all. If not them, then maybe the engaged couple who is planning far into the future or the guy from Tuesday who was mentally arranging furniture will want to buy. If not, we are having an open house on Saturday.

2. Zach and Tyler are participating in Landsharks, an after-school running club. They practice on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, and races are on Monday evenings. The boys are having a blast! This week they both elected to run the 800 meter race. Two laps on the track seemed like a lot for little legs, but they were determined! We talked about race strategy (start slow, finish fast) and having fun. I was pleased to see how Zach paced himself to finish with a kick. Watching him run makes me think he might enjoy the sport as he grows up. Tyler found the 800 a bit laborious, so he alternated sprints and walking. He was laughing a lot of the time. I was proud of him for finishing!


3. Gavin caused a spectacle at Wal-Mart this week. Well, two spectacles, actually. We were wrapping up a long grocery run with four kids and two carts. I pushed the food cart and Zach pushed the kid cart (with Gavin strapped into the seat and Lexi in her carseat in the basket). The last item on the list was Mothers Day cards. While I quickly browsed the card section, Gavin pulled gift bags and ribbons and crepe paper off the racks. Eventually he yelled and ornery, "Mo-om!" I replied in my sweetest voice, "Gavin, I love you!" He screamed, "I don't love you!"

Five minutes later we were in the check-out line. As I was hurriedly unloading groceries onto the belt, I didn't notice that Zach had left his post at Gavin's cart. In a split second, Gavin wrestled out of his seat belt, stood up in the cart, and lost his balance. It seemed that the entire population of Wal-Mart took a collective gasp as he teetered three feet above the hard floor. (Little did they know that a concourse of angels follows Gavin around to keep him safe. He didn't fall.) As I uttered a nearly-audible prayer of thanks, a gaggle of grandmothers materialized, yelling at my ineptness. One, in particular, had harsh things to say as I re-fastened Gavin's buckle. When she was done scolding me, I said (again, in my sweetest voice), "Thank you so much. That had never occurred to me."

Have I mentioned that Gavin can open one of our baby gates and has begun another no-nap campaign? At least he is still charming.


4. Lexi is standing more now, and is on the cusp of walking. She may be on the cusp of walking for a good long time, since she has the strength and coordination to walk but lacks the interest. She does love to stand, though. More on her development will come next week...on her first birthday blog post!

Another interesting tidbit about Lexi: she can throw one heck of a tantrum. This girl has lungs. I've never had a child who was so dramatic. (I know, I know...she's a girl.) I am starting to notice a pattern: the tantrums mostly happen when she is over-tired, like during our afternoon church block. I vastly prefer this version of Lexi:

We spend a lot of time at the park behind our house during showings. Lexi adores the swings.

5. Zach just finished reading Artemis Fowl. It was a bit of a stretch for the boy who loves to do everything in a hurry -- the book is almost 300 pages long -- but he really enjoyed the story! He used Artemis Fowl for his quarterly book share assignment in reading class. Zach's teacher asked him four or five questions about the book that he answered in front of the class. He also drew a picture that represented part of the story. For the first time this year, Zach earned an "exceeds expectations" grade. The only thing holding him back in past book shares was making eye contact with the audience. We're so proud of Zach for beginning to conquer his fear of talking in front of people!

Last weekend Zach and Tyler participated in our ward's variety show. Zach jumped on his pogo stick (no hands), which brought a roar of applause from the audience. Tyler told a series of jokes, and Zach's part was to say, "Who's there?" or "I don't know...what?" so that Tyler could deliver the punch line. A year ago Zach never would have done that for his brother. Way to go!


6. My dad travels a lot for work, and yesterday he flew into Denver! We met him in Castle Rock (30 minutes north) for dinner. What a fun treat! I'm so glad it worked out just perfectly to see our Gramps, if only for an hour.

It's pretty fun to think that the next time we see him, we'll be looking for a house in Arizona! Hopefully that's very soon!