Dr. Seusville

 Every year, Rocky Mountain College hosts a "Dr. Seusville" event for some of the classes at Stetson's school where they do fun activities based on the books by Dr. Seuss.  I got to chaperone and Mrs. Paulson said to definitely bring Kandace!  I was so excited to finally get to do something with Stetson's class.
 Here's Stetson and his friends Dexter and Hank testing out the "oobleck"

 The kids got to listen to "Red fish, one fish, blue fish" and then go fishing.  All the kids "caught" books and Kandace was over the moon about it!

 S & K posing by one of the trees from the Lorax (Stetson's favorite)

 ...and then Stetson's teacher chose him to be interviewed by kulr8 news!!  I was super excited but was sure to keep my distance so I didn't "mess him up."  I don't know why us moms have a tendency to do that. In a lot of settings, Stetson does much better if I just steer clear.  Stetson has no stage fright and will talk to anybody, anywhere, its just tricky trying to understand him sometimes.  I'm sure we will love it.  We're going to try to listen to it tonight on their website or on FB.  The guy in the blue shirt I think is  RMC faculty.  He thought it was cool that Stetson was actually wearing his RMC shirt that day and that his dad is in Rocky's PA program.  Awesome day for us!  My friend Melani who I spin with and visit teach watched Janelle.

31

 My big man turned 31 last Monday.  We wanted to have his buddies from class come celebrate with us but it was spring break and they were out of town.  So per Michael's request we kept it simple and just had us celebrate.  We did go to Stella's for breakfast, which is an awesome restaurant downtown that does delicious breakfasts.  Then for dinner we had hamburgers made on the bbq Michael got for his birthday.  Michael usually requests the "cheesecake his mom makes" which thankfully is pretty easy but a couple days after his bday it fell out of the fridge upside down when I was taking something out. :( sad day.  Last weekend Michael and I went to Red Lodge and stayed at the Irish Rose B&B again.  We strolled around downtown, got some treats for the kids and had dinner at the Carbon county steakhouse (delish).  We were going to ski Saturday but the weather wasn't great so we went to Cody instead to get the kids from Joel & Kambrie.  It was a nice quiet weekend. It was nice that we made it home in time for the Sat night stake conf.  We miraculously got a babysitter who is AWESOME and we love, its the girl who baby sat for us on V-day.  I always get so much more out of Sat night then Sunday.  This session was unique because all the youth 12 and up were invited.  It was about missionary work.  A convert talked about his conversion story.  He talked about how after he started taking discussions, the bishopric and other ward members were coming to visit him and he thought it was so nice and recognized it as the "hand of the lord" in his life.  So true.  I was so uplifted.  They showed some mormon messages which are always uplifting.

Stetson's letters

My brother and his wife had their 5th baby last Friday, 3 months early.  Everybody's ok but the baby will have to be in the NICU for a while, and its scary and stressful.  Anyway, we sent a package with notes and treats and I wanted to remember Stetson's note.  He is a funny fella.  This is what he said:  "You have a baby!!  Dear Clay & Heather, I hope your baby feels better soon.  Do you know what its named yet?  yes   no (they're supposed to circle one)  I can't want to see the not the baby but the hole family even the baby!  I want to come to your house soon."

This next note is one of those things that makes being a mom ALL worth it.  There was a great quote on pinterest: " Behind every great kid is a mom who is pretty sure she's screwing up."  I am that mom who worries a lot and blames myself for all my kids mistakes and misbehavior, thinking the root of the problem has to go back to something I did wrong.  This is something I'll have to overcome because I know its not healthy or fair, but tonight when I read this note I remembered that I really do have one great kid.  Before Stetson went to bed tonight he was going through the computer desk drawers making a mess trying to find some paper, I assumed he was trying to write a letter and I kind of got after him and told him he couldn't write a letter tonight and that he needed to go to bed.  He was really bummed then because he told me the letter was for me and that now I wouldn't be surprised.  Uh..what do you say to that??  I told him I would forget about it and he said no I wouldn't because I'm really good at remembering things.  haha.   So he goes to bed and (at least I thought) and I was on the phone on the stairs when he stuck this note inside one of Kandace's boots that were on one of the bottom steps.  I didn't really notice him put it there and then Michael told me when I got off the phone that he left me a note so I went and got it and this is what it said: 

"Dear mom I love you to heaven and beond inthinaty (beyond infinity) times.  I LOVE your work for us when can I?_____ (I'm assuming he wants me to insert some sort of job he can do for me)

Love Stetson

 for when can I help you______________What can I do?  Write down as many as you like" and then he leaves a bunch of blanks.  The circle with a dot stands for "eye" so it says I love you.

I didn't even do anything out of the ordinary today for Stetson.  When he got home from school he played the wii for a minute then he had to turn it off and got mad at me, then we had dinner and then Michael had scouts and I took the kids to the Y while I swam laps.  Then we came home, I gave everyone baths/tubs then Michael came home and we read scriptures and went to bed.  I will treasure this note forever and I hope I remember to pull it out and read it when he's 17 and doesn't like me anymore and tells me I don't know anything.  I've told Michael before that I always worry that my kids won't ever have any inkling of what Michael and I have done for them as parents and how hard we work--I worry that they won't appreciate us and maybe that's selfish thinking but I guess the one and only reward I want for being their mother is to know that they appreciate me and love me for it and today I felt appreciated.   I love you Stetson Asay to heaven and beyond infinity times.

state bball 2014

 This weekend was the 1A/2A state basketball tournament in Casper, Wy.  We'd talked about going as a family on Thur so we could watch the entire tournament but Stetson had school and bday parties and a bball game on Sat and I stewed about going down by myself with just Kandace but decided to watch from home via WHSAA live streaming but when they made it to the championship game we decided to go!  So we left Sat about 1 and got there about 5.  Rocky went in as the 4th seed so they played Big Horn (1st seed) on Fri and beat them in a really close and exciting game.  Fri they played Pine Bluffs and all I knew about them is they had a 6'7 freshmen  but we beat them in double over time!  It was one of the best games I've ever watched.  We were behind most of the game, by 11 at one point and came back to win by like 5 or something I think it was.  I was so happy for them.  The coaches and players work so hard day in and day out--our little town has a good reputation for sports I think and it was awesome to see them be a part of something so great.

 Rocky right before tip off against Wyo Indian.    We fell to Wyo Indian, final score was 53 69 I think but I couldn't be more proud.  They worked their tails off and had an outstanding season.  GO GRIZZ!  Rocky only graduates a couple seniors this year, only one of which started, so we'll be even stronger next year.  Wyo Indian had like 4 senior I think, one of which was a 5th yr senior so hopefully we can knock 'em out next year and go all the way.

I remember going to watch my brother Michael play HS bball for Montgomery when I was little.  Playing HS sports in Santa Rosa was a pretty big deal since the schools are huge and athletics are way more competitive but most of my brothers played.  I remember they warmed up to ACDC "Thunder Struck" and my favorite part of going to bball games was watching the cheerleaders.  I've moved on past the cheerleaders thankfully and one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to do now is watch Cannon and Cole play.  They are such natural athletes and such hard workers.  It would be a delicate balance trying to coach your kids/play for your dad but they seem to work it out and I LOVE them and am so proud.

Lual

 Gma Asay & gma Dorothy are headed to Hawaii today and we got to have them here last night so Michael could take them to the airport at this morning at 4am.  When they got here we went to Red Robin then came home and had a Billings style Lual, which consisted of having cookies on napkins in the shape of Hawaiin shirts and playing pin the coconut on the tree.  The gmas were good sports and the kids thought it was the funniest thing ever when gpa pinned her coconut by the computer desk.

warm weather

 You can always tell when its March because 35 degrees feels like a total heat wave and I get SO HAPPY!!  Tuesday was the first day of the warmer weather streak and I've been loving it.  The kids took advantage of the warmer weather which was perfect for snowman building weather.

Stetson got hit with a snowball:( by Michael

Poor nella and her thumb

About a month ago Janelle got a UTI so we filled her up with cranberry juice and other liquids and it passed thankfully.  Not shortly after she got a cold and then got bumps on her tongue and 1 strange blister type on her thumb.  We thought it must be what she had when she was 1, which was hand foot and mouth so we thought.  Michael took her in while I stayed home with the other two to have her throat cultured for strep which came back negative so we ruled that out and just tried to treat the symptoms for hand foot n mouth which is putting orajel on her tongue which helped her eat a little better.  This has been going on for weeks it seems like and while her tongue is better, the blister on her thumb got infected so Thur. we took her into an MD at Billings clinic who was actually an orthopedic surgeon that Michael's professor (also an orthopedic surgeon) hooked us up with.  I wish we had a pediatrician but anyway he drained it and gave us some antibiotics which she takes 3xs a day and we soak it in hydrogen peroxide and water 3 xs a day.  So much fun.  She's been getting back to her afternoon naps (I usually lay on her floor until she falls asleep) and this has seemed to help her sleep through the night which I am so excited for.  Michael and I were both utterly exhausted from getting up 4-5 times a night with her.  I was sure I was going to wake up one morning with gray hair and giant bags under my eyes.  I've learned a new trick which I'm not sure if it makes me old or just means I'm sleep deprived but now, Michael isn't the only one who can fall asleep sitting up in the chair.  I always thought it was impressive that Stan and Michael could fall asleep anywhere no matter what.  One more thing to add to my resume I guess. :)

Winter in Billings

 I was actually looking forward to moving to Billings for the slightly "milder" weather they get, or so I'd heard.  Its ironic that this has actually been one of the worst winters recorded in Billings. Last I heard it was ranked 4th in terms of severity and quantity of snow.  Who knows, maybe since the lats 2 days its made its way up to no.1  :)  And every time I wake up to freezing temps and blizzarding snow and poor road conditions, I throw around the idea of not taking Kandace to school or skipping out on other regular activities but we usually end up going anyway and it always surprises me that the weather doesn't seem to slow anybody else down, either.  Except spinning at the Y was pretty sparse yesterday.  I definitely didn't want to miss one of my only excuses to get out of the house.
 It was -5 this morning when I took Stetson to his bball game and its been snowing non-stop since yesterday.  Our little porch has at least 2 feet of snow on it.  BUT, spring is just around the corner, and in fact, Tuesday is supposed to be in the forties.  I try and go on walks to the park when the temps come up because I need to get out of this house!  We are beyond ready for warmer weather here.  I've only gotten stuck a couple times (once in the turning lane on grand) whoops.   Luckily and miraculously I just shifted into reverse and back into drive  a couple times and got out but yeah.  I see people stuck all over Billings.  Its always heart warming when you see other people have gotten out of their cars to help push.  Michael had to drive over to where I drop Kandace's friend off from preschool and help me get unstuck.  My friend Misti even poured kitty litter to help us get unstuck. Michael is a pro though and got us unstuck easy peasy.

Poetry Cafe

Stetson's 1st grade class had their poetry cafe yesterday where the 1st graders get to share their poetry with their parents. Everyone wears black and brings a mug and enjoys hot cocoa and cookies while listening to poetry.  They even had "open mike" where they let the parents share poetry.  Only one dad dad. :)  Stetson did an AWESOME job reading his poem he wrote, but dumb mom forgot to change the battery in the camera and didn't even get it on tape.  It was special to go to Stetson's school and be with him and see what fun things he's doing.  When I came in Mrs. Paulson got excited and said she had something to show me after the poetry cafe so we hung around and then she showed me this super cute card he wrote for one of the lunch ladys who is sick in the hospital with pneumonia.  Mrs. Paulson wanted to keep it so she could show it to the teachers when she tries to get him into the extended studies program.

Here's the poem Stetson wrote that he read:
Winter
Cold snowflakes land
First snowflakes dance.
Brown bears hibernate.
Winter is awesome.
By Stetson