If You Believe in Luck, Life is Easy Enough

OK, so there's no clever theme running through this post about how we all had the luck o' the Irish this week. We just happen to like the song Luck by Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and we did celebrate St. Patty's Day in our traditional fashion. Sláinte!

Mike had spring break at his university starting Monday, which basically meant he got to spend more time working from home. He did get to see a few more of the kids’ activities though. The day turned out to be pretty gloomy, so Landon didn’t get to play outdoors. Instead, he entertained himself with Jenga block dominoes.

He decided he’d rather help Mom run errands than do karate, so we’re going to drop that activity from his schedule for a little while. When asked several times which sport he liked better out of the four he has been doing, he would never say. But when it came down to it he said karate was “boring” and “hard.” Does he really know what those words mean? Probably not, but we will take a break.

On Monday we also finished our car transactions. We sold our minivan and bought a small crossover SUV, and so far we love it. We finished the day with Mike and Eliza going to her swim class. The water is her friend in every way—except putting her face in it. We think that’s pretty normal, and we will definitely keep working on it.

Tuesday we all went up to West Bloomfield to see Eliza’s speech therapy class. Hallie found us a great coupon to Smashburger, where we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early by indulging in mint Oreo milkshakes. The kids and adults alike were all happy with the yummy.

Eliza is making such strides at therapy, and it is great fun to bring Mike on the rare occasions he can join us so he can see her in a therapy setting. This week she has started saying, “Noise!” and trying to grab our attention whenever she hears church bells or police and fire sirens. Eliza definitely has a mind of her own and knows what she wants. Watch out world! She is going to take over!

Mike and a young man from the branch went and helped a man and his son prepare their house to move. It is an interesting home: a 70,000 square foot warehouse that started out as a WWI munitions factory out by the Detroit City Airport. The four of them did so much work that they were able to cancel the next night’s helpers (two missionaries and a man from the branch). Way to go, Mike!!!!

Wednesday Hallie dropped Landon off at school and came straight home with Eliza. They did their thing and life went on. Then that evening she remembered they had forgot speech for the second time in three weeks. Oh, boy!!!! Hallie wrote an apologetic e-mail to the teacher and is going to try to make sure that it never happens again.

Landon went to gymnastics and continues to show us his amazing skills. It is fun to watch him grow and change and get ever stronger. Mike watched the kid do a standing overhead flip and land on his feet. In the evening Landon had swimming. It is the second to last of the four week sessions, and the teacher said he would like for Landon to repeat at the same level, which is fine by us. The instructor wants Landon to see if he can get some more focus. Ha!!!! He doesn’t know Landon, and that may not happen for a while yet. Still, he’s having fun and has definitely overcome his fear of getting his face wet (Thanks, Disney cruise!).

Hallie worked Thursday morning. She doesn’t normally do her 5:00 am shift on Thursdays, but someone needed to switch with her. Hallie liked working two early days in a row. After work she headed to the Grosse Pointe Moms Club Business Social, where they elected a new board. It is always a fun event as there is yummy food, fun moms to chat with, and FREE babysitting.

Later, they painted finger and toenails:

In the evening our family ended up at BD’s Mongolian Grill for a fundraiser for Landon’s preschool. We will call our time there interesting and leave it at that.

At least dessert was good: Apple pie a la mode in a goblet 

On Friday, Landon had a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at school. The celebration consisted of all things green (We brought some tiny cute cucumbers Landon had picked out at Costco). Hallie showed up about 20 minutes early so she could watch him. The teachers saw her come up the stairs and invited her in. Hallie got to see the end of their party and hear the cute songs that they had practiced. Landon really liked having Hallie there. Mike is usually the parent helper, so it was fun having Mom there.

In the evening Landon had his last basketball practice. He has really enjoyed playing basketball. He says he does not like the practices, but he loves the games. We really saw him grow over the eight-week season. We stopped by Costco to grab a pizza to top off the night.

On Saturday, Hallie took Landon to his last game. The kids all got together afterwards to have a pizza and ice cream party. The kids on the team have gotten along so well. As parents we are really pleased with the Upward basketball program. Mike could not attend because the son of a woman in the branch died, so Mike took Eliza to the funeral. He dressed Eliza up for the occasion, and Hallie is very proud of his hair styling skills.

Right after basketball, Landon had baseball team photos. We can’t believe that it is not even April and we are getting ready baseball. Landon is in what they call the Rookie League. This is the first time that he knows other kids on his team, which will be good for him. Landon’s team name is the Scrappers, and he LOVES his baseball hat and asks often when he will get to practice. We have to try and convince him you don’t play baseball in the snow.  

As Mike corralled the kids into the new car on Sunday, he discovered that it had a flat tire. Hallie was at work, so Mike made a call to AAA (quite handy in these instances). They were only late for church by about a half hour. After Sacrament Meeting, Mike got to meet the family with whom Sister Evans is living currently. How fun is that? They just happened to be here on business, and she sent them with our phone numbers. Mike subbed in Primary as chorister. He seems to be a big hit every time he is in there. The day was finished off with a yummy St. Patrick’s Day meal as a finish to the green chocolate chip waffles Hallie had prepared before she headed off to work. We love that Landon has a wee bit of Irish blood running through his veins.