Mom's Birthday

Mom's birthday is always a good time. We celebrated with Mom's family on her actual birthday and then Dad's family for Sunday dinner two days later. Mae has always been terrified over candles being blown out. With our Aunt Kylee/Mom joint cake, Mae lost it when the candles were blown out. Two days later though she was able to stay composed. Maturity! In the end though, Lindsey's birthday probably benefited me more than anyone. -T

Homemade ice cream cake is so good!

I have no words for this picture

Is she ready for it? Mae's classic "no" response




Mom mentally preparing Mae

Slowly...

3 seconds after this picture...she lost it.

Celebrating again at Aunt Beth's

Mae: "NOT AGAIN!!!"

She was able to keep it together this time





I think she's still getting over the whole candle thing since she won't give even a hint of a smile

Nothing says I love you from your in-laws like a "Double Duty"...this was actually asked for by the birthday girl (In case you don't know, a Double Duty is basically a five gallon bucket that comes with a toilet seat and some bags. So, if disaster strikes - you don't have double disaster)

Playing with Great Grandpa

We're not going to be able to say this much longer, but this is Mae playing with her smaller cousin Nathan

Our failed attempt at a few family pictures

Not sure how to describe what Mae is doing here Total failure
As much as I was appauled at Mom's gift from my parents, I found the Double Duty to be VERY useful during March Madness

The End of an Era

After 40 years, Papa D coached his last game - the last 9 of which I was a part of. We both ended our chapter of coaching together at Madeira with an overtime District Final loss to Badin. On paper and most days, they were better than us, but on this day, we were the better team. It was a tough one to swallow. Having said that the Varsity ended the season 16-7 and were Sectional Champions and the JV was 19-1 and CHL Champions. -T

Getting ready...not liking her lack of floor access

Getting frustrated

After the 1st quarter things were going great

It just wasn't meant to be

Junior Varsity - 19-1 - CHL Champions

Varsity - 16-7 - Sectional Champions

Ahh-eee to the Floor

Mae became a fan of musicals. They entertain her. Some say she has "music in her bones" because she loves music and loves to dance. It all started with Annie which Mae pronounces "Ahh-eee." When she is in our room and we just want to lay in bed, we'll put on Annie. When we are downstairs and we just want to clean up the kitchen we'll put on Sound of Music which Mae pronounces "Ahh-eee." So, in conclusion - "Ahh-eee" = Musicals. We captured her warming up to Sound of Music and then getting so into it that she fell down dancing. Actually she fell down dancing 3 times. It was all high entertainment. -T

Mae at Home From Different Perspectives

So, with all the pictures taken, sometimes I'm not sure what to do with them for one reason or another, but I do like so many of them. Therefore, I'm putting them all in one post. Some pictures I have no idea what is going on and some I do. So we'll do a little comparative captions. My captions will be on top of the picture and Lindsey's comments, corrections, and/or rebuttal will be on bottom. Note: My comments were written before Lindsey's. -T

Todd: I didn't know you could have boogers that color...or that size for that matter.

Lindsey: Strawberry leaf. Why Todd has to turn it into a booger I don't know. :(

Todd: She wouldn't fit through the shredder, so she got in the box instead

Lindsey: All 3 of us were getting stuff done in the office for a change! We love it when she entertains herself! (Usually.)

Todd: She couldn't necessarily get out though.

Lindsey: She couldn't necessarily get out though.

Todd: She either loves men or loves sports
Lindsey: We love Todd's stack of magazines! Mae goes through and finds all the balls while I get some things done. I don't recall either of us teaching her that that non-round thing is still called a ball, but our girl figured it out on her own.

Todd: And when Lindsey says "stack of magazines" that's ESPN the Magazine...not porn.
Lindsey: And when Lindsey says "stack of magazines," she's too pure of heart to realize that usually means porn. Thanks for clarifying.

Todd: So you never thought Mae could throw a tantrum, eh?

Lindsey: This was her first real tantrum and was so sad! She wanted to drink some of Mom's water = fine. She wanted to hold the cup herself but mom says no = sad pictures.

Todd: Dang Mom, she's turning purple, what did you do to her?

Lindsey: Mae's tears always burst out SO fast when she's sad. So with a LOT of crying... those are all tears on her shirt. Breaks your heart, doesn't it?

Todd: Sound of Music = Best Musical Ever! We'll see more of this in action in another post

Lindsey: At almost 18 months old she saw Maria & the kids on the cover of some piano music and said "dance." Yesssssss!

Todd: Mom started a food fight with Mae and Mae thought it was absolutely hilarious

Lindsey: Mae started a food fight with her peanut butter sandwich without knowing it.

Todd: And then you realize...DANG, her eyes are still REALLY blue

Lindsey: And she's gained weight! (But still in the less-than-tenth percentile.)

Todd: It looks as if Mom gave her a new hairdo...more of a grown-up hairdo

Lindsey: Mae woke up with a fever today and when you're sick, it's okay to stay in your pj's with messy hair and watch movies. So I gave her some water and put her on the couch with the Sound of Music. So cute, and she did rest a while. But sure enough, she still had to stand up to dance.

Todd: Why is Mae dancing when it seems like Fraulein Maria is not even singing?

Lindsey: Good question.

Todd: WHOOOA!

Lindsey: I don't remember what food she got in her hair but it needed to get rinsed out after she ate.

Todd: So, you're my daughter Mae, huh? "Better get used to these bars, kid."

Lindsey: After rinsing her hair out she ended up with a pretty cute updo!

Todd: Hair stuff from Grandma Weez!

Lindsey: There are some great pictures of my dad letting my little sisters put hair stuff in his hair. Couldn't wait to see that with Todd & Mae, and it came much sooner than I expected!

Todd: Looks like Dad may have been the one to put these in

Lindsey: I'm not sure what you're talking about here because all I see are big blue eyes.

A Small Cookie World

by Mom
My freshman year at BYU there was a guy in my ward named Shawn Busken. I didn’t know him but knew who he was. I didn’t know he was from Cincinnati or anything about Busken Bakery. I definitely didn’t know that one day I would be giving his dad’s cookies to my Cincinnati girl to make up for her having to get shots that morning. Thanks, Grandma Weez, for sharing your birthday treats with us, and thank you Dad, we love that you’re from Cincinnati. There's so much great stuff here! (And thank you Mae, for doing your best to eat sweets. You almost finished one cookie. Good for you.) -L

Rivalry Senior Night: Chalk One Up For the Good Guys

There are some nights that you'll remember for the rest of your life. This night against Indian Hill was one of them. The JV had only one blemish all season: Loss at Indian Hill. The Varsity had not beaten Indian Hill since 2008. No Varsity CHL team had beaten Indian Hill in 54 games spanning 4 seasons. It was also our last home game - Senior Night. It wasn't known, but it was also Papa D's and my last home game. On this night, Mae brought her "A" game and everyone else did as well. -T

Mae with the Seniors (and others)




Mae loved Anne - and it was one of the few names she could say

Mom let her stay up past her bedtime for the entire Varsity game...she is ready to GO!




Mae congratulating the JV and keeping them loose at halftime of the Varsity game




Mom found a place to spread out and camp on the floor where Mae had more cheering access

The Varsity game was getting tense so Mae went for reinforcements

What a night

JV Game: Madeira 36 Indian Hill 28

Varsity: Madeira 39 Indian Hill 34

Subject: just left 265 Wheaton Ct.

I was at work when I received the following e-mail from Mom:

1 regular sized & 1 small fire truck, 2 police cars, and I think something else. The carbon monoxide alarm went off in the kitchen so I called & they came but didn't find anything, including by the water heater. They did change the alarm battery before they left. I asked if I did the right thing and they said yes. The police officer may have been the one that gave me my ticket because he looked familiar.

One Word: Hair

Mom has been trying new hairdo's with Mae. The "hair after the hair things come out" look probably won't be a keeper. -T

Yow

Wow...wonder what the looks like from Dad's perspective

DANG! Well hello there crazy lady

This one has kind of a mohawk feel to it

Let's see that hair in action

Hugs

Mae likes to give out hugs. In fact when we read "Hi Bears, Bye Bears," her favorite part is "These bears hug." Everytime Mom would read that part, Mae would hug the book from that point until the rest of the book was over. So, how come whenever you then turn on the video camera to capture the memory kids just don't do it - no matter how hard their mother tries. Having said that, in our last effort to get it on film - Mae came through! Huuuuuuug! -T

Fail

Hugs!

New to Game Days

Besides Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kylee getting into basketball fever, something else was new at games. Mae decided she was now comfortable enough with the environment to poo her pants. Nothing says "I'm in my comfort zone" like poopin' your drawers. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa were there to capture the precious moment. Something not new is in a 2nd attempt to put her in the ball rack, Mae still was not overly fond of it. -T

How would you like to run out of the locker room and smell this? Nice spot to choose, Mom and Kylee!

And when I say "not overly fond"...I really mean not fond at all!

Celebrating 400

On December 3rd, Papa D earned his 400th career win. At our 2nd to last home game of the season, the athletic director put together a little surprise gathering together to honor the accomplishment. Many former players came back to pay tribute...and then we went on to beat Taylor. -T

He was surprised...as you may or may not be able to tell in these 3 seconds of clapping



Alumni and current player gathering

Honoring the coach

Mae always seems to get involved somehow

Not On Her Game

Some nights are just bad nights. I guess Mae wasn't enough of a distraction because the night at Indian Hill did not go well. The JV went down big going into the game 14-0. The Varsity went down as well. We had to tell Mae that just distracting the scorekeeper wasn't going to get it done. We needed her to go after the opponent. She recommitted herself after these losses. -T

Toys...and Non-Toys Made Into Toys

The great thing about being a parent is you get to play with all the cool toys your kid has. Then there's the toys that aren't really toys that you use as toys and freak your kid out. Then there's the toys that aren't really toys that your kid uses as toys. Displayed are examples of all 3. -T

I'm trying to teach the rule of when building with blocks we only add blocks, we don't take them off. Sometimes I have to play by myself to make sure this rule isn't broken.

Yes! ADD the blocks!

Mae wasn't huge fan of "become a toy and get in the toy bin." Although a day after being freaked out by the game she warmed up to it...the bin, not the game.

Apparently just dragging it around was fun

Well...it seems as if she needs to lose a few pounds

This is Mae's soon-to-be bed. So far so good...we think she likes it