All Things If It's March Then There Is Madness

Our love of All Things Basketball is well documented. Ken played it. Coached it. Watched it. I sat back and enjoyed it all from the bleachers.

So when we found out that the WAC Tourney was going to be hosted here in town, a certain Dad and his Son had to go get tickets.

It's fun when you first go...and you're cheering on the home team, our fabulous UNR Wolf Pack.


But the days are many and the nights are long....



And in the end, only one team can win. Pssst, it wasn't our beloved Wolf Pack. That's when you learn the lesson -- there's always next year.

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All Things Volturi.

I know, I haven't documented All Things Twilight for a while. But yes, I did get New Moon, on Blu-ray, of course. And my favorite Little Helper was there. Seriously, not only is she NOT named after the Main Character but notice how she can take on the Head Volturi (i.e. the Bad Guy) on her left?? Watch out Fictional Bella, the Real Life one is in da house.

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All Things Masterpiece.

We keep trying to see new places around our city and imagine our delight when we saw that the Nevada Museum of Art was exhibiting a Raphael painting. I know right? Yup, here in Reno.

The kids had never seen anything quite like it, so using our Be Prepared motto, we had Alex read about Raphael from wikipedia and well, we were on our way.

Note their excitement? It's genuine. We didn't bribe them with anything, I promise.

Now we weren't allowed to take pictures of the painting, of course. But the children (okay, Alex and Kata) did marvel at its beauty and the details that Raphael was able to achieve a mere 500 years ago. Kata especially focused in on things like her jewelry and the wayward lock of hair on her temple. Alex was fascinated by the ornate wood frame that weighed hundreds of pounds.

I was really proud of them because we don't go to a lot of museums (children's ones aside, of course). They really did listen and appreciate the artistry. In fact, Kata went into the reading room and immediately start thumbing through books on Renaissance painters.

And where was Bella, you ask? She was on the rooftop posing on some very functional art.

We really loved this excursion because I was able to catch spontaneous moments like these. No, they didn't pose. It was just one of THOSE moments.

Well, we had THESE moments, too.

Then, exhausted and yet, filled with artistic inspiration, I asked them to pose one more time. Yes, it was clearly time for a snack.

Do you think The Masters had these issues with their models?? I think not.

Wishing you a masterpiece moment today - filled with darkness and light and an inordinate amount of detail. May you appreciate every passing moment.

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All Things You Get the Limo Out Front.

Chalk this up to another valuable life lesson.

You see, at Double Diamond Elementary School children are given either Howls or Growls (the school mascot is a coyote, thus the theme) as part of their Encourage Good Behavior Incentive Program. I'm sure you remember those from your own school days. Mine involved a negative focus -- detention.

But, things have changed and now you can collect your Howls and turn them in for little prizes from the Treasure Chest in the Principal's Office or...you can try to save them for a REALLY BIG prize.

Kata seemed to gather her fair share and when Ken realized it, he encouraged her to save them and see how many she could accumulate by the end of the school year. Well, she did and the reward was a limo ride and lunch with the Principal.

This was just a portion of the first and second graders. I believe they had three trips scheduled in order to accommodate all the students. And you wonder why we love our current Principal, Dr. Moller? Simply put, she rocks.

Yes, that's Bella. Laying plans for her own First Grade Limo Ride, no doubt.

The look below says it all. See what happens when you work hard?

Hoping you find your own rock-star moment today.

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All Things Leprechaun Trap.

Kata's First Grade teacher gave the family a fabulous assignment : to build a Leprechaun Trap. Now, some of you have probably gone through this ritual. We haven't and we're so glad that with three kids, we are sure to hit every possible holiday celebration out there!

I started by googling "leprechaun trap". Who knew that this was quite the Thing To Do? We were informed that they like shiny things, rainbows, green, flowers and gold. So we hit my scrapbook stash. You all knew that collecting years of those supplies would come in handy one day, right?

We even added a little Leprechaun Friend. Hoping that if the real Leprechaun saw it, it would just hop in based on potential kinship. Well, who said a Mama's Logic isn't sometimes faulty?

Hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day celebration. Or at least, you spent it on the couch watching what else? March Madness!

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All Things Mama Made Us Walk to School With Snow On the Ground

It was one of those blustery, snowy, freeeeeeezing mornings when I didn't want to take my car out and drive them to school. Seriously, it was an ice rink out there.

So I glanced outside and declared that we're walking to school.

They were all excited. And hey, it's fodder for those stories they'll tell when they're grandparents. You know the ones..."my mother made me walk to school when it was completely frozen over...and we had to walk slowly watching our breath collect in puffy white clouds as we trotted along...slipping and sliding, hoping the school bell wouldn't ring...not just yet."

Hoping you remember one of those moments today.

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All Things Tea Party.

I admit that I just love Tim Burton so imagine my delight when I saw that he was doing a version of "Alice in Wonderland"??

Kata, as you know, adores everything that's dark fantasy (remember how much she loves Coraline?) and for months, she was begging me to take her to the movie. Well, I did and you know what?? We loved it. Absolutely LOVED it.

It paid perfect homage to the Disney original cartoon version. Johnny Depp was sad, mad and absolutely perfect for the role of Mad Hatter and oh, his relationship with Alice reminded me a little of the Scarecrow's relationship with Dorothy in "Wizard of Oz". And wow, the ending was INCREDIBLE.

If you have a little girl who is not terribly afraid of movies like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or the original "Snow White", take her to see this version of Alice. Here's to strong girl characters everywhere! Thank you, Mr. Burton, for creating yet another masterpiece.

Oh yes, and then we had to stop and take a picture by Mommy's Movie Obsession. No further comments are needed.

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All Things Shusssssing.

The last week of February when the grandparents were all here, Alex and Djedo went skiing. I have to admit that as a kid, I hated the sport. Let's face it, anything cold, wet and damp is just not my friend. But watching Alex enjoy the sport with my Dad is certainly satisfying.

Here's to shussing!

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