GO Gonzaga, G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!!

Today the NCAA Tournament swings into action and I couldn't be more excited. The first two days are my favorite days for sports! 32 games in two days- Nonstop action and some guaranteed upsets. We are in full Gonzaga gear hoping to be able to celebrate a Zag victory against Akron tonight (unfortunately I can't watch the game, instead will be sitting at baseball practice- bummer!). Thanks to my parents who were at Gonzaga last weekend and outfitted the kids with new Zag shirts.

March Madness Math

I LOVE MARCH MADNESS!!! It's my favorite time of year for sports, and that is saying a lot since I consider myself an allround sports fan. I love following conference tournaments, selection Sunday and then the Big Dance.

This year is a little different because Corbin is showing interest in basketball as well. He especially loves watching Gonzaga and Kansas play. He is learning the basics of the game, but more than that, he is practicing his numbers and math. He is reading the scores- which helps him recognize his numbers 1-100. He is learning to count by 2s and 3s. He is practicing subtracting as he figures out the difference between the score. He is even practicing his time, by keeping track of how many minutes are left in the half. The best part- he doesn't even realize he is doing math. He is just enjoying watching basketball and learning about the game.

Chalk that up to another reason to LOVE March Madness! Let the (math) Madness BEGIN!

Mark turns 30!

Yesterday, January 29, was Mark's 30th Birthday! The boys and I spent the day preparing for Mark to come home from work and celebrate his big day! Corbin & Trent decorated the chalk board for Mark. Didn't they do a great job? Trent drew the blue "lion" in the lower right corner and Corbin did the rest.
For Mark's 30th, I wanted to get him something special and decided it was time for him to have a nice recliner. Mark's parents came over at noon yesterday to help me accomplish this surprise. They helped me go get it and set it up in our living room and then we all waiting for Mark to get home. As we waited, we tried to guess how long it would take him to notice it. I left the side blinds down so he couldn't see in when he walked up to the door. We figured he would notice pretty quickly since the old chair was sitting right next to the front door. However, this was not the case. He walked in and we waited. He put his laptop by the couch, and he didn't notice, and we waited. Then he walked into the kitchen to put away his lunch box, still didn't notice, and we continued to wait. We all followed him into the kitchen and waited... Finally, I suggested we go into the living room to open presents. As soon as he walked out of the kitchen, he immediately notice and quickly sat down and relaxed! He was definitely surprised!

Next, Mark sat in his new chair and opened his other gifts. The boys got him the new star wars movies (they got him the original set for Christmas). Trent had already spilled the beans on this gift so it was no surprise. (I DID NOT tell Trent about the recliner until we went to pick it up so he couldn't tell Mark. Corbin, on the other hand, did a great job keeping it a secret!)
And the present from my sister and Matt. Thank you Cara and Matt for the games- We are so excited to try them out! You guys are the best! We are so glad you share our love of games!

After gifts, we had a nice dinner with Mark's parents- Pork ribs, corn, rice, asparagus and bread. Yummy! Next up- Cake! Lucille, Mark's mom, made his cake- A four layer banana cream cake. Very Yummy! When it came time to sing and light the candles, I realized I didn't have even close to 30 candles, but I did have 3. So Mark suggested we use an orange for the 0- we place a candle behind the orange and it looked like the orange was lit. I thought it was ingenious!

It was a fabulous day! Topped off by a Gonzaga victory over St. Mary's- Yay!