The title of this post is deceiving. March madness for us didn't include brackets. It did include another bday celebration, a dance competition, Thanksgiving Point, and a decision that closes an era.
James' Birthday
It was basically birthday weekend. James' bday was on a Sunday so we had his party on Saturday.
I held myself back. From past experience, I didn't want to do something too intense. I let James invite a handful of friends to his party. I was worried about pool safety and kids.
Peak: Nobody drowned! 2 parents came too and the lifeguards at the facility helped. The party went much smoother with better swimmers than I anticipated.
Pit: Pool noodles apparently are NOT allowed. I had called and asked the Rec Center about this before I purchased the noodles but I guess the person I spoke with was misinformed. Oh well. They made for good party favors. The water balls I brought were okay though and the kids loved tossing those around.
Taft, Emmie, Jordan, Harrison, and Louie came! (Missed Elijah and Lane) 3 of the kids went off the high dive multiple times. And yes, you guessed correctly that James led the pack by doing a flip off of the high dive. The Herriman pool was the most crowded I've ever seen, but it died out as the party went on.
I considered renting the party room at the rec center but didn't. In the end I was glad I had everyone come to our house instead. It saved me $90 and was less of a hassle. We were able to leave the presents behind and once everyone was in the pool, they didn't want to get out. Since the Salt Lake County Rec Center Pools offer free passes to children ages 5 and up, some of James' friends were able to get in free. (Not all of them have the free passes.) I paid $32 to get the rest of us in which wasn't bad.
We got Krispie Kreme donuts and the glazed ones were green for St. Patrick's Day. I had James' friends all say something they love about him and "he is funny" was a common answer. His love of "squishmallows" was also brought up. He has a good group of friends! That night James caringly asked me if I could text his friends mom and thank them for such wonderful gifts! He was giddy and on cloud 9. He has been working on thanking them himself with handwritten cards and impressive pictures.
Note: I like to keep track of his gifts and other details to remember what James likes at this age. It's not to rub in how spoiled he was.
Friend gifts: the game "Battleship (and he proudly reports he beat dad!)," a girl squishmallow (he's been wanting one so it could marry another), 2 books of the Dragon Master's series (he stayed up reading 5 chapters and woke up anxious the next day to tell me all about them), water guns, and a Lego car which he put together that night.
Takeout: James requested McDonald's for dinner which has only happened one other time before that I can think of. We ordered Happy Meals for James and Izzy and we ended up getting them for free! Andrew and I opted to have Taco Bell instead.
On Sunday, James' actual birthday, his primary teachers brought cupcakes. Talk about going above and beyond. He also got a treat from the bishop and a drink from his activity leaders.
Homemade meal of choice: For dinner, James requested french dip sandwiches and strawberry bacon spinach salad. We also had deviled eggs and watermelon jello. Dessert was fruit pizza and an ice cream bar. Jessica's family joined us. Cousin George's birthday party was also that weekend and we loved going to that darling Winnie the Pooh themed shindig.
Family gifts: James was smothered with presents. He got a solar system Lego set and sweatsuit from Grannie, a capybara stuffie from cousins Simon and Esther, a Pokemon watch from the Crandall fam, a monster truck, coloring book, and Crazy 8 game from Grandma Langlois, a humongous kite from Giggi and Go-Daddy, a joke book, Where's Waldo book, remote control monster truck, and hover soccer ball from Nana and Papa, and a basketball hoop from Mom and Dad. Going to the park to fly his new kite was one of his favorite parts of his birthday. The kite is massive and can fly surprisingly high.
School treat: James asked to bring Blue Cool Ranch Doritos to share with his classmates for his birthday.
Baptism: James is now 8 years old which means he can get baptized! He wants to be! We made the difficult decision to wait to have his baptism after my parent's return from their mission so they can attend. Instead of getting baptized in April, James will be baptized the weekend of my parent's homecoming on Saturday, June 28.
Bio: James is curious! His Chinese teacher showed us an assignment she gave the class. She said not only did James fill up every line when writing the story (I guess most of his classmates only filled half of the lines) but he also used Chinese characters he hasn't learned yet. James asked the teacher how to write these new characters to incorporate in his story. His enthusiasm pleased her. James writes A LOT. He might just be a bestselling author. I'll get you his autograph. He writes and illustrates pages and pages of books. James loves crafts and art! He finishes his assignments at school quickly and spends his free time making contraptions out of boxes, scraps, etc. He is known for bringing home trash bags full of his creations at the end of the week.
Opening our freezer can be precarious at times. James mixes together all sorts of solutions and likes to watch them freeze and see what they'll do. The last one included a lot of dish soap. James appreciates my cooking and boy he can eat! James has a lot of energy to give and goes all in when riding his bike, scooter, playing basketball, etc. He is starting piano lessons, another session of basketball, and track is right around the corner. We love our goofy guy who is growing by the minute.
Annual checkup stats:
Date: March 20, 2025
Weight: 64 pounds (77%)
Height: 52.8 inches (85%)
Dance Competition
The dance mom world is a lot. Who knew that 5 year olds would be competing in competitions!? Isabelle had a competition in ROY this month which is an hour away. I got specific instructions for the exact Maybelline lipstick color Isabelle needed to wear, the eyeshadow to buy, pictures of how her hair should look, and was told to buy a hairnet for the bun. Whew. I definitely felt out of my league. Isabelle now has nicer makeup than me. We were even instructed not to have Isabelle wear underwear with her costume. These are things I would never think of. One competition down, one more to go. The next competition is closer. And then there's the spring recital which is my favorite event! Not hours long (like the ballet) with super upbeat songs and fun to watch.
Isabelle has moves! Yes, I'm her mom but why else would they put her front and center? Obviously she's gorgeous, but she definitely wouldn't be placed there on stage if she wasn't coordinated. Lately Izzy has been into dance and has been asking to perform her routine for people who come over! I was hoping she would be up for another year of dance because it's so stinking cute, but can I keep up with the vigor? Most girls in her class do both jazz dance and ballet and this year Isabelle only did jazz which was plenty.
Andrew went to the competition in Roy. I watched a video. I guess one of the girls in the class forgot where to go mid-dance and Izzy lovingly showed her the way. Atta girl! Izzy was counting down the days all week until the competition. Yes, she got flowers. And a trophy and pin!
Thanksgiving Point Expired
We have gotten our moneys worth for our membership! In the year we've had our membership, we went to Thanksgiving point at least 18 times! We went often with our friends the Bai's on days we had random weekdays off of school. We also adventured with cousins from both sides, my grandma, the Bradshaws, etc. Our pass expired this month. Don't worry, we went twice this month for the final hoorah! I'm a little sad especially as I've looked through pictures, but I'm open to renewing our membership at some point. We were able to try out the new Jurassic Jungle playground twice and are going again with friends over spring break (who can get us in for free). The tulip festival is right around the corner. I have always wanted to run the 5k and may run it with Jessica if I can get over the cost.
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Ditto Studios is Closing
After many prayers, temple trips, and late nights tossing and turning worrying, I'm going to stop teaching piano. This wasn't an easy decision. Stopping piano is something I've wanted to do for awhile, but the security of my income has been nice and needed. The main reason I'm quitting is because the hours for piano are really challenging and hard on our family. My kids are gone at school all day and then when they finally get home, I have to work and they have to be silent. It interferes with dinner, after school activities, and just makes our evenings hectic and hard.
I feel peace about my decision and look forward to more flexibility and time with my kids. I have taught some of my piano students for a long time (2 sisters for over 5 years!) and am sad to see them move on! They're getting good. That being said, I'm going to substitute teach part time next year which will help ease the anxiety I have about potential job loss. Penelope got into the a nearby high school daycare and it's really cheap. She will go a couple times a week. I have taught piano since I was a teenager and it feels like it has been a part of me for so long! It has been a great source of income and a good outlet for me! I will miss the connections with my students, but I look forward to the flexibility and free evenings. I'm in a different season of life now. Thrilled to take on the new hat of "piano mom" and foster practicing as James takes lessons from someone else.
I have lots to look forward to in April, but a house project might take the cake... We have been needing and wanting to redo this spot of our house since we moved in nearly 4 years ago! Stay tuned!!
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