I am the Lucky One

 Back in the Fall of 2016, I was lucky enough to be chosen by a group of friends to participate in Questival on their team, the Desert Mermaids. After some pretty lengthy group texts and several late night meetings, the time finally came for us to compete in this awesome 24 hour adventure race.   It really was the experience of a lifetime. Hysterical, tense, uncomfortable, exhausting, exhilarating, simply the best.  The experience was made all the better by the fact that we placed 6th out of 119 teams.  Who would have thought 5 moms from the suburbs could kick so much butt? Kick butt we did!  We loaded up my redneck Suburban and hit the road.  

Our goal was to complete as many of the 269 challenges as we could in 24 hours.  I am not sure how many we actually completed but it was A LOT!  You can see all of our videos and pictures here: http://questivalteams.cotopaxi.com/teampage?id=I9054sggGb

After the event kick-off we headed downtown to embarrass ourselves.  We crossed the road like a flock of chickens, we hugged someone for 15 full seconds (longest hug EVER!), challenged strangers to hula hoop contests, and did other strange things like that.

 After a brief stop back at home to complete some tasks, we headed in to the mountains to eat bugs, build a fire, laugh our butts off, and watch the sunrise.

 After exactly zero minutes of sleep we loaded back up and drove to Bisbee.

 In Bisbee we hiked 1,000 steps, mailed a potato, found a Maine license plate, and ran a mile in each others shoes.

 On the way back to Tucson we stopped in Tombstone for a finger gun fight, and begged a man in St. David to let us drink milk from his lactating goats.  He said no.

 The University of Arizona was next on our list.  We embarrassed ourselves some more in front of all the college kids and took a moment to stuff our faces.  We moved so quickly every where we went that we were literally a blur of green scales and purple shells.

By the time we made it home we were delirious, starving, and, thanks to the lost bowl of chopped white onion that floated around the Suburban, we stank BUT we were happy. We immediately started talking about doing it again.

After 24 hours of GO! GO! GO! the rest of the month seemed pretty tame!  We spent a great deal of time with the horses, especially Bachelor.  He hasn't been doing very well so we have had lots of visits from the vet to squeeze in to our schedule. He was finally diagnosed with Laminitis, which requires lots of special care. I am thankful that after three months of wondering, we finally know what is going on so we can help him.

 One day over Spring Break we went with friends to the Desert Museum. Lillian and Freya love to visit the animals, climb in caves, and look for pretty rocks.

 Lillian's goal is to pet one of the sting rays.  She has a hard time accepting the fact that her arms need to grow about 5 more inches for that to be possible.

Josh breathed a huge sigh of relief when the winter soccer season finally ended.  I don't think he is off the hook though.  He still has a little girl who can't wait for him to be her coach.

 After the Dragons had their last game we served them up some Eegee's and one of the mothers presented each kid with their own trophy.  Josh and I do not believe in giving kids trophies just for participating but I must say it made Lillian's day!

Then St. Patrick's Day was upon us!  Before the girls went to bed they left the leprechauns some green milk. 

 In the morning they found quarters and donuts in it's place.

That wasn't all though. The leprechauns climbed onto the bathroom counter and wrote on the mirror!

We did St. Patty's Day crafts, went to two parties, ate Irish soda bread, and watched Darby o' Gill and the Little People, a tradition started by my mom when I was a kid.

Speaking of watching movies, I tried to have the girls watch Harry and the Hendersons, a movie I loved as a kid.  It didn't go over too well.

It has been spring in Tucson for at least a month now but we didn't complain when Dairy Queen decided to give away free cones on the first *official* day of spring.

 I love it when my girls get ice cream cones because they have not yet mastered the art of licking the drips off the sides. That means I am periodically called upon to preform this delicious duty.  

 The weather is practically perfect this time of year so we spend as much time outdoors as possible.  In the evenings we paint, play hopscotch, and go to the park.

 We had to make a few trips to Target this month to replenish Lillian's wardrobe. She has officially out grown pretty much all her clothes and has graduated to the big girl section.  I don't know what your trips to Target look like but this is how mine usually end up. What you cannot see in this photo are all the stickers stuck to my back and my butt. Thanks girls, thanks a lot.

Oliver, pup pup, Bat Dog, or Ah VO, as we like to call him, has grown a great deal in the past month as well, not only in size but in our hearts as well.  He can run circles around the big dogs at the dog park, play fetch (when his attention span allows), and he can snuggle with the best of them.  We are glad to have him in our family.

These two little trouble maker brothers celebrated their birthday just before Lillian. They are the same age as Lillian and Freya so the four of them do well together.

 They had a Monster Truck birthday party complete with tire rolling.

 Freya was a little too small. She just slid around inside the tire.

When she found out none of the birthday presents were for her, she industriously began picking up all the tissue paper from the gifts and collected it instead.  As my dad always says, she is a strange little creature.

Just in case you don't believe me about the strange part, here is some proof.  I asked her to put some clothes on after church. This is the outfit she came up with.  And people wonder why I don't let her dress herself...

 And finally, for the month's grand finale, Lillian's 5th birthday party!  When we found out the movie was opening just before her birthday we decided we had to have a Beauty and the Beast party.  That just happens to be one of my favorite Disney movies so I was more than happy with this theme.

 As usual, Grandma Jean out did herself with the cake.  It was better than most people's wedding cake!

 Wearing our Belle dresses together was my favorite part of the party.

Freya looked especially cute!

After snacks we made bird feeders,

decorated enchanted mirrors,

created inventions like Maurice,

blew bubbles like Chip,

and had target practice like Gaston.

Then came the cake!

If you know me then you know I like to drag out every celebration.  Lillian's birthday party just wasn't enough. We had to do something fun on her real birthday too!

 After pancakes came presents.

 Then church with her favorite people, Nona and Ppa,

followed by homemade pizza!

And last of all more birthday cake, this time with ice cream.  It isn't every day you turn 5 so I really tried to make it special.

For her birthday Lillian asked to get her ears pierced.  Once we had sufficiently recovered from her party I took her to the mall to have it done.  As we were getting out of the car I think she began to get nervous. "I want Freya to get her ears pierced with me," she said.  Freya was more than happy to accommodate Lillian so we headed inside to get two little girls' some earrings!  

Lillian was very brave.  She didn't cry at all and was thrilled with what she saw in the mirror.

 Freya was hilarious.  I had Lillian go first hoping if Freya watched she would change her mind. No such luck. Not even Lillian's warnings of, "Freya, are you sure? It really hurts!" could deter her.  She hopped right in to the chair, counted "2,3,4" and then yelled, "OUCH!"  Not a tear escaped her eyes though!

Now we have the REAL grand finale.  After their ears were pierced they decided it would be a good idea to go play in the mall play area.  We walked in, sat down, removed shoes, Lillian ran off, tried to jump over a butterfly statue on the ground and biffed it.  As she stood up I saw right away that her right arm was broken.

So I put their shoes back on and took the. longest. walk. of. my. life. across the mall, stopping in the restroom for Freya to pee, and then across the parking lot to the car.  I was cursing myself for always parking as far away as possible.  We drove to St. Joseph's hospital where we spent the next 4 and a half hours getting Lillian all fixed up.

She was tough and brave. Everyone said so.  I couldn't believe how well she did when the doctor set her arm.  She cried but she didn't scream or thrash. She did so well the doctor gave her a handful of chocolates!

The next day we took her in to get a cast.  After her experience getting it set, she was reluctant to have anyone touch her arm.  However, when she saw the rainbow cast material come out her face noticeably brightened.

She isn't sleeping well and was very grumpy the first few days after her accident but nothing keeps her down for long.  Today she was running around the park like nothing ever happened. She is wrestling with Oliver on the couch as I write this. 

Reflecting on the title of this post, I really am the lucky one.  I have two wonderful daughters who bring me joy.  The past 5 years haven't only been important for Lillian.  We have both grown a lot but I think I have grown the most. Becoming a mom is something special.