Random Mayhem, which largely centers around Gracie

While I truly enjoy order in both life and art, some things defy natural and tidy grouping. A alarmingly high percentage of Crawford family life falls into this category. In an effort to faithfully present our reality, consider the following:
Ty's command that all must limbo underneath him. And Eve's actual attempt to do so.

Gracie's continual donning of princess and princess-related apparel. Neither illogical nor unexpected. Which in itself is illogical and unexpected.

Shirt as headgear. And a baby jaguar. Common enough of a sight in households throughout America, daily.

A silent, slumbering four-year-old. Anomaly on any country you care to name.

Glitter Mary-Jane-wearing free-form dance...

Eve, back-toting her brothers.

We're Goin' to the Zoo; How About You?

Spring Break '09 found the crew in all the old familiar places: Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Chuck E. Cheese, the Castle Rock rec center leisure pool, Arapahoe Basin for skiing, and a long-awaited daytime visit to Denver's Zoo. Here, the Crawfords have either knocked off or scared away many other young zoo patrons in pursuit of climbing the famed hippo statue. Take no prisoners!
I'm at a loss for words. Eve's, um...fill in your own blank here.

Our visit coincided with the last "nice" (read: sunny but blustery) day of that particular week; coats were not optional, and Gracie was the recipient of the over-priced Zoo wagon rental ride.

Shaney, about to take a header into the bear den. I'm just kidding. He didn't. But you thought he did. It seems in character.

Eve and Shane and an elephant. The stuff dreams are made of.

An anonymous sleeping bear. We spent 20 minutes outside of this habitat. A whole 20 minutes. And this is what the bear did. For 20 minutes. While we watched.

Snow, a.k.a. particles of water vapor which when frozen in the upper air fall to the earth as soft, white, crystalline flakes

While I'd be insincere in declaring that we haven't throughly loved our Colorado "California winter" this season, the lack of snow has taken some of the romance out of the experience...because Mother Nature has a sense of humor, she waited until Spring Break to unleash a SERIOUS blizzard, which evaporated a mere two days later. In the interim, off to the Back 40 the Crawfords go!
Pre-excursion...only took 20 minutes to locate all the gloves, snow boots and hats pictured here: buried at the very bottom of the "ski" pile they were, unused all season.

The snow creature...of whose destruction we have particularly gruesome and disturbing video. For your sake, I opt not to show it here. But if it surfaces on Nightline in a documentary about children and violence, don't say I didn't warn ya.

Froggy Gets Dressed

Now comes the portion in our blog when we turn our attention to the 2nd grade musical program at Clear Sky. Ty Crawford was proudly featured as a xylophone player (a special honor, earned by...doing...something) and a vocalist, often undertaken simultaneously. Im-press-ive! Here, he's just kicking back, basking in the glow only a job well done can provide.

Witness the choreography as they plowed through "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain", a complex version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Galump Went the Little Green Frog" interspersed with a sound-effects-laden reading of the classic "Froggy Gets Dressed." Explaining why our son and others are sporting caps, coats, gloves, etc. Get it?

Just one more sampling of the darling Crawford boy's concentration...he was so proud and excited, until a classmate spread the germ that perhaps the song selection was a little "baby-ish", and then all of his enthusiasm evaporated. Some people's children...

Down 'n Derby

Nope, I'm not above stealing a caption from a movie. So there.

The crowds, the noise, the competition, the steeply-sloping track...it can only be a pack of unruly young men, ages 8-11, in blue shirts and scarves crowding the cultural hall for the Pinewood Derby! Scouts and siblings galore! Moms with cameras! Dads with pride, which always comes before the fall! Gentlemen, press your release button!
Ty's proud entry, Pac-Man, in his sole win for the evening. Sleekness and pride of engineering from the Crawford garage.
Shane's yellow Turbo Python hugs that line all the way down...narrowly missing a win. Repeatedly, as it turns out.
He did his best, yes, indeedy, one of only two siblings who entered cars. As if he wouldn't be involved in something his brother was...

As far as the blogosphere knows, Ty won first place, undefeated. The nifty sheet of paper with Ty's name forged onto it indicates "Coolest Design," a consolation prize meant for some other kid who didn't spank the competition. We're at a loss as to how it got into his hands.

Tikki Tikki Tembo

Colorado has made a lot of things possible for the Crawfords, and Clear Sky Elementary in particular has offered our children amazing opportunities. Mrs. Mooney, their music teacher, is stellar, always challenging the kids, expanding their horizons, which is what a fully-rounded education should provide. Anyone got a soap box?
In their 2nd concert of the school year, the 4th graders presented music from around the world, showcasing our precious Evie in a Chinese folk song. She sang, played the mallet (I could try to pretend I knew what that was, but we all know I'd be lying), and put on a killer Gwen Stefani impression, complete with '50's-era kimono from Grandma K's Japanese experience.

Love, Angel, Music and Baby did not put in an appearance, but we're pretty sure Gavin Rossdale was in the back row.

Oh, did we mention that mom and Shane missed the whole multi-culturally eye-opening experience? In a communication snafu, of the kind which has never before occurred ;), Shaney was left behind at the rec center when dad and Ty left after basketball practice. The nice part about being in said rec center every day of the week is that the staff knows exactly who the Crawford kids are and to which parents they belong. Did I say that was the nice part?