Hippity Hoppity

 Sunday, April 7, attempting to pay attention to General Conference in our 'King Benjamin Tent.' We're pretty stickler-ish about GC participation on Sunday. But the Saturday session? Always interrupted by festivities...such as an Easter Egg Hunt.

 And then there were two...two age-appropriate Crawfords, allowed to participate in public egg hunts. Sigh.

 Always easier to shoot an egg hunt from the back. Don't know why.

 Gracie Lou and I, braving the crowds at Park Meadows' Easter Bunny display...I HATE that they've gone all corporate and won't let you take your own photos anymore. We paid for a 5x7, but then the digital images? You have to shell out to publish them! Seriously! Bitter!  But we did get this dandy balloon wrist corsage.

 Coloring eggs.

 More. Shane just puts a spin on every activity that's hard to resist.

 Thanks to a later church time, the kiddos could enjoy their Easter fixin'ins beforehand (which I'm sure the Primary teachers just LOVED and appreciated so much!).

 Peeps on a stick. That Bunny. Ingenious.

 The kids got their usual delivery from The Bun: candy, videos (Happy Feet Two, TinTin, etc.) and these beautiful Manning t's. Unhappily, even the King of Easter couldn't procure jerseys on such short notice. Hmmmmph.

They clean up nicely, don't they?

All Good Colts Grow Up to be Broncos

 Just to chronicle this for posterity...

I am the daughter of a Denver Broncos original season ticket holder. My entire life has been conducted, for the most part, in front of an orange and blue football backdrop, but there were definite moments in life when the Broncos weren't the backdrop, but the forefront. Many, many moments. My father was a Broncos lovah. And once I was of an appropriate age, I followed suit. I've rooted for clothing all my life, particularly orange and blue clothing, and whomever wears it. My exile in California was pure frustration, largely because that gentleman pictured below, my hero of all time, Mr. John Elway, finally got his Super Bowl ring, and capped off his career with yet another.  Imagine my chagrin upon moving back to Denver, only to have Jay Cutler at the helm. Then Kyle Orton, for criminy's sake. And then, like a ray of heavenly sunshine through the clouds, they played Tebow. As a lark. To shut up the fan base. Who then, in a wildly improbable manner, propelled our boys to many last-minute and inexplicable wins. Took us to the 2nd round of the playoffs, even.

 We were thrilled with our Timmy. What he lacked in ability he more than made up with leadership, humility, guts, determination and passion - and the whole over-the-top Christian thang, which bothered some, was just icing on the cake. In love with the boy. And then we saw this picture. Which changed everything. 'Cause Peyton Manning, possibly a Bronco? Tim WHO?

Pins and freaking needles for 10 days, people. ESPN on a nonstop loop (yeah, you know it is anyway around here, but, still). And then, lo and behold, all my wishes, all my dreams, all my quarterback coveting since the day this kid graduated from Tennessee, is ours. I try not to p ersonally appropriate him. I really do. But my fabulous Peyton, here, remaking Broncos football in his own likeness and image. No, really. 

But, Baby, It's Warm Outside

 Spring Break 2012. Lemme start out by saying that Spring came exceptionally early this season - we began emjoying our 70- and 80-degree days the second weekend of March, and with a few exceptions, maintained those temps. Crazy for the Rockies - Denver was blooming mid-March, but the most miraculous detail was that Castle Rock was as well, even at the higher elevation. Spring clothes kicked out, sunscreen demanded of merchants who had little in stock, pools closed when they could have been raking in customers.

 Week One found us with upper 80-degree temps, which posed its own unique problems...you couldn't find a parking space in the Mile High City within a mile of any museum or park. So, out of desperation, out of our neighborhood, and out of options, we saw 'The Lorax' in 3-D for a mere $50. A matinee. FIFTY DOLLARS. We also headed to Jump Street and the rec center leisure pool.

 And fought the crowds at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - seriously? A 40-minute wait just to get into the parking lot?

 Eve is quite the photographer.

 Capturing those moments.

 The Lorakeet room was hysterical with noise. The Crawfords were right at home.

 After week one of tropical paradise was complete, more standard spring weather descended, and by that I mean that instead of 88 degrees it was 66. And since Eve is on a traditional schedule for the middle school and not modified traditional like my elementary-age young'uns, we had a week of Chuck E. Cheese, playdates, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, et. al., which ended each day promptly at 2 p.m. in order to free me up to pick up big sissie. Here, Gracie sleeps on the way up to ski Loveland with daddy and the gang.

 Pre-ski. Or pre-slushing, if you prefer. The resorts were most unhappy with our warm-weather bliss down in the valley below.

 There are locations in the metro area, but I'll tell ya, BeauJo's in Idaho Springs, en route from just about any resort you care to name, is the ultimate capper. Not one shade less charming and unique for being located in an extremely tight main street with little to no parking.

 Travelling exhibit at DMNS...this is a natural, right? And, bummer. Many, many field trips held that first week back at school - it was the Crawfords and every public school class in Denver.

 Just a sampling.

 The photo doesn't quite capture it, but the lizard is just as alarmed with what's in front of the glass as Shane seems to be with what lies behind it.

 That's one heavy plastic python.

Cool 'n groovy amphibian and/or reptilian wrist-gear. And so it ends, our little spring break. 

Toys

 Grace has turned into quite the thespian. This last February she starred in her second KidStage play at Clear Sky, a 'Toy Story' knock-off titled simply 'Toys'. She was an adorable sheep, one of Bo Peep's flock. And yes, those are bunny ears, tucked under to resemble, I guess in some small way, the head of a lamb. My new mantra, applied with varying degrees of success, is 'keep it simple.'

 Grace and Sophia. Sophia's mother's mantra is not 'keep it simple.' I admire her energy.

 As much as Eve has always professed a desire to act, she simply cannot stomach being in front of an audience. It wounds her soul. But Gracie is firmly in her element: broad, sincere smiles and giggles, beautiful recitation of lines, pure joy in the  process. There are no small parts, people. Only small actors.

 Patiently waiting for her certificate.

 Taking her bows. Seriously. Look at that smile. You could bottle that and sell it, for millions. I envy children for their purity and joy.

Dealing with your public, and their incessant clamoring for a piece of you - even just your signature - is trying. Or so I've heard.

Partay like a Princess

 Gracie's a saint. That's all there is to it. I comfort myself that she's never known a different existence, one where a child's birthday is promptly celebrated after one's birthday, a world where one's siblings didn't have swim meets and basketball games and who knows what all else scheduled every weekend throughout December, January and February, making it necessary to hold one's birthday party in late February rather than late December.

 Still trying to figure out the configuration for the new Blogger. But a great time was had by all when Ariel showed up to lead Grace and a few other princesses through their paces, beginning with a story and then face painting. Ariel was a magically, scantily-clad little wonder, and had many magic tricks for the girls, such as pulling random items out of her fun bag, as well as a coloring book that miraculously colored its own pages when the girls said a few magic words and wiggled their fingers at it just so.

 I love a parade.

 I hate the new Blogger. I most explicitly pushed the 'delete' button. I did.

 Two Ariels. Lets hear it for Birthday Express for sending her. And lets hear it for Groupon, who let Birthday Express send her to us for half price.

Love the Ariel cake, and the precious girl blowing out those candles. That patient, lovely, good-natured girl. 

Bison Strong

 The Bisons reconvened under Coach Nadine Boyd, who's so fabulous it's not even funny. The 2011-2012 season was beyond amazing. And that Crawford kid they had playing guard sometimes, though he'd rather be forward? Dang cute. Super scrappy. A joy to watch.

 Ty's basketball pics came up so much better than Shane's, for unfathomable reasons. They played in the same gyms with the same lighting, I used the same camera. They both have the amazing Crawford good looks. So it goes. Here Ty goes up for the sure shot.

 Unstoppable on the fast break. Ty's a great shot, fast up and down the court, super alert as to what's going on around him, anticipating the shot, the pass, the out-of-bounds ball to save. Practice was only a hair less enjoyed than the games, he loved the entire process. And those coaches - heaven bless them. So knowledgeable and able and dedicated, love their time and sacrifice and example: the kind of coaches who didn't order one of their players to 'take out' an opponent, or ask a cop to come and sit in the stands because the opposing team's parents were 'threatening.' Youth sports are ruined by the adults every freaking time.

 These, my friends, are the 2nd place trophies for the 5th grade playoff tournament, which they just barely lost to the team from Larkspur (great. So two years ago the Larkspur team didn't win one single game. Look how far they've come! Yeah, super heart-warming. It still stings). But what a great time filled with great boys - every last one of them had heart and hustle and sportsmanship.

 A few frustrated tears later. It's all good, Tysie-mo-Mysie.

The Bisons who entered the 5th grade boys' Hoopla 3-on-3 Tournament - a raucous good time in between games. Zack, Ben, Hunter and Trevor (front row, far left and far right, back row, far right) formed one team; Ty, Bryson, to his immediate right, and Collin, 2nd to left, front row, formed the championship team - what's not to love there? I have a lovely shot of the championship trio, but it was sent from an iPhone and will not upload, for the love of Pete. What a stellar season.



All You Need is Love

Well, love, and a decorated Valentine receptacle. This one's worth writing home about, if it weren't already created here and everyone already knew about it.

Shane. Need I say more?

I always get the crew goodies and balloons, but it was crucial this year: once one's in middle school, all Valentine festivities cease. Unless you count the grossly overpriced Val-O-Grams. And we definitely don't count that.

Shane's box would most assuredly get my vote for 'Most Crawford-like Box'...

but once I got a view of Ty's, it became a real toss-up.

Who even thinks to manufacture chocolate in the shape of a fish and package it for Valentine consumption? Whomever the genius is behind it, I'd like to kiss him. And give him a few more bucks next year.

Sweets for the sweet. I think I use that caption every year. You are powerless to stop me.

Well, you're right: it's technically not a valentine's picture. But it IS a third/fourth grade combo class recorder concert. So...it's obvious why I've included it in this post. Right?