Farewell

Every day Rob comes home with some kind of "treat" for the kids--a Fig Newton, taffy, cracker--whatever was hanging out at work. The boys look forward to it so much and were just blown away when Daddy carried in a bag of four little goldfish. Robbie named them Fossy, Mossy, Dacey, and Kasey; Ty named all of them Dish. We were pretty excited when three days went by without any floaters. Day four came, though. Then day five. By day six our bowl was empty. Robbie was brave and scooped them out and flushed them. He prayed that they would go to heaven and come alive again. So sweet.

Weekend

I came home from Zumba Wednesday night to my entire downstairs filled with pink balloons and crepe paper. Rob surprised me by taking the day off, and we spent the entire day as a family. After celebrating my birthday on Thursday, we took a quick detour through Provo for a Tucanos run before heading up to Logan for the weekend.

Grandma Haas and I took Robbie skiing again up at Beaver Mountain. We stayed in the "Magic Carpet" section, but he had it mastered like a pro. He can turn, parallel, snowplow, and stop. The kid has some serious finesse.

Riding up the magic carpet

Grandma and Grandpa Haas surprised the boys with a Jolly Jump! They can't wait to go back to play on it!

My camera has a delayed flash. As a result, I have virtually no pictures of Ty smiling. I took almost 15 shots, and these were the best I got:

Ty thought Grandpa was just hilarious when he blew into his empty Coke bottle. He tried his best to imitate and thought that was just hilarious too.

Good Intentions

I can think of a million reasons for loving Rob; one of them is his sweet heart. We live up in the mountains, in a newly built area that was once the winter feeding grounds for deer, elk, and the like. As snow accumulated, Rob decided he was going to help out those starving animals by buying a 50 lb. bag of corn and dumping it outside our window (so the kids could see the gluttons). What happened? A mouse, living in the bag, got loose in our house--a real treasure to catch and clean up after. The feeding frenzy drew in magpies, bunnies, and coyotes--one deer came the entire winter and never returned. This is what was left when the snow melted: a stinky pile of moldy corn and heaps of poopy pellets. I was the lucky one who cleaned it up. Needless to say, we aren't doing this next year.

Winter Olympics--Haas Style

I love living here. It is gorgeous and family-friendly and there are a million things to do nearby. Rob's mom and brother came up this weekend, and with the weather being just perfect, we decided to use our free cross-country ski passes at Soldier Hollow (yes, the Olympic course!!!). We brought Robbie's downhill skis and they were so nice to let him practice on their runs for free. He's doing just great!! Little Ty had a blast just running up and down the slopes.

Mom, Dad, & Robbie.

Robbie & Grandma

I love this picture. He's seriously focused on mastering his snowplow.

Ty's getting pretty good, too. (Olympic Park, Park City)

Cool Runnings has nothing on Haas Happenings

Rob on a luge

My personal highlight, however, was CURLING!!! Yep! My brothers came up with a group of friends and we all went curling! Okay, here's what I have to say to all of you who, like me, make fun of curling on TV: it's HARD!!! You slip and slide everywhere and balancing is a real skill, but it is a blast. They even let Robbie try it! Great memory.

Each of those stones is 42 pounds!

Rob has excellent form--surprise, surprise! Me? Not so much.

I've already released the stone, but the PVC pipe thing is to help us with balance. Olympians don't get that, obviously, so I respect them all the more.

Fighting for Manhood

It's a constant battle in our home: Who's the big boy; who was the fastest; who's the boss . . . (Robbie actually dubbed himself "The Little Boss" while Mom and Dad share "Big Boss" status). My mom just certified as a parent educator (I'm so proud of her) and she said that my children happen to be "Power Kids"--their lives revolve around power--who has it, how do I get it etc. Lucky me. Here's a few pictures of my little guys fighting to become men faster than they should.

Ty in his "unn-a-wares." Well, actually, they are Robbie's but he has to put them on everyday--just to prove how manly he is becoming.

My little Evil-Knievel. Ty rides this motorcycle so hard that his legs are literally horizontal behind him when he pushes! He does wheelies and flies down the hill outside--it's hilarious to watch. No fear, this one.

A happy growing up trait--MOVIES! I love Kidsongs! They are the only thing that Ty will watch and he could do it all day. He is obsessed with ducks and horses right now, and since Kidsongs features both, he's in heaven. (That makes two of us!)

Robbie is doing so great with his letters and sounds. He made this poster for Uncle Johnny's birthday party up at the house, and was just so proud. He is at the stage where he has to win at everything. Fastest at this, first at that, biggest here . . . it goes on and on. He wants to play lions all day and is obsessed with killing "bad guys." We're still not sure where he even got the idea (must come with testosterone), but he's sure he's brave enough to get anyone. I was in the kitchen the other day and copied down this conversation he was having with Rob.

"Daddy, I know all things."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I kill all bad guys. Daddy, if you see a bad guy from far away I just get out my sword and hit him on the head and he will die like this [picture the visual]." Rob must have looked scared (ha ha) so Robbie continued, "Oh, the bad guys live super far away, though, in bad places." What a relief!

I blame Rob. Rob allows Robbie to practice shaving--cream, razor and all. So really, I shouldn't have been surprised when I hear Robbie screaming from the bathroom and come in to find nicks all over his baby face. Yep, he shaved everything perfectly except that curvy spot around the lip and chin. I think it's time for a fake razor. Novel idea, I know.

Single Again

It was a Thursday night and I had class, yes class (I'm taking a Writing for Publication class at the Wasatch Campus of UVU). I got home at nine, called a friend who was in town, ate some food, stalked people on Facebook (no, I'm not on Facebook) and tried to sleep. Next morning, I woke up late, stayed in bed writing my book until around 10:30. Cleaned my house. Blogged. Went grocery shopping (it was actually pretty fun and I remembered EVERYTHING on the list). Paid bills. Did my taxes. Completed Rob's FAFSA. It was now 2pm.

Rob decided on Thursday night to head up to Logan until Sunday morning...without me--just him and the boys! I actually cried, because I didn't want to be left alone in this huge scary house without anyone (I even called my brothers to see if they would take shifts babysitting me at night--no joke!). Well, Rob insisted I needed a break. Besides, I had class that night and a roommate reunion on Saturday.

What I learned from my little break? I needed it! But, I also learned I have mastered productivity! Seriously, what did I do before I had kids? I had so much spare time, I didn't even know what to do with myself! Fun time, yes, but I missed my little life with my family. I was happy to see them on Sunday.


As for my fantastic C-1 reunion--we had so much fun, we couldn't leave and are planning another one! Everyone made it except Dinah, whose ride from Washington bailed on her. We all met almost a decade ago (can't believe it!!!) from all over the country...Oregon, Arizona, Georgia, South Dakota, California, Washington...and we bonded like sisters. Oh how I love these girls. We went through pictures and our apartment song and "You'll never guess what happened" chart. It was perfect! We were totally crazy then, and now we have 7 kids and 2 on the way amongst us--minivans and all! So fun.

Here's us then...

And now...

Guess not much has changed.

Basketball

It's interwoven in his tissues: Rob LOVES sports. It drives me nuts sometimes (like the other night when he was watching college wrestling), but it really is a part of him. Well, of course, he joined the ward basketball team and the boys were his biggest fans! They loved going to the games. That is until last week, when some guy thought he was playing for the NBA Championship and knocked out Rob's kneecap. It isn't the first time, or even the second. He's been dealing with it for about 10 years now. He's gone to three orthopedists (who all blew him off) and physical therapy for 4 years (this is all during his football years). Well, after Rob's ortho unit in school, he self-diagnosed himself. Yesterday he went to another orthopedist (one he is going to shadow, actually) and told him he had patellofemeral pain syndrome and all the reasons why. He got xrays (for the first time...like I said, no one else took him seriously) and sure enough, Rob was right! He goes in for his first knee surgery on March 4th. Finally!

*Speaking of surgery--I had a cyst removed from my finger. It had been growing and hurting me for years, but I have surgery anxiety (understandably, I think) so I put it off until I couldn't stand it anymore. The doctor made me do it in the OR and under anesthesia (adding to my anxiety. It's just a little cyst, right?). Out of surgery he told me the cysts were dark, so he was sending them to the pathologist. I knew it...dying of cancer this time! (I'm a TOTAL hypochondriac.) Well, path report came back: BENIGN soft tissue hemangioma. YAY! Rob took the stitches out at our kitchen table (he tried to get Robbie to do it, but it was a no-go). No MRSA. No bed rest. All is well! Sigh!!!

Rob's fan base