What I'm Loving - March 2011

U of A Softball - The season is officially underway and we have a 29-6 record so far! Softball starting always makes me think about Spring and warm Saturday afternoons relaxing in the sun. And National Championships. ;)

Spring Weather - I love being outside in the Spring. And when it starts to get hot in Phoenix I love being outdoors at night. Makes me want to play ultimate frisbee or go swimming.

Tax Refunds - I really should adjust my withholdings so that I don't have extra left over each year but I really do like the extra "paycheck" that comes each Spring. I have plans to update the master vanity using some of my refund money. 

Wearing Flip-Flops - Always my favorite type of shoe and super easy to slip on as you're running out the door. Plus, they're cheap so you can own forty-two pairs of them. 

Half-Off Frozen Yogurt - Mojo has a deal where if you follow them on Facebook you'll be able to find out the word of the day and get 50% off your order at Mojo on Tuesdays. There just happens to be a Mojo on my route home from work. I have a feeling my car is going to be finding its way to Mojo on Tuesdays after work from now on.
My classic recipe: Cookie Monster frozen yogurt, strawberries and semi sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I throw in the little mini peanut butter cups too. Probably my favorite desert on the planet.

Spring Is Here

The weather in Phoenix has been really incredible the last few weeks and it's been rubbing off on me. I've been in a really upbeat mood for the last couple of weeks and I love being outside right now. The only real bummer is that I haven't been able to make it to a baseball game yet this season.

I did get to spend some time outside yesterday working on my yard and starting with the fence staining. Neither of those tasks are particularly exciting but enjoying the weather (without having an allergy attack!) was wonderful.

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We have a slight chance of T-storms next week and in Phoenix rain is always a fun twist to the weather report (especially when it actually happens).

Looking forward to another great week of this weather!

Summit 2011

I know this post is long overdue. I originally started writing it by attempting to write out a lengthy explanation of everything that happened at Summit. There's really too much to fit into a blog post and since a picture is worth a thousand words I'm just going to give you guys the high level summaries.

Bible Quizzing
Palmcroft #3 (Danielle's team) and Palmcroft #4 (my team) both made it through two rounds of Bible Quizzing. At that point the 51 teams competing on Sunday were narrowed down to 27 and both teams got eliminated.

Palmcroft #3

Palmcroft #4

Palmcroft #1 and Palmcroft #2 advanced to the Silver Round and ended up in the same room (out of three rooms) for this round. I was excited about that since it meant I was going to get to see Palmcroft #1 during this round (since I planned to follow Palmcroft #2 after my team got eliminated since it was all freshman). And speaking of the freshman team, they pretty much gave me a heart attack in this round. At the break halfway through the round they were in last place with NEGATIVE points. A little too buzzer happy, maybe? Regardless, both teams managed to advance to the Gold Round and were once again the same room (this time because there is only one room at this point).

Palmcroft #1 in the Silver Round

Palmcroft #2 in the Silver Round

After a valiant effort, Palmcroft #1 got eliminated after the Gold Round. Another team that I was really enjoying watching, the bandana team (can't remember where they were from) got eliminated at this point and that made me sad as well. The good news? Palmcroft #2 made it to the Platinum Round making it the 2nd year in a row that Palmcroft had a team in the final round and an all freshman team to boot!

Palmcroft #1 praying over Palmcroft #2

I didn't manage to get any good pictures of the Platinum Round due to the fact that I was videoing but long story short, the all-freshman team took 2nd place in the nation! That's the highest Palmcroft has ever placed and it set the bar very, very high for the class of 2014. Watching "my" kids in the Platinum Round was nerve wracking to say the least. I seriously think I was more nervous than the moms were. Each time they answered a speed question I think I stopped breathing.


Volleyball
I honestly don't remember where our volleyballs teams ended up getting eliminated. Volleyball is a lot more low-key of a competition and I think the kids all just had fun with it. We had three teams and whenever one of them was playing there was usually another one going on another court. I felt like I spent the entire evening running from one court to the next trying to keep up with what was going on. The team made up of mostly freshman made it through quite a few rounds and I watched them the most.

AwanaGames
Palmcroft brought two game teams this year for what I believe was the first time ever.

Palmcroft #1 managed to make it through two rounds before getting eliminated. There are some churches that go to Summit and specialize just in having a game team. I think it's kind of ridiculous and I'm glad that Palmcroft comes prepared to do all the events and that we put a healthy emphasis on Bible Quizzing. Watching the chamionship round in games is pretty intense. 

Palmcroft #1

I got the pleasure of coaching Palmcroft #2 at both State and at Summit. We added one boy and one girl to bring the team up to 12 players when we went to Summit. We had a really, really rough first round where we faced on of the teams that ended up in a champsionship round and as such placed 3rd in that round. In our second round we easily took 1st place and advanced to a third round. We needed to take 1st place in our third round to advance and I'm pretty sure we took 2nd. It was still a good day and I love the kids that I had the pleasure of coaching. 

Palmcroft #2

The best part about trips like these? Getting to spend time with my kids. And like camp, there are always random memories that come out of it.

Anyone remember Brianna and the trashcan?

Now I have Meagan and the ironing board!

I love ALL of these kids like nobody's business!