Being Irish is Half the Fun

Seamus was very dutiful this year. He made a cypher wheel and we decoded many messages from him. (Most reminding us how great he is and how he still wants gold.)

We made our wishes as usual. It is a silly tradition, but I love looking back at all the pictures with coins on our foreheads.

The day before we ran the Vineyard 5K again. Let's compare our results to last year:

	2012	2013
Tyler	16:55	29:37
Maleen	41:45	29:35
June	40:22	39:49
Robyn	40:43	38:37
Ivory	Rode in the Stroller	40:57

Everyone improved, except Tyler. But if you recall, he missed part of the course last year and his time didn't really count. Also, this year, he pushed the stroller. You will notice that he stayed right with me during the race. (Who am I kidding. I was trying to keep up with him!!)

Tyler was a good coach. On the last straight away we picked up the pace. And then he told me we would sprint at the finish. I told him I was already going faster and I wouldn't have anything left. But amazingly, I still was able to push it at the end. Charity, a friend of mine who finished in 26:??, snapped a picture as we crossed.

And here comes Tyler.

After I crossed the line, I took a breather and then went back for each child. Robyn was the first to show up. Another kind soul, Mandy, took a picture. Robyn was sprinting/walking at the end. But the thought of being passed by her friend helped her make a strong finish. (Wait, are they holding hands? Maybe they were finishing together.)

This is also where I could point out that Robyn is a head shorter than all her friends. Yep, we grow them in miniature around here.

June was the best to encourage. I could see the timer and told her that she needed to keep going to beat her time from last year. She told me that she couldn't do it, but she kept running the whole time she was telling me this. And she crossed the finish line in plenty of time.

And Ivory was not far behind. McKenzie came to run, but she had Adi in the stroller, so she was already planning to run at a slower pace. But she was such a trooper to pick up Jane and Ivory and keep them going the whole time. And I was very proud of Ivory for running the whole thing. Last year, she tripped at the beginning and sat in the stroller the rest of the time. McKenzie would be the third person to take pictures for me. It is lucky I know so many reliable people with cameras on their phones.

It was a great race. We all had a good time and went home feeling like we accomplished something. For me...it was my second race of the year. Only one more to finish my goal. Piece of cake. (This is where I probably break something that puts me out of commission for months. Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself.)

Love this lady.

Daisy, On Food

I was getting supplies out for lunch. I bought some craisins and I think it had been a while since we had them on hand. As I took them from the pantry and put them on the counter, Daisy saw them.

Daisy: Mom, are those Craisins?
Mom: Yes, do you like them?
Daisy: Yes, they are 100% delicious.
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Daisy: Mom, one time we had green eggs for snack at school.
Mom: Like green eggs and ham?
Daisy: Yes!
Mom: That's silly.
Daisy: No, that's gross.

Keeping Things Close

I mentioned that Ivory got a shelf for her birthday and then forgot to post pictures. (Sounds like me, doesn't it?) She really loves her shelf. She changes up what is in there, but it is always well stocked. In fact, looking at it just now, I want one. It seems pretty handy. Here is it by her bed.

And here is a close-up.

And then I finally got around to putting up a picture of the temple over her bed. I only promised it way back when. I didn't even tell her I was doing it. She just came home and there it was.

And she seems to like it. There is now a picture of the temple in every room. Except mine. (oops.)

And even though Ivory doesn't have her own room, she does seem to have her own space just the way she likes it.

Luscious Lashes

I feel it is good to have a very girly post right after a very manly one. And what is more girly than make-up. (Unless you are in the theater, then I apologize, guys.)

I have been tempted by false eyelashes for a while now. Mainly because the idea of not having to put on mascara, take off mascara, put on mascara, take off mascara, repeat ad nauseam, was very tempting. Tyler would laugh, because I kept asking if I could get my 'nails' done when what I meant was my 'lashes.'

And what with family pictures coming up, it seemed a great time. (Actually, I had pictures scheduled long before, but my friend was kind enough to squeeze me into her schedule the night before, so I could look fabulous for the photos.)

My normal lashes are not long, but not minuscule either. As most lashes, they lighten at the ends and are hard to see without the aid of mascara. Take a look for yourself. In all my glory, I let Tyler take a picture right before I left.

We did take some after pictures, but they weren't good. And I've found it is hard to take pictures of one's own eyes. But with the help of a mirror, this is not too bad.

So, do I like them?? Well, there are pros and cons.


PROS

* I don't have to do anything in the morning. Yes, I might still put a little foundation under my eyes, or some lipgloss, but if I didn't, I could be instantly presentable. It is glorious.

* No smudging or smearing. And I can cry at church and it is fine. (Not that I cry at church, or at commercials or reading the Friend.)

* I have gotten a lot of compliments, so I'm assuming they look good.

CONS

* I can't rub my eyes, so if I get water in my eyes, it is very uncomfortable. Plus, I feel like when my eyes water or get water in them, they sting!! Is that from the glue? Or what? Which isn't encouraging to think glue is getting in my eyes.

* I can't get un-fancy. That may sound weird, but sometimes when I am chilling in my pjs, or running in the mornings, it seems weird to have my lashes look like I'm headed for the red carpet.

* Oh, and they are kind of expensive. But I don't color my hair, do my nails, whiten my teeth, or anything else that I can think of, so I am allowing myself something.


I can't imagine having them forever, but I sure like them for now. I would like to think that it is more functionality than vanity that brought me here, but really deep down, it all goes back to vanity. I honestly don't love how I look without make-up. It is the curse of having worn it for so long. And when I don't wear make-up, people ask if I am sick, or just really tired. (Yes to the tired thing, but really it is a nice way for them to say...wow! You look horrible.)

So for now, I'll just glory in putting my mascara on the shelf and giving it some time off for good behavior.

Boy Will Be Boy

Who gets the "boy" jobs in a family of all girls?

That'd be me: the lone man in the garden of Cazier.

That's ok though because that means I get to experiment on a lot of manly stuff like fixing houses or cars, and I don't get compared to anyone. There's no one to compare me to!

As it turns out, my Dodge Neon has been suffering for a while now. Last year, when I got emissions tested, they informed me that it would pass emissions ok, but it's a good thing safety's not being tested. Window's broken, needs new tires, power steering is leaking, battery's not secured, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So to get registered this year, I've had my work cut out for me.

I'm no mechanic. I don't know how those dang machines work! But men all over the world profess they enjoy working on automobiles. Hmmm. I'm still figuring that one out.

Anyhow, I'm smart enough to know that I'm gonna break it if I don't get some help. J.R., my brother, is my pseudo mechanic. Pretty much I call him and I say, "Hey J, listen to this and tell me what's wrong with my car;" or "J, I just posted a video of my car on YouTube, can you tell me what's wrong with it?" To his enduring credit, he has never said no—he always checks it out for me. I have often quipped that, "I'm getting my four-year automotive degree...I own a Dodge." People laugh, but I'm serious. I've fixed nearly every issue this poor machine has ever had—and J.R. has diagnosed anything I couldn't figure out.

So, I posted a video on YouTube earlier this week, and asked J.R. to advise me, which he did. My high-pressure steering fluid line was leaking and needed to be replaced. J.R. thought for a moment, no-doubt considering the experience of the mechanic about to undertake these repairs, then advised, "I'd give it at least two hours."

Here's the Cazier Calculus behind this: It would take an hour for J.R. to do it, Tyler's a little...slow, let's double it and call it good.

It took me three hours.

I have also learned that repairing something on a vehicle (at least a Dodge) is never about just that part. The trick that makes mechanics good at their job is knowing which systems have to be moved / modified in order to get at the part that needs to be replaced. They see an engine as an interactive series of layers that can be systematically peeled away.

My quest to repair the steering fluid line ended in success. I came in sometime in the middle of the repair, and Maleen snapped this photo:

Yes, the grease and grime just keep going up my arms. At one point the engine took advantage of me being under the car and dripped a combination of coolant and power steering fluid in my ear.

Let me remind you that I'm a web developer. These same hands write code and styles for websites. I must say though, that I find it exhilarating to complete a true "Man" project. I was so proud of myself that I bought a bunch of honest-to-goodness Craftsman "Man" tools to reinforce my credentials to toil over these machines. (And yes, I buy Craftsman not only because they have a lifetime warranty...I shamelessly admit that a little part of my buying decision is because they say "Man" right on the tool.) I figure that by doing the work myself, I saved at least the price of a new wrench set...and an air compressor...and a new flexible LED flashlight...

Cazier Family Photos

It has been a while since we got family pictures. The last time, Pearl was 3 months old. Now she is 3 years old. So, because I loved Fotofly so much at Christmas, I bit the bullet and signed us up for pictures. It was a great experience, and I love the photos. I hope you like them too.

Adore this one. I need to get one for the house. (Oh, and yes, I actually tried to coordinate colors this trip. The orange is because that is what they had the most of at the store. I'm surprised we didn't all end up in neon yellow.

This was a fun pose, but we never quite got everyone looking how we wanted. Even this one has two kids being weird or with eyes closed, but I thought I would still include it.

And then this was our favorite. We did have to photo-shop one child, but that was easily done using another photo. (Well, I say easily, because Tyler is really good at it. It is not easy for me.)

It makes me happy that we got these done. I am very blessed. I'll keep reminding myself of that while I go to tackle the mountain of laundry.

Pi3

Pause everything. If you are reading this in Google Reader, etc., you need to go to the actual blog. (Now!!) We redid the header. So cute. Love my little family. We'll have more pictures soon.

Okay, back to business. Happy Pi day to you all. If you don't know what Pi day is, it is simply celebrating March 14th. Or you could write it as 3/14, or perhaps 3.14. See the correlation?

Okay, you probably already know about Pi day. Every year it comes and goes and I don't do anything. Mainly because it doesn't register. But this year I actually thought about it before. And I had a pie I was dying to try out. Yum! Here is a link.

It seemed to go down well.

Plus, today was fabulous. The weather was GORGEOUS! I should have walked around taking pictures of the kids playing outside, but instead I kicked them out and spent some time reading. (Because I am an awesome mom like that.)

I had already planned to take the kids out for our annual flip flop shopping, but the warm weather was a bonus for sure. Love the flip flops. Sorry about the poor picture quality. I couldn't get the kids to take off the flops until evening.

So, take a deep breath. Spring is on the way. And pie is yummy. Sorry I couldn't share with all of you.