Alumni basketball game

My husband's been all over the map throughout his life. One of the signs that you're a PK (preacher's kid) is that you've had at least 3-4 big moves in your life. Justin grew up in Kentucky, moved to Austin, then Shreveport before moving back to Kentucky for college. After college, he lived in Memphis for a few years and then, of course, he moved back to Texas where he met little ol' me.

Justin is friendly and outgoing to say the least and with living in four states, it's no shocker that when the man joined Facebook, he had 500 friends within a day. That's why I love him. He's the perfect husband to take to any new event because I never have to worry. He makes friends within minutes and requires no "babysitting", it's awesome.

But I'm really getting off topic here. All that to say, he spent a majority of his high school years in Shreveport and went to a private Catholic school. No we're not Catholic, it was just one of the schools free of metal detectors at the time. It's a small school but Justin loved it. He got an invitation earlier this year to participate in an alumni basketball game to benefit the school. He played in high school and the chance to play again with his buddies was too good to pass up.

So he packed up his letter jacket (no really, he did), dusted off his high-tops and we made a family trip to Shreveport with my mother-in-law in tow. She was such a trooper and she said it brought back so many memories to see Justin playing in the same gym nearly 20 years ago. Yep, he's that old.

Yes, that is Snoopy. Their mascot is Snoopy. It's the only school in the United States given permission by Charles Schulz to be used as their mascot. Just another random bit of useless knowledge to keep in your pocket.

  
There were no serious injuries, probably a lot of ice packing and pulled muscles discovered the following day. I think most injuries were only to egos with the realization of ones' true age.

One of the players, Billy Thomas, played college ball for Kansas and even played in the NBA.

 

After the game there were proud mamas and sons to give "good job" hugs. 

I can't believe that I've never seen Justin play basketball in the 12 years we've been together.
But for an old guy, he could really hold his own.

Love kisses

Before you go thinking about how super creative I am, I have a disclaimer. I stole this idea. I mean I completely robbed it. The only thing that is different is that I didn't use a picture of her child! But if I give credit where credit is due, then it's not all stealing, is it? Hey I'm not ashamed to admit that any of my creative ideas as a teacher came to me because a teacher right next door to me. There's no shame in my game.

I got this from another mommy blog who completely puts me to shame. I wanna be her when I grow up. And when I say that, I think she might be my age or even younger. Cheri from I'm a Momma - Hear Me Roar has got some crazy talent. So until I can get one good idea on my own, I'll just keep stealing from her.

She made the cutest little Valentine bags for her son's class and it actually looked like something I could handle. And when I say "handle" I mean I took the pictures and Justin did the rest.

We made them the perfect snack bag size and loaded them up with kisses. It was assembly line/family time at its finest! I even put my mother-in-law to work.

 

But I must say we made quite a team. 

 

They were fun to make and were MUCH easier than our disastrous cupcakes last year. 

Much love to yours on this LOVEly day.

Cabin Fever

What do you do to pass time and survive after four long days stuck inside because of the snow ice?

You watch movies. And yes, I was well past the pediatrician recommended two hours of television viewing. Don't judge. I was in survival mode. At least I was creative enough to pitch the tent in the living room to shake things up a bit.

First hour: You play with toys. And make the biggest mess you know how to make.

Second hour: You dress up like a cowboy or wear the most rag tag outfit you can find.
 

Third hour: You sort your animals by size.



Fourth hour: You get bored with that so you make out with horses.

Fifth hour: You scrapbook because even if it's looking at them in pictures, it might be your only adult interaction for the day.

So now that you're convinced at what a slob I was! You worry about cleaning up the bomb that went off in your house another day that involves sunshine.

The only thing left to do? Get out in that snow and make the most of it. And yes it took another 30 minutes to get everyone dressed in layers but at this point, I just had to make sure that outside really existed.

And boy did outside taste.so.good



It wasn't long (about three minutes to be exact) when hands were already frozen over.



And I heard in probably the worst timing since beginning potty training, "I gotta got pee pee, Mommy."All that work for three minutes of snow play? You've gotta be kidding. Nope, he wasn't. So I ran inside and took him to the bathroom and Campbell already had enough snow time. Nolan was still playing in it when I came back but after having to strip Campbell down and throw all his clothes in the tub, he had enough of the snow too.

After a couple of my not so fine motherhood moments, I convinced Nolan that after all that work I wanted at least a couple of photos of him. I did manage to sneak a few more in before he was thoroughly over the snow.

And guess who's having another snow day today? You'd think we live in Minnesota or something!

Snow Day(s)

I knew all that bragging about how beautiful it was this weekend would catch up to me. Day 1 of snow days was a blast. We all had off, including Justin. We could hear the sleet coming all night and tapping blasting our windows with winds that could rival a soundtrack out of a horror movie.

And when we awoke, the blinds were opened and little squeals echoed throughout the house.

My appreciation for moms who live in regions of the frozen Tundra has grown ten fold. It took literally 30 minutes to get everyone dressed and we didn't even care about coordinating. Campbell especially looked like the Michelin Man almost unable to bend his arms.

Justin who is undeniably way more fun than me and a lover of all things cold, took them outside and I let him while I watched from the window unable to wipe the smile off my face. And I wasn't the only one.

Who needs sleds when you have a frozen slide?

And I'm not sure if it was all the layers, his low center of gravity, or his super bubble bottom but that boy had some serious air at the bottom of the slide.

 

There wasn't a ton of snow but that didn't stop Nolan from making a snow angel. 

Or the inevitable snowball fights that were bound to happen.

It was shortly after this that green snot was pouring out of Cam's nose and that's when I refereed from the window that play time was over for him at least.

And so my two oldest boys played some more while once again I watched them and took pictures from the comfort of my jammies.

 

Awww, I remember how fun Snow Day #1 was. Those were the days. We're now on Day #3 (possibly Day #4 tomorrow) of being cooped up and it's not nearly as fun with my husband at work. But we're making the most of it.

 
 This cartoon couldn't say it better...

Stock Show

If you give a girl a pair of cowboy boots, she's going to want to try them out. And there's no better place to truly break in a pair of boots than the Fort Worth Stock Show.

Every year in Fort Worth we have the Stock Show and this year we just knew we had to make it. With Campbell's love affair with all farm living things and his fascination with cowboys we knew he would love it.

So we dressed the part and did our best to act like we're Texans fresh off the farm. Which if you really know us is absolutely hilarious to think of us as country folk. But you know what they say, when in Rome...

As we waited for Justin to park the car (because we forgot the stroller), we had a rootin' tootin' time having a snack. Nolan was completely cracking me up when he kept looking at his sheriff badge on his hat.



As we waited I told Nolan to give me his best Cowboy lean against the wall. This is what I got. He's our city boy. However, Campbell has that cowboy gene and tipped his hat and got all kinds of "awwws" from passerbys.

 
And just like we thought, we saw beautiful horses, stinky cows...

The cutest little chicks and ducklings that you ever did see...

The boys absolutely loved it. It was such a beautiful day all the way around.

Even if the lighting was terrible in the building where the horse were I had to do my best to capture the boys.

As I sat back and watched my boys click their boots and point to every living creature, I loved that they loved it. Although my sister lives on over 25 acres, country living is not part of our daily life. But I can see why it would be a calling to some.

Especially because cowboys are so stinkin' cute.

It wouldn't be a true carnival without some rides. You know those kind of rides that look like, Please God, I pray that these are safe. They also fall into the realm of, Here quick, come straight here for a squirt of Purell.

Our smallest cowboy couldn't ride all the rides but even then he loved watching his big brother cowboy saddle up and ride some.

 
 Campbell also had his first port-a-potty experience. Yikes. You know it's bad when a 2 year old says, "It's stinky Daddy!"

Despite all the smells, it was a fun time had by all and the boys think we should go back everyday.