Waiting at the airport for Daddy

Valentine's Day....time to bring on the BLING!

What? You thought I meant jewelry?  No, silly, I meant pipecleaners and hershey kisses. ;)

For years we have subscribed to Family Fun magazine....a great resource for all sorts of fun crafts, food ideas, science experiments, reading resources, games and tons of fun.  I've always just torn out the pages as I look through it and keep them in a binder for the "to do list".  That's where all of our Valentine ideas came from and they were so cute....so cute that Baby Girl couldn't decide on giving her friends just one, so we wound up making multiple Valentine's......but these days are fleeting, so I didn't mind one bit.

• First up, these nifty blingy ringy thingy's -- "you're a real gem".  FUN to make. FUN to wear. FUN to eat their chocolate diamond! :)

• Her teacher gifts:  little bags filled with all our goodies and a bottle of hand lotion with Baby Girl's hand prints attached and they are supposed to look like they are "clapping" because teachers totally -- "deserve a Hand".

• Baby Girl loved the mustache ideas...."READ MY LIPS:  Have a great Valentine's Day"

• And so did her friends!!! Too cute!  

Happy Valentine's Day!!

The mean old mom strikes again -- Episode 23

There are times in parenting where you just have to say, "because I said so" and leave it at that.  While I could come up with a million reasons to back myself up, I am the mother, I get the last say, and that's just the way the cards were dealt.  My boys are fully aware of this undisclosed rule, but they often like to challenge it, just to see if it still exists.  

It still exists.  It is. It was. It shall ever remain in existence. Amen.

Recently they tried to pull a fast one on me and thought, just maybe, they were going to get away with it this time.....no.such.luck.buck-o.   Their high school has a Campus King and Queen each spring.  It's nothing major, but does require contestants to fill out a resume of sorts and show up, dressed nicely, on a Sunday afternoon for an interview with real live judges.  Then, the results are tallied and a couple of weeks later on Saturday night they stroll across the high school stage, dressed nicely, and the winners are announced. 

My boys know they are required to participate in such school activities....it's not a question at our house.  I expect them to do it, and no, not just "because I said so", even though I can enforce that rule if needed.  But rather, because it's character building, it's a great start to learning communication skills and the interview process, properly speaking about yourself, your future, your ambitions in life, it's fun to dress up and look all spiffy for a change, it's an awesome opportunity to build up your resume from year to year so that when the time comes for college...presto! you have already done the hard research to make YOU look your best on paper!

This year, both of my boys elected to forego informing me of the upcoming Campus King and Queen.  They thought their silence would win in the end.  They were wrong.  Bless their immature hearts, their mama is always going to find out.  Fortunately, a good friend asked, "why didn't the boys sign up for Campus King this year, I thought for sure they'd be in it."  That was all the fuel I needed to light a fire under their unassuming tails. And so, I promptly got in touch with the sponsor and said, "add their names to the list, they are in.  In fact, just keep their names on the list from now until they graduate, there is no need to ask them or me, just always know they will be participating, I don't care what they try to tell you at school."

And so, we raced around for the next 36 hours acquiring their interview attire.  Amidst the moans and groans and repititious  "I can't believe you are making us do this", we managed to pull it together.  I said, "guys, this is easy, it's an interview all about you, all the questions are going to be about your life, you can't get any of the answers wrong, it's the best process ever".   However, on the drive to the school building for interviews, I did give only a couple of instructions: 

• Try to remember they are not asking for yes or no answers, expound on your answers. If they ask what your favorite subject is in school, please do not say P.E., and DO NOT, under any circumstances, say something mean about your brother during your interview.

Campus King can only be awarded to a guy in grades 10-12, Elder Son and Middle Child are in grades 9 and 7.  So, they can't win, but they can try to secure an alternate position.  Elder Son has placed the last two years he has entered.  This is Middle Child's first year, and while his first goal was to be crowned King, once he realized that was not a possibility, his primary goal changed to just beating his brother. Oh, the love.   Anyway, interview day arrives, met with much anticipation.  They waited in the classroom until their time slot opened for them to be escorted to the interview room and stand alone before the judges. 

Elder Son did fantastic.  He's calm, cool and collected.  He answers his questions with ease.  When asked to name a song that describes him, he said "Dirt Road Anthem"....we live on a dirt road, he's pretty laidback, so "chillin' on a dirt road" does speak to his life right now.  When asked what he would do with a million dollars,  he answered he'd like to get a lakehouse (he loves the water, loves floating a river and fishing with his Daddy, loves family time on the lake) bless his sweet heart, I'll buy one for him if I get a million dollars one day too.  When asked about his community volunteer work, he responded by telling of how he helped deliver meals to our tornado victims last April.  When asked, besides a family member, tell us someone you admire most, he answered that his principal had great leadership abilities, was also an excellent coach, cared about every kid at the school and showed that on a daily basis, in and out of the classroom, on and off campus.  He's my more reserved child, the oldest, the reponsible one. 

Now, I'm going to give you a dialogue of just part of Middle Child's interview:

~So, what's your favorite subject in school?

• "well, I really want to say P.E., but I guess I'll say History or Reading. Right now I'm reading a book that took place in 793 A.D. and it's about these Anglo-Saxon siblings who are kidnapped by vikings...."....and he rambles on for a minute or two giving his complete dissertation of the current book he's reading.   

~What song best describes you?

• "I'm sexy and I know it" ---  yes, he really said that. And he didn't pause a second before answering.  And afterwards, bursts of laughter erupted from the interview room and the judges informed him he was the first one that day who had an immediate answer , many said they couldn't think of one.  Oh, a fine, shining, proud moment as a mother.  He answered with "I'm sexy and I know it"....He's 12. 

~Who do you think is the coolest girl, it can be a celebrity, a family member, a fellow student, anyone...

• (pointing to the table of  female judges, he cleverly answers) "If I choose one of you do I get extra points?"  Laughter erupts again and he knows he's got them reeled in with his undeniable charm.  But he continues on to give a real answer, "I'd have to say Betty White." (what? you've got to be kidding me, he said Betty White?) 
• Well, that's a great answer, but why did you choose her?  "Well, is really funny even though she's old, she's like 90 or something, and she's still working, I mean she's just really cool like that"  (More laughter)

~Why do you think you should be chosen over your brother for Campus King?

• "Um, my mother said we were not allowed to talk about my brother during the interview"

~(amidst giggling again) Okay then, why don't you just tell us why YOU should win Campus King? 

• "Well, (combing his hand through his hair), because I'm "me" and I'm wearing this pin stripe vest...and we all know pin stripes are awesome"

Win, lose or draw....pin stripe vests are awesome indeed.  Now, I guess I need to sign him up for a self-esteem class to build his confidence a little, huh?  I'm sexy and I know it.....oh. my. lands.   He doesn't meet a stranger.  He doesn't stress out about much, if anything.  He is bright, witty, a clear thinker, an intelligent old soul inside a young little body.  As my brother-in-law always says, "he's never going to need blood pressure medication in his life."  He rolls with the punches and smiles the whole way.

We don't know the results yet, that's still many days away, but I do know that I am proud of both Elder Son and Middle Child.  They rocked their interviews in their Sunday attire and they didn't even complain one minute afterwards.  Secretly, I think they enjoyed it although you will never get them to admit it.  I did however, kiss Elder Son on the cheek back at home and quietly whispered..."thanks for doing Campus King", he smiled sweetly at me and replied "I didn't mind, it wasn't that bad"  which is cool guy speak for "mama, you are the best, I am so glad you make us do this stuff that we really don't want to do because no one else's mama is making them do it, but in the end I know it's going to help us and it's really fun when you get down to it and when I'm all grown up I will look back on this and be even more appreciative" -- or something along those lines.  :)

How True.

Think you can, think you can't;

either way, you'll be right.

~Henry Ford

A big man who had an even bigger heart.

Last Friday, I went to a funeral for my Daddy's oldest brother, my Uncle Pete.  A man that I, along with just about everyone else he encountered, looked up to.....literally, because he was well over 6 feet tall (maybe 6'5" or so) and figuratively, because he was a man worth looking up to in so many ways.  Sadly, as the years go by, it gets harder and harder to find such men you can look up to in life.

He was the oldest of 7 boys.  7 boys who lost their mother to tuberculosis at an early age and were raised by their father, grandmother and aunts.  Uncle Pete was around 16 when she died, and he was determined that all the brothers would stay together.  That was in the 1940's and it was still a very evident trait he held dear to his death.  The closeness of family.

Our family is extremely close.  There are many of us from my father's side, scattered across different states, even different countries.  But we all come together each and every year to celebrate FAMILY.  We gather for small things like cousins camp, beach time, birthdays or anniversaries, football weekends, etc. and we gather for the big things like holidays, weddings, births, and yes, funerals. Sadly, we have had to gather more often for funerals in the past 12 months than anything else. 

I was blessed to have taken my Mom and Dad to visit Uncle Pete just days before his death.  I was blessed to have stolen a small moment of coherent time with him in his hospital bed....where he may or may not have admitted I was his favorite niece. I was blessed to watch him raise his hand ever so slightly, maybe an inch or two, to offer it when his brothers entered the room.  Shaking their hand as firm as he could and making eye contact with each, affirming his love for them without a word needing to be spoken.  I was blessed to hear him chuckle with his eyes closed, one last time over our family favorites game.  I was blessed to watch his wife, my Aunt Jenny, take care of his every need. I was blessed to bend down to kiss him goodbye and have him pull my arm when I lifted away and gently hear him say to me, "I love you".   And all those blessings came within just a couple of hours. 

 At his funeral, I was blessed to hug family a little tighter for these fleeting moments.  I was blessed to have a husband who knows full well the importance of this family he married into, and he loves them like they are his blood not just mine. I was blessed to listen to my cousins, Uncle Pete's daughters, offer amazing eulogies, standing strong before us, telling stories of their father that defined his character.  I am indeed blessed to have been given the great golden ticket of being allowed to be born into this family.  I am blessed beyond measure to have had Uncle Pete in my life. 

This month's scripture verse to memorize was chosen because of him and the man he was to all who knew him. 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might." 

~Deuteronomy 6:5

Because if there has ever been a man who walked this earth that tried to live out that verse, it was my Uncle Pete.  He loved his parents, his wife, his brothers, his sister, his children, his grandchildren, his nieces and nephews....he loved his family and friends with the love we all crave.  And he was only able to offer that depth of love because he knew from whence it came, from the giver of all.

Yes, indeed, he was a wonderful example of a christian man, who loved his family to their very core, and loved the Lord even deeper.  He was a giant and I guess now it's clear the Lord made him that way in order to hold the big heart he gave him.  A heart that we will sorely miss here on earth, a presence that we will ache for at family gatherings.  But be certain, we would not want him back....he's having too much fun with his daddy, his mama, and his brothers in heaven. 

Instead, I'm going to try to live out that verse from Deuteronomy just as he showed us.

Our "Mr. Football" and his guest for the day.....

Last month, Baby Girl received a high honor....she was a VIP for the day.  That is very important person.  Of course according to her brothers, she maintains that status every day, so what's new? 

Anyway, one of our football players at the high school received a very prestigious honor.  He was nominated as one of the top running backs in the state.....and might I add, as a sophomore!  The schools in the Alabama High School Athletic Association are divided into classifications by size from 1A (smaller schools) to 6A (larger schools).  For each classification across the entire state, 3 players were nominated as finalists for running back of the year and 3 for lineman of the year.  Also the Alabama Independent School Association had a total of 3 finalists for running back and 3 for lineman.  My point (and there is one) to all this jibberish is this: 

 (with 384 teams from class 1A-6A equaling roughly over 25,000 players in the state (plus a few thousand more when you add in the independent schools) --  basically, in the room that day you were looking at the top 42 high school football players in the ENTIRE state of Alabama. 

And this sweet boy was one of them!

                                        

And he asked Baby Girl to be his guest for the day at the "Mr. Football awards banquet".  She is one of his biggest fans and adores him.  This past year during football season she was allowed to be on the "sideline crew".....and she always had a towel and water bottle ready for #4 during time outs! She missed his last game of the season due to her own gymnastics competition but sent him a short video to prepare him for the game, which included this phrase "play hard and be a BEAST like me".  Yeah, all 50 lbs. of her.   

A big shout out to our Head football coach who works hard all year long preparing those boys for football (and he works at home harder than anyone even realizes every night from August to November in complete preparation for each team we face). 

  

It was wonderful for our player to be recognized....a pretty big deal for our small town. We are very proud of him. 

Amazing talent (running) on the field and (coaching) from the sidelines....we can hardly wait to see what the future holds.  And Baby Girl can hardly wait to get the towels ready. :)

Season ending thoughts.....

Here at House of Bowling, we just transition from one sport to another.  Basketball ended on a Friday night, Elder Son had the next week off, and then just like that, Baseball try-outs.  It was a fun 7 days of freedom. 

At any rate, I certainly enjoyed watching him play round ball this year.  As I've said before, his coordination and ability to perform on the court this year was MOUNTAINS above last year. Granted, the NBA will probably not knock on our door, ever, but his mama sure is proud.

And by the way dudes in the photo below....that's clearly a FOUL....you can't slap a player's arm while they shoot!  Had you been in attendance, this was one of the moments you would have heard my mother yell LOUDLY to the official to notify him, the player/s involved and anyone else inside the gym of the crime just committed against her golden grandson. God love her.  

Above all else, it just makes me happy to see Elder Son play, good or bad, at anything he enjoys. 

And to enjoy it with his friends....well, that's just the icing on the cake.  As witnessed here, winning by a large margin in the 4th quarter, the starters were taken out and allowed to take a breather and watch from the bench....where something on the court certainly tickled them all!

The progression of art in a gymnast's world.....

To cap off a season full of hardwork by all the gymnasts, a few mothers pulled together a painting party.  Something to give the girls a break from their strenuous workouts and hard training schedules....something totally fun...painting!  And the lady who came to teach the girls was just the sweetest and had the perfect painting for our little gymnasts!  I apologize for the quality of the pics, taken with my phone, the very old and outdated iphone 3S....with no flash capabilities. Woe is me. But anyway, here we go:

Oh, she's a cutie alright, and the painting turned out pretty well too! :)

She does her own stunts. :)

Baby Girl trains hard. For hours upon hours in the gym each week. Not just for a few weeks, not even for a couple of months, or half a year....her sport never stops.  She trains ALL YEAR LONG.  And folks, I'm here to tell you, that training paid off in a big way this past December at the end of her competitive season.  

We traveled to the State Championship meet where she placed 2nd on beam! 
(A sweet friend of mine who was almost as proud of her as we were, and is also an editor at the paper, did a little write up for Baby Girl's accomplishment) 

We couldn't be prouder.  She did farily well throughout the season, especially considering this was a much harder level.

                                              

                                                

Baby Girl improved her scores with each new meet and that's what we all strive to do, right?
 Get better with each and every try, improve with each new day.

 She placed on vault and beam in almost every meet throughout the year, placing as high as 3rd, 4th and 5th.  It turns out for Baby Girl the old saying is true, she did save the best for last....and the best brought home a silver medal from the State Championship! 

That's all for this season folks!  But we can hardly wait for her new season to begin!

A 1st birthday that was finger lickin' good!

Our nephew turned the big ONE shortly after the holidays.  We were blessed to get to be in Tennessee for his birthday party....and see him enjoy a pile of chocolate, one tiny pinch at a time.

Hey Mom, gimme that cupcake......I really like the pretty fire on top!!

Do you see that cupcake right there? The one with all the chocolate? 

  

Do you see my fingers right here? 

Let me just show you what they can do.

Can you believe they just let me have it?  Just sat it right down in front of me.  Nobody even took it away. They just all stared while I ate it.  Chocolate is good, friends. Really good. In fact.....

....it's finger lickin' good. 

I can hardly wait 'til I'm old enough for fried chicken.

Generations.

Family visits are always fun, especially when you have a house full of cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents, a great-grandmother and a breakfast table filled with her great-grandchildren!

Family coming from near and far and even farther...it was certainly a "most wonderful time of the year"!

Christmas Family pics

 

Christmas morning annual photo

Kind of makes me sad to look at it.  Instead of looking all wide eyed with excitement about what is waiting around the stairwell corner that Santa brought, they just look sleepy. Of course this year we did have to WAKE them up to begin the Christmas morning festivities. They are getting older. Boo on that.  :(

Stillness = a necessity

It did not take me but a minute to realize what verse to begin with for the new year of H3.  And it won't take you but a minute to realize why I chose it, the relevance behind it, and the necessity it demands.

Do you feel like you are running in a marathon all day for some or most days, even on the weekends?  The holidays are just like a spiraling tailspin for most, if not all of us.  And they often lull me into thinking, "as soon as the holidays are over, things will slow down".  Have you ever said that?  Or as soon as we get past this birthday party month, or this next holiday, or this next deadline at work, or this next big project for school, or this next hurdle with someone's health, or this next birth or death of a loved one, or this sport's season. Well, I've come to figure out what happens after you get through "that next one"....another something comes right on the heels of it.  Not always bad, I'm not saying it's always negatives that bombard us.  Often it's many good things....but still they seem overwhelming when all is said and done.

I didn't make a list of New Year's resolutions this year.  I know what I need to do.  Without a shadow of a doubt, and this verse sums it up completely for me. To be certain my primary focus is where it needs to be in all the hustle and bustle, not of the holidays, but of everyday life.  Hopefully, you can draw from it as well. 

"Be still,

 and know that I am God."

~Psalm 46:10 

The Message version of the Bible says it like this: 
Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God!

I love that.  And truly, could it get any simpler than that? No, not, sit on your laurels and wait for money to grow on trees, your children to raise themselves..... But do take the time to notice God in every day, acknowledge His prescence in your life, allow that prescence to guide and guard you.

Here's how it speaks to me, Kimberly's paraphrase for my life, for my busyness and unsettled days.  I know to begin my day with HIM is best...to be still in Him for a time each morning, or with prayers throughout the day, to rest well in the night.....

BE STILL, KIMBERLY! I am right here beside you, each and every day.  Look at me, I am seeking your heart daily, will you seek after me?  In today's decisions at work, at home, with your family and friends, with your testimony and walk, with the big and the small problems, with the sadness and with the joy...Be still and know that I am God. The God who works miracles.  Not all miracles will be what you expected, but all miracles are what I command. And what I command is always for the best for those who seek me. One day, you will understand. But for today, BE STILL....in ME.