Happy V Day, I hope you don't vomit.

Baby girl handed out these clever little valentines....clever because, hey, pinterest has great ideas which are even greater when it means you don't have to sign 30 cards!!

 

 

And what to do at a Valentine Party these days?  Play the chubby bunny game.

Because 6th graders enjoy any form of entertainment where you couple competition with engaging classmates gag reflex to see who pukes first.

 

Because what is love? 

 In my book, you don't really know love, until you've cleaned up someone else's vomit.

 

Baby Girl -- last Elementary Honor Society

First a pledge, then a Junior member and finally, a Senior Member of Honor Society.  Atta Girl!!

Oh, what a night! Fox 6 All-Stars Banquet

12 players were chosen, one from each division 1A-6A for offense and defense.  My dark boy was the only JUNIOR in the group chosen for this honor. Of the other 11 players sharing the night with him, 7 had already committed to play football at the next level, for Murray State, Jacksonville State, Vanderbilt, Southern Miss and Alabama to name a few! 

Oh, yes, here's the nice hardware, but don't forget to enjoy the other photos from the evening!

In the parking lot knotting ties and touching up collars before the big show....

Guest speaker was DeMeco Ryans --played for Jess-Lanier High School, University of Alabama, was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and currently plays with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a great speaker, highly motivational and very down to earth.  After the banquet and photo opportunities, DeMeco took the 12 athletes into a room to talk with them alone, really nice guy. Very committed to making a difference and encouraging other young athletes to achieve their goals.

Next up on the two big screens, my dark boy's highlight reel  (Baby Girl was excited to see she made the highlight reel with him during one of the games this past season) and snippets from his interview conducted a couple of weeks prior to the banquet.

He did a fantastic job and everyone enjoyed his story of how he received the nickname "Tank"--given to him by his grandmother.

Head Football Coach did a great job as well, when asked to describe Tank in one word: "physical".  

On stage receiving his award, a bit nervous, but he did well.

The group of All-Star top athletes with DeMeco Ryans.  Look, I know I'm partial, but dark boy is the cutest and sweetest and best dressed and best smile of the whole bunch!!! Hands down favorite. :)

Of course we all had to have a few pictures made with

 THE 1A Offensive Player of the Year!!!

And of course all the kids could care less, dark boy is just one of them with a big gold football otherwise, but they did want a picture with DeMeco Ryans....not every day you get to stand with an NFL player!

And of course, Middle Child couldn't resist getting a single shot with his new BFF DeMeco.

Nor did he miss an opportunity to snap a quick shot with the pretty Fox 6 Sideline reporter for the news station.  He was quick to tell us that SHE asked for her picture to be made with him. :)

Note to self: when having your photo made with dark boy in the dead of winter,

try the tanning bed next time so you don't look so pasty white!

Couldn't be any prouder of this fine young man, the hard work he has put into using the talents God gave him, and his heart to try even harder in the classroom and on the field. A blessing indeed. Congrats Tank!

If you can receive Fox 6 news station out of Birmingham, Alabama, they will broadcast a condensed version of the banquet on Saturday, February 9th, 2013 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.  I'm not sure if the highlight reels and interviews of the players will be aired or what they will use from the evening, but it's worth a look!

True Love.

Oh, you think you know about love. When you're in 3rd grade and some little boy brings you a pink teddy bear for Valentine's. And then you realize later on in Jr. High that you were mislead, because that wasn't love, but "going steady" with a guy is totally it. And then, before you know it, you're a senior, and those little jr. high kids are so cute with their crazy ideas of love, because you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the football player who shares your locker and gave you his letterman jacket to wear is REAL love. Any of this ring a bell? Anyone? Anyone?


Although I won't name names, I remember exactly who gave me my first Valentine that "meant" something in the 3rd grade, and I remember who gave me my first Valentine love gram with carnations at school in Jr. High, and the first locker I shared and lettermen I wore, and Prom date, and college gameday weekends with those whom I thought were REAL love. Girls, we can be so naive.

I love my husband, we shared some of those later years of collegiate time together. And I knew he was the one. They say you'll know when you know, and they are right. I knew. And I'm just happy that he "knew" it was me for him too. There's the rub, when only one of the partners in a relationship, "know" it's the one. The real one. But anyway, he felt about me as I did about him....so we made it official and became husband and wife. And then you live in marital bliss ever after, right? Yea, something like that. But deep down you realize that you finally know LOVE, real LOVE.

And then, lo and behold, you have a child. And your world stops in that instance you hold them in your hands for the first time and you realize...this is it. This is LOVE. Genuine, unabashed, unconditional, lay down my life for you, L.O.V.E. It is by far the hardest emotion of love to describe, as the words of this world cannot hold the vastness of the love you have for your child, those you give birth to, those you adopt, those that just filter in and out through the years. It's the most solid love I have ever known. And believe me, let me say again, I love my husband, with the depths of my heart, but a mother's love is something else.

And so, you think you have finally figured it out. Love. It's just a 4 letter word, but in the hands of God it can be empowering beyond belief. Knowing Jesus, having a relationship with him, that is Love. That is the true love we all seek to have. People search all kinds of ways to fill that spot in your heart, never being satisfied with the worldly offers, because it cannot be filled except with Jesus, and his unconditional love.

It's hard for me to imagine anyone loving someone else more than I love Elder Son, Middle Child and Baby Girl, but God loves us even more.

H3 for February is only a part of a verse from the old testament, but it speaks all you need to know for this month of LOVE:

"He delights in unchanging love"

~Micah 7:18

He, our Lord, is faithful in His love for you.  He is loyal in His love for you.  He is merciful in His love for you. And his love, his faithfulness, his loyalty, his grace is UNCHANGING.  He doesn't pull your pigtails on the playground, or share your locker one week and break up with you the next.  If you have a relationship with Him, you are His and can rest secure in HIS UNCHANGING LOVE. 

A big honor for my dark skinned boy...

Recently this sweet boy was named Fox 6 (Birmingham News Station) 1A Offensive Player of the Year!  A big deal in our little neck of the woods and such an honor for this athlete and our school.  He is a joy to watch on the field, natural talent abounds.  We look forward to attending the ceremony and banquet with him to receive his award and we couldn't be more proud of all of his accomplishments!  

A funny story from this football season that coincides with many of these photos that I must share. My husband usually posts the photos I take from each football game on facebook for all the high school kids to see.  And generally, every week, the football guys all find a picture they like of themselves in action to add to their profile or such. And of course I always take a picture at the end of each game, win or lose, with the football players in their line for the alma mater, where Baby Girl always finds a seat on Tank's knee.

Well, during halftime of one game, the cheerleaders of the opposing team were talking to some of our cheerleaders and referring to the pictures on facebook, then one asked if the little girl in all the pictures with Tank was his little sister.  One of the cheerleaders replied, "yea,  not really, but sort of, I guess you could say that."  She could hardly wait to get back across the field to tell me about it. We all laughed and then I looked at the girls with a serious face and replied, "could she not see the resemblance in the photos? well, maybe in July when Baby Girl has a better tan you can see it."

  

The snowball fight of 2013

I hate to ruin the post, but rest assured, these chases never end well for Middle Child.

 

So, the sibling team regroups and decides on another strategy.  Baby girl becomes the diversion while the mohawk wonder hides in the woods....spoiler alert!!! the end result finds Middle Child steam rolled in the snow, yet again!

Looking back it was all fun times, you know, once the frost bite healed.