1st Tournament of 2009

This past weekend was the first time Syd has played B's softball. I was worried that she would be the kid playing in the outfield, twirling in circles or kicking the dirt but she stayed focused. They played four games total and the last game she got to play catcher. She wasn't a huge fan of playing this position because the gear seemed to be kicking her butt.

The 8 and under B's took first in their first tournament of 2009.

Gentry's team played four games and then had to play a fifth for the championship that lasted seven innings. They took first in their first tournament of 2009 as well. Both of the girls had an excellent day. We got to the ball field at 7:00am that morning and were pouring ourselves in a car at 9:30 that night to make the trek home. It was a long, exhausting, COLD, exciting day.

My Lil Wicked Witch of the West

My Sydie loves to perform and if there are costumes or "outfits" involved then all the better! This year the second graders performed songs from the Wizard of Oz. Their music teacher printed the words and asked the kids to work on them at home. Syd took this request very seriously and spent evenings in her room practicing and drove her sister crazy at the breakfast table singing as well. She already knew she wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West but I did talk her out of the green face paint. I was concerned it may not completely come off for school the next day.

The Egging of 2009

My birthday has always fallen close if not dead on Easter. This year it was the week of so one of my very good, yet sometimes evil friend thought the Easter bunny needed to wish me a Happy Birthday. I came home from work to find 500 plastic eggs strewn all over my front yard! There was toilet paper in the trees and bushes and a sign that read, "Happy Birthday from the Easter Bunny!"
Later I found out that my kids had actually helped her with the strewing, so guess who got to help pick up all these eggs. In case you ever wondered, 500 eggs will fill a 13 gallon trash bag quite nicely. I wonder who's yard these colorful little tokens will end up in next..... hmmmmm?

Another year older.

2009 5th Grade Fine Arts Program

As I was uploading these pictures it dawned on me that this is the class of 2016. Someday soon I will have a senior in high school and will be looking back at this class picture saying "Ah.... remember when... ?" I suspect the next seven years will fly by extremely fast whether I want them to or not. For now all I can do is embrace the changes my girls are experiencing, help them along the way, and hang on for dear life!

This is the first year that the grade school kids were eligible to participate in band. Gen was so excited and after a lot of consideration, decided that she would try the clarinet. Her decision making process primarily consisted of "Which instrument is the easiest?" and "Which instrument is easiest to carry?" After we explained that there is going to be a learning curve with any instrument and suggested she choose one that she really likes, she chose the clarinet. Quite honestly, I was a little relieved she did not have an over-whelming desire to play the drums.

Spring Break Outing

I wanted to have at least one day with the girls over spring break. So many days lately we all seem to be running in different directions and quality time is scarce. I just wanted one day that we could just get away for the day and cut loose. Eventually we ended up at the Topeka zoo.

"One...... two....... I see two!"

It amazes me to watch kids take on challenges and they seem to master them so effortless. Syd has not been the exception with learning to bowl and developing her technique. She is 7 yrs old and throws a 8 lb ball... with a curve! This is her first full year bowling. Last year she was so frustrated because her little light weight ball kept drifting off into the gutter that she quit. This year started the same way but with relentless PEP talks, she has hung in there and it has paid off for her. Several of our youth bowlers went to State back in December. Syd went in with a 44 average and bowled well above that on all of her games. She did so well, in fact that she claimed first place in State for the 8 and under girls age division!

This past weekend she was needing a little boost and I challenged her to try to get a 100 game. The deal with our girls has always been, get your first 100 game and you can get your own ball... but not until. With her little average, Syd bowled a 120 her second game and needless to say, her new ball is on its way.

You rock girlie!

Titans/Ravens Play Off Game 1-10-2009

Jamie and I made a quick trip to Nashville to watch the Titans take on the Ravens hoping we would get to move on to the AFC Championship. The energy in the stadium for this game was exhilarating. We use to be able to go to every game but now, not so much. I love how loud that stadium gets when all 69,000 plus fans just lose their minds. I loved it. Complete strangers were high-fiving us and we all cheered and cursed as one big Titans family. It was incredibly cool even though we did not get the win.

The Reunion Tour

Girl's State Tournament 2008

Both of the girls participated in the KS State youth bowling tournament this year. It was a two day event consisting of team, doubles, and singles for a total of nine games. I was certain that their little skinny arms would fall off by the end of day two but they survived and I heard no complaints. This once again proves that they are tougher than their mom.

This was Syd's first tournament and actually the first time she had ever bowled anywhere but at home. She did an excellent job and even won a special pin for having a 75 game. Not bad for a little girlie with an average of 41!
Gentry is an old pro when it comes to tournaments. She and Cody kicked butt in doubles and both of them received pins for their high games. Cody had a 181 and Gen had a 150. They were so much fun to watch and made an excellent team.

Morning at the lake.

My family decided they wanted to get up early Sunday morning and go hiking at the lake. We use to go hiking a lot when we lived in Alabama and really miss it. We took the girls to Milford Lake and went on the trails. We saw lots of evidence of deer but of course we were much too noisy to actually see any.

It was just cold enough for hot cocoa on the way home.

"Why did the giraffe cross the road?"

"Cause the chicken was on vacation!"

Amen and Roll Tide!

My favorite thing about Fall is football season. I love to watch the games on TV and getting to go to them is over-the-top for me. On Sundays it does not matter who is playing, the games are still on somewhere in the house. When I moved to Huntsville I met one of my dearest friends and she still is to this day. One of the first things she told me was, "Okay little girl, you live in the South now. You have to be a Bama fan!" Since it was not advisable to argue with her, I didn't and I have been a faithful Bama fan ever since.

When we moved to Kansas my biggest regret was that I would not get to watch the games as much or partake in that tradition. I still miss that aspect very much but I know someday we will be back in the Heart of Dixie and I'll be sitting in front of my TV yelling "ROOOOOOOOOOOOll Tide!"

I can't wait.

Bama is having an exceptional season this year, currently sitting at 11-0 and number 1 in the BCS standings. I received this email from my Bama family and every time I read it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

All I can say is, Amen and Roll Tide!

SO....WHAT IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL?
It is Wallace Wade.
It is Bear Bryant.
It is Gene Stallings.
It is this man in charge.

It is not Bobby Bowden,
Phil Fulmer
or Dennis Franchione.
It is the Rose Bowl.
It is hearing Keith Jackson call an Alabama game.

It is watching George Teague running down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl then rewinding it and watching it again.

It is hearing the first notes of Sweet Home Alabama.

It is the desire to beat Auburn at any competitive event that
exists.

It is a houndstooth hat.

It is being 'Dixie's Football Pride'

It is having enough pride to fight for your school but having
enough class not to.

It is cheering the same amount for a first down on second and 6
as on fourth and 1.

It is watching Cornelius Bennett give Notre Dame quarterback
Steve Beuerlein a concussion on that October day in Birmingham
in 1986.

It is determining who you are going to date & marry by which
team they swear allegiance to.

It is beating Florida in the SEC title when everyone said the
game in 'The Swamp' was a fluke.

It is watching The Bear on the jumbotron before a game in
Bryant-Denny Stadium and almost seeing him leaning against the
goalpost in the end zone.

It is right behind God and family.

It is spending a day at The Bryant Museum and still not seeing
everything.

It is cool crisp autumn Saturdays where you can smell football in the air and feel it whenever there is a slight breeze.

It is watching The Bear get number 315 against Auburn.

It is watching The Bear get number 323 against Illinois.

It is hearing Paul Kennedy do the play-by-play when Van Tiffin kicked the 52-yard field goal against Auburn in 1985.

It is remembering the feeling of the upper deck at legion field rumbling due to feet stomping.

It is knowing how many days until the start of a season year around.

It is driving down Colonial Drive to see Bryant-Denny Stadium not the sorority girls.

It is getting chills up and down your entire body whenever you hear anything about the 1993 Sugar Bowl and the pride you feel because that night tradition ruled.

It is hearing The Bear's voice and having all the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up because you know no matter he said, it was something special.

It is hearing The Million Dollar Band play 'Yea Alabama' and knowing it just does not get any better.

It is imagining hearing Penn State Quarterback Chuck Fusina ask Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss 'How close is it?' and hearing Krauss say 'About an inch, you'd better pass' right before fourth down during The Goal Line Stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl.

It is almost coming to tears whenever Alabama loses to Auburn or Tennessee.

It is The Kick.
It is The Goal Line Stand.
It is The Desperation Block.

It is purposely not wearing any clothes with the colors orange and blue.

It is the Third Saturday in October.

It is not needing an alarm clock on game days, you sit bolt upright in the bed long before the alarm goes off because you know that it is a gameday, you can sleep after the bowl game.

It is walking into a stadium and knowing Alabama will win the game no matter who they are playing because is just the way it is supposed to be.

It is the saying 'Offense wins games, Defense wins national titles.'

It is the Bear Bryant 'A'.

It is getting to the stadium hours before the game just to be there.

It is walking into another team's stadium and having those fans hate you because you are from Alabama.

It is the pride that a father has when he brings his children to a game so they may cherish the tradition.

It is the hit by Roman Harper in the 2005 against Tennessee that meant everything

It is beating LSU in Baton Rouge.

It is hearing the crunch as a linebacker dressed in crimson and white hits a running back dressed in orange and blue.

It is the pride you take in being every team's rival.

It is pulling for any team that is playing Auburn.
It is pulling for any team that is playing Tennessee.

It is singing Rammer Jammer period.

It is wishing both teams could lose when Auburn plays Tennessee.

It is knowing that the SEC Championship is a birthright.

It is being respected and feared at the same time.

It is holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter.

It is not caring about a Heisman Trophy.

It is knowing what 'Mama Called' means.

It is whipping Auburn 31-7 in Jordan-Hare Stadium when nobody picked you to win.

It is NOT 'The Jungle'.
It is The Catch.

It is having 21 Southeastern Conference Titles.

It is having 12 National Titles.

It is more than I can ever mention in this list.

It is class.

It is tradition.

It is Alabama Football.

All in the name of decorating

If you happen by our house in the next couple of weeks and see a giant 16 foot spider web spanning the front yard, you may be wondering, "how the heck did they get that up in the trees?"

Well, here is your answer.
Meet our very own "Spider Man!"

It's been a little over 12 years since Jamie has worn his climbing gear. His safety belt was a tad snugger than it had been previously but I was told that was because he has more 'muscle' now. Oooh okay. Whatever you say babe. (winky, wink)

There is a new banner hanging in Allen Fieldhouse.
Check it out.

Mascot dance-off... then vs now.

The basketball guys showed off their moves..
off the court!

One sexy coach....