Well, hello. I'm the slacker blogger that belongs here. Life has just been getting in the way of blogging lately, and I'm actually surprised to see myself writing right now. I think I'm only here because my legs are SCREAMING at me to sit down.
I thought I was all hot stuff on the treadmill this morning: "Oh, yea, I can push myself just another notch faster today. I'm feelin' great. I'm gettin' back in my workout groove. In fact, I'll just run an extra mile today. No problemo."
Two hours later, my legs are kill.ing me!
A nice, relaxing, sitting down activity must be in order.
So, my little G turned six earlier this month during the ice storm that crippled our neighborhood for several days. Once the ice melted, we had the grandparents over for a family dinner.
Garrett asked for an Aggie helmet cake, and who am I to disappoint our biggest fan?
Why, yes, I made it myself!
And if you believe that I could create something so incredibly cute and realistic, I have beach-front property to sell you.
No, if that job were left to me, I would have made a sheet cake and plopped Garrett's real Aggie helmet on top of it and called it a day.
Instead, we called on our favorite babysitter, Jayden, to do the honors. And she did a fantabulous job!
The little Aggie got his first nice bat from Daddy.
No cheap bat will do for this 6 year old who practices with his big brother's 8 year old team.
After opening gifts, the boys asked to play Markio Kart on the Wii, and Rick thought it would be fun to see his dad play with them.
Look out! The surgeon is at the wheel!
And then, he handed it over to my mom.
Mom, Rick had the camera. Shoot all arrows and complaints at him.
Before I knew it, all 4 grandparents had taken over the Wii.
The boys thought it was hilarious to see them play, but they were quick to get those wheels back as soon as the elderly decided they better get on home and to bed.
Garrett was able to drag his birthday out an extra day with school treats once classes resumed. I stopped by with brownies and found him at the front of his class like this:
Yes, he's wearing a birthday crown upside down over his eyes while his classmates sing to him. Unlike his wild brother, he doesn't know quite what to do with all of the attention on him, so he just didn't look until he could sit down with his brownie.
I'm still trying to get used to this idea of having two six year olds in the house. My babies are no longer babies or even little boys, for that matter. But at least G still has all Chiclet teeth in tact. He keeps asking me when he'll lose his first tooth.
Between you and me, I hope NEVER!
Dragging Out the 6 Year Old's Birthday
Cotton Bowl
Our beloved Aggies played LSU in the Cotton Bowl this past Friday night, and guess who got to go? Yours truly!
Rick's good buddy scored us three tickets, so Garrett and I were able to tag along to the Dallas Cowboys stadium, which I call the Mother Ship.
Before the game, we were able to meet Revellie, the Aggie mascot.
Some of the cadets posed with my maroon-bleeding baby.
The first quarter of the game was Aggie football at its finest with plenty of reason to WHOOP! We led the quarter by 3 points.
Sadly that was the only lead we had for the rest of the game. We lost 41-24, and I fear we'll never be invited back to the Cotton Bowl.
At least I can say that I'm proud of the Aggie players, coaches, and fans. They all behaved with class. Sadly, I can't say that about the LSU fans around our seats. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I'll leave it at that.
Garrett's 15 Minutes of Fame
A few months ago, Garrett drew a picture of the the Aggies playing Arkansas. Rick submitted the drawing to Aggieland Illustrated, and they asked permission to print Garrett's art in an upcoming issue. Of course, Rick agreed, but we decided to not tell G about it. Rick and I have anxiously awaited the magazine's arrival in the mail, and it finally came this week.
I hid the magazine until Rick got home, and he took the boys to the couch to browse through it. He flipped through each page, making comments along the way, until he got to Garrett's page. He paused and let it sink in.
The boys looked at the page, and suddenly Garrett recognized his drawing. He was shocked and literally speechless at first. He fell back, and I caught it here:
Then, he sat up and said, "That's my picture!"
It sure is, sweet boy.
I'm so glad I had the camera ready for his facial expressions.
The caption included with the drawing reads: The EZ Hail Mary snapshot in the October issue inspired AI subscriber Garrett (age 5) to draw a picture of his favorite players, Jerrod Johnson and Jeff Fuller, following the Arkansas game. His father, Rick '93, assumed the creature on the field was Reveille, but Garrett corrected him. "No dad. That's a dinosaur."
At the time, the Aggies needed dinosaurs to help with the season, but they pulled out BIG wins in November, and now they're bound for the Cotton bowl. Whoop!
Thanksgiving 2010
It's been nearly three weeks since I've written, and I can blame the time lapse on the fact that I've suffered from writer's block. Crickets were chirping in my brain.
At any rate, The High-Maintenance Campers pulled out of town over the Thanksgiving holiday, which typically means I have writing material upon our return home.
My parents invited us to join them in Marble Falls, TX for four nights, and it was great to get away. I spent much of my childhood swimming and boating on the lakes in this area, so it felt like going home.
Shortly before our trip, Jack lost his second tooth up top. Just call him "the Toothless Wonder".
Winston, the dog, enjoyed someone else receiving all the snaggle teeth jokes.
The Toothless Wonder didn't let it slow him down. Not much does on any given day. He is our wild man after all.
And boy does he love sticks! Give him a twig of any size, and he can enter his imaginary world of gun fighting, bow hunting, kung fu, or fishing.
Meanwhile, give his brothers a baseball, a glove, and their Daddy.
Liam, the All Star
Rick, their hero
Garrett, the South Paw
They spent hours riding, racing, jumping.
The Toothless Wonder is quite the hot dog.
Garrett was rather perturbed with my need to get a close-up.While the boys play happily, the adults typically shoot the breeze, but it's not long before someone needs us. Case in point: look at G's hands.
But before more baseball, we posed for a family photo.
Yes, we're all in Aggie shirts, except for my dad. He loves to give my boys a hard time about everything Aggie related.And please pardon my hair. It just has a mind of its own some days.
The weather was very mild this Thanksgiving morning, so we pulled out the canoe.
Rick took each boy on a ride.
I have no idea why Jack looks unhappy, unless it's because it was time to share.
Garrett was the last to ride. Within minutes of that photo, the wind picked up and a cold front blew in within seconds. It was the strangest sensation to be standing in 70 degrees, and suddenly the wind shift caused the temp to drop 20 degrees immediately. Needless to say, we had to head for the comfort of the camper for our Mexican Thanksgiving meal and football.As is Texas tradition for turkey day, we had to watch the Dallas Cowboys' game. We knew they would lose to the New Orleans Saints, but traditions prevail.
That night, THE football game entertained us on tv. The Aggies beat the Longhorns. Nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" quite like an Aggie win over their arch rivals. WHOOP!
The boys were anxious to play outside the next morning, and they were excited to need their winter gear.
Liam, the Nut
Jack, the glove lover
Garrett, whom always looks great in green
Rick took control of the camera while we waited for our lunch. There's proof behind the pickles.
And a picture of me while having a better hair day.
We also took the boys to see the Capitol.
Liam counted the steps inside and can't wait to report to his teacher next week.After our tour, we stepped outside to a beautiful afternoon. It was warm enough to strip our jackets and take some pictures.
And the boys played with a new friend on the Capitol grounds.
We were able to spend the rest of our trip outside with light jackets. I think the boys got plenty of outdoor play, and I know I had plenty to eat.We didn't have any major mishaps on this trip, which needs to go down in the record books. Maybe we're not the High-Maintenance Campers any long, as much as we're the Classy Travelers.
Garrett's Mini Me
I am not a creative mom; therefore, I have feared the artsy-fartsy projects my boys will bring home from school. Such a project came home last week for Garrett.
Mrs. Whitsell sent home a "mini me" on cardstock. The assignment was for parent and child to decorate it to look like the child. Instead of breaking out in hives or hyperventilating, I rung my hands for 24 hours. Then, I set out for Hobby Lobby to gather supplies. I'm so proud of my coping skills.
Garrett was so pleased with the supplies I found, and we sat down to complete the assignment together. Much to my surprise, it was a fun time.
From head to toe, the mini Garrett has yarn for curls, googly eyes for (duh!) eyes, bead wiring for glasses, markers for nose and mouth, felt for his favorite outfit (Aggie shirt and camo shorts), black marker for socks and shoes completed with yarn for shoelaces.
Hopefully, this project has eased my fears of creative homework. We'll see....
We Heart Our Teachers
During the summer, I prayed for the boys' teachers. I prayed the Lord would place each boy where they needed to be. I trusted Him with the right fit.
We have been blessed with great teachers this year. All three boys have competent, professional, caring ladies to take care of them. I know this is not always the norm, so I am very thankful.
I am especially grateful for Garrett's teacher. Mrs. Whitsell was made to be a kindergarten teacher. She is bubbly, sweet, fun-loving, and 100% dedicated to her students.
She only has one downfall. She is a Red Raider. My G knows that his Daddy doesn't like Texas Tech, so he came home on the first day of school upset about her college of choice. I had to talk him through forgiveness and acceptance.
I am not kidding.
I'm pleased to say that Garrett has definitely forgiven her, but he doesn't let a day go by without reminding her of his love for Texas A&M. He carries an A&M backpack. He writes with an Aggie pencil. He wears his Aggie shirts as fast as I can wash them. And he reminds Mrs. Whitsell of the team the Ags face on the football field the following Saturday.
This past weekend, Tech played Texas Longhorns. Garrett cannot stand the Longhorns. (Note to self: Talk to G about forgiveness and acceptance again.)
On the Monday before the Raider/Longhorn game, G told Mrs. Whitsell, "I hope Tech wins this week. I don't like the Longhorns." When my boy told me about this after school that day, I laughed out loud.
I had a conference with his teacher later in the week, and she and I giggled about the common ground that she and G had found. I'm glad she's a good sport.
Unfortunately, Tech lost to the Longhorns. My ornery husband encouraged Garrett to take her some tissue on Monday.
When Monday morning came around, I found my baby stuffing kleenex in his camo shorts. "What are you doing, G?"
"I'm taking kleenex to Mrs. Whitsell because the Raiders lost," he said.
Duh, Mom!
When I picked him up that afternoon, he was proud to report that he had followed through. I asked for a play by play.
"I walked right up to her and handed her a kleenex. She asked me what it was for, and I told her, 'Boohoo, Texas Tech lost.' She wiped her eyes and pretended to cry. And she carried it all day and would pretend to cry. When I was leaving to come home, she said, 'Thank you for my kleenex.' I told her, 'My dad told me to do it.' She said, 'Your dad must be funny.'"
Yes, his dad is funny, and so is my G. I'm glad Mrs. Whitsell thinks so. And I'm thankful for her, even though she's a Raider.
A Big Day for G
I was made for three-day weekends. We need more of them, yes?
Our long weekend began with an Aggie win on Saturday. WHOOP! Our Ags looked pretty good, and we're hopeful for the rest of the season.
It was an evening game, and we didn't make it home until 2am. I'm pretty sure the Lord intended for me to be in bed by 10pm every night, so I'm not sure how I made it through that long drive home without turning into a pumpkin.
But our precious children allowed us to sleep in until 9am Sunday. Aren't they just so sweet?
I can't say that I felt rested, but we lounged around all day to make up for it.
Yes, we skipped church because of an Aggie game. The Lord understands. I hope. But I did watch our service online, so I do feel better about that.
And we did go to the evening service. I don't need to justify myself with you, but I'm not sure why the past 5 sentences make me feel better.
Anyway....
Rick and I declared today, Labor Day, the BIG day for Garrett. It was the day to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. Enough of this standstill already.
He started with Daddy's help, and he was off and rolling within ten minutes.
A little race with Liam encouraged him to pedal faster.
He did have one bad spill that included tears, but we encouraged him to get back on and try again. We're so proud to say that he was starting, stopping, and braking by himself by lunch!
Notice I didn't add 'turning' to his abilities. He needs to build his confidence in that way, but he'll get there.
He spent the afternoon at the piano. He is our most musically-gifted child. He has taught himself to play "Silent Night" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" by ear without any of our help.
He took interest in learning to play the Beatles' "Obladi Oblada" this afternoon. He asked Daddy to help him, so the two of them worked on it until G could play it.
It took quite a bit of concentration of the mind and contortion of the lips.
But he did it!
And we're so proud of our baby.
Smart Aggie
Howdy! How y'all been? We're doing well around here. I'll skip right over the excuses for my absence, since my sporadic posts are obviously becoming habitual.
I'm sure I've mentioned before that Rick gets season tickets to Texas A&M's football season. He's been good to take one boy with him to every game this year, which is quite nice for me to be left behind with only two little men.
I was finally invited to a game two weeks ago.
This is where Rick would love to jump in here to comment that I'm "invited to every game". Yea right.
Moving right along.
Anyway, we took Garrett with us to that game in order to lighten the load for my wonderful mom who volunteered her babysitting services. Garrett is the easiest boy to take to the games, because he is absolutely eaten up with the Aggies. He might have been born in Sooner Country, but he was born with Aggie blood running through his veins.
What a face! I might be biased, but I believe he is the cutest Aggie.
He's also a smart Aggie. After watching our Ags go to the slaughter house versus Kansas State this past week, Garrett has decided that he will not skip Thanksgiving dinner to attend the Texas vs. A&M game. Yesterday, he told his Daddy, "I want to go to Didi's house for Thanksgiving, because I'm afraid the Longhorns will beat the Aggies."
Kids are painfully honest.
