BMBC Fall Festival

Ok, y'all, so I'm backtracking a bit to Halloween (yes again) because I'm trying to get it all documented. If you've had enough of the cutest costume ever created then feel free to stop reading here. If, however, you have not, then please continue reading.

Our church had a Fall Festival the Wednesday before Halloween. Seeing as we were obviously out to have just as much stinkin' fun as possible, Miss Tay suited up once again and headed out with her candy pail.

But not before a bit of a goofball photo session with yours truly...

Then we headed out to church. First stop - the cake walk, of course!

Then a bit o' cookie decorating. And eating.
Following by more cake walk...
Many wistful glances were cast at the inflatables; however, I was not willing to risk further damage to her arm so then ugly glances were cast at me. All in a day's work, right?
More cookie decorating...
Then she just started taking group shots with my camera.
But took a break to have her face painted.
And that was it - oh, she did win a stuffed animal in the sucker pull. She thought that was the most fabulous thing EVER! And I thought it was super cool of God to cheer her up like that because she really was sad not to be able to play with the other kiddos. 

There's always next year, though, right?

Happy weekend everyone - we're heading to Grapevine tomorrow to ride the North Pole Express, visit the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord and enjoy Christmas on Main Street. You can be sure we will hit Spaghetti Warehouse on the way out of town as well. :-)

Last Home Game of the Year

The last home football game this year was on Halloween, which Miss Taylor thought was absolutely fabulous. It was a really early game (11am to be exact) because it was televised (someone should have revised our TV schedule after RG3 went down - just sayin'...) but we all headed out early to watch the Bears take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

As we were waiting in the parking lot in the car (got there really early and it was actually cold that morning), we were absolutely floored with the shear number of Nebraska fans. They just kept coming and coming and coming. Every single one of them was decked out in red from head to toe and I'd say approximately 45.8% of them had on a hat that was a corncob.

Seriously

While I had to admire their team spirit and was amazed they had traveled so far, I must admit to - at one point - saying something along the lines of "they just keep coming - it's like a bunch of ants."

To which my child replied, "Yep - fire ants."

Get it - they were wearing red?! Loved it - and what's the old saying about the apple and the tree?

I digress.

Anyway, our guys put on a sporting performance and, while the final score was 20-10, we did not let them score a single point in the second half. We also apparently triple teamed Suh (you know, Mr. Defensive Player of the Year and Heisman Finalist) because we didn't hear his name once during the game.

We, friends, shut. Him. Down.

Oh, yes, we did.

Obviously I believe in moral victories.

I only took a few pictures because Miss Thang was still in her sling at the time and let's just say that she was less than willing to have many snapped that documented her injury. At least while she was awake.  But that'll be our little secret, ok?

The team warming up before the game began

More of the team warming up before the game

We were being a bit silly (shocker, right?) that day

It was a series of silly, y'all

Sweet, sweet face

Ok, prayer warriors, I have a request - Tay went back to the orthopedic surgeon earlier this week and the bone is 95% healed. She has been released to participate in PE again, which thrills her to no end, but she can't resume gymnastics/tumbling until March when she sees him for the final time.

Everything is great with one exception. We've worked extremely hard on getting her arm straight and have made significant progress. It's still only about 90% there, though. The doctor asked her to work really hard in the next few weeks because the window of opportunity will begin closing after that time.

Functionally, there is no issue but I don't know if this mom can live with the guilt of my baby girl having a crooked arm for the rest of her life. The doctor did say that, per the x-rays, there's no reason it can't/won't be straight. But I need her to work hard. And we're both really tired of this process. And, yes, I realize other people have much bigger issues and I do realize how blessed we've been in this process.

But I still covet your prayers.

Pretty please.

Silly Sonic Run on a Sunday (for Sundaes)

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law, Diane, picked Miss Tay up after we got home from church and took her to lunch and then shopping for her birthday. She is the one who got her the super cute fur-lined hoodie you saw in the Christmas on 5th pictures. 

They had lunch at Red Lobster, hot chocolate at Barnes & Noble, did some make-up shopping and hit Marshall's, which is where they scored the awesome jacket. Not knowing that my little one had already ingested so much sugar (I was recovering from an upper respiratory infection), I decided to take her with me to satisfy the sweet craving that had been eating at me for days.

I've been working out really hard and trying (and succeeding to some degree) to lose weight so I don't keep sweets in the house anymore. So the satisfying of this sweet tooth required a trip to Sonic. She got a hot fudge sundae and I got the hot fudge sundae that includes bananas. Yum, yum, yum!

While we were enjoying our sweets, Tay got tickled. And I really don't even remember about what because we weren't talking about anything funny. Maybe the sugar rush had just become too much and overcome her little body. Who knows. What I do know is that the following pictures document an experience I had with my daughter on a cold Sunday evening at the Sonic in Hewitt, Texas, that I NEVER WANT TO FORGET.




She was absolutely hysterical and, because she was tickled, I got tickled and - well - you can imagine the riot that ensued. 

Seriously.

It was awesome.

Needed to document this occurrence for posterity. It was that good.

And now I shall resume the snickering that has been ongoing since I found out my husband was given a high-powered DIURETIC for his blood pressure that makes you DROWSY. Tell me that doesn't have comedic potential...

Oh Christmas Tree

During our visit to Chritmas on 5th at Baylor last week, Tay and I ventured inside the SUB to check out some of the Christmas trees that had been decorated for all to enjoy. Quite frankly, it was super cold outside and we were looking for a few minutes of warm and cozy. We did enjoy the trees a great deal as well, though.

See?

Can you tell she was less than enthusiastic about taking these photos? 

While miss Thang has written a letter to Santa and is expecting him to bring her a Wii this year, she  refused to talk with him in person. She did, however, insist on a photo of the big guy and Mrs. Claus. So, no, I have no idea who the woman is in the photo. Just focus on the figures in red :-)

To cap off our Baylor experience, I took the little one to IHOP for a mediocre dinner. If nothing else, it was authentic and we had a great time hanging out together as well. 

Hope you're enjoying the holiday season thus far - we're certainly doing our darndest to make up for last year when I had nose surgery and was out of commission while all of the fun activities were going on.

Christmas on 5th - A Photo Essay

The Bears Visit Jerry World

Continuing with our sports theme this week (add that to the list of phrases I never thought would appear on my blog), we'll discuss the Texas Tech/Baylor game that was played at Jerry World (aka Cowboys Stadium) last week.

While I can't say that I agree with the outcome (last time I checked, it was NOT a fumble if your knee was down and I will go on record as saying Smith was NOT out of bounds), I was very proud of our team. They've been through a lot - like, a WHOLE LOT - this season but they went out with style. And pride.

They beat the other team on the field. They simply couldn't beat the guys in the black and white stripes who were on the field. This Baylor team has not gotten one single break this year. Zilch. Zero. I'm just praying that something (wink, wink) will happen during the offseason to discourage this poaching of Baylor. It's not fair to the young men who are giving it their all.

Steps down from soapbox.

Anyway, we did not attend the game but I my stepdad (who is a Red Raider but let's not talk about it) did and I managed to snag a few pictures from someone else who attended the game. So it's almost like I was there, right?

These two guys are a great team. And when we have RG3 back next year (along with 6'7" 285-lb. Troy Baker, who recently indicated he'll enter early in January), I think we'll see a markable difference in the team. We're still building so when Griff went down, we just didn't have the depth to back him up. These things happen. Just wish everyone understood that...

So #55 is J.D. Walton. And #11 is Phil Taylor. And #88 is Jason Lamb. All amazing, sizeable opponents. Walton is currently ranked as the #1 center to enter the NFL draft. Taylor is a transfer from Penn State who suffered from turf toe for most of the season but he'll back - and awesome - next year. Lamb is a punt blocking fool who I hope will get a chance in the NFL. 

This is Kaz. He's the strength and conditioning coach at Baylor. It's his second year. He's, um, a bit intense. But he's also amazing. In fact, he's so good that Jason Smith (remember #2 overall draft pick in the NFL last year?) comes back to Waco to train with him. Yep, that's impressive.

One of his assistant coaches is the husband of Taylor's current 4th grade teacher so we obviously feel a bit invested in his success. :-)

Funny story: Last year Tay took golf lessons from Ryan Roberts, who was the third string QB for Baylor at the time. (This was RG3's freshman year.) Anyway, we were chatting with him one day about the new coaches and he told us all about Kaz. Now you have to know that Ryan's a pretty buff dude himself (and was Tay's first crush ever) but, in his words, "no one has ever worked me out like Kaz - I thought, at one point, that I actually might just go met Jesus."

Needless to say, we're blessed to have Kaz on our side. I offered to set up a personal training session with him for my man as a Christmas present. He muttered something about the likelihood of having a fatal stroke and then declined. 

Go figure.

Who Dat, Y'all

Now I'm really not one to jump on and off of bandwagons, particularly when it comes to sports teams. In fact, I have a few I love and - regardless of the outcome of our games - I remain a steadfast fan to the end. 

I'm a huge Baylor Bears fan (obviously, right?) not only because I graduated from Baylor and now work at the University but mainly because I believe in what Baylor stands for. And I believe in our students. And it's hard to root against our guys once you get to know them. Because they're awesome. Truly remarkable young men.

I held out for a long time where the Dallas Cowboys are concerned because I felt Jerry Jones treated Tom Landry unfairly. Obviously I learned to carry a grudge from my mom because she will not cheer for them to this day. Out of loyalty to my husband, however, I have come to like the 'Boys. However, if this season's performance is any indication, my support isn't necessarily a positive.

There is one team to which I have - and will continue to - been loyal to all of my 31 years. As a young child who grew up in Louisiana, I vividly remember seeing the newscasts showing the fans of the New Orleans Saints walking into the stadium with paper bags over their faces. 

Let me tell you - there are NO fans like New Orleans fans, y'all. Case in point - in preparation for last evening's contest against the Patriots, yesterday was declared New Orleans Saints Day. Yes, an official holiday.

There are no words to describe the feelings felt last night when my Saints put on a clinic against the Patriots. No words to convey how I felt when Brady and Belichek were staring up at the scoreboard wondering what had just happened to their team. No way to explain to you how proud I am of the guys in black and gold.

Yes, my team. A winning team. A team that has a legitimate shot at going to - and winning - the Superbowl. Sweet mercy, I never thought those words would be uttered in reference to my team.

So Geaux Saints - show the world how awesome you truly are and know that you have fans like no other cheering you on (and raising the roof when it's called for) all the way.

Who Dat, Y'all!