Sic 'Em Bears!!!

First, a disclaimer...I am a very, very bad mommy and didn't manage to get a pic of Tay after the first day of school before she'd changed into her 'comfy clothes.' That being said, I do plan to recreate the moment this weekend. A bit of a stretch but there are scrapbooking ramifications that must be taken into account.

On to the new news...last night was Baylor's first football game of the season. It was on Thursday because it was nationally televised on FSN. Now I'm not sure who is responsible for setting the schedules but, in my opinion, a rebuilding team shouldn't have 3 of its first 4 games (and only non-conference competitions) with opponents ranking in the Top 25. Then again, that's just my opinion...

Needless to say, Baylor came out on the losing end; however, our freshman quarterback from Copperas Cove definitely showed some scrappiness and speed (he just missed competing in the Olympics this year) that's sure to be beneficial in the future. By future, I mean when we get an offensive line that can protect him. Poor guy--I'm not sure he knew which end was up by the third quarter...and he didn't begin playing until the beginning of the second.

It was also really neat watching the never-ending Baylor Line come out of the tunnel. This is our second largest class ever and it definitely showed when the line seemed never-ending as they filtered around the field. It was an awesome sight!

The band did a great Olympic show; however, I am also of the opinion that you must wear your uniforms when on national TV (particularly when that's not an every day occurrence for us)...regardless of how hot it is. The t-shirts and khaki shorts weren't very impressive. Neither was the guard, for that matter...timing and positioning was off from the start, dance moves not polished, etc...

It sounds like I'm just complaining but that's really not how I feel...we actually had a great time at the game. The festive atmosphere, nachos, sunflower seeds, Dr. Pepper and Chick-fil-A (Tay's choice) were a fun way to spend the evening. Can't say I'm not looking to forward to some games when it might be a little cooler but, all in all, it was a great time had by all.

Dave's working all weekend so we're planning to spend a quiet holiday weekend at home...errands on Saturday, church on Sunday and then heading to Temple on Monday to see Nana and Boppy and buy new dance shoes. It is really necessary for all three pair to become too small all at once? lol...

By the way, I did take pictures last night but they won't deliver for some reason. Still working out the kinks...

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that we were sad last night when our friend, Ryan, wasn't even suited up for the game...he did do a great job of motivating the team, though, and was even doing a bit of coaching (that's his major....). We are hoping he'll be suited up for at least one game so we can get a picture, though...

Third Grade

Tay started the third grade today (it amazes me that she keeps getting older and I don't...) and was actually excited about heading back to school. She was really dreading it until we began organizing her supplies and labeling all of them a little over a week ago. Then she decided it was time to go back immediately so she's been anxiously awaiting the beginning of the year.

We've entered a new era as she will be switching classes this year and has a desk all to herself (instead of four of them arranged together in a table--she's ecstatic about this because she was tired of other people being messy :-)). Dave and I went to meet her teacher, Mrs. Fertsch, last week while she was at dance class. She's very nice but is really structured, which Tay thrives on, so I think it will be a good year. In addition, her husband used to coach football at Louisiana-Lafayette and then under Kevin Steele at Baylor. He now works one floor above me in the Development Office. Baylor and a Louisiana connection--it's got to be a match made in heaven!

Anyway, I forgot to take a picture this morning (but did make cinnamon rolls so she had a homemade breakfast) so I'll get one this afternoon and then add to the blog. She wasn't real sure if she wanted me to walk her in or not and finally decided it would be ok since she didn't know where her class was. When I left, she and a little boy who was in the same class in second grade were smiling shyly at each other...hopefully, they were just shy because they hadn't seen each other in a while and not because we're beginning to like boys, lol...

More to come once I get pictures...and an update about how things went today...

Sic 'em Bears--the first game is Thursday and will be on national television!!

Taylor Hits the Beach...

We headed to the beach last week for a bit of vacation before the craziness of back-t0-school begins. Although our hotel was in Corpus Christi, we drove over to Mustang Island each day and spent most of our time on the beach and riding the waves. Dave bought Tay a boogie board as soon as we got there and she absolutely loved that thing. By the time we left, she was really good at it too!

So we got there early afternoon Wednesday, checked into the hotel and headed straight to the island. Once we were equipped with a boogie board, we hit the white sand beaches for 

the rest of the day. Apparently there were some storms out in the Gulf because the waves were AWESOME every day we were there. Our philosophy was the bigger the better and they were certainly huge! In addition to many really neat seashells, Tay also found two almost completely intact sand dollars, which we assured her was rather unusual, and three hermit crabs straight from the sea.

After wrapping up the first day with some Olympic viewing pleasure, we hit the sack early 

so we would be bright-eyed for our dolphin watching boat tour the next morning. It was absolutely terrific with great weather and lots of dolphins to see--including some newly born babies. We were able to sit at the very front of the boat so we had the best seats in the house. We also learned about the history of Port Aransas and got an up close and personal view of the Lydia Ann Lighthouse, which is currently owned by Charles Butt, heir to H-E-B...interesting and fun tidbit!

After the boat tour, we headed to a great restaurant call The Big Fisherman for lunch. We had butterfly shrimp, fried fish and popcorn shrimp along with fries and the soup of the day. It was yummy and gave us the energy to spend the rest of the day on the beach again. We again sat glued to the Olympics before heading off to bed.

Friday was spent entirely on the beach after we took Tay to choose her very own Port A t-shirt. She chose the shirt and the exact design she wanted screen printed on it so it's an original. We packed our cooler with Lunchables, soda, water and dessert and just played and played and played. Each day we were there, we'd play in the surf for a while then take a long walk on the beach before sitting in the water together to dig for big shells. Then we'd hit the surf again before heading home...it was a great routine and, judging by the way my shorts fit when we left to come home, one that also burned lots of calories!

Friday evening we had dinner a Snoopy's, which is absolutely awesome. Not only do they have giant butterfly shrimp, great oysters, terrific fish and phenomenal hushpuppies, they also make crab-stuffed jalapenos. Truly a feast for the palette :-)...then, you guessed it, we enjoyed the Olympics again.

Saturday morning we headed to Whataburger by the Bay for breakfast before heading out. It's the coolest Whataburger I've ever seen as it is two-story and has walls that are almost completely windows so you can see the water and marina while eating. Tay thought it was super cool. We left at exactly the right time as the rain was rolling in and expected to stay for a few days...

The only hiccups we had were Dave's sunglasses becoming a victim of the big waves and Tay's teddy bear, Snow Puff, taking an unexpected trip to the hotel's laundry room. When we returned from the beach Friday afternoon, he was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, both the head housekeeper and laundry room attendant had left for the day so he and Tay weren't reunited until shortly before we headed out on Saturday morning. This caused her many tears (enhanced by the fact that she was exhausted) on Friday night so I really can't tell you how excited I was when the little guy showed up at the door!

It was truly a fantabulous trip and now we're ready to tackle meet the teacher, the first day of school, first dance class, first gym class, soccer practice, Baylor football games and the class I'm facilitating this fall...at least I think we're ready for all of that :-)...

Sic 'Em Bears!

With golf lessons wrapping up on Saturday, I thought I'd give a little update on Tay's progress on the Tiger Woods' front. :-) She is actually quite the golfer and can even play the kids' course at Cottonwood now. We got back to the course a bit early at the last lesson and got to watch Munchkin play a couple of holes. It was really funny because she was the only girl that day so it was just Tay and Alyssa (one of the instructors) playing together. Apparently, all of the guys had gone with Ryan.

Anyway, I guess she thought Alyssa was her personal caddy because she kept asking her to choose the right club, hold her bag, hold her water, give her advice, etc. It was hysterical!! But she is doing really well and enjoys the heck out of it so we'll keep heading to the course...right after soccer season, that is...the Y doesn't do golf again until after it's over and Tay wants to try soccer again. We're waiting with bated breath to see how that one works out, lol...

We're also gearing up for Baylor Bears football, which begins with a nationally televised game on August 28th. Tay's main golf instructor is competing for the quarterback position so we're hoping to see him throwing touchdown after touchdown on the field this fall.  We're putting all of our faith in Art Briles :-)...

Sic 'em Bears!!!

Finally, An Update!!

Ok, so I've apparently been a slacker and haven't updated in almost a month so many apologies... Things have been crazy busy for us in the past few weeks. For one, we had to unexpectedly purchase a new car so we're now the proud owners of a Trailblazer. Taylor is very excited about the new vehicle and refuses--yes, refuses--to ride in the front seat. Apparently, she really disliked the GTO (except when she wanted to show her friends 'her sportscar') so she's loving having a big backseat again. And we still have the GTO (Dave's driving it now) so she can have her pick!

Let's see, Miss Taylor and I went to the circus a couple of weeks ago and had a blast. It was the day after my 

30th birthday so Tay kept saying it was 'our birthday party.' lol... Then we headed to Temple and had dinner at Roadhouse with Nana and Boppy before diving into chocolate cake and ice cream all hand-picked by Munchkin. Except for entering a new decade, it was a great birthday! 

(Not the picture with the PRECIOUS clown nose. They would only sell them in conjunction with a program so it was $15.)

Last week, Tay spent the week in Troy so she could attend Vacation Bible School with Nana, who was her teacher for the second year in a row. This is becoming quite a tradition and is one Tay really loves. Because it was 

the same curriculum we had at our church's VBS, she already knew the songs and Bible verses so she was very happy :-). We went to the wrap-up play on Friday evening and she even got to hold th

e Christian flag for the pledge!

Most importantly, she came home with a 'big girl' haircut just in time for school to start. It's super cute and comes to about her shoulders now and she's even been letting me curl it with the curling iron. When I dropped her off this morning at daycare, all of the girls were oohing and aahing about her hair, lol...

On Saturday, Tay and

 I went to the library, the Baylor Bookstore (she wanted a Baylor binder for third grade), had lunch at Penland (one of the residence halls on campus), did a bit of grocery shopping and enjoyed the Maps 

exhibit at the Mayborn Museum. 

Have you ever known anyone who got injured at a museum? Well, now you do...nope, it wasn't Tay. In the interactive section of the museum, they have an area where you can stand in the middle of a hula hoop and then pull a large and, unexpectedly, very heavy metal ring to encase yourself in a tunnel of bubbles. Tay thought this was great fun and convinced me to stand in the middle while she pulled the bubble tunnel up around me. All harmless fun, right? Not exactly...

She was so excited to have completed the task that she immediately let go of the ring and it hit me right in the head...I am now sporting a large goose egg and can't raise my eyebrows due to the residual pain of being

 knocked in the noggin. It was truly an accident but man did it hurt! And, really, it's kind of a funny story so go ahead and enjoy a giggle...