Different

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?
eh, Jennifer Lopez ONLY because she just had twin babies. I'd love to have babies for one whole week. :D And no other celebrity comes to mind.....

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?
2 - if you call me, I am MORE than happy to talk to you. Just don't expect me to call you because that rarely happens. :D

Salad
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).
St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Truly, give Thanks for all the healthy children in your lives.

Main Course
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?
Salsa

Dessert
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?
Nope!

*scroll down for a couple of my Matchbox 20 pictures

This Time Last Week

I was hanging out with Bubba's Sis, shooting the breeze, glad MuteMath was finished playing. Despite Craig Biggio loving them, I only cared for the 1st song they played. A week later and I can't remember it.

This time last week we were hoping Alanis Morissette would sing her 90s songs that are familiar to us. She did. And a bunch of songs that weren't familiar to us. I had a hard time understanding her. She was about ½ way finished with her parody of My Humps before I realized just what exactly she was singing.

This time last week, we were excitedly awaiting Matchbox 20. Giggling about the big teddy bear of a man sitting next to me who had an infectious laugh and would sing along to the songs. We just knew he'd be fun during MB20. I'm sure he was, but it wasn't us he sat beside. Seems there was a seat mix-up and a couple who needed to get a room ended up beside me. They weren't fun.

This time last week, we were exhilarated and exhausted. They played everything we wanted them to play with the exception of 2 songs. It was such a fun, high-energy night. We are now READY for BON JOVI! This was just a warm-up concert; but a mighty fun one at that.

This time last week, I was on cloud nine and so thankful to Bubba's Sis for inviting me along!

And tonight, I'm wishing I could do it all over again. Except maybe on a Friday or Saturday night instead. ;)

Wood

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

My busy season is upon me. This weekend marked the start of baseball season. As a fundraiser, the little league hosted a tournament for their teams. Single elimination with the championship Sunday afternoon. Going into the 1st game, I thought to myself that NOTHING could be worse than last season. Poor Bear was on a team filled with egos and attitudes. They could NOT play as a team and therefore lost all but 2 of their games. We saw temper tantrums on fields, disrespectful gestures to parents, fighting amongst each other, and boys who just gave up. It was so bad that the president of our little league had to help coach one of the games and gave a motivational talk afterwards.

One bright spot was the coach saw something special in Bear. He called him his utility player and Bear played every single position and never sat out an inning. It was nice because he was a new coach to us. From Bear's 2nd season of baseball til then, he had had the same coach. This coach did wonders for Bear. He really brought his confidence up and made Bear feel special. We were happy for a change, but we were disappointed in the team. We had such high hopes. The coach's mission statement was the same as ours. He prayed over the boys before each game. It just wasn't enough.

Going into this season, our spirits were low. I do not particularly care of the coach's wife/team mom nor her son. Her husband is new to coaching. But that all changed after the 1st game of our tournament. These kids play as a team. There was no bickering, egos, or attitudes. There are 2 boys who are older than the rest and Bear was so tickled to be out there with them. And because of their spirit and their ability to play as a team, they won. Which also meant that we had another game at 8pm.

They showed the next team that the 1st win was not a fluke. We won that game too. And when I say the boys won, I don't mean just barely. I mean by leaps and bounds. One boy who is 12 and taller than me, hit an over the fence home run. The best part that Bear loves to tell? He used Bear's bat! There were some outstanding plays and aggressive base running. Big D really hopes Bear watches and learns that. Bear definitely has the speed to be aggressive.

There are some funny stories but not everyone is a baseball fan so I won't bore you. I also have some stories that aren't all roses and sunshine. But, again, I won't bore you. Needless to say, we went into Sunday's game very excited. The boys were giddy but didn't really seem over confident. The team held us for a couple of innings, but at the last minute, we pulled ahead and scored enough runs that they could never catch up.

The Minor Division Pirates are the 1st ever #1 team of our Little League Showdown!!!! And we have the trophy to prove it! It was an exciting, but exhausting weekend. We are so proud of the team and are so excited about what the season holds for Bear & the rest of the boys. And, yeah, they have a big ole bull's eye on them now. Bring it on!

Party

Big D & I are often accused (jokingly, I hope ) by Coastie Brother of playing favorites. "Poor Lamb," Coastie Bro often sighs. There is one thing that Lamb definitely gets the better end of the stick. Birthday parties. I think Bear has only had 1 his whole entire life. And that was after we had to postpone it because of a pesky hurricane evacuation. Anyway, here are a collection of some of Lamb's parties. The girl loves a theme!



10th Birthday: Pink poodle theme. They did some pink poodle crafts!


11th Birthday: A reader's theatre American Girl mystery. Samantha is her favorite doll so we did her mystery. All the invitees had parts and some even dressed in character!

12th Birthday: This was the party that Lamb could NOT wait to have. It was a Chinese Year of the Dog party. We had a lot of fun with the decorations and party favors.




13th Birthday: No party this year. I don't think she was too disappointed. She got to have Breakfast at Tiffany's and dinner with the Phantom. Not too shabby!

Friday's Feast

Happy Leap Day!






Appetizer
Who was the last person you hugged?
Bubba's Sis

Soup
Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.
Um.... let me get back to you on that one....

Salad
What does the color yellow make you think of?
sunshine

Main Course
If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?
cities or children

Dessert
What was the longest book you ever read?
Gone With The Wind is the 1st one that comes to mind.

Old

This is an old picture of Big D & me being silly while Coastie (Navy) Brother was visiting. No worries, the ciggie is only a prop. I don't even think it was lit.

Wii Get to Play

By now, you have read Bubba's Sis' account of our wonderful surprise this weekend. And you know that Mr. Bubba's Sis is my hero! Christmas in February at our house! We couldn't resist giving the kids the Wii this weekend rather than making them wait til December. Especially since we told them their best friends had a Wii. The looks on their faces were priceless! Both when they found about the BFFs' Wii and when they saw their own.




So, Sunday afternoon, we hooked it up and created our Mii's. Here we are!

I rather think they look like us! Big D giggles everytime he sees mii. The resemblance is uncanny!

The really cool thing? Big D & I were bowling when all of a sudden Lamb exclaimed: Hey! That's Bear & me watching ya'll! We looked at the table behind us & sure enough, there were the kids! And I'm a baseball star! Whenever Bear plays baseball, we are on his team. I always hit home runs! Here that family? *I* hit HOME RUNS! Who'd of ever thunk it?

I have a strict no video games on the weekdays rule. However, I've let it slide this week. It's just too much fun and they didn't get to start playing until Sunday afternoon! And, as Bear likes to tell me, it's great batting practice. Uh huh. Once the newness wears off, I'll become strict again. No, really, I will.

Some People Are Born To Greatness

The girls have another production under their belts. Their class just finished their UIL competition with their version of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. The actual competition was Saturday. However, today, the non-UIL cast performed for the school and the parents. While Lamb WAS part of the UIL, she had a non-speaking part. For the non-UIL cast, she was the narrator, Feste. I did not see her perform as Feste tonight though. A friend of hers was also Feste and tonight was the only night her parents would be able to see her in the part. Lamb graciously offered her the role for tonight's performance. No egos here. I am so proud of her for that, among so many other things. To thank her, the friend gave Lamb flowers.To quote Lamb: "And, yeah." The girls? Did amazing as always! They never fail to impress us; whether it be with Shakespeare-ian dialogue or not speaking at all. Superstars!

Wooden

The Trojan....Pig?

Monochromatic

This is "THE" microphone that Elvis used when he recorded with Sun Studio. Of course, Bear calls it "THE" microphone that Johnny Cash used. To each his own. ;) Actually, it's the microphone that everyone used as it was/is the only microphone in the studio. Pretty cool!

I Quit!

Those were the words that Bear's 4th grade class heard from their teacher (who happens to be a friend of mine). Bear's class literally runs the gamut. She has the bright students, the co-teach kids, and the 2 worst behavior kids in the whole grade level. You can imagine what a typical day for her & the co-teacher is like. The teachers really love the class though.

Near the end of the day, Teacher was trying to teach a lesson. Tired of the rude behavior, the talking amongst each other, and the obviously not paying attention from the majority of the class, she informed them that she quit. They better figure out what they are going to do because she's done. After a few minutes of stunned silence, she told them to go on & teach themselves. Bear & his tablemate looked at each other. Bear then shrugged his shoulders & preceded to read the chapter of the book out loud. He finished. Waited. Nothing happened. So he started with the next chapter. At that point, Teacher stepped in & asked them to write a paragraph about what happened these past 10 minutes. After a few minutes of writing, she told them to wad up the paper & throw it away along with their negative behavior. Tomorrow would be a new day & they'd all start over together.

Bear's response to that? Well, ok, when I walk in, it'll be a brand new day. If I don't talk to you, it's because I don't know any of you yet.

On the way home, we were discussing it. Bear is as sensitive as he is funny. He informed me that he felt like crying and had to use the book to hide his face. He told me there were a million reasons he felt like crying. I asked for three of them.

1. He was scared.
2. It's hard teaching people, especially when you are just a kid yourself. I mean, there are important tests coming up. That's a lot of pressure!
3. There were German words in the story. How is he expected to know German words when I won't let him take German classes?

I think he now knows how his teacher feels. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brand new day for his class & they treat their teacher with the respect she deserves. They are truly lucky to have her in their lives. She fights hard for them, she gives so much of herself to them, & she absolutely cares for each & every one of them. And she's fun! She does her best to make learning exciting.

The Dog Whisperer

I am in need of a dog whisperer. Ty has gone plumb loco. He has always had his issues, being an abused dog before he came into our family. But, this? It's getting to be a bit much.

It started a couple of weeks ago. He'd wake me up in the middle of the night wanting out of the house NOW. Of course, once weekend came & Big D was home to take care of him, he wasn't as whacked out. Last week, he seemed much better & by the end of the week, he was fine.

Until last night. We had a HUGE storm which about did him in, but by the time I went to bed, it was over. Big D went to bed about 3am and was just about good & asleep when Ty started acting up again.

What is it that he wants? What's bugging him? Why does he only do this in the wee hours of the morning? Big D let him out around 5:30. Tired of his pacing & panting, he left Ty out there until 7 or so. Ty came in and went fast asleep. When we woke up for the day, he stayed fast asleep.

Big D has let the weeds get bad out there. Is Ty addicted to the weeds? Do we need to stage an intervention? Is the house haunting Ty? He's the only one affected. Cleo is acting normal. Well, normal for HER. Is a natural disaster about to hit us?

I need sleep. I need consecutive sleep. I need my dog to behave. I ♥ my dog, but I can't take much more of this. I need help. Please, dog whisperer, won't you help us?

Free

Free enterprise?

This was the result of a 3 day Monopoly game.

A Rose By Any Other Name

I may not have my honey to snuggle up with this evening. I do have some gorgeous roses to please my eyes and my heart. No, they don't keep me warm at night, but they do make me feel happy.

Woe Is Me, I'm All Wet

Woe is me. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, a holiday that I thoroughly enjoy, and I will be all alone. And I have something going on Every Single Night for the next 2 weeks. Not that things calm down much after that, I'll just be able to scratch 'pick up Lamb from rehearsal' off my list.

I wish I could be back in Vegas getting wet from the wind spraying the water on us. If that's the worst life has to offer, then that's still pretty dang good.

Ten Favorite Restaurants for Bubba's Sis and D's Ladies' Night Out

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic is Ten Things You Hate About Politics. Since neither Bubba's Sis nor I care two hoots about politics (sorry, Stacey!), we did our own Ten on Tuesday list this week. And quite frankly, it's fabulous. We had a wild adventure making this list for ya'll, complete with pictures and silly stories (see Bubba's Sis' blog for the stories - you'll find the pics here). So, without further ado, I present to you: Ten Favorite Restaurants for Bubba's Sis' and D's Ladies' Night Out:

1. Applebee's



2. Texas Roadhouse



3. Denny's



4. Luby's



5. Bennigan's



6. Cracker Barrel



7. Cheddar's



8. Chili's



9. Gringo's



10. Charleston Tea Room

Now head over to Bubba's Sis' blog for the silly stories!