A few March things...

March Madness has begun! While our men didn't make the tournament (a disappointing change from last year), our Lady Bears are a #1 seed in the tourney! Baylor also was chosen to host the first two rounds of the tournament, and we wouldn't be anywhere else but in the area to support them!

Our star player, Brittney Griner is amazing. Check out her stats! Wonder if MB will catch her someday?

Enjoying the game from the TOP! We usually sit courtside for the Lady Bear games, so this was a change, but I loved having no one behind us, and we had a perfect view of the action!

Brittney at tip off. The other side didn't even attempt the jump ball. We held our opponents to a NCAA tourney record of 8 points in the first half,and won by 35 points!




In other March news, we had one of the best Spring Breaks in memory. The kids got along perfectly, and we had a nice balance between fun outings and rest. We took a trip up to Frisco to see Michael, Jilinda, and Lydia. Here is Matthew with one of his favorite people on earth.
Lydia has perfected the fake smile! ;)

Mary Beth informed us, while we were at the play ground, that she could do monkey bars now. Who knew?


We also took a trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park to see the dinosaur tracks in various creek beds. We enjoyed the day with Lauren, Jack, and James, and just loved being outside on a gorgeous Spring day.
Love Mary Beth's expression!





What a fabulous few weeks! So happy to welcome Spring!

Mary Beth version 6.5

Mary Beth turned 6 1/2 last month. Here are a few things about our little girl:

*She continues to be such an easy child to raise. She almost always has a huge smile on her face. Mary Beth cannot stand for anyone to be upset with her, and I can count on my hand the number of times she has been in trouble in years.

*She is full of life, joyful, hilarious, dancing, singing. Mary Beth's deep throaty laugh is infectious. Other than her immediate family, her two favorite people are her best friend, Whitney, and her cousin, James.

*A new trait that has emerged this year is a desire to be helpful. She anticipates needs and will pop up to help whoever is in the room that is in the middle of a task. Her room is the cleanest of the kids' rooms, and you never have to tell her more than once to clean up any mess. Yes, our little Mary is turning in to quite a Martha!

*Mary Beth is as tough as nails. I'm sure some of this can be attributed to having two older brothers, but she can fall down and skin her knee, be at the bottom of a wrestling pile, get kicked in the shin at soccer, and take it all in stride. She is a VERY low drama little girl.
*Her hair is usually a mess after school. She is a halo of curls that pop up all over her face. She loves for me to flat iron her hair, which I try to do during the low humidity months. I still love her messy curls. They seem to suit her best!
*Mary Beth has gotten a lot taller recently. Her legs and arms have grown long and thin. Those long legs have helped her get quite a bit faster. She is definitely faster on the soccer fields this spring!

*Mary Beth loves to draw. She has gotten quite creative this year. She has beautiful handwriting and has improved so much with her drawing. She loves to write poems and most things she draws has the word "Love" on it. Hearts, flowers, and peace signs are usually all over her work as well!

*She continues to have very mature tastes in food, and likes everything but potatoes! Yes, she can eat oysters, mushrooms, tomatoes, guacamole, every veggie presented to her, etc, but will balk at eating mashed potatoes!

*Mary Beth loves school. I have never heard her once ask to stay home. In fact, she has been so healthy that she has only missed one day of school this year (the day we went to Alabama)! Her favorite part of school is reading. Her favorite book at the moment is Miss Daisy is Crazy.

*She had never wanted to pray out loud at home until this year. She always remembers to pray for three of our friends who have cancer.

*Pedicures are the greatest thing ever for Miss Mary Beth. I made the mistake of getting a pedicure while she was in school a few weeks ago. It was a rare showing of tears when she found out I had gone without her. It was so upsetting, that her Nana took her to get a pedicure last week. All is now right in the world again!
So that is our ray of sunshine at 6 1/2! What a blessing she is to us!

February in Review

This has been a busy (and trying) few weeks! First of all, one of my dearest friends from newlywed/graduate school days moved back to our neck of the woods! We had been trying for months to find a good time for a few of our families (from the newlywed days) to get together for dinner, and we finally did! Our 5 couples have now expanded by 16 children! We were very thankful to God that the weather was nice, so our little ones could play OUTSIDE! ;)

The day after our get together, Bryon left for a week in Las Vegas. We were bummed to not have him home with us for Valentine's Day, but the kids made me feel very special, and I found several versions of "Roses are Red" all over the house! This one was courtesy of Thomas:
Tuesday after Valentine's, Matthew started complaining that his head hurt. He woke up on Wednesday with a fever. This was a surprise, since he hadn't had a fever since he was a kindergartner! I could tell by his eyes that he had the flu. When I told him my suspicion (which was later confirmed by the doctor), he bawled. Not because of the flu, but he was so worried that he wouldn't get to play in his basketball tournament that weekend. His doctor knows Matthew well, and assured him that he would be able to play in short bursts for the games. It was nice having Matthew home with me. I have never had a child miss more than one day of school at a time, so I enjoyed my extra alone time with Matthew. On Thursday night, Bryon came home. I have never been more excited to see him! After our crazy week, I was again reminded of what a sweet and helpful husband I have.

No sooner had his plane hit the ground, Bryon had to get ready for the 5th and 6th grade basketball tournament. Bryon coaches the kids in Upwards basketball, and he put together a "Dream Team" of the 5th and 6th grade boys and girls that we get to watch each week. Poor Matthew wasn't quite himself, but he managed to drain his first 3 pointer while playing on the 6th grade team! We were very proud of him, and I was thrilled that he got a little playing time in (7 games!) even though he didn't feel great. No one can ever question Matthew's tenacity! ;)

In the middle of the tournament, Thomas went to the first annual UIL elementary meet for various academic events. Thomas was one of 4 third graders at our school to quality for the spelling event. He didn't place, but had a great time!

Thomas has dealt with digestive issues for many years. We now think he has an intolerance to dairy, and has stayed away from milk, cheese, and high sugar foods. I have been so proud of his sweet spirit about the whole thing, and he has even lost 5-7 pounds! We assured him that he didn't need to lose weight, that he was perfect how he was, but it has been so nice to see him feeling so much better!
Curly top....You can't keep a good curl down! Typical Mary Beth after school...

Mary Beth loves to drink water out of my espresso cups! ;)
Outside playing "HORSE" or "PIG" with his Daddy.
This past week was Jump Rope For Heart. Mary Beth came home with a jump rope, and she hasn't stopped jumping, or yelling "Mama! Watch this!" since!


Oh, the frustration and jubilation of jump roping!
After a weekend of 9 basketball games (one of which I coached!) , Bryon's entire family coming up for the day, UIL spelling meet, and hosting book club, Bryon had to go to Austin on Monday! This would normally be no big deal, except for the fact that we had 2 piano practices, 3 soccer practices, and 3 basketball practices (not to mention Bunco that I had to miss. Still a little bitter. ;) ! Out of the goodness of his heart, Bryon cancelled one of the basketball practices, but it was quite a night! There is always one week where basketball and soccer overlap, but having all the practices happen to be on the same night has never happened! Mary Beth and I got to watch Matthew practice last night.

It was good to see my boy back playing soccer! I adore the sport, and it makes me happy to see him running around with shin guards on! Well, we survived our crazy 1 1/2 weeks, and we are looking forward to the last weekend of Upwards this weekend

January in review

Here are a few highlights from one of my favorite months of the year:

*We have enjoyed some very cold weather mixed in with fabulous 70 degree days. My parents brought Mary Beth this scarf and hat from Ireland last May. We were finally able to pull it out for good use last week!

Typical Mary Beth! ;)
Possible the greatest Christmas gift EVER! Bryon got me a Nespresso espresso maker this Christmas, and we use it every day. I love just a plain, no frills espresso.....
...but also love making cappuccinos. I have become a barista! Bryon and I enjoy our cappuccino happy hour every day.
I was very behind in archiving family memories, so I ordered 4 YEARS of digital prints off the computer and put them all in boxes labeled with the correct year. This job was very time consuming, but such a treat walking down memory lane. I can't believe how much the kids have changed.
I knit all the time. With every project, I try to learn a new skill. I have just learned how to double knit, which is knitting on both sides of a project at once. Mary Beth is a slave driver, and if I am sitting down, she calmly brings me my knitting bag, so I can finish her Valentine's scarf on time!
Gotta give a shout out to Gus. The kids spent four days in Conroe at the beginning of the month. When they came home, Mary Beth ran in with bright eyes. I thought she was going to give me a big hug. Actually, she saw Gus and ran over to give him kisses instead. Yes, I have been replaced by a dog.

If it's winter time in our house, it's Upwards Basketball time! Bryon has coached every year since Matthew was a 1st grader. This is the first year that all three kids could play, so he is coaching all three kids. In the 15 plus years that we have been together, I have never found a single activity that wears this man out.....until this month! He adores coaching all three kids, but he is a zombie every Saturday night. It's a miracle!

I have taken quite a few pictures of Miss Mary Beth playing basketball. She LOVES to play! She is also quite horrible at it. :) It really is our comic relief of the week. I'm sure she will improve over the years, but as for now, well, we aren't keeping our fingers crossed for a basketball scholarship!

Doing the splits-an essential part of any basketball game.
Matthew got to help assistant coach on Saturday. He loves helping his Daddy!
Taking a breather in between quarters.
Here, Mary Beth is "guarding" her best friend, Whitney. Insert lots of giggles here...
Tee Hee Hee!
What she lacks in basketball skills, she makes up for in reading skills. Baby girl LOVES to read!
And do homework! She brings home homework twice a week, and immediately sits at the bar to get it done once she is home.



I have only once halfway decent picture of Thomas. Apparently, I am talking to much to friends on the team. I will do better next week. Three of the five boys on this team are future offensive lineman in high school. They are killer on defense. A few weeks ago, we were in a defensive struggle with an opposing team. In fact, with one minute to go, the score was only 8-6 (we were behind). Then, Thomas got the ball, dribbled down court and shot from quite a distance out (he swears it was in 3 point land, hmmmm) we were behind the basket but had a perfect view of the swish! He tied the game up. We were so proud!
Matthew is doing great as well. This is his first year to play full court, and he is loving every minute of it. We always enjoy watching our intense little man playing man to man combat. He scores 6-10 points per game, lots of assists, and rebounds. He is on a great team this year and cannot wait to play each week.

Speaking of man to man combat sports, we have had a huge turn of events in our household. After lots of talk and prayer, we have decided to drop baseball from our activities this year. We were tired of the relentless schedule, free time killing, political nature of kid baseball. Matthew has decided this spring to go back to playing soccer. He wants to play football in the fall, and thinks that soccer will help him prepare better than baseball. We will not know what to do with ourselves without baseball in the spring, as it has been a part of our lives since Matthew was 5, but are thrilled with the prospect of only having three soccer games each week. I love watching Matthew play soccer 10 times more than I love baseball, so we are excited to see what the spring holds for our family!





Matthew loves cooking breakfast for the family. I love sitting down and taking pictures of him doing so!