Holy Cow!

The Cave

Nothing beats a three day weekend.

On Saturday, Bubba played in his last indoor soccer game of the season, Miss O worked on her science project and I did a little school work. We all went to an afternoon movie to see Contraband. After the movie, Mr. D. got his fill of the NFL playoffs in his cave.

Yes, the playroom is slowly transforming into Mr. D's man cave. Furniture has been shifted and sheets and blankets have been hung over the windows to create more darkness. Poor Bubba. He used to have the run of the place with his video gaming. Now, he simply occupies only a corner of the room.  

Here is a funny picture of Miss O trying to figure out where she fits in the football huddle:

Who can compete with a television screen like that? Plans are in the works to create an actual screen. Curtains are ready to go up. Some type of cabinetry or shelving is being mapped out and, yes, it includes a place for a mini fridge. Mr. D. always jokes that if you can't find me, I am in the scrapbooking room. The joke is on him now...if you need him, he'll be in the cave.

Winter Break...done. :(

Here is how the last two weeks have played out around here:

• Christmas shopping, shopping, shopping!
• Mr. D. hires college kid to work on the Lizzie house during the break.
• Progress at the Lizzie house!
• The (stinky) turtles are home.
• Cali cousins come for a visit, thus Miss O and Bubba spend several days and nights at Noni and NoNo's having cousin playdates and sleepovers.
• Miss O has a script reading with Mark and Ben (aka the Strings guys).
• Bubba bonks his head on the ottoman at Noni and NoNo's, get two stitches.
• Despite the stitches, he still goes to his favorite indoor playplace...JumpStreet with the cousins.
• Mr. D. hurts arm lifting a large roll of foam.
• Sees family doctor, has MRI. Diagnosis: Torn bicep muscle.
• Christmas Eve!
• Strings available to watch for free online for 24 hours!!
• Round One: Presents & Gifts.

• Santa brings Miss O a flat screen tv. She tells us she wants to return it...she just doesn't need or want a new tv.
• Getting better at taking this photo:
• Christmas Morning!!
• Santa leaves crumbs and a sweet note!
• Round Two: Presents & Gifts
• Bubba scores a PS3 and goalie gloves.
• Miss O gets a beach cruiser and lots of lip gloss.

• Everyone is happy!
• We visit Noni and Pop Pop's in Oklahoma.
• It's good to be together. 
• Boo, the cat, makes an appearance.
• The day we return, Bubba gets his stitches out and Mr. D. sees orthopaedic doc to determine prognosis, plan of action.
• Mr. D. schedules surgery and another MRI.
• Mr. D. gets relaxer for MRI. Claustrophobia + MRI = no good, but MRI + meds = nighty night.
• Mark and Ben come over for New Year's Eve eve dinner.
• Fun times!
• Bubba plays indoor soccer.
• Uses new goalie gloves.

• Bubba does well in the goal, but his team loses anyway.    
• Right now, Mr. D. + kids work on Lizzie house.
• I have a few minutes to scrapbook.
• I finally finish a page:

 

• This page has been in the works for a long time. This was Grandma Lil's 90th birthday party...three years ago.
• Ironically, today is her birthday.
• She is 93.
• In that corner of her mind that holds her most precious memories, she remembers herself as stylish and sassy, a go getter.
• I love and miss her.

So long Winter Break. I so don't want you to go...I really, really like having you here. Really.

 

 

  

Home.

Slept in this morning.

Woke up with a cold.

Who cares.

I'm home.

Turned on the holiday lights.

Working on the laundry and catching on up bills.

Cleaned out the refrigerator.

Listened to kids interact.

Bubba gaming on my computer in the scrapbook room and

Miss O making gu and silly putty concoctions in the dining room.

Feels so good to be right where I am.

So good to be home.

:)

Happy Monday.

Thanksgiving

Honestly, the only thing that these days off from work have succeeded in doing is make me miss my old job.

I had the luxury (and I do mean luxury) of being a stay-at-home-mom. I had nine glorious years of raising my children and being a homemaker.

Now, I am back at work in a new career. I have added twenty-one children to the mix as well as the dysfunctional dynamics of female co-workers.

I do not have feelings of regret or guilt about returning to the work force. I simply just miss what I used to do.

From the driver's seat of my mom mobile, I see a woman with a toddler in each hand crossing the parking lot to enter the big box store and I think back to the days when I was THAT mom.

At the time, I thought the days were such a challenge with two young children. I thought that the walls around me would cave at any given moment. But today, I view those days with a much different perspective. From where I am sitting, those were the days when life was much simpler.

*sigh*

I miss those days.

and those

and those.

Happy Thanksgiving.

A letter about Santa for when the time comes

We are still five weeks away from Christmas, yet it is never too early to start getting prepared - making lists and secret mental notes about what the kids would love to see under the tree.

Speaking of gifts magically appearing under the tree, I don't recall my parents ever really coming clean about the whole Santa thing. I think it was kind of Harry Potterish...we knew the truth but we did not speak of it.

Recently, Miss O has voiced her suspicions about the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. I have considered having her watch The Preacher's Wife. I simply love how this movie explains the belief of things not seen. 

Still, I am not sure whether it is worth to come clean about Santa. The "rule" at our house is that you have to believe to recieve. I just don't want to kill the magic that comes with the spirit of the holiday season. 

Then, I came across this sweet letter from Martha Brockenbrough on cozi.com. 

***WARNING SPOILER ALERT*****

Dear _____,

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no. I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

I love you and I always will.

I do love this explanation. I do love knowing that we are on Santa's team...like one of his helpers at the North Pole fulfilling the wishes of a child's dream.

But, I just don't think I am ready to let this secret out yet. This unspoken truth is one of those little pieces of information that keeps my children's innocence alive. And as quickly as they are going up, I am just not ready....not yet, not this year.

Soccer Weekends are Back!

The past two weekends have been filled with lots and lots of soccer (and a teensy amount of gymnastics, too).

Last weekend the Lancers played in the Lonestar Fun Festival. The boys got 2nd place losing only to their biggest rival, Fire.

 

Poor Bubba. He is the only player on his that has yet to score a goal. I tried explaining to him that his time will come and when it does, the flood gates will open and there will not be any stopping him.

He doesn't wanna listen to me though.

Instead he has told his coach (Mr. D) that he would like to have a fair shot at playing goalie.

Ugh!

This weekend the boys played in the CAYSA tournament. They made it to the quarterfinals, but left their A game at home on Sunday morning. 

In the last game the boys had quite a few chances to score, they just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. The game ended up going into penalty kicks.

Can't you just feel the anxiety on these boys faces?

They lost in penalty kicks, 4-5.

Bubba scored his first goal of the season.  And then got another! And one more...a perfectly placed penalty shot.

He is still asking about being a goalkeeper.

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

Austin Film Festival

Having STRINGS come home to Austin was one of the coolest things ever.

The Sunday Screening

I got the added benefit of seeing STRINGS at AFF on Sunday night and again on Tuesday evening. Having just stepped off the airplane, I wasn't looking forward to going downtown on Sunday night. Much to my surprise, however, several friends were faithfully waiting in line to see the film. Case in point, my bestest scrapbooking friends - Belinda, Jinx and Ginnie were the first people in line! Such a sight to see these beautiful women. New friends and soccer parents, The Oppligers and the Skiles' were there too. And accompanying me was my 1st grade mentor, Jessica Turner. What an amazing night it turned out to be after all.  

The Tuesday Screening

Finally.

The film is home.

My family is home.

We have waited a long time for this night.

When we arrived, the line to get in was getting long.

Miss O and Bubba worked the crowd a bit. They were thrilled that some of their friends from gymnastics were there as well as Miss O's teachers and our favorite school librarian ever.

Miss Katie, who could only be there in spirit, sent her mom, Su, along with Su's fiance and Nate, Katie's brother. Noni and Nono were there. And long time friends Amy Carlson and Laurie Layne waited in too.

  

The film sold out!

Several people watched it on a small screen in the lobby and proppped open the theater doors to get sound.

It was definitely a night to remember.

One of the coolest parts was that Billy Harvey played the theme song *live* while the credits were rolling. It gave me goose bumps.  

We have spent a lot of time trying to keep Miss O's and Bubba's acting experiences on the down low for so long. Not so easy to do these days especially with press like this and this.

And as quickly as it was here...

it is now over.

Mr. D and I spend time talking about what's next. The reality is that this may be it. As much as we hope that this is only the beginning, all that we may ever have are the amazing memories of these experiences and the truly wonderful people who have become friends and family. 

Halloween

This is the first year that Mr. D. and I have not chaperoned the kids. Instead, Miss O and Bubba went trick or treating with Reagan and Gavin.

Bubba chose to be a bit scary this year:

And Miss O was a bit dorky:

Cashie had the best costume:

Bubba decided that his job this Halloween night was to scare people. He hid in the bushes and waited for the opportune time to make his move.

Miss O went from house to house and quickly decided she had had enough. She came home to pass out candy.

My scary ghost and dorky girl collected very little candy of their own. What?!

Seriously!

What happened to just wanting gobs and gobs of candy?

Happy Halloween!

Austin---->New York--->Austin--->Hollywood

Talk about a whirlwind week. STRINGS is on the tail end of its festival route and Miss O would not miss it for anything. She and Mr. D had a chance to see the film in NYC at the Gotham Screen International Film Festival. What an experience!

Bubba and I sat this trip out mostly because my days off are numbered. Mr. D. definitely has a more flexible schedule than I do. Bubba and I enjoyed a mommy/son weekend hitting his favorite italian restaurant for fettuccine alfredo. We caught up on laundry and video gaming. And I watched him play a great game of Lancer soccer. His team has been crushing their opponents. Case in point, they won 8-0! I thought there might be a few minutes to actually scrapbook this weekend...but I was mistaken. Mr. D and Miss O returned on Monday and life was fairly normal until Friday when the four of us departed for Hollywood for the Hollywood Film Festival. As soon as we arrived, we hit the ground running. Our first stop was a swanky office building in Beverly Hills to pick up the prestigious pass for the Hollywood Film Awards.

Then, we went shopping. I seriously dislike shopping for myself, especially under pressure. Considering we left my ENTIRE suitcase at home, it was imperative that I get some clothes to wear besides the ones on my back. Thank goodness for Target and Old Navy.

STRINGS was the opening night film of HFF debuting at the Arclight Cinema on Sunset Blvd. The theater itself was impressive but the fact that the film sold out was awesome. We had lots of family in attendance including Gabe, Teresa, Diego + Sondre, Uncle Richard + cousin Linden, and Auntie Kibie + Anna.

Miss O with her on screen family.

On Saturday, we went sightseeing.

And on Sunday, I headed home while my three peeps stayed in Hollywood.

It was a sad departure, but Miss O had a party to go to!!

Mark and Ben have set the bar so high for her. No boy can ever top a date like this.

Here, with Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Carribean.

What a night!!

Origami Yoda

This book duet is a hit at our house:

 

Truly, I am just glad to see the kids reading. But something is awry at our house...

I

keep

finding

paper

Yodas

of

every

shape

and

size

here

there

and

everywhere.

Happy Wednesday or as Yoda might say:

Good night it will be.