Willard Family Weblog

Valentine's Day 2012

Now I'm not a big Valentine's softie. I really am not. I don't want flowers and I don't need chocolate, but it can still be a fun day. And today I was just in the Valentine's mood! I woke up early this morning so that I had plenty of time to overcook some strawberry muffins for the rest of the family. Thankfully, they ate them anyway. 

I worked from home today, so I used my lunch hour to run down to Gigi's Cupcakes to pick up some sweets. 

I chose the Valentine's Six Pack...

And here are some close ups... because I couldn't resist. And I was playing with my aperture on my camera...

When the girls came home they found their little Valentine goodies... nothing big at all, just some colored pens and fun notebooks.

Abby arrived home first, and she brought in her typical elementary school party "haul." She made her own box this year - with no help from any adult. She made it just like she wanted it and it was totally Abby! Harry Potter on one side, and Razorbacks on the other. (How did I NOT get a pic of the Razorback side?!?) She had first crack at the cupcakes and promptly consumed the Midnight Magic cupcake, but not before throwing all of the icing directly into the trash. (If I hadn't been there when I delivered this child, I'd wonder if she was mine!)

Shortly after Kacy arrived home, she had a visit from a special friend, who brought over some beautiful pink roses and a box of Reese's. She was more excited about the chocolate - totally my kid! As for her cupcake selection, Kacy went right for the Red Velvet! Now that is how her mama rolls!

For dinner we induldged in the Papa Murphy heart pizza - which wasn't bad! (Thanks, Erica, for mentioning that!)

Marcus and I exchanged little gifts. I received a new charm for my charm bracelet. He received a Tim Hawkins "Snickeloaf" t-shirt and an Arkansas Razorback daily devotional book - yes, it is Biblically based. :) 

After dinner it was time for Abby's basketball practice. These girls don't get a night off! 

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

 

Happy 14th Birthday, Kacy!!

Every year I whine and moan that there is no way that my girls can be as old as their birth certificates reflect. It's just not possible! Yet here we are... another birthday... another candle on the ole' cupcake. And many more gray hairs for Mom.

My little baby girl, Kacy, is now 14. She was born at lunch time, so my arguement that she was still really 13 this morning at breakfast is now gone. Dang. 

So it's party time, right?? Well, we actually celebrated her birthday a bit early... like back-in-December-early. This year she wanted to celebrate at Six Flags, which was great, except for the tiny fact that Fiesta Texas is CLOSED in January. So we just had to party early! So waaaayyyyyy back on December 11, we had a few good friends over for pizza and cupcakes, then headed to the amusement park. While the kids were eating, I threw my little point and shoot out on the table for the kids to use. Here are just a FEW of the photos that I found when I downloaded to my laptop... (click to enlarge)

1) Kacy & Robert, with his mouth open. 2) Reagan and Robert, with his mouth open, again. 3) Reagan - he was either tired or crashing from the sugar high of the cupcake. 4) Robert, again. At least his mouth was closed in this photo. His eyes are obviously very open. 5) Robert and James. That's all I have to say about that photo. 6) Robert... stuffing his mouth, along with James. 7) Darby enjoying her cupcake.

One must love teenagers... else they wouldn't make it to 20. 

Kacy elected to have Gigi's cupcakes in lieu of cake. Here is a pic of her choice - red velvet!

Once the food disappeared, we headed for Fiesta Texas. Here's the group just inside the park. We have here james, Reagan, Robert, Kacy, and Darby.

Marcus & Abby taking off on the Goliath.

Abby took a friend to the party, also. This is Mackenzie. They are the same age and go to Sunday School together. We luv Mackenzie!!

OK - so look there in the middle car and you'll see Marcus, Abby, Kacy & Reagan. This is on the Boomerang roller coaster.

In line for the Tony Hawk ride...

It was a fun party and thanks to Season Passes and some other free passes we had acquired, it was very cheap! 

So here we are a month and a half later and her actual birthday has rolled around, which means that the manny was in action yesterday. Oh, how Justin loves to decorate a house...

Justin had sent me a text the night before to see if it would be OK to surprise Kacy with a different type of birthday present. It was pretty funny and I approved. So here she is with her first scratch-off lottery ticket...

Justin left clues all over the house with different scratch off tickets...

Her lottery haul...

$8 worth of tickets. They worked hard scratching everything off...

In the end she won $5 and another free ticket. And that's how the lottery can work for you.

Justin is a great manny, but when he leaves stuff like this around the house, it's rather frustrating, as he's a GOOD cook and I have little willpower.

 The actual birthday also means that it is time for her birthday dinner. We enjoy taking the girls out to eat at the restaurant of their choice on their birthday. Except we hit a little hiccup this year... we now have a 5th person that we sometimes have to consider in the schedule. For reasons that won't discussed in detail on the family blog, Kacy sometimes likes to invite Reagan along to some outings. She really wanted him to join us for her birthday dinner, but he wasn't going to be available to join us tonight, so we decided to go eat last night instead. Her restaurant of choice (after Mommy and Daddy talked her out of going to Outback) was Saltgrass.

And tonight - at the ripe age of almost-14 - she enjoyed her first filet mignon. Well, at least 1/2 of one. She and Reagan split the steak and she loved it. Abby may want to be a vegetarian when she grows up, but I don't think Kacy will ever totally give up red meat. She's like her mama! And after a heavenly steak, we all enjoyed a big piece of cheesecake!

So there you go... a wrap-up of Kacy's celebrations leading up to her 14th birthday. She is an incredibly beautiful young lady and we are thankful that God gave her to us. 

As we wrap this up, I wanted to share an early photo of Miss Kacy... she's quite a bit different these days!

 

 

Go Spurs Go!

This past Friday night, Kacy's middle school band once again ventured down to the AT&T Center to perform on the court prior to the Spurs game against the Sacramento Kings. This is Kacy's second year to participate in this activity and I have to say that it is pretty cool. Last year the band walked past several New York Knicks when making their way through the tunnels to the court. Kacy truly enjoys this event.

When Friday rolled around and the girls made their way home from school, we headed out as quickly as possible. Kacy had to be outside the arena by 5:45, and I had to make another broken lens related stop on our way downtown. We stopped by the Traylor's house where we exchanged Abby for Reagan. The Traylors become good friends of ours, and recently, neighbors! During this time, Kacy and Reagan have decided that they are kind of an "item." They also have a daughter the same age as Abby, and they are good friends, also. I forsee a lot of this "swapping" going on in the future... 

Anyway - we rolled out, made our stop, met Marcus at the Quarry, and then sprinted for the AT&T Center. This is where the fun starts.... not. While it is a great experience for the kids, it's just one long line after another for the parents. Thankfully, the end result is the performance, and of course that makes it all worth the wait.

Here are some pictures from our evening (click on photos to enlarge)...

Kacy & Daddy -

Kacy & Reagan -

On the court... I've "starred" our little star!

The band sounded great and it was a lot of fun to watch! WTG, Kacy!

It ended up being a neighborhood night at the Spurs game. Our next door neighbors were at the game...

And at half-time our neighbor across the street performed with the Reagan dance team. Don't even ask me to tell you where she is, but I promise she is out there somewhere! WTG, Darby!!

We also watched some basketball while we were there. Here's Tim taking a shot in the 3rd quarter...

We left at the end of the 3rd quarter because we had an early Saturday morning with volleyball and basketball. Sadly, the Spurs ended up losing, so I guess it was fine that we didn't stick around to see that ending. 

It was a fun night. Who knows what the Reagan band will hold in store for us next year!!

Lost Photos

Tonight I was flipping through some photos and found some that I had never processed. What was I thinking? These are too sweet to lose...

From Abby's Winter 2011 basketball season...

Easter 2010...

Sophie from this past August...

Christmas 2010 - a snuggly moment...

Haley & Doris, Fayetteville, New Years Eve 2010... Note the kids running wild in the background. We had our priorities, people!

 

 

 

Tim Hawkins

If you have spent more than 30 minutes around the girls over the last 18 months, you have more than likely heard them make reference to the comedian Tim Hawkins. He is a "Christian comedian" (he actually uses those air-quotes) who is more than child appropriate. We have all of his DVDs and watch his outakes on You Tube frequently. I also follow Tim on Facebook, so when he posted that his 2012 tour dates were up, I bought immediately bought four tickets to his San Antonio show and then started blasting emails and Facebook messages to all of our fellow "Hawksters." 

The big day finally rolled around this past Friday. The doors were to open at 6PM, and since it was open seating, we arrived around 5:30. There was already a line, so we found a spot and settled in. I snapped this photo of the family waiting...

Immediately after taking this photo, I was tackled by a nearby hacky sack player... and my favorite Nikkor 18-200mm lens was broken. I was devastated. Beyond devastated. I should have known better than to get so close to hacky sack players. And I should have had my neck strap on. But dang. My best lens broke within hours of seeing Tim Hawkins. I was left to use my little Fuji point and shoot... which is fine outside in broad daylight. But in a dark sanctuary... uh... not so good. So I apologize in advance for the quality of the following photos...

When the doors finally opened, we scooted in and grabbed a row and a half for ourselves and our friends in line behind us. Here are some shots while we waited...

The youth kids...

Lori & Mackenzie (our friends and recent new neighbors!)

Abby & Mac

Marcus and me...

And finally Tim took the stage! We had waited so long to see him and he was not disappointing! We laughed and laughed and laughed! 

Tim was joined by John Branyan, who was hilarious, also. He gave a great talk about smoking in church...

 

And he had a great version of "The Three Little Pigs." Enjoy.

 

We loved the show! It was great! Parkhills Baptist was a great host church. I can't wait to get to see Tim perform again. We highly recommend him to all of our friends. If you get a chance to see him, GO! He's going to be in Little Rock this Friday - for all of our Central Arkansas friends. Try and get out to see him!

SHARK!!!

Abby received a great Christmas present this year from her good friend, Morgan. Seriously - this thing is SOOOO right up Abby's alley, she couldn't have been happier! Her sister, however, isn't such a fan. 

Here's a pic of Marcus and Abby assembling the gift...

And here is the gift nearing the end of assembly...

Yes, it is a helium-filled flying shark. The rear fin wiggles from side to side so that it has the illusion that it is "swimming" through the air. It is just too hilarious! Once it was assembled, Abby took it straight to the front foyer, where it managed to get a little too high and stuck near the chandelier.

Thankfully Marcus was able to add a little extra weight using some putty, and now the shark is doing just swimmingly. :) 

Kacy, however, has promised to promptly pop this toy should it ever show up in her room. Especially early in the morning!! Things will be interesting around here for a few days, that's a given. 

American Revolution Wax Museum

Today Abby participated in the 4th grade American Revolution Wax Museum. She was assigned the role of Abigail Adams and she worked so hard on this project. The assignment was made between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there has been a lot of time to work and worry about the final end result. Each student was to research their assigned role, learn as much as possible, write a report, create a bibliography, come up with a costume, then prepare and memorize a 3-4 minute speech about the life of the assigned role. We hit up Amazon for several books on Abigail Adams and found a great costume for only $20, with free two-day delivery. I'm all about cheap, fast, and already complete. My mom is disappointed, I'm sure. She was amazing - she would stay up night after night sewing to make the most perfect costume for whatever the event called for. I still remember having the most gorgeous blue satin  flapper dress with white fringe for my 4th grade play. But I'm quite different. First, I failed to learn to sew worth a flip. Second, I just find the internet offers so many easy and cheap options. When Abby came home in first grade and told me that she was going to be a square dancer in her play, I found a great skirt on Etsy. So when it was time to find a Colonial costume, Amazon came to the rescue! So I need to apologize to my mom for not carrying forward her burning desire for perfection when it comes to costumes. Sorry, Mom.

Back to today... Abby worked very hard on her report. She read her books, put together her facts, wrote up cards for her speech, and argued with me about the costume. She did everything just like a perfect little 4th grader should. And another big THANK YOU to Lyssa, who helped Abby so much over the holidays. (Have I mentioned that Lyssa is fabulous??) She practiced her speech over and over. She practiced by herself and in front of the family. And today she performed fabulously! 

When we arrived at the school this morning we went straight to the cafeteria. There we found all of the 4th grade students in position for the museum performance. As we made our way over to a place to stand, we spotted Abby looking over her notes...

Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge...

Once we were given the go-ahead, we made our way into the museum. Of course we headed straight for our Abigail Adams, who nailed her speech! Here's a pic in mid-sentence...

After we learned all about Abigail Adams, Marcus and I split up and stopped to listen to many other speeches throughout the cafeteria. All of the kids did such a great job! I actually learned a lot about several of our Revolutionary heroes. And the kids really seemed to enjoy the big event. Well, after 30 minutes I started hearing, "Man, it's hot in here!" and "I'm tired! How much longer??" But they hung in there and kept it up. 

Here's a shot of the busy, busy cafeteria...

And one more of Abby performing her speech...

One little story... when I was listening to a student's speech, I glanced over at Abby, who had just finished giving her speech to another listener. She was looking through her note cards, I'm certain going over any points that she may have struggled with. That's when I noticed her little hands were shaking! She was trembling all over! I'd never seen her do this - and neither had Marcus. She performs all of the time - but typically on a sports field or court. I take that back - she had the lead in her class play back in 2010, and I don't remember her shaking. But she sure was today!! Poor thing! She was nervous! But she gave it her all! Soooo proud of her for sticking through, even when she was nervous. Way to hang in there, Abby! You were a great Abigail Adams!!

 

Abby's First Winter Basketball Game

Winter sports have started! This season Abby is playing both volleyball and basketball. I didn't take my camera into the volleyball game on Saturday, as it totally slipped my mind. We drove straight back from Dallas to the gym for the game and I was just thinking about getting out of the car and not thinking about photos. But - I did remember to take the camera in for the basketball game.

Our basketball season last year was unique to say the least. Abby's all girl team played in an all boys league and took several thumpings throughout the year. This year we decided to head back and play with the Y again. During the soccer season we were approached by one of Abby's teammates fathers about playing on their basketball team, so we jumped right on it. It looks to be a pretty good season, as we have two good coaches and several good players. This Saturday wasn't much of a match to find out, as the other team was pretty small and rather new to the game. 

Abby had a great game (14 points) and the team won 42-6. Of course the scoreboard was turned off after the first quarter and our coach had the girls stop stealing and had them pass the ball around so that the scoring was really spread out. We had six of nine girls score. I truly felt so sorry for the other team, as we have been on "that team" before and it makes for a long season. 

In the meantime - here are some photos! Click the photos to enlarge

 

 

Cotton Bowl 2012

We were finally able to enjoy our December 4, 2011 purchase this weekend when Marcus and I headed north for the 2012 Cotton Bowl. When the bowls were announced, it was widely speculated that our Hogs would be going to the Cotton Bowl this year, since the two SEC slots were filled by the National Championship contenders, Alabama and LSU. I'll spare any readers my rant about how ridiculous the BCS rules are... that's another post. Anyway - when the bowls were announced we immediately sent a text to our former nanny to see if she would be able to spend the night with the girls so that we could go to Dallas. We then selected our tickets on Stub Hub, made hotel reservations, and waited for over a month. We were hoping for a better bowl than the previous bowl we attended. We made it to Orlando in 2007 for the Capital One Bowl, where we lost to Wisconsin. That happened to also be Houston Nutt's last bowl game as the Razorback coach. I'll spare any readers a rant about Houston Nutt. That's another post, too. 

We put both girls on their respective busses Friday morning and then headed up I35 towards Dallas. We took our time... well, Marcus thought we were. Any time I drive up I35 I feel like it's a total competition. I wear myself out. And when we were stopped on the north side of Austin due to a wreck, I was fit to be tied. It didn't matter than we had 8 hours until kickoff. I needed to GET THERE! 

We stopped in Temple for lunch and again in Waco for muffins (yum, Collins Street Bakery). We made it to our hotel by 2:30, then headed on up to Arlington around 3:30. We hadn't thought to pre-purchase our parking, so we wanted to get there and find a place to park the car. We have both heard horror stories about $50 and $60 parking for Cowboy games, so we weren't sure what we would find. Thankfully a nearby Regions Bank had some spots for only $30, so we jumped right into one and enjoyed the short walk to the stadium. 

Now any Razorback fan knows that when the Hogs play in Dallas, the fans show up. No doubt. But I have to say that I was impressed with how well the K-State fans traveled. I was expecting the Hog fans to outnumber the Wildcat fans probably 70-30, but it was probably closer to 55-45 or 60-40. It made for a great game environment!

We made it to the AT&T Plaza around 4:30, with the pep rally scheduled to start at 5:00. Before we headed out, I had checked the camera policy for the Cotton Bowl and decided that I could take my big Nikon into the game. As I made my way through the "female" line to enter the plaza area, the woman working security looked in my purse, saw the big lens, and said, "Hmmmmm..." The thought of being sent back to my car to put up the camera was just more than I wanted to deal with. I almost burst into tears and said, "Oh, please don't make me walk back to my car!!" She proceeded to double over in laughter and informed me that she was just playing. She apolgized for scaring me and sent me on my merry way. *whew!* 

The plaza was a happening place, to say the least. We walked over and saw Tusk and looked around until the pep rally started up.

Click on the photos to make them larger

We Called the Hogs a few times, too...

Finally the pep rally started! John George, a.k.a. "The Voice of the Razorbacks." spoke first. (Just a little interesting fact - John actually gave me my first job out of college when I went to work at Springdale Bank and Trust!) John was followed by Jeff Long, the AD, and then Jerry Jones and his son, Stephen. 

Jerry was fun to listen to as he spent some time talking about his favorite Cotton Bowl victory in 1964 when the Hogs beat Nebraska and won the National Championship. He wrapped up his little talk by saying that he was ready to get inside and see the Hogs kick "the backside" of K-State (note: I may have cleaned up his actual quote just a little)! 

After Jerry, the band played a few more songs, lead us in some cheers, and then the most favorite Jones took the stage - Felix!! Ya' know, he's got some time on his hands now that the Cowboy's season is over... so he stopped by to chat with the fans and lead us in a Hog Call!

After the pep rally I sent about 7,000 text messages to my cousin, Kathy, who happened to be in the same plaza area. You would think that it wouldn't be that hard to hook up with someone in such a confined space, but it IS!! After several minutes we were finally able to find each other and visit for a while. So nice to see her, as she lives in Nashville, so our visits are few and far between.

Marcus and I then headed in to find our seats. Now, our tickets specifically said "Enter in gates B, C, or D ONLY." But HELLO - the pep rally was by the gates on the total opposite side of the stadium! In order to get into the plaza area, they scanned our tickets, which meant that we couldn't leave the plaza area and expect to get back into the other side of the stadium. Because of this, we spent the next 30 minutes getting from one end of Cowboy Stadium to the other. In the event you ever find yourself in this prediciment, you have to go all the way up to the 4th level, walk all the way around, and then make your way back down. We finally figured this out when we spoke to a third stadium employee! 

Our seats were on the Hall of Fame level, so they weren't bad. Here are some pictures that we took during the team warm up...

Jarius Wright (#4) -

Dennis Johnson (#33) - 

Cobi Hamilton (#11) and Joe Adams (#3) - 

Tyler Wilson (#8)

Jericho Nelson (#31) and Joe Adams (#3)

Before we knew it, it was time for the game!  The Hogs didn't win the coin toss, but in the end, it didn't matter!

The first quarter was something else... we couldn't get a first down for anything! But we still scored - thanks to a good field goal by Zach and another awesome punt return by Joe Adams! The Wildcats had a good second quarter, but we were just a much better team - no doubt! 

Here's a picture of the Victory Formation - my favorite play for the Hogs to run!

Cotton Bowl Champions!

The trophy presentation - 

This bowl was soooooooo much more fun than the Capital One Bowl! Primarily because we won - but the facility was just spectacular! I've heard people talk about "the screen" in Jerry World, but until you see it in person, you just have no idea how big and how clear the thing is!! It was stunning! Here was Bobby P. speaking before the kickoff...

And then the atmosphere inside the stadium was electric! It was very loud throughout the entire game, which made it so much fun!! 

Here are a few more pictures...

Now, I need to give a big thanks to our nanny, Lyssa. And our nanny isn't to be confused with our manny, Justin. Yes, I know it's complicated, but it works. We are so thankful that she was available to watch the girls, making this the SECOND year that she has come to our rescue during a bowl game. Last year she was able to take Kacy to her first volleyball practice of the winter season so that we didn't have to miss any of the Sugar Bowl! Thank you, Lyssa!! We love you!

While the Cotton Bowl isn't a BCS bowl, it is still fabulous. And back in my "early years," the Cotton Bowl is where one wanted the beloved Hogs to play each and every year. The coveted bowl changed to the Sugar Bowl when I was 17 and the Hogs moved to the SEC. And then the BCS mess started... Don't get me wrong. I want the Hogs to make a BCS bowl each and every year! But if the Hogs end up in the Cotton Bowl again, we'll be happy. And hopefully we'll be there, too! 

Until next time - WOOOOOOOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!!

Our "Christmas Morning"

Because we were in Orlando on Christmas Day, we were not able to open presents - well, at least, not in the traditional sense. I think spending Christmas Day at Universal Studios is a pretty decent gift...

We returned to San Antonio early on the morning of Monday, December 26. And seriously - I mean early. We were on a 6:20AM flight out of Orlando and landed back in San Antonio before 11AM. The first thing the girls wanted to do as soon as we made it back to the house, but I managed to leverage that priority in order to get my priority taken care of - unpacking! I was absolutely amazed at just how quickly the girls were able to empty their suitcases! The unpacking was quickly finished, and then it was time to open gifts!

Abby was very excited to find this DVD under the tree...

But Kacy wasn't so happy to see that Abby now had in her possession seven-plus hours of shark footage. 

But things were shortly made "even" when Kacy found she had a Justin Beiber DVD under the tree. Abby was equally as unenthusiastic. 

Abby was happy to receive a nice new coat from her Mamaw...

And Kacy received a beautiful new sweater from Mamaw...

Oddly enough, it has been so warm here since our return that they really haven't had much of a chance to wear these new items! Hopefully we'll have a little cold snap here soon.

Abby gave her sister a new jewelry box...

While Kacy returned the favor with a new alarm clock that allows Abby to listen to and charge her iTouch...

Unfortunately the power cord either did not come in the box or it was thrown out with the wrapping paper, because we didn't have it two days later (after the trash ran, of course) when we were trying to set it up. We looked high and low... and even called Sony to see about getting a replacement. They said they would be happy to ship out a replacement power cord... for $93.11. I shared with them a few thoughts on what they could do with that price, then ended up giving Abby my big Sony alarm clock that has the same feature. I replaced my alarm clock with a $0.99 alarm clock app on my iPad. We're all happy.

The girls were both very happy with their gifts from Aunt Beth. Abby received a James Avery necklace that she had been "eyeing,"

and Kacy received a pretty James Avery ring.

The girls also received pajamas and an outfit each from their mommy and daddy, a very nice gift of money from Memaw, and a couple of little things in their stockings. We opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa (Haley's parents) on the Monday night before we left. Kacy received a beautiful new Vera Bradley bag and Razorback charm for her charm bracelet. Abby received a new Kindle. The bag and Kindle were fabulous gifts for the girls to take on our trip, so they were put to immediate good use!

It was a nice, quiet "Christmas morning" a day late. We followed up with our traditional Chocolate Gravy breakfast the next morning, so we ended up enjoying all of our "regular" traditions this Christmas season, along with a great trip. What a great end to a wonderful year!!