Shea is 18

Shea Shea is a St. Patty Day baby and before we celebrated with the family last night she had a birthday party with her friends at a skating rink in Denton Wednesday night.  The boys were really excited about the opportunity to go skating for the very first time and as always I was looking forward to a little "old school" fun.  We had a roller skating party a couple years ago for Honey's birthday and it was the most fun ever so I couldn't wait to tie up the old rollerskates again!  It turned out the rink was a new hockey rink in Denton.  Carson and I got there a little early and helped transform it into a sea of orange and pink while Christian insisted on riding there with Sheaster.

The boys decided they were ready to put on skates so after getting them all fixed up I decided to keep my shoes on until they got a handle on things.  Kaden and Carson immediately "monkey walked" around once hanging on to the wall.  They looked so cute!

Christian decided he better hang on too until he became a little more sure of his footing.

Looking good!

Carson did not like being so far behind so he thought he would catch up

Getting back up from a fall

Getting braver....

Almost all the way around

Unfortunately Christian spent a LOT of time down here

Proud of himself

Notice the red face. He was sweating up a storm.

Grammy, Carson and I

(Christian could not believe that his Grammy got on roller skates and was good)

The Cake

The birthday girl!

By the end of the night, Christian was exhausted!  He had a lot of fun despite all the falls and bruised knees and can't wait to go rollerskating again!

Chad spent most of the evening by the smoker with Josh cooking up fajitas.  Here he made an appearance on the floor in his tennis shoes!

Happy Birthday Shea Shea!

Spring Break Has Begun

Spring Break 2011 has begun!  Really, where does the time go?  The boys asked Friday if we were going anywhere for spring break and were a little sad to find out the answer was no.  When they asked why, I said we were gone the past two weekends which in turn meant we needed to stay home this week but would still have fun.  

The boys had Jake and Jedd spend the night Friday night.  They wore out all the NERF guns and played every man for himself with Chad.  Later that evening they came in the living room to talk and were cracking us up with their very, VERY animated stories.    Saturday morning Lisa picked up all four boys to spend the day playing at her house, and Carson was thrilled to be included.  Chad was at the farm building a field of dreams which meant I had the house to myself and took full advantage by watching the girls Big XII Championship Game (Sic 'Em Bears) followed by a girly movie on PPV.  Late Saturday afternoon I picked up the boys and took Christian straight to Wyatt's house to spend the night.  Carson and I came home, he took a bubble bath, I fixed us dinner and he fell asleep in my arms on the couch.  I love to cuddle with my snuggle bug so I proceeded to watch another PPV movie while Chad was out with the guys.

This afternoon we went to Pa Pa's house to go fishing.  Chad and the boys got there a few minutes before I did and were greeted by a 4 lb catfish that Pa Pa had just caught.  When I arrived shortly thereafter Christian had already caught one and Carson was catching his third.  The fish were hopping.  In the two hours we were out there the boys caught about 30 fish.  Christian had a long face at first because Carson seemed to be catching fish about every 30 seconds while he got nothing.  Every time Carson caught a fish, Christian would huff and puff.  The boys were standing 5 feet a part, using the same hook, line and bait, but Christian's line was dry every time.  After Carson caught about his 15th fish Christian insisted that he and Pa Pa move to the other side of the pond for better luck. He packed up their worms and away they went.  It was a good move because they quickly found a honey hole and Christian went from 3 to a bakers dozen real quick.  I forgot my camera at home but took these from my phone.

see the long face?

After the move...

Daddy I don't want to hold, touch or kiss the fish

Can we come back tomorrow Pa Pa?

I sure hope the boys think back and remember these days fondly.

ESPN College Game Day

The night of the Auburn Championship game, an ESPN Game Day commercial came on that showed all the locations they would be broadcasting and much to our surprise a green BU popped up in the state of Texas.  I looked and Chad and said how fun it would be to load the kids up and go down to the game.  So immediately I went on the computer to check on tickets and hit the purchase button!  We ended up giving the tickets to the boys for Valentines Day and have been eagerly awaiting our fun day.  Yesterday afternoon after Christian's last basketball game, which they won 30-8 (Bones scored 4 pts - his last shot was incredible and the whole place went crazy), we jumped in the truck went southbound on I-35 for the second weekend in a row.  We pulled in to Waco at 6:45 and tried to get into Buzzard Billy's but as we exited off the highway I noticed all the parked cars lined up on the service road...we were not getting in there tonight.  Instead we just grabbed something quick, drove around downtown in absolute amazement (that town is nothing like it was when we were there) and then made our way to the Ferrell Center for the game.  We made our way in, found our seats and sent Chad back down to get our rally towels that we missed on the way in.  

Aren't they cute all dressed in green and gold?

Ready for the game to begin

The game started slow for the Bears but Christian stood up in support the whole time.  It was so cute to watch him stand up, wave his towel around and give the obligatory Sic 'em Bears!

Future Bears????

Momma Bear and Baby Bear.  Carson looked so cute in his new shirt.  He told everyone at the game that his shirt was the body and he was the head.

After a heart-breaking loss, (it was a great game with terrible officiating) we slowly made our way down to the court to get some great pics!  It was Senior Night so Christian got this poster of LaceDarius Dunn  (the Big XII all time leading scorer).

ESPN College Game Day on the air after the game.  

On the court in front of the goal

I'm on the Ferrell Center floor......GO BEARS

Everybody was trying to get their picture taken behind the desk before they started disassembling it.  I kept telling the boys to go get in there to take a picture but some adults would walk up and the Christian immediately would step to the side.  Carson gave up and came to the front by me but Christian finally was assertive and did not step away.

Daddy and his boys center court!

We had so much fun tonight supporting our Baylor Bears.  We made a pact now that the boys are older that we are going to start doing this several times a year!  It was such an easy drive and hopefully a night that the boys will never forget!  

State Bound with Shea Shea

Last weekend the whole family loaded up and drove to Austin to watch Shea Shea in the state wrestling tournament.  We drove down Thursday evening to meet Sonia, Victor, Nikki, Pearl, Charles and Jay at the hotel.  Carson had slept for most of the drive down so needless to say when we got to the hotel, he was wide eyed and bushy tailed and ready to play.  Christian on the other hand had just fallen asleep as we were coming into Austin so we carried him up to the room and he was out for the night.  Friday morning once we got our wake up knock from Etta, Carson told Christian that we had a party last night in Aunt Tawnie's room and he missed it.  Christian could not understand why we would let him sleep through "the party".  It took some time but I think we finally convinced him that we really did not have a "party" and it was o.k he slept through it.  The next morning Shea Shea did not wrestle until noon.  It was a beautiful day so we suggested a great spot for lunch where we could eat out on the patio but not before serious miscommunication that I know elevated Sonia's heart rate to the dangerous zone! (LOL)  Anway, we enjoyed lunch and made it to the tournament to watch Shea Shea in her first match...an easy win!  We had a few hours to kill until her next match so we drove around and went back to the hotel for a bit.  Here the boys are walking back to the car in our matching Wakeland Wrestling State Bound shirts.  I wish we would have gotten a pick of the whole family today!

Back to the arena, Christian discovered he could stretch out in the handrails while he watched the matches.  He was just the right size.

Shea Shea ended up wrestling three times on Friday after she lost a devastating match.  I think this is the match the ref kept calling that Shea was clasping hands with her opponent.  It was a terrible call and an upsetting loss for Shea as she has poured her heart and soul into this sport with one thing in mind...winning state!  

Friday night we went to dinner and back to the hotel where the kids loved running from room to room to visit everyone and wrestle on the beds.  Chad and I were definitely chopped liver this weekend because every time we got in the car they were riding with Etta, Yai Yai and Aunt Tawnie or going to breakfast with Etta.  As grandma would say, "Shea had quite the gallery there".  Saturday proved to be another full day of wrestling too.  Shea Shea won one and lost one which meant she would now be wrestling in the finals that night for 5th place.  For the final brackets they had a parade of the remaining wrestlers come in to the arena to the song "We Are The Champions".  It was pretty sweet to see her out there in her orange and blue warm-ups.

Seeing Shea on the mat this weekend was very emotional and caused me to cry more than once.  To see her competing on this level, to see the ref raise her hand after an easy pin or hard fought win, the look of agony on her face as her opponent is doing everything in her power to break Shea's injured shoulder, but finally to see her standing on the medal stand Saturday night to receive her State Medal.  It was not the place she hoped for but she still came home with a state medal and we were all so very loud and proud!  

Here the ref is raising her arm after her final win!

Waiting to get on the medal stand

PROUD PARENTS

Shea Shea and Christian...maybe her biggest fan.  He would run down to hug her after her wins and losses!  Christian insisted on wearing his Wakeland shirt today too to show his support and he was not taking no for an answer.

Shea and Yai Yai

We love you Shea Shea

This is how the boys would get out some of their energy during the day

Jana Beth and Jason came Saturday to watch Saturday.  We went for mexican food together between Shea's final match and joining the entire Wakeland crew for dinner at Texas Land and Cattle late that night.

It was a great weekend! Shea, we are so proud of you and all that YOU accomplished!