Griner and the Lady Bears

A week or two before Christmas I got an email from the BU Athletic Department announcing Cub Club Night with the Lady Bears.  It mentioned floor seats, free food for the kids and autographs after the game.  Instantly a light bulb went off inside my head so I decided to propose a little road trip South down I-35.  The game was the day after the Alamo Bowl which we were not going to.  A few days before I kept getting texts from Julianne trying to get us to join them at the Alamo Bowl.  I tried and tried but after everything we did not need to spend the money. 

Anway, tickets for the basketball game were first come first serve and could not be purchased in advance.   The day of the game we loaded up the boys for a little surprise road trip.   The boys had absolutely no idea where we were going, we just told them we had a surprise and we would give them clues along the way.  Chad had his BU shirt on and so did I, although I had a zip up hoodie on too.  I packed up the boys BU shirts, Cub Club lanyards and activities for the ride.  I wish Chad were here right now to remind me of the clues but literally they did not guess it until we exited on to University Parks.  This was going to be fun!

Amazingly enough we got to the ticket office with time to spare but there was already a short line that had formed.  I did not see many kids in line so I thought surely we were good to go.  I got up to the ticket counter, showed the lady the boy's lanyards and announced we were here for Cub Club Night.  She did not have much info to give me which had me a little worried.  She handed me my tickets and that was it?  HUH?  Afterwards, I found the marketing manager who sent us in the right direction.  

Imagine the boys surprise when we were ushered down to these seats on the floor, behind the basket and directly beside the tunnel they use to come on to the court.  Christian could not believe it.  

Start of the game

Christian has mentioned several times that he wanted to go to a girls basketball game to see Britney Griner play so this was the perfect way to do that.  Ranked #1 since the beginning of the season, the Lady Bears were off to a great start!  

The boys cheered the girls on to another victory, stood up and cheered to get on the big screen over and over and Christian took loads of pictures and video on his itouch.  After the game was over, the Cub Club families were escorted to the front of the line for the autograph session following the game.  It was mass chaos at first as literally the entire crowd of the Ferrell Center rushed the floor for autographs.  Luckily they got it under control and we were the first in line.  We bought the boys t-shirts to get autographed although I wish I would have brought a basketball like another family did.  Note to self!

The boys were able to get their t-shirt as well as a team pic autographed by the entire team before they made the announcement over the loud speaker that they would only be signing the team picture and nothing else.  One of the players jokingly asked Christian why he wanted her to sign his Griner shirt.  Chad said to blame his mama and then she made a joke about not having her number in the spirit shop. When it came time for Britney to sign his shirt he was really excited that she signed in the number.  He thought that was really cool!

Here we are with our swag

To give you a better idea....

After the game we went to Buzzard Billys for dinner and drove around the campus in awe.  RGIII just won the Heisman so it was really cool to see the recognition around the campus.

It's a great year to be a Baylor Bear!

HO HO HO

On Christmas morning the boys woke up around 8 am.  The dogs had woken me up a little while earlier so I just layed in bed waiting for them to run in and get us up!  They were beyond excited to see what Santa had left them.  They each got a field goal post and 360 bike like they asked for and they were HAPPY!

Christian's favorite part of Christmas morning is digging in his stocking to see what fun things Santa left in there.  He has talked about it for days and it looks like Santa has been keeping with sports in what little spare time he must have had so close to Christmas.  

After Santa presents we waited a little while for the rest of the family to get there for our traditional Christmas morning feast!  After breakfast the boys once again pass out a slew of presents and tell everyone where they are going to sit. 

Again, I concentrate on the joy and excitement they get to experience as they open their presents.

Christian was beyond excited when he opened this RGIII jersey given to him by his brother Carson!  They obviously were thinking along the same lines because Christian got Carson a Dirk jersey that he loves too!

Now that is some love!

We spent the rest of the day with family and friends, watching football, playing with new toys and eating...ALOT!

Merry Christmas 2011

A SAD GOODBYE

Christmas Eve ended with us coming home, unloading presents from the car, Chad taking a few new toys out of the boxes to assemble, Christian and Carson sprinkling reindeer food on the front yard, the boys and I getting cookies, carrots and milk set out for Santa, and getting in our pj's.  Tonight, however, the boys quickly came to the realization that when Tree Hopper left for the North Pole tonight, he would not be coming right back.  Instantly I began to notice a sudden change in the boys moods.  They both grabbed a sheet of paper and poured their heart out in a letter they were hoping Hopper would take back with them on his trip home to the North Pole.  After Christian finished writing his letter, he came around and asked each of us to please sign it.  Below are the letters they each wrote to Tree Hopper:

From Carson:  Cool fort and you shot and killed the toys. 

(Earlier that day, the boys found Tree Hopper upstairs playing with Nerf guns.  He was propped up  inside a Batman fort and had shot out at all the toys/bad guys that tried to come in)

These smiles quickly turned to alligator tears come bed time.  Christian literally cried his eyes out because he did not want Tree Hopper to leave.  After I put him in bed, he came out two or three times to say his good-byes and how much he loves him.  It was so sweet yet so sad.  I will never forget the magic that Tree Hopper brought into our home this season.  I can only hope it continues next year!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to Sonia's house around 3pm in the afternoon.  We spend the morning baking, watching Christmas movies and putting the finishing touches on presents, etc.

When it came time to head to Frisco, Chad and I loaded up the car with presents, sweet potatoes and pies and made our way to begin the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  Since I am not the one slaving away at the stove tonight (Thank You Sonia), I use this time before dinner to snap some family pictures which once again reminds me of the lightning paced speed in which my kids are growing up.  All the while Nikki got our annual family holiday game started.  Luckily she has two eager volunteers to get the game going. This year it was Christmas Charades.

After we all stuff ourselves and the dishes are put away, the boys finally get permission to start passing out presents.  They place everyone in the same spot year after year.

Once they get the green light to OPEN OPEN OPEN, I sit back and watch the boys faces light up as they unwrap their presents.

These tennis shoes were hot on his list.  

Once again, we were all spoiled beyond belief and would leave their house later that evening with a suburban loaded down with new things.  After dessert and tracking Santa, we took this last pic of Queenie with her great-grandkids and came home to get ready for St. Nick.

Christmas Break

The first week of Christmas Break was a wonderful reminder of how richly blessed we are with incredible friendships!  I say it over and over but we truly have the best of friends that hold a special place in my heart and have truly become family!  We started off the Christmas break with an adults only party at the Burnhams!  It included a gift exchange that got ugly for some, but man did I sure score, thanks in part to my willing hubby!  That night, the boys stayed with Grandma and Ta Ta.  They went to Willow Bend mall where they attempted to see Santa (long story), ate dinner and each got to pick out a special present just days before the big day.  Here are some pics they took...

Sunday, we went to Grandma and Ta Ta's annual Christmas party.  The boys love when Carlotta and Sarah come over....and so do we.  It always equals extra fun and a lot of loud laughter!  I know grandma worried about her party for weeks in advance but as always it was great!  We all ate, laughed, and opened a special "stocking" present they have for each of us!

Monday night, we went and ate mexican food with the Stephens and the Lacys before making our annual drive thru Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate.  We piled in and caravanned in two cars on our way to look at Christmas lights in Deerfield.  The lights were not as spectacular this year as I remember them being in years past, but they still did the trick.  On our way back North we found a house in Frisco that displayed 85,000 light bulbs dancing to music.  It was amazing!

Tuesday night we went to Japon, Christian's favorite restaurant, with the Ubanoski family and again drove around afterwards looking at Christmas lights.  The kids were all piled in together and eventually we all ended up in one car driving around.  We may have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies but we did it in style.  We finished the evening at our house with tasty after dinner drinks.

Thursday night we had Christmas with the Vinings.  This year we met up with them in Grapevine for Mexican Food.  We laughed, told stories, reflected on 2011 and exchanged Christmas gifts.  By the time we left the restaurant it was late and freezing so we just drove around looking at all the decorations downtown.  Ross was right about these two and I know he is looking down and smiling at the friendship and partnership we have built with them.

Friday night, Jana Beth, Jason, Mom, David and Alex came over for our annual Christmas together.  About two hours before Jana Beth and Jason got there though, I realized that Jana's present (that I bought on Black Friday that was super cute) was NOT under the tree.  I tore the house apart and scoured the attic to no avail so at 5 pm on the Friday before Christmas I drove to the mall to buy another present.  I was NOT happy and to this day, I still have not found the original present.  The sad thing is I remember hiding it, I just don't remember where.

Jason and Chad's prom picture re-enactment

LOVE

I probably should have made this a separate post but Ross' buddy Alex came and spent Christmas with us this year.  He was here for a week and I can assure you he left exhausted.  The boys had him playing basketball, football or something every minute they were with him. We are so glad you came!

I LOVE THIS NEXT PICTURE

The night ended too soon but it capped off a special week with wonderful people that we love.