March Madness

Keagan and I have had the week off for spring break. We had lunch at a new downtown Italian market / restaurant, we had brunch at his favorite butcher shop, and we had kolaches from the local bakery. I cleaned, made the leader board at the gym, did our taxes, and read three books. Keagan played Fifa, played pick up games at the church gym, and went to soccer training. We watched premier league games and wished we were in Tampa for the SEC tourney. I got a sunburn Thursday sitting poolside and went to bed Friday night with snow falling. 

We cheered for the Vols Friday afternoon. Evan made it home for his spring break on Friday night, and we watched Vandy almost pull off the upset. 

This morning we awoke to this. 

We are hunkered down in the house avoiding the bitter cold and going to do what we know best: eat and watch sports. 

God Blessed Texas

Maybe because I had to spend Tuesday relinquishing my Texas residency and establishing Tennessee residency. Maybe because I want to ensure my boys have a strong connection to “home.” Whatever the reason, I subscribe to Texas Monthly, proudly speak with my Texas accent and want my boys to feel Texas is as much of their home as Tennessee. On our way to San Antonio we stopped in Austin to see the Capitol. 

The best part of the trip? Seeing how the interstate was lined with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to get out of the 80 mph car and frolic in the flowers. It’s been more than twenty years since I’ve seen them in bloom. Luckily, I got a picture while standing still. There’s nothing more beautiful than Texas in spring!

I got my authentic Mexican food at Mi Tierra but we also found a new favorite Mexican bakery. My weekend was complete and I hadn’t even seen a basketball player! 

And we experienced the king of gas stations, Buccees! It’s only after this I-35 stop that I think my kids can be officially considered Texans!. 

Coat of Many Colors

We made it back from the beach sun kissed and sun kissed some more. I really don't know what I was thinking when I asked my seven year old to spray sunscreen on my back. I should have known that when I shimmied my back right to left multiple times to try to even out the spray that he held in one spot for an extended amount of time, that I was doomed. Sure enough. My legs, however, if you are looking at the front side only, are rockin' one golden tan. Sadly, the backs of my legs saw little sun as I was so engrossed with "A Game of Thrones", I forgot to flip, and today they remain a pasty white.

It's as if I am wearing a coat of many colors.

We left the resort this morning after a rousing pick-up game on the ocean side basketball court. Let me just tell you that I think the suburbanite tweens wearing their Abercrombie t-shirts thought they had their two-on-two game wrapped up when they saw Little Bit and Tongue Wagging Man Child on the courts warming up. They had no idea, though, that my two boys have spent the last two years playing ball with anything but white suburbanites and they had GAME. Final score: 30 - 7. I warmly wished them a wonderful vacation and whisked my two away before a rematch was called. The tweens could do nothing but gawk at Little Bit and Man Child as we gathered our plastic Ninja toys and sand castle buckets and headed for valet parking.

Or were those two gawking at my coat of many colors?

No, it had to be all of those mad basketball skills that left them in utter confusion.

Baby Boy No More

We made it! The weather is perfect. The beach is beautiful. However, sometimes you must be taken out of your own environment to a new place to really "see" something.

At the resort we are surrounded by families, most are families with tweens and teens. As I sat on my lounge chair today, lulled to near sleep by the sound of the waves, I see this boy run towards me, and I say to myself, "One day my own boys will be this big." Slightly relieved I still had some time before I reached that half grown stage, I was shocked to find it was my own child now standing in front of me.

The signs have been there all along. He no longer orders from the kids' menu. I had to buy him an entire new set of school uniforms a week ago. This week I am buying a new set of summer shorts and t-shirts. Last night, I bought him a baseball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes, and we had to go to the men's section to find one that fit.

Lucky for me, though, he still finds it fun to cover his little brother in mud, and he still finds it just as much fun to have his brother reciprocate.

And lucky for me, I have one little guy who is still pleased as punch to be my baby boy.

Spring Break Week

Day one of our spring break has commenced, and most would think a spring break week filled with dentist appointments, closet cleaning, science fair projects, and filing taxes, would be uneventful and rather drab. Not in this house.

For starters, we are on week two of our marathon Monopoly game. See? I told you. The excitement is really unbearable. I had a chance to go bankrupt last Thursday night and didn't. I don't know what I was thinking when I "accidentally" moved 10 spaces instead of 9 and totally skipped over Park Place and its $2000 fee. At that moment, for some unknown reason, I just couldn't lose. So I cheated. I justified it by saying the bonding time we experience over board games is worth it. I have kicked myself all weekend for that decision.

We bought new tennis shoes today. This is a very rewarding experience for a parent of a tween who hates to shop. Of course, both boys selected shoes with price tags nearing $60. I said, "Absolutely not. I am NOT paying that kind of money for some shoes." And then Evan pulled off his current pair of shoes, and I saw that every stitch of lining had worn away from the heels and the cushioned sole revealed daylight. I did what any responsible parent would do. I asked for a size 5 and 12 and we left with two new pairs of shoes.

I have also mediated two knock-down drag-out fights over a lost bouncy ball, and I made seven grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I was thanked with, "Is that all you are going to make?"

Let me remember that the beach is awaiting our arrival. Only two more days and we will leave board games, tennis shoes and grilled cheese sandwiches behind for the sun, sand, and surf!