Spring Break

We had a great time blowing with the wind on Spring Break! We spent a few days bumming around Dallas. I took the boys to Epic Waters and we slept in and watched movies. We all enjoyed some downtime with no set scheduled.

Then midweek we headed out to East Texas to stop by the farm to check on the progress and then go on our first ever glamping adventure. The Canton KOA impressed and our wagon was pretty cool! The beds were amazingly comfortable, the cabin was very clean, but the geese did NOT sleep at night and stayed very busy honking. The kids thought it was hilarious that I lost track of Colton and then thought he was lured into an RV with a smore. I was panicked by the time I got back to the wagon and they were all sitting around laughing at me because they knew I would be nervous. Nice, guys, real nice!

Then, we headed to Fort Worth to cheer on the BU men's basketball in the first round of March madness. Grant got us tickets to a fun pep rally. The BU men won and Colton was excited to have a moment of fame on the big screen! Roy Williams sat a few rows behind us and signed a basketball for Jack Ranger. So cool!

We stopped by the house after the game, got fresh clothes, and then went to Waco to watch the women play against Hawaii in their first round of March madness. The Hawaiin cheerleaders were incredible! Colton worked hard again to get on the big screen with a delightfully crazy outfit, but no luck this time. We had fun showing the kids around the Baylor campus before the game. And of course we stopped by the silos and the HEB to buy some BU gear.

I love that we pretty much have fun no matter where we go together. A few funny things from this trip were Ranger pretty much falling asleep all the time! Whenever we were in the car, he laid down and went to sleep. Obviously, a growth spurt or something. We kept saying "Where is Ranger? Did we leave him?" There also seems to be a Bugles shortage, JR's favorite gas station snack. So we kept looking at every stop for Bugles. Cadie carried a book with her everywhere, and Grant had a good time teaching the kids all about basketball. 

2021 Recap

Joys this year included:
- Exploring and dreaming about all the plans at CRC (Cadie-Ranger-Colton) Farm
- My new book club friends! Maryann Bandlamudi invited me to join a ladies book club and it has been a joy to get to know Sarah, Brooke, Maryann, Suzie, Kyle, Jane, Erin G. - sometimes I come home with sore muscles from laughing.

- Finishing my first full year at McKesson. I am in a good place with a great team and I feel comfortable and fulfilled.

- Seeing Cadie truly come into her own. She has a sweet group of friends, is signed up for the rowing team for the Spring season with Dallas United Crew, loved being part of the backstage crew and is trying out again for the spring musical, and she will be going through confirmation with our church.

- Making the tough decision to get a prophylactic mastectomy to reduce my change of getting breast cancer down to less than 2%.

- Starting marriage counseling for the first time ever with Grant. We have done things like the Family Life Weekend to Remember and Re-engage with our church. We have always benefited from those things and decided to invest more intentionally in our marriage. Thanks Sparrow House!

- Watching the boys play sports - mostly football. I get pretty into it. Thanks Coach Big John and Coach Cherkassky!

- Hanging around the house at night with friends in and out, Grant grilling steaks, a bottle of wine (or two), and sleeping in the next day. 

- Having a support system strong enough to manage through for the first time ever without a full-time nanny. It also helps that the kids are so responsible and can walk most places. Babysitter Channing helped a few days a week, but it was a pretty collaborative effort to make every day come together and get everyone where they needed to be. 

- Continued worship at our church home which reopened this year after a huge remodel.

Life is sweet in the yellow house!

 

NOLA for New Year's

Sic Em Bears! Grant and I got to cheer on the winning bears at the Sugar Bowl for New Year's. We packed a lot into 48 hours while the kids partied with DD and Big John. We ate Beignets, had a fancy new year's dinner at Antoine's Restaurant, got massages, slept in, cheered for the Bears at the Superdome, and did our best to avoid the crazy crowds. Happy 2022!

Mom Days - the Tradition Continues

Another round of super fun mom days! Each kid gets a day over the holidays that we plan together and try to make special and meaningful. Cadie and I did some manicures and girly things. Jack Ranger and I got Yummy Donuts on Lovers Lane, we played with the sweetest Shiba Inu at Petland, he got a new expensive pair of Nike's from NorthPark, and then he generously offered for us to go pick up Cadie from being a cooking camp helper and we did two Dreamscapes together (Lost Pearl and Blue). For Colton's day, we ventured all the way out to the Colony and had so much fun at Grandscapes. We did go-carts, electric dreambox, and the Jurassic World exhibit. Colton wanted JR to come along because the boys enjoy doing all that kinda stuff together.

I told Ranger that someday Mom Days would be reversed. Ranger was so excited about his Mom Day that he had made a list ahead of time and he set an alarm to wake up early and not miss a minute. It made me feel so special that he was excited to spend a day together. I told him that someday it would be reversed and I would be the one making a list and bursting with excitement to spend a day with my son. I know as each of them grow up that their time for me will decreased and I will be ever-so-grateful that we continue the tradition.

Merry Christmas

I took two entire weeks off work! Dec. 22 through Jan. 4 was all about Christmas, family, sleeping in, and making memories. It was a much needed break and I barely looked at anything work-related. 

We took a trip to the farm and it was so warm that the boys swam! We spent Christmas Day at DD and Big John's but it was a little off because both Colton and Cadie didn't feel well so Grant and I took shifts bringing kids home that needed to rest. We watched pretty much all the Harry Potter movies. The kids all got snuggies and spent a lot of time breaking them in. Ranger sold mistletoe and made almost $500. Cadie and I hosted a gift exchange mother/daughter book club and discuss "Girl Stolen". Grant and Big John showed up to church wearing almost identical outfits. Grant and I went to counseling two times, which is a big deal because 1:1 marriage counseling is a first for us.

The weather was so beautiful we spent lots of time outside and the boys climbed many, many trees. It was a beautiful, restful, and calm time. I am beyond grateful for these amazing people that I get to live my life with.