March Madness!

I love March Madness.  Absolutely love it.  My mom started it.  She became a fan of the Arizona Wildcats and Lute Olsen and I followed.  Ever since then, I've looked forward to this time of year and all the excitement.  This year our beloved Belmont Bruins got an 11 seed!!  And they drew the Arizona Wildcats.

Some of you may be confused.  I have a few friends that have said, "wait, I thought you were from Texas?" and so now I'll give you a small history lesson.

Meet my family.

We are all originally from Arizona.  My brothers and I were born and raised in the Phoenix area.  When Robbie was about 6, we moved to a small town in Southeast Arizona named Elfrida. (It's by Tombstone and yes, that is a real town)  That's where I went to school, K-12.  There were about 8 of us that started Kindergarten and finished High School together.  There were about 60 in my graduating class. 

Anyway, I'm a native Arizonan.  I miss the sunsets, the mountains, and especially the weather.  Then I went to college in Texas, just like my older brother, and my parents then moved to Texas and it has been home ever since.  I love Texas, too.  A lot.  Home, for me, is where the heart is and my family (heart) is all in Texas, so it is why people are confused as to where I'm from.

But back to Arizona and your history lesson.  (You'll also be getting the history of my awful hair and lanky stages of my life)  So I grew up in Arizona and the closest big city (when I say big city, I mean airport and mall) was Tucson where the University of Arizona was located.  Growing up and doing 4-H and FFA, we were at the University all the time for things at the Agriculture Department and we would also do things in High School in the music department.  The University did a good job working with it's local community.  If I wasn't into sports and didn't want to pursue that, I think that UofA would have been a good school for me.

Growing up, we did the horse thing. (and bowl cuts apparently)

This horse died Christmas morning.  Robbie was tore up and I just asked when we'd be getting another. 

And we did the pig thing.

And my favorite...we did the cow thing.  (Let's ignore my glasses, purple pants, and bandana bow tie and focus on the cows.)

I get tickled looking at these pictures.  I have to tell you about these two mean cows.  They were the first cows my brother and I halter broke and showed.  They were from the same sire (daddy) and so we named them June and Brenda after my dad's two beautiful sisters.  Ol' Brenda, my brother's heifer, was a burro.  She was so tall and stubborn.  I remember dad trying to teach her to walk on a lead by hooking her up to the tractor and instead of walking behind the tractor, she planted her feet and it looked like she was water skiing.  June, my heifer, was just flat out mean.  My dad might even use a harsher word because she had it out for him.  She let me lay all over her, brush her, feed her grain, rub her back....but when my dad would come around her, she would hold her head up and blow snot at him.  He was going to show her one day and he tied her to a pole with a long lead and said, "Alright sis.  You just lead her around and as soon and she bolts, you let go and she'll hit the end of that lead and it will whip her around.  It will show her not to run off anymore."  So I obeyed my dad and sure enough she took off and hit the end of the rope and it spun her around.  My dad smiled because this was the trick.  He was going to teach her!!!  Well, with no give in the rope, she took off in my dad's direction and clothes lined him and sent him flying in the air!  His glasses flew off and everything.  I helped him up and we found his glasses and we put her away.  That was enough training for that particular day.  With June,  I was more of an anchor to her kite.  We would pull up to a livestock show and it would take 5 men to get that hot headed heifer just from the trailer to her spot in the barn.  She'd kick at people, charge at people, and just put on a show.  She drug Mr. Wade, the biggest and strongest man, right down a whole row of hedges.  It was like a cartoon.  He was at the end of her halter rope and you could see those hedges bobbing as he went right through them.  I didn't win many ribbons with her.  Mostly because we couldn't get her in the show ring.  Once in a while I would get a sympathy ribbon.  I cried a lot.  But when you got that mean ol' cow back home to where she was comfortable, she was the sweetest pet. 

I LOVED the cows the most.  Seriously, I love cows.  And bangs.

So every spring break, we would be showing our heifers at the Southwest Arizona International Livestock Association (SAILA) in Tucson.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was 1997 and Arizona was making a run in the tournament.  They stunned #1 Kansas and got into the Elite Eight, slipped passed Providence, and beat #1 seed North Carolina to earn a spot in the National Championship.  Dad bought mom a small black and white television with rabbit ears at an auction and he brought the television that year and hooked up there in the barn and we would all sit around it and watch the excitement.  And maybe it was extra exciting because we were right there in Tucson when all of this was happening.  But good ol' Lute Olsen (the silver fox) and his perfect full head of hair lead the great Mike Bibby and Miles Simon to win the national championship against Kentucky.  My favorite moment was when player Bennett Davison ran up to Lute Olsen and gave him a big hug, and then took his hands and ruffled Lute's perfect head of hair.  Something we all wish we could have done at that moment.  It was wonderful.

But then Lute lost his wife, Bobbi, in 2001 to her battle with cancer and retired in 2008.  It just hasn't been the same since he's left.  I'm still a fan.  I always cheer for them in Road to the Final Four, but this year it's a little different.  You see, I met this guy.

There he is, putting the hurt on Lipscomb.

 And I've gotten to know a new coach that I respect.

Steve, Adam, and Coach Byrd

And I've watched Adam pour so much love and hardwork into this Belmont program.  I've also watched this program grow into a bigger facility and move into a bigger conference.  I've also watched this program enter into this tournament and lose by a lot and lose by a little.  This program is just like my home.  Home is where the heart is.  And my heart is with Belmont.  It's our turn and I hope this is the year!

Let's go Bruins!

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We've been hit!

We had yet another busy weekend.  We got to see Nick and Ashlie last weekend.  Coach Byrd wanted to honor teams at a home game. It was the 20^th anniversary of the 92-93 team that won 30 games for the first time in Belmont history and won the first ever national tournament game in school history. The 97-98 team was the first Division I basketball team and set the foundation for championship teams to come. And the 02-03 team (Adam's) won the first D1 championship of any kind by winning the North Division of the Atlantic Sun regular season.

Adam shared with me what Coach Byrd wrote to them in an email and he has a lot of people say he's a class act, so it might lose it's meaning.  But he really is a class act.  He cares about his University, program, and players equally.  I envy Adam's success in college basketball, but not nearly as much as I envy his experience of playing for a great program.  Coach Byrd values what every team went through and acknowledges them as being part of the team's successes today.  He doesn't forget about his players once they're gone.  It's nice to be remembered.  I can see why players like Adam, Steve, and Nick gave him their very best while they were there.

One of my favorite stories about Coach Byrd was when Adam was on his recruiting trip.  Coach Byrd was walking him around campus and introducing him to everybody...the Dean, the department heads, etc.  While they were walking and talking, coach Byrd stopped to pick up a piece of trash lying on campus and went out of his way to find a trash can to throw it away.  That meant the world to Adam.  He went on visits to other schools where coaches only took out 30 minutes of their day to show him around and let the assistants do the rest of the work.  But not Coach Byrd.  He was all in.

I have all kinds of stories.  It was fun seeing Nick.  Especially since we just saw Steve.  It's good to get together and laugh about...the good ol' days.

Nick had a great story that I have never heard before.  He took an accounting class with Adam and they sat together.  I guess the class was pretty tough and they had an exam.  Nick said he promised himself that he would fight temptation and not glance over at Adam's paper, he would prepare himself and pass the test on his own.  (Please note that Nick is an attorney and very smart.  Adam is smart as well...especially math smart.)  So after the test was over and they were leaving the class, Adam took it upon himself to tell Nick every question that he got wrong because he was looking at Nick's test.  (Not that he got a lot wrong.  They both passed the test.)

That is SOOO Adam.  Especially back in the day.  Very competitive and wanted to let you know about it.

Nick married a sweetheart.  Ashlie teaches preschool in LaPorte and I caught her upstairs playing with the kids.

Nick played from afar.  :)

The girls had a blast at the game.  Belmont won, of course.  :)  We haven't been to many games as a family because they start so late.  Emilie danced A LOT and Aubrie talked her Grandpa into getting her some popcorn. 

Aubrie loving on her dad and watching the game.  So sweet.

Kyle can now sit up by himself.  Look at that big head!

I can just gobble up those chubby cheeks!!!

Well, at Kyle's 6 month check-up he got a flu shot.  I was so relieved.  Now we ALL had our flu shots and the weather was about to warm up!  Aubrie came home last week from MDO with a small fever and was whining.  She had bounced back by Friday night but then Emilie started running a small fever.  I figured that Aubrie shared a little bug with her sister.  The one thing they share well.  Kyle was doing good because he was still on an antibiotic for an ear infection.

Then Sunday Emilie didn't look good, was running a small fever, and at lunch she started shivering.  We gave her some Tylenol but on Monday she was still running a fever, but the Tylenol wasn't keeping it down.  So we took her in to the doctor but had to see someone else because our doctor was booked.  They listened to her lungs and told us she had pneumonia.  Poor Emilie.  We got an antibiotic for that and took her home.  But that evening, her temperature was up to 103.5 and by the time I dialed the doctor's office, it spiked to 104.9!!  We were told to alternate Motrin and Tylenol and put her in a bath.  The bath brought her temperature down to 102.5 and she perked back up and drank more water.  By Tuesday afternoon she was fever free and sounding better but by Wednesday afternoon, her temperature came back and she was miserable again.

SOOOO, we took her BACK to the doctor and got to see our fabulous Dr. Godfrey and he said her lungs sounded fine and took a swab of her nose and it turns out our sweet Emilie has the flu and double ear infection.  Great.  We are now switched to a different antibiotic and hopefully she'll be better by Saturday.  If not, back to the doctor.

My wounded crew.  We rounded them up, put on some slippers, hats, and blankets, and ran to the store, got some dinner to go, and rented The Lorax.

Friends, please pray she is better soon and that the rest of us don't pick it up.  We are ready to feel better!  And let's hope for warm, sunny weather!  I would love to open up all the windows, let the house air out, and then Clorox wipe every surface and toy in our house!  See, for me, that really does sound fun and makes me happy and Adam thinks I'm weird.

I hope everyone else is doing well and staying healthy!  Love to all! Pin It Now!

Roy and Shell!!!

 I had a wonderful surprise!  My parents came to town!  It couldn't have come at a better time.  The week before, Adam was in Memphis for two days and then he was off to New York for 3 days and they came in town just in time to help me out!  It was SOOO nice having them here to help.  They drove instead of flew.  My dad used to be a salesman and traveled all over this great country.  He loves to drive and see the country and my mom likes to ride along.  I love how much my parents love each other.

The kids were SO excited to see Gram and Poppy.  They got here right when nap time was over. 

Such a cutie!

 One of my favorite events was when the girls finished breakfast and they were getting ready for school, Aubrie fell down while dancing.  She started to cry because she hurt her bottom and so my mom took her over to dad to show her the "boo boo".  My dad said, "Oh no!  It's cracked!!"  Aubrie was devastated that it was cracked!  So my mom went and got an ice pack for her bottom.  

 And of course, Emilie wanted one, too.  So they both iced their bottoms.  Poppy and Gram had a good laugh out of that.  They stayed like that for a while.

Poor Kyle screamed a lot one night and has been congested for a week.  After his night of screaming, I felt that he earned a trip to the doctor's office to get his ears checked.  Sure enough, he had a horrible ear infection in his right ear.  Poor kid. 

Poppy spent a lot of time on Craigslist, looking at all kinds of deals.  Mom went with me to go workout every morning at 5:45 and Poppy was left to deal with any kids that woke up.  Aubrie would wake up and go sit by him with the iPad and they both would "work" together.  We called it our Starbucks WiFi corner. 

 This next sequence of pictures goes to show you that Emilie is still 2.  Just the other weekend at Costco, I had to apologize to passer-bys who were having to walk around her as she was on all fours, crying that her boot fell off.  I just said, "Sorry, she's 2." and some seemed to understand as they passed by and some looked at us like we were crazy.  She needs ignored and left alone to work through whatever she is going through.  Anyway, I wanted a picture of them with my parents before they left and Emilie absolutely would NOT participate.  I took about 20 pictures.  These are my favorites.

No Emi

Screaming Emi

Possessed Emi

Blurry Emi

About-to-go-boneless Emi

Thanks for coming, mom and dad.  I hope you had just as much fun as we did.  I hope everyone is doing well!  The girls have been running fevers with no other symptoms and Kyle seems to be getting better.  Actually, the other day Emilie opted out of breakfast and sure enough, at about 10 she came up and said, "Mommy, I need a samich!"  I explained to her that she skipped breakfast and that she needed to wait for lunch.  I was a little sympathetic so I gave her 2 dried apricots for her and 2 for her sister and returned to my bathroom to wipe down the counters and mop the floors.  (Kyle was napping.)  When I got done cleaning the bathroom, I came back to the living room and Emilie was sitting on the carpet with the bag of dried apricots and probably ate 1/3 of the bag.  She had self-inflicted diarrhea the rest of the day.  She kept belching and didn't want to eat anything.  She's such a mess.

Anyway, I hope we stay gunk free and make it to warmer weather.  I can't believe it is already March.  It snowed here today and yesterday.  Gross.  I'm ready for short sleeves and working in the yard.  Anybody else??
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