March Madness

I love sitting on the edge of my couch watching the end of exciting basketball games and March Madness always brings the best basketball out of each team that participates! Emotions are flying high and the sheer joy of victory of an underdog team brings chill bumps to my skin every time! And I am not afraid to say that even the tears from the seniors of the losing teams will spring tears to my eyes as I share their pain of knowing they will never play college ball again.

Last weekend, I was able to volunteer my time to help with the NCAA 1st and 2nd round games in Shreveport. The four teams that participated were Rutgers, Texas A&M, McNeese, and my Lady Techsters. I was more than thrilled when i saw the brackets come out with each of these teams since I have a personal relationship with each coaching staff. I was looking forward to reconnecting with them and to cheer on my alma mater of Louisiana Tech, who was considered the host school. And how exciting it was to witness history as my best friend at McNeese takes her team to their first ever NCAA game.

It was fun bouncing around town to greet each team as they arrive into town on Friday. I got people involved that weren't afraid to be loud and sometimes obnoxious to make the teams feel welcomed. I think my mom was an instant hit with each team! The games were on Sunday and Tuesday and I was glad that my sweet hubby was able to watch the kids these days so I could work them. The better team, Texas A&M, walked away with two victories to move onto the next round. I was proud of the crowd that showed up to support the event!

One of my other favorite things about March is leaving the long, cold winter behind and welcoming the beautiful blooms of Spring. I love it! And the kids have enjoyed spending lots of time outside. We have started the park circuit already and it's been wonderful. Here are some pictures of a recent playdate this past Friday that was perfect. The kids got along so well!

And every year, I try to catch the peach trees in bloom to take some pictures of the kids. I almost missed it this year but we were able to find a few trees that still had blooms left. Now, if I could only figure out how to get the kids to look at the camera and actually smile!

Happy Spring!!

Look! A pattern!

Since before christmas, Landon has been into noticing patterns and making some of his own (with shapes and colors) around the house. But this particular pattern is one he will not notice. Last Sunday night, Landon was hit with the stomach bug. Then Thursday, Kennedy was down for a day with it. And guess who got it last night (Sunday)? yep, yours truly! I guess according to the pattern of this stomach bug, Lance is due to be hit with it on Thursday, right in the middle of a big presentation. So, here is to Lance breaking up this vicious pattern!!

This time last year, we were all hit with the stomach bug and I remember it very vividly because Lance and I still talk about it! He was laid up in the bed during my favorite weekend of basketball on tv and I was soooo jealous!! Yep! that's right, jealous of poop and vomit! He got to watch three days worth of ball while I barely caught any of the games while taking care of the kids. And then i get the bug just in time the games take a break in midweek and I get nothing! Then I took back everything I said to him after going through what he went through!! Miserable!

Score!!!

Landon scored his first soccer goal this morning! I don't have any pictures or video of it but it was still cute. He was so excited about it and talked about it the rest of the day. It's funny how his mind works...he still is trying to figure out the 'scoring' thing. He keeps saying that his team had one point and HE had one point. I have to keep reminding him that his team had a point because HE scored a point and then explain the rest of the scoring scenarios.

I was really amazed how much the team has improved in only three games. Although, Landon STILL wants to pick up the ball with his hands. He had a break away and he was close to the goalie and all he had to do is shoot it (no one else was around him) and he just picks up the ball! It's hard not to laugh! Maybe he is confused by knowing the goalie can touch with his hands?? He seems to want to do it more when he is close to the goal.

It was a fun morning with the soccer game and seeing some friends out there. The rest of the day was gorgeous and we were able to spend a lot of time outside. March madness has begun with all the conference tournaments winding up and it was a great day of basketball. Although, my Lady Techsters lost in the finals of the WAC conference tournament. :( We will have to wait and see if they will get an at-large bid on Selection Show this monday night. I think their chances are good since they are a host school, their RPI is 25, and have a great quality 15-point win over Georgia. Plus they have won 17 of the last 18 games. Hopefully the selection committee will grant them a ticket to the big dance!

My friend, Brooks, at McNeese won their conference tournament and I hope they get sent to the Shreveport site so i can see them. But with the Techsters losing today, it might not happen if Tech gets in. They will both be lower seeds and not at the same site. Who knows! i can't wait for Monday night!

my little soccer man...

Today's lesson: Don't get cocky

So, I was telling my friend, Shelley, at the park yesterday that no one else got what Landon had on Sunday night. I said that i just knew that we were going to dodge a bullet. Maybe it was me just trying to spread some positive thinking around our household to kill off the stomach bug(along with tons of clorox!). Wednesday rolls around and I just get down-right cocky. I even start planning a last minute trip to the condo for the weekend. Well, well, well.... poor Kennedy....

I dropped her off at school and her teacher calls me about 45 minutes later to let me know that she just isn't herself and doesn't seem to feel good and probably should come get her. She was refusing food (at home too, but this isn't unusual) and her teacher knew it was bad when she didn't even want a chocolate chip cookie. I go to pick her up and I can tell she doesn't feel well. And at this point, i STILL don't think it's the stomach bug (cocky, cocky, cocky).

well, I get halfway home and I hear the dreaded gurgle sound from behind me. Yep! Throw up all in my car. I am hoping she can sleep it off this afternoon! I am still going to stay positive, but will definitely stay humble!!!! Please pray that she gets well and that no one else gets it!!!

Conference Champs

With Lance living it up in Palm Springs, playing golf all week and through the weekend, I decided to take a little trip myself. My mom and I took the kids to Lake Charles Friday and Saturday to watch one of my best friends coach her final home game at McNeese. I was so proud watching her take first place in their league with their big win over Lamar. They will be the number 1 seed in their conference tournament this upcoming week. It was a long weekend for the kids, but they got to swim at Brooks' house and also play at the jumpy during her game. If McNeese wins their conference tournament, they might get the chance to play in Shreveport the first two rounds of the NCAA!! Crossing my fingers!

Brooks is on the right with the trophy. The other guy is the mens coach...it was a double header game and they won as well. First time in their conference that both men and women won the regular season title

Also, I just found out that she got Coach of the Year in their conference! Go Brooks!!

After the late night arrival to our house on Saturday night, it was safe to say that the kids were exhausted. They slept until 8:30 on Sunday which is very unusual for Kennedy. We still managed to get to sunday school at 10 and then we went to a birthday party at 2:30. Both kids were tired again that evening and were asleep by 7:00.

Landon told me that his stomach hurt right before he went to bed and I found it odd how fast he feel asleep too. Two hours later he woke up throwing up and having to go to the bathroom. It was a long night for him and not the best welcome-home-lance party when he arrived at 11:00pm last night.

Today he has been great so it looks like he is over it. This morning while doing a ton of laundry and cleaning up the stains from last night, I found Kennedy downstairs in the playroom with a bottle of baby powder. I couldn't even be mad!! I just laughed and grabbed my camera. Now, later I got a little mad, after I cleaned it up, when I discovered she had poured it in every drawer in the play room. Oh well!! I needed a good excuse to weed out some of their toys anyway!!

Pray for Jake

As I type, my 4 year old cousin is having his 3rd open heart surgery to fix a valve on his heart. I membrane keeps growing and covering it up. They are hopeful that this will be the last time. I can only imagine what Ty and Amy are going through right now. You can following them at http://tymccathran.blogspot.com/

These past two weeks have been a blur, but so much fun! We have been enjoying some wonderful weather and I think that just puts everyone in a great mood!

Landon has started playing soccer and he has really enjoyed it. He gets frustrated sometimes that he is not the fastest on the field and I have to keep telling him that he is one of the youngest ones and that he will catch up soon (I hope!). If only his team can learn about the boundries on field, we could spend more time playing instead of chasing the ball down into the woods!

The Hall kids and Tyler kids before their first game

On Feb 19th, we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday by throwing her a barnyard party. It was a blast for all ages. The kids loved dancing, playing on the jumpy and looking at the longhorn cows. By the end of the night, they were worn out!! Landon and Kennedy were sooo excited about seeing their cousins that they haven't seen in several months. They also enjoyed seeing some of their close friends, jake and landry grace, who came in from Ruston for the party. This sounds like a kid's birthday party, but a great time was had by all the adults as well! ;) My dad and my aunts did a fantastic job of planning everything from the square dancing, bon fire, bar-b-que, and a DJ for music.

All the cousins dancing

Me and my sweet mama! I wish you could see her new boots! Too bad we can't wear the same size shoe!! They were so cute!

Landon and the birthday girl!

The following weekend was filled with basketball!! I am on the NCAA committee that is hosting the 1st two rounds of the women's tournament in Bossier City. We have been promoting this tournament and this past weekend was the kick of these promotions. We held a free clinic for the kids in the Shreveport/Bossier area at BPCC. Following the clinic, we had an all-star game that consisted of former high school standout girls basketball players (from shreveport area) that went on to play college basketball somewhere. I had a blast tracking down these players to play and I was so grateful for some of my former high school and college teammates to participate. It went perfect!!! No one got hurt and everyone had a blast! My biggest concern was having a few kids at the clinic and no one showing up to watch the game. Well, having around 50 kids come to the clinic exceeded my expectations and I was glad when the kids stayed for the game as well.

Players that played in the game