What's on my phone

Ever start going through your photos and think, OH YEAH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT?

 I do that all the time, and then I think I want to make sure I remember these moments. Like our Thursday night meet ups for Mexican, except now we are missing Olivia since she went and moved on us. :( 

Or the fact that I got to hold Emaline for the first time when we celebrated Luke's birthday.

Or all these sweet girls.

And I can't leave out what I was up to while Hope was away having THE BEST NIGHT OF HER LIFE. 

Sitting across the table from us was my bestie who came to see me. Pierce tagged along with us on Friday night, but luckily for him we can talk football just like a couple of dudes so it wasn't too painful for him.

It was a shorter visit, she only could stay one night.

But it was still so great.

One day I'm going to sift though all of our selfies and make a book, you know like Kim K did, except not so hoochie. Here's a little factoid about my selfies, I will always vie for the left side, right side selfies just don't do me justice. Okay, maybe I really am like Kim K?

Aren't my friends pretty? I love them!

And one last thing, isn't my great nephew ADORABLE? My mom took this photo, and it kills me. His cute little hat, those big blue eyes, my nephew lovingly looking at his son. KILL ME. 

So that's what on my phone, or was. Bowling Green got 10 inches of snow and we will be out of school the rest of the week.

SEND HELP AROUND THURSDAY AT NOON.

Daddy/Daughter dance, best day of her life. PART TWO.

Weeks back I heard about something called the My Girl Valentine Dance, and I was immediately on the hunt for information. A dance for daddies and daughters? I DIE. I LOVE dancing, and I loved the idea of Paul taking Hope on a sweet date, so for me it sounded like a perfect time. 

I just needed to convince Paul and Hope. 

Hope originally was like, uh no. But with talks about her friends going and a new dress, she slowly warmed up to the idea. Hope is very outgoing, except in new situations she can be shy, so I knew the unknown of it would freak her out. 

Of course Paul is the furthest thing from shy, and he can dance for a white boy, so he was easy to convince. 

I WAS ON CLOUD NINE. 

We talked about it for weeks, so that night I'm sure I was just as excited as she was. 

New dress, new shoes, new bow the size of Mt Rushmore....

And something else new. 

Paul had talked about getting her a corsage, but decided he would get her something she could keep forever instead.

She had no idea.

And I didn't know what he picked out, so it was just as much a surprise for me.

A sweet necklace to top it all off.

And I may have taken this many pictures, you know to the point of exhaustion. I COULDN'T HELP IT, I WAS SO EXCITED.

I teased Paul many times before that night telling him that it would probably be a night reminiscent of his high school days. You know he and his date sit at a table awkwardly twirling their thumbs, and eating bad dip. I had just convinced myself Hope would be too embarrassed to dance. 

I may have texted Paul a hundred few times, asking how the night was going, and in his I GIVE FEW DETAILS OVER TEXT persona, he would respond fine. 

Oh but he did finally give me, I'm sweating like I'm doing a Zumba class. So that was a clue that they were actually dancing. But I just had to wait until they walked through the door to get the details of the night, and it was sort of killing me. 

When Hope came through the door at the end of the night, she threw up her arms and declared it, THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. 

Did you guys dance?? 

THE ENTIRE THREE HOURS. 

It may have tore me up from the floor up not being there, but I was so happy they did something just the two of them. They don't get a lot of one-on-one time, but I have a feeling this is a new tradition. 

 Look who got flowers after all. 

Paul said they never sat down, and it was a room full of squealing happy girls.

He took quite a few pictures and lots of videos too, I was so proud.

Short little video of her getting down. 

When I tucked her into she just kept asking me, can I go again next year?

Yes baby, you can.

Oh, and I may have plans to wear all black and hide in the back next year. I'll keep you posted.

Best day of her life, part one.

Friday was "the best day of my life" according to miss Hope Elizabeth.

 And well, I have to agree it was a pretty fantastic day. 

It started with the first real travel day for the Demo/Performance team for the Jumpin' Jags. They loaded up on the bus first thing that morning, and were gone almost all of the school day. I took a personal day and followed them around what felt like the entire state of Kentucky. 

 An hour and 20 minutes later we arrived at a school full of children eagerly awaiting to watch the kids perform.

See Hope in the back there?

I could tell she was a little reserved, but it was a big crowd.

But she slowly warmed up.

Never in my life would I have imagined my kids would be into jumping rope as a sport, but it's really quite awesome.

School #1 was finished.

But not much time to rest, because it was time to head to the next school, 8 million miles away.

WHO KNEW KENTUCKY WAS SO BIG?

The coach giving them a pep-talk just like any coach. WATCH YOUR LINES, JUMP LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

And I'd say it worked! Or maybe she just had the jitters out, because she was in it to win it.

And I am SO glad that I was there to traipse all over the countryside to watch.

But the best part of her day was still to come....

Not going to gonna do that again this year, except I will.

Twice a year I get an email from a consignment sale that runs here in BG letting me know, HEY, IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! Come sign up to sell all your stuff, make some money, help some people, and well, just enjoy the experience that is consigning. 

Uh, let me tell you about the work that goes into it. It's dreadfully time consuming, think yard sale on crack. 

So when I see that email come in, I generally respond accordingly. 

AND EACH TIME I FINISH ONE, I always think, I AM NOT DOING THAT AGAIN.

But guess who always signs up.

Just got another email today letting me know the sale is only four weeks away, and I immediately started to itch.

So pretty much over the next four weeks I will settle into the abyss of clothes and remain there.

And just as I do every year, when the check rolls in I will do a jig.

See you on the other side people.

Nathan time

My weekend was centered around this guy. 

I did manage to throw in some stuff that didn't involve him.

But for the most part, it was Nathan time.

I walked into Borden High School to watch Nathan play basketball and who did I look up and see?  My bestie's husband!

I was all like, ERIC! And then all, WHERE'S TRACEY?

Sad face, Tracey wasn't there, but we all had fun hanging out. Cause you know when you hang out with Eric Reid it's basically like hanging out with the mayor, because he knows ERRBODY.

Also absent, my baby who came down sick on Saturday. Blah.

But back to Nathan, who is now SIXTEEN!

And as you can see thrilled about it.

 Thankfully Hope perked up for the party.

She's pretty crazy about her cousins.

But we all feel that way.

I remember turning sixteen, and what a sweet age it was.

Of course when I look at my baby nephew I see the little boy who carried around a ball all the time, and took a bottle until kindergarten. Ha! But here he is growing up, and doing a fine job at it.

So glad I was there to celebrate you. Happy Birthday, Nathan.