T-ball Luvin' and Boo Boo's

 We had our end of T-ball season party at the park the other night.  We got each kiddo a medal with their name on it.  They loved them!  I like them better than trophies!  We got pizza, the other t-ball mom made homemade cupcakes and we let them play and eat.  They had fun playing with each other and not playing t-ball!

 This was a fun year and hope Cody, Blake and John will coach again together next year!

 After our party we ventured over to the t-ball fields to watch the last t-ball teams finish out the tournament.  There weren't a lot of people there and most of the t-ball fields were empty.  We let Jones run around with his friends since there wasn't very many people and they were out of the way and not bothering anybody.  I was all into the game and year the gut wrenching, scream.  I look over and Cody was already to Jones cradling him.  I kind of panicked, just because of the scream that came out of him.  I managed to get Cody to stop walking and trying to get Jones to calm down and made Jones look at me.  He had blood gushing out of his head.......  Cody's eyes got big, mine got big and we were headed to the bathroom!  On the way there I just knew we needed to go to the ER and they were going to have to put staples in my son's head. Cody said he was running full force and tripped and went head first in the corner of a concrete wall........

When we made it to the bathrooms by the concession stand, 2 ladies run out and make Cody stop.  They grab Jones, they obviously seemed liked pro's so we let them do what they needed to do.  One of them grabbed Cody's shirt and applied pressure to his head, he was still screaming.  We go to the bathroom and they get it to stop bleeding, and clean him up and Cody gets cleaned up too.  I mean, there was blood everywhere.  They tell us, we need to keep him up for a few hours and gives us a detailed list to watch for.  Luckily, he was OK, and there was no concern throughout the night. 

 After they got him cleaned up, we were left with this little cut.  It was deep, but little.  He got lucky and the good Lord was definitely watching over him. Straight up miracle that this is all we were left with.........

 They put one of these things on him and we changed it every few hours.  It bled a little more throughout the night and after a day it stopped leaking blood and it's on its way to healing.  He is one tough cookie.... He was excited he got to sleep with us that night.....!

We also found out Jones was in the San Antonio paper and Carizzo Springs paper for his muttin' bustin'!  It was a great surprise!

Reminiscing

 Have I told y'all how much I love teaching????  For our end of year field trip, we ventured over to the The Institute of Texas Cultures. My 7th and 8th grade History class was so bummed and dreaded the trip, because they wanted to go to Fiesta Texas instead, but it didn't work out.  After, we got there they had a blast and enjoyed it. When we got back to school for a wrap up session be discussed the importance of oral histories. If it wasn't for people passing down stories for generations we wouldn't know a lot of things we know today. I had them each do an oral interview with a relative.  They weren't very happy with this assignment and was over it before it ever started...... I asked each of them to turn in a product, that if they were to store this interview and come across it in 30 years, that they would be tickled pink to have!  They all thought that was dumb....what 7th or 8th grader doesn't think everything is dumb. I gave my class, sample questions, but just let them run with it.  I gave them no other direction(It wasn't for a grade) but I didn't let them know that and gave them a due date.  Nothing else was said but little reminders here or there.  I had 10 students in my class, and 8 of the 10 turned in interviews that brought tears to my eyes.  They actually took this assignment serious and after interviewing their grandparents or old family friends, they realized that this assignment was pretty neat.  They learned lots of stories and information from their families.  Stories that they would have never known, had they not asked. I even had one student, who didn't do his, become inspired on the day everyone presented their interviews, that he went home and decided to interview his grandpa.  He was thankful he had that paper afterwards.  So thankful that they now have this little piece of history to pass down to their kiddos!

During this time my sister was doing a power point on our family history.  I ended up sharing tid bits of this with my class.  My mom was adopted.  This is her biological mom Patsy.  When I look at pictures of her.........it makes me angry.  All of these pictures show a beautiful woman living life to the fullest and having a grand ole time.

 But these pictures are deceiving... She had many men in her life who gave her this lifestyle. What did she have to do in return?  Who knows, but I do know, depression and alcohol soon took over her life.

 I see everyone in my family in this picture.  This is who we all came from. Someone who I wish so dearly I had known and someone who I am so lucky and thankful I didn't know. A constant conflict of emotions.  Was my mom and Aunts better off being adopted than staying with her?  Not sure, but either way they have a choice now.  A choice to let go of the past, forgive and focus on the present. Find joy in the present and don't let history repeat itself.

I will forever cherish these pictures, but I will never let them blind me from the sad truth.

Bahamas 2016

Every year Cody and I talk about taking a big trip, but we never do..... This year we will celebrate 10 years of marriage and I wasn't taking no for an answer about going on a trip.  Our anniversary is in June and Cody's busy season starts in May, so I booked a trip for the first week in May!  I called a travel agent and gave her my must haves and she found the perfect spot for us!  I HATE flying and needed a direct flight.  I wanted to go back to our honeymoon spot but just couldn't do that stop in Miami and then get on another plane.  We ended up finding a direct flight to the Bahamas from Houston!  The flight there was bumpy bumpy.  There was a huge storm from Louisiana all the way down in the gulf, that we had to fly around.  It was not fun......

It was worth the flight after we finally landed. It was paradise!

 We stayed at the Sandals Resort in Nassau and didn't have to leave the resort.  They had it all!  They even had an offshore secluded island about a mile away that we hung out during the day.  Cody swam with 100 year old sea turtles, and we got to snorkel over there. 

 The water was breathtakingly beautiful!

 The food was yummy!

 Why is the ocean so therapeutic?

 The back side of the offshore island was very calm, and it wasn't nauseating snorkeling there. They had little beach huts that were comfy.

 That had swings and hammocks. We sat there and watched a storm roll in one day.

 We spent one day picking up seashells for J.  He loved them!  We found some pretty cool ones too.

 Cody found a wedding ring in the ocean one day while snorkeling.  Its engraved and not sure how to go about finding its owner?

Out of all the loot we brought home for J, he loved out snorkeling gear the most.......

We can't wait 10 more years for a trip.  It was good for the soul and a much needed time away with my man!