Remembering....

Gosh, I love high school football.
I can't even count the number of times I've been to Springdale Bulldog Stadium... as a kid going with my parents... in junior high it was the social event of the week... in high school I had the ultimate sideline view, (keeping my eye on my best friend #9 of course!) Then during the first eleven years of marriage, Russ and I were in youth ministry, which meant attending LOTS of football games... sometimes with our students on both sides of the field. Now that we have a child in high school and three more coming up, hopefully we get to enjoy many more games. This weekend Southside gets to play in the state championship, after some pretty intense playoff games. They'll be playing Har-Ber, which technically, is "sort of" Springdale - ha! But I'll be cheering for the Rebels, and I'm also very excited about watching my daughter perform at War Memorial Stadium. Win (hopefully) or lose, what a memory this will be for all the students involved.

So speaking of "remembering", I couldn't help but post a few of my favorite shots from Russ's senior year. I scanned these a couple of years ago so I could preserve all our old clippings. The newspaper back then was so good about putting tons of pictures in the sports section after each game. I was so proud of my guy even as a 17-year-old... he played his heart out on every down and never ever gave up. He has always taught our boys that if they are going to play anything, they better play it with passion!

Majorette shoot, well sort of...

Well it's time to store away the sparkly outfit, until next year hopefully! Tryouts will be in the spring which will bring the usual wave of "stress" upon our household. Normally the majorette line gets professional pics taken in the fall, but this year's option was a simple pose on the football field. Kristen wanted a little more variety than that, so we took the cheap way out.... we stole about 30 minutes of free time and took advantage of a beautiful afternoon yesterday. I grabbed my trusty old Kodak and we walked out to a small lake behind our neighborhood. ( They turned out better than I expected, although they don't look very clear here on blogger.)

She's growing up so fast... I'm trying to soak in every moment I have with her!

~Cinderella~

Katie, Avery, Emily, Grace, Katie, Kristen, Vyvy

Last night was such a treat! I took 4-year-old Madi to see a high school production of "Cinderella" and it far exceeded my expectations. I was blown away by the young talent in the cast.... wow! It was even more special because one of Kristen's good friends, Grace, was playing the lead. SHE WAS AMAZING! Another good friend, Alexis, played one of the step-sisters... she was absolutely hilarious.... I felt like a proud mom even though they are not my daughters! What touched me even more was the fact that Kristen and the friends above in the picture camped out in my living room for a couple of afternoons prior to the play and created these cute t-shirts... they wore them to school yesterday and then to the play in order to support and encourage Grace and the rest of the cast. I'm so proud of these girls... high school can be such a stressful place, but it makes it all worth it when your girlfriends are your biggest fans.

Close up of the poem they made up and wrote on the t-shirt
(Kristen did the cute artwork - sure didn't get that talent from me!)

Happy Birthday Jake!!!

November 2001
Here is baby Jake, Russ, and 5-year-old Clay with our

dog Angel and her 8 puppies... 7 black, 1 yellow.

~~~~~

November 15 marked Jake's 8th birthday! It was such a crazy day the day he was born... our beloved chocolate lab, Angel (who ran away about 4 years ago) was kind enough to give us a litter of puppies... the same day I was to go in the hospital and induce labor with Jake. I had woken up early, anticipating the big event, and faintly heard some "whining" in the garage. I went to investigate and there she was... Angel working hard to deliver the 4th of what would be 8 living puppies by the end of the day. I ran inside yelling (just like in 101 Dalmations - ha!) "the puppies are here, the puppies are here!" Luckily we had lots of family coming in that could tend to Angel, while I went to the hospital to have my sweet boy. What a day!... we kept one puppy, a male we named Doc, who is still with us today. He's a great hunting dog, very dependable, and of course, he and Jake have a strong bond!

Here are some pics from Jake's birthday this year... he had a skating party with friends in the afternoon, then that evening we traveled to Fayetteville for Jake to attend his first Razorback game! He was thrilled! We had been graciously given row 19/ 40 yard line tickets - it was a fabulous view.

King for a day....

Russ, Cheryl, Madi, and Jake

Skating party with friends

... a few of his buddies

Jake is a 100% Razorback fan... wonder where he gets it??

Halloween 2009

Halloween... this year we had a princess (same as last year - ha!) and a scarecrow. Clay went with his FCA group from school to a Razorback game that evening, so no dressing up for him (not that he would anyway!) Kristen actually dressed up twice. One was a dance, the week before Halloween, in which she settled on "Supergirl", and her date was, who else? "Superman".... the second was on Halloween night, this time she raided Clay's closet and decided to be an Arkansas Redhawk baseball player. I ended up taking the princess and the scarecrow and headed to our church's annual Family Fall Festival... always a great time of food, games, and fellowship!

My little princess... I bet next year she'll be a.... princess.

Jake doing his scarecrow impression

Kristen decked out in her brother's uniform

Some of Kristen's friends that went to the Halloween dance...

We are now the proud parents of teenager #2!!!

Really, how can that be when Russ and I are sooooooo young? I cannot believe I have two teens now. We celebrated Clay's 13th birthday in October with a 14-member strong sleepover (that's another story in itself - whew!) and the next day we took him to one of his favorite restaurants, Marketplace. We had a great time celebrating our young man - we love him more than words can say, and could not be more proud of him. He loves his God, his family, and his friends. He is by no means perfect, but Clay has always seemed to be a leader.... and we pray he will seize that trait and be a godly influence over his younger siblings and his peers.

Celebrating with friends..

The real reason he wanted Marketplace: The Chocolate Mess

A phone... finally... last kid in the universe to get one ;)

He decided to share!



Madi and Kristen

Clay's extremely young parents!

City Championship

Every year in 7th grade football, the four junior highs have a playoff to determine the "city championship". This year Chaffin played Kimmons - which was by far, Clay's best game of the year - it was one of those rare games, where everything you do goes "right". The next night we were to play Ramsey... I brought a cookie cake up to school for Clay to share with his teammates at lunch. He was thankful for the cookie, but mortified that I took a picture! Well we lost to Ramsey - Clay did not have his best games, and suffered from stomach cramps most of the game. He toughed it out, but I just wanted to take him home! I'm so proud of these guys, and can't wait til next season. Go Cougars!

Clay with buddies Christian and Luke

Homecoming Dance

The homecoming football game was played on Friday night, so the dance on held the next night on Saturday. Ahh, another day to primp and prepare! Kristen had a great time getting ready with her friends, while waiting for the "dates" to pick them up. They all went to Cheddars for dinner, then to the dance. Midnight eventually struck, and we're back to reality! :)

Some of the girls who got ready together

The awkward corsage moment... who invented this ritual anyway??

Kristen and her date, Austin, posing for a pic

Kristen and friend Katie

The girls - so beautiful!

The whole group - the guys cleaned up well too!

Kristen and Austin, maybe I'm prejudiced, but I thought they were stunning!

I shot this randomly as Austin and Kristen were driving off... later I realized
this is the FIRST time my little girl actually left... in a car... with a boy!!!

Football Homecoming 2009 ♥

Wow! What an exciting time we had participating in homecoming this year. Kristen had the awesome (and humbling, in my opinion) privilege of being voted as one of the sophomore homecoming maids at her high school. She never in a million years expected it, so that made it even more exciting :) We were very proud of her, and told her that this was a golden opportunity to represent her faith in Christ, especially while in the fleeting moments of the "spotlight". Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took!

Kristen and I before the pep rally that afternoon

Kendall, Kristen, Vyvy, and Katie before the pep rally

Kristen and her two senior escorts during the pep rally

Getting her hair "done" - first time ever! What a treat :)

Mimi and Papaw - very proud

Kristen and Clay

The whole court: sophomores have to wear blue, juniors red, seniors white.
middle senior, Micayla, was announced the queen that night.

Papa and Grandma - also very proud :)

The four sophomores - such sweet (and hilarious by the way!) girls

Kristen and her handsome dad - they had a photographer taking pics as well...

She looked beautiful...

Me and the girls... I had taken them to lunch that day and then to
the salon so they could get ready together... oh my goodness
we had such a good time!

Trying to figure out the gloves

Walking out on the field...

Proud, proud dad!