Out of our element.

So we're not into hunting, fishing or camping. So why in the world would we go to Cabela's?

Well, for one, Brett and Katie were spending a long day at the pinball festival. Meanwhile, Ryan chose IHOP for our lunch-for-two, and since we had plenty of time, Ryan opted for the IHOP across from Cabela's.

Plus, I'd never been inside the gargantuan store, so we figured, why not now?

The aquarium was impressive:


As was the display of wild animals:








Ryan had been to the shooting gallery before with friends, and he wanted to give it another shot—so to speak.


Throughout the store are hunting trophies. Everywhere you look there are fish and turkeys and deer and bear... As we left the shooting gallery, we turned around and Ryan said,

"Guess they hunt people, too!"

I'm thankful Ryan humored me and let me check out this place that I'd heard so much about!

At last.

The yearbook is finished! And yet? And yet I STILL don't feel that wave of relief washing over me because I can't stop thinking about those 288 pages! Driving the corrected proofs to Dallas in a downpour didn't help my stress level, but maybe those raindrops will cleanse me of this layer of post-deadline grime.

Someday.

I have so much—SO MUCH—to write about, so many photos I want to post, but yearbook is in the way yet again. I want—no, NEED—to write about my mom's recent health issues, the interminable tyranny of cancer in our friends' lives, our lightless Friday night, Ryan's latest band contest, a visit from my side of the family tree, Katie's servant heart, even a captivating llama. But those stories will have to wait until this yearbook has been put to bed. The final round of proofs is supposed to go back to the publisher tomorrow, and in spite of working until 9:30 tonight, those pages are STILL not ready to go. Ugh.

And yes, I'd like some cheese to go with that whine.

Still, I'm so very thankful for the little things: the utter quiet in my hallway after 7; the lack of traffic on my drive home; the fact that I have the Discovery Channel in my classroom and can watch Cash Cab for two hours after school (even if I can only listen since I'm working with my back to the TV).

I'm also thankful for the big stuff. Both Katie and Brett greeted me with warm hugs before I could even set down my work stuff. My arms were too full to hug them back, but that didn't stop them from welcoming me home. How symbolic is that? Lately I've had little to offer them, but they (and Ryan, too) have been quick to support me, encourage me, love me anyway.

Yes, there will be life after yearbook... someday. But it's so nice to know that in the meantime, my sweet family is taking good care of me.

Every day.

Kissing cousins.

It was such a nice surprise to get to see my aunt, uncle and second cousin at lunch Sunday! It had been so long since we'd seen them, and it was great to catch up.

And it was off-the-charts fantastic to get to meet A's little boy!

He is a perfect little sweetheart! He maintained his sweet disposition all through lunch, even as we passed him around like a basket of Cotton Patch rolls.

It's been too long since we've been around a baby. We made goofy faces and silly noises—pretty much made fools of ourselves.

After lunch the fam came over to our house for a bit.

I loved seeing MY babies hold A's little boy. It's crazy to see that Ryan and Katie are big enough to hold and entertain a baby. (And the fact that my cousin's little girl is a mom? Can't even BEGIN to go there! I still can't believe I'm old enough to have kids.)

Of course, my mom loved the chance to visit and to kiss some pudgy baby feet.

It was nice to see folks from my side of the family. It's wonderful to spend time with people who share my heritage, my memories, my stories. And it's cool to watch the next generation's stories unfold!

Chili at suppertime.

We rounded out our busy day at HCC's chili cook-off and family carnival, one of our big outreach events that draws lots of folks from our community. Of course, it takes lots of volunteers to make this event happen. Jamba did his usual bang-up job lining up helpers and promoting the carnival.


Katie was delighted to learn she could volunteer. It made me so proud to see her helping out in the concession stand. She has a servant's heart!

Meanwhile, Brett, Ryan and I did our part sampling chili. We each had six taster cups, and we jumped right into those crockpots, trying out a couple of meaty chilis right away.

After three samples, though, I was toast. Holy moley, do three little cups of chili go a long way! I gave Ryan and Katie the rest of my cups. Three little cups! That's all I could handle. I'm ashamed to admit that my iron stomach is no more.

This kid, though, had no problem putting away the chili!

While the chili cook-off was going on indoors, a crazy carnival was happening outside! We had bouncers, slides, obstacle courses, a train, a climbing wall and my personal favorite, a petting zoo.

I mean, REALLY. How could you not love this guy?

Music in the morning.

Ryan and the rest of his bandmates were up and at 'em early on Saturday morning.

His middle school band participated in a pre-UIL concert/sightreading contest at a local high school.

We were excited that we were able to sit where we could actually see Ryan! Since he plays trumpet, sometimes it's hard to position ourselves so we can see him back there behind the woodwinds.

I was also excited that parents were allowed to watch the sightreading part of the contest. It was interesting to watch his band director walk the band through this piece that they'd never played before. I don't remember having an audience when my middle and high school bands (way back in the day) had to sightread, so that was cool!

We were glad to hear the band perform, and it was a great way to start our busy day.

I HATE CANCER.

Really, truly HATE it.

Thank you, Brad, for your example of courage and faith. Even though I never met you, I'll never forget your story, and I pledge to remember your sweet family in my prayers.

Friday night fans.

With Ryan on his way to Houston with the church youth group, we were one Dub short for this week's Friday fun night. That didn't stop us from heading to my school's area playoff game!

It was an exciting game even though our team was losing most of the way. Our star player is really phenomenal, and we enjoyed getting to see him play before he heads to a Division 1 college next year.

In spite of the other team's substantial height advantage, our guys made a run in the third that really gave us hope. At one point, we were within 7 points, thanks partly to some nifty free throw shooting.

What's funny is that because of our star player, Brett's brother and father have really followed our team this season. In fact, they went to more of my school's games than I did! And yes, they were with us Friday to see this great season come to an end.

Bummer.

Samedi gras.

Our family celebrates Mardi Gras each year with a king cake. This year, we happened upon a king cake almost two weeks before the big day and figured, why wait? Laissez les bontemps rouler!

I'm notorious for being terrible at my one Mardi Gras job (besides buying the cake). I'm supposed to hide the "baby" so one lucky Dub can find it in his/her cake. This year, I cut the slices, hid the baby and then let each kid choose a slice.

Katie found it this time!
As it turned out, we bought two more king cakes between our "Fat Saturday" on the 14th and the real "Fat Tuesday" on Feb. 24. Our small group planned to have New Orleans food on Sunday the 22nd, so we picked up a couple of cakes to contribute to the feast. Then we had a change of plans and couldn't attend, so there we were with TWO king cakes for FOUR Dubs!

We really put the "gras" in "Mardi Gras"!

Grand finale.

Ryan's team played in the league championships. After leading for most of the first half, they lost steam later in the game. Still, we had a great time seeing Ryan and his teammates give it their best—ahem—shot.

Ryan came off the bench in the fourth quarter to provide some fresh legs, good D and 2 points!




Way to go, Ryan!