Scientific Question - Are You Born Red or Blue?

The month of March always brings out the best and the worst in the Bluegrass State.  By best, I mean that we get to enjoy the excitement of watching our beloved sport of basketball for weeks on end, and if it's an especially good season, we get to see three, sometimes four, teams from our state make the men's tournament.  Add in the women's tournament, and this year the excitment of the Division II tournament (Go Bellarmine!), and it's just a big, heaping, heart pounding month of fun.  By worst, I mean that families are divided, friendships are strained, and professional relationships are tense, all due to the fact that you must look yourself in the mirror and ask the question - am I RED or BLUE?

Which leads me to ask...what makes a Kentuckian red or blue?  There's really no rhyme or reason, so I have to offer the hypothesis that you are born that way.  I used to always think that you grew up one way or the other.  Take Lawrence for example.  His grandfather was a Kentucky fan (he was from Pineville, KY, so anywhere "out" in the state is almost always considered BLUE).  This means his dad and three uncles were Kentucky fans, which then translated to him growing up watching and cheering on the Cats.  However, he then ended up going to Louisville (his mom's alma mater), and was even a cheerleader.  See evidence below.

Lovin' the 80s baby!!!!

So where does this leave him?  I gotta say, even though he cheered on the Cards to their 1986 championship, the man bleeds BLUE.  He still loves the Cards (to his fellow UK friends' chagrin - they really demand he choose a side), but when push comes to shove, he's a Wildcat at heart.  Now, my brother-in-law Joe (and his sister, and maybe his brother, I'm not sure) is an exception to this theory.  His dad is a UK fan, but Joe bleeds RED and ONLY RED.  And my sister, well, she actually went to UK and then transferred to UofL, so she is his perfect match (even though our grandparents and all of our cousins are "out in the state", which mean, yes, they bleed BLUE).  Their kiddos are all RED, through and through.  So, while I think your upbringing has something to do with it, maybe it's not a sure thing.

Which now brings me to the question...what are MY kids?  I thought a few years ago they would for sure be RED, as they love going to UofL football games and basketball games.  But then last year, they both started talking a lot about the BLUE, and I started to see that their father's DNA must be coming through.  Yesterday I looked out in my driveway at them and their friends, and I think I now know for sure:

Whole lotta blue going on out there...

And if that wasn't enough, as I was settling in to read last night at around 9:00 pm, something bounded into my bedroom and jumped in my bed.

What the...?

Then it pounced over into the kids' rooms and hung out with them.

This is better than seeing Santa!

I should have known...Sarah has really blue eyes

Ummmm, not to be rude, but are you going to stay here all night?

So, I think my kids were born BLUE, although they are a bit fickle, so we'll see if that lasts.  As for where that wildcat came from?  Don't ask.  Me?  I just have one thing to say - GO HILLTOPPERS! Oh, and can't we all just get along?

My Niece Claire ROCKS!

This afternoon we went and watched Claire play lacrosse.  The KCD Bearcats defeated Noe Middle School 15-5, and I must say, my talented niece was a big part of that victory!  Claire is such a determined athlete...she is focused and competitive, and even at the young age of 11 she is a clear leader on her team.  I can't wait to see what she's going to do throughout the years at KCD.  One day I picked up a local high school sports magazine and on the cover was a KCD senior who was going on to play both field hockey and lacrosse in college.  Sarah and I looked at each other and said, "That's going to be Claire one day!"  

If I'm Scrappin', I'm Smilin'!

This weekend was my spring scrapbooking retreat up at Country Lake.  Anyone who knows me knows that twice I year, once in the spring and once in the fall, I head up to Country Lake Christian Retreat Center  with my church's scrapbook club.  This is our 11th year doing this, and the weekend never disappoints.  I love working on my albums, but I can do that at home.  What I love about the retreat is having two full days and nights just to be creative and hang out with around 40 other women who I have come to adore.  My traditional "table mates" are Katie, Holly and Denise, but Katie and Denise couldn't come this time so I had Holly all to myself.  Katie was able to come up for the day on Saturday which was a nice treat.

Holly...as always, we had lots of laughs this weekend!

So tonight I am tired...stayed up too late two nights in a row, I have laundry left to do and bags to unpack, but somehow I am still refreshed, because I was able to spend the weekend doing something I love so much.

Me + Scrapbooking = Happy

St. Baldrick's

Today was CAL's annual St. Baldrick's event at Rock Creek.  The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.  Volunteers raise funds by shaving their heads for donations, and our school started hosting an annual St. Baldrick's event when one of Sarah's classmates, Dana Velandar, battled cancer when they were in the first grade.  The event has become one of our favorite days at Rock Creek, and girls get in on the act as well by donating their hair to Locks of Love (I had a great time doing this a few years ago).  This is John's third year to participate, and over the last three years he has donated several thousand dollars to the cause.  A shaved head is not my favorite look for my little boy, but 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  

Waiting his turn, looking a bit nervous...

Getting started

Let the shaving begin!

Chatting with the MC...nice mohawk!

Getting close to done

All gone!

You can tell his hair is going to be dark like his dad's

I'm proud of my little leprechaun!

Happy Mardi Gras Y'all!

I had no dinner planned for tonight, so I was secretly happy when Lawrence called this afternoon and said we were having red beans and rice for dinner along with a King Cake for Mardi Gras.  He even went to the store and bought all the fixin's on his way home from work.  While he and John were at baseball practice I made the red beans and rice (technically, it was black eyed peas and rice), and when they got home we sat down for a yummy Fat Tuesday meal.  

We all picked what we would give up for Lent...Lawrence is giving up french fries and chocolate; I'm giving up just chocolate; and Sarah and John are giving up soft drinks.  When it came time to eat the King Cake, Sarah cut it up in to four pieces.  

John had found the baby in last year's King Cake, and he had gone upstairs to his room after dinner and slipped last year's baby into his pocket.  He fooled us all when he cut into his piece and shouted that he had found the baby!

His dad was onto him, and called foul.  He could tell that was last year's baby!  A purple coin was sticking out of my piece of cake, and sure enough, it was the baby.  That means I have to provide the King Cake next year.

Our church doesn't really observe Lent, but Lawrence and I like the tradition of giving something up as we anticipate the celebration of Easter.  Can we make it six weeks without french fries and chocolate?  We'll see!

A Super Sunday

Yesterday was an all around fantastic day.  We went to church on Saturday night so that on Sunday I could join Anna, Eydie and Susie for brunch at Wild Eggs.  Eydie was in town from Chicago and brought her new baby, Trace, and we were all smitten with him.  After brunch and a few errands we had John's championship basketball game.  John's St. Matthews league team has had a great season (undefeated!), and after coming in second place in his last three championships he's been in (baseball in the spring, and swimming and basketball in the summer), he could almost taste a first place finish.  They played a great game and won the championship!  He was beyond excited.  His favorite part was going to Tony Boombozz afterward with the team.  Also, all his grandparents and Uncle Tony were there to cheer him on which I think made him feel very special.

It's a good day for these boys!

John with his cheering section

Hanging with the team

From the team celebration we headed straight to Shannon's and Joe's to celebrate Shannon's, Joe Jr.'s and Mark's birthdays (all within one week of each other).  We had a great night hanging out with the Hamiltons...they are so easy to be around and we enjoyed a delicious dinner from J. Gumbo's, cake and presents.  Little Reese and Maverick really steal the show these days...they are so ridiculously cute!  This was a relaxing end to a pretty perfect day.  Love ending the week like that.

Reese, John and Bruce

Joe Jr. reads his cards with Mav and Reese

Mark tries on his new jacket

Lawrence gets some love from Reese

New workout clothes for Shan

Mav is too cute

Dad plays with Mav

Reese and John enjoy some hummus

Happy Birthday to you!

Check out Reese doing the CARDS cheer.  My favorite part is how she adds an "E" to the end of C-A-R-D-S.  So cute!

Friday Night Fun

Yesterday was sort of dreary...drizzly and damp, one of those days that makes a grown up want to come home from work and fall asleep on the couch.  But not kids...they want to always have plans on the horizon.  That's the first thing they ask when I pick them up every day..."What are we doing tonight?"  They were not pleased that we didn't have plans on a Friday night, but having no plans is exactly what I was looking forward to.  They lamented all afternoon about how bored they were, and later in the evening when I came downstairs I noticed it was quiet.  Where was everyone?  Then I looked outside and saw Lawrence was sitting out in a lawn chair in his pajama pants throwing up ally-oops for the kids so they could have a dunk contest.  So simple, yet so fun.  They forgot about not having official plans and enjoyed playing outside with their dad in the rain.  Free fun, the best kind.  

Finishing Strong

As much as I love watching my kids enjoy sports, I must say I have been a bit sports weary this winter.  It's been a long season, especially of swimming.  Practices were just a bit later this year, and most nights Sarah wasn't home until around 10:00.  After a shower, a snack and homework that meant an 11:00 bedtime, and for me, that's just a tad too late.  We also had a new coach this year, and she was much tougher than Sarah's coach last year.  Coach Leslie really pushed Sarah, and at times this was hard.  There were a lot of times she wanted to quit this season.  I don't think if I had given her permission she really would have done it, but there were definitely days when it may have been a possibility (especially during Christmas break when practices were at 7:00 am AND 4:00 pm!).  But she didn't quit.  She finished strong, which is what we would pray about every night before bed.  I tended to quit a lot when I was her age...I never really liked to push myself.  I know that through perseverance comes character, and I hope there was some character building along the way this season (for myself included!).  Last night was her banquet, and I was proud to watch her receive the second bar for her varsity letter, along with a special award for most improved (she really did get faster this season).  She is loving the season being over...laying around after school, getting to her homework when she feels like it, watching American Idol and of course, TLC shows.  All of that is fine with me.  There's a season for everything, and after finishing strong it's nice to celebrate what you've achieved and rest (for a little while).  

Proud Mama

Sarah and Coach Leslie