Welcome to Aggieland!

Many College Station travelers arrive at or depart from the region's larger airports and then drive the distance between those cities and College Station. But after more than four years in Aggieland, Tom and I have discovered that flying in and out of Easterwood Airport in College Station costs only a small amount more - if anything at all - and results in shorter, smoother, more enjoyable travel.

When flying with children one of course hopes (and prays…and wishes…and begs...) for shorter, smoother, more enjoyable travel, which is why my mom and niece flew into Easterwood last week. I showed up a few minutes prior to their scheduled arrival, just in case the plane landed early, and found myself smack dab in the middle of what appeared to be a party. Throughout the lower level, a number of men and women looked poised to jump out from behind their balloon bouquets, brightly colored Aggieland displays, and festively decorated refreshment tables to yell "surprise!" at an unsuspecting visitor. Upstairs, more men and women enthusiastically passed around noisemakers and held up hand-painted signs reading, "Welcome to Aggieland!" and "Thanks for Coming!"

I did a poor job of capturing the excitement, primarily because in trying to avoid taking pictures that included people's faces (in case I wanted to post the photos here), I skipped photographing highlights like the 30-somethings blowing noisemakers and dancing with hand-painted signs...

I started getting excited, thinking perhaps George H.W. or Johnny Football or even Reveille might arrive on Grandma and Lily's plane. However when I asked one of the noisemaker-wielding young men why the fuss, he explained that he and his fellow Convention and Visitors Bureau employees, in honor of National Tourism Week, were spending the day at Easterwood to simply welcome people - all people - to Aggieland.

He asked what/who brought me to the airport that day, and when I shared that my four-year-old niece Lily was coming for a visit, he passed her name on down the line. Then, as Grandma and Lily emerged from the terminal, the party squad blew their noisemakers, waved, cheered, and yelled, "Welcome to Aggieland, Lily!"

Yes, those deplaning - including Grandma and Lily - appeared confused at first. (I can't say I blame them…) But once they realized the hullabaloo had been designed and carried out with only the best of intentions, they relaxed and enjoyed the friendly welcome and delicious cookies.

Have you ever witnessed this kind of hospitality in an airport? Or anywhere, for that matter? If not, consider a trip to Aggieland, where the official greeting is "Howdy!" and most people go out of their way to make sure strangers feel like anything but. And if you give me a heads up when you're on your way, I'll check in with the Convention and Visitors Bureau folks to see what kind of welcome we can have waiting for you.

High Five for Friday (5.15.15)

Last Thursday, Silly Lily and Grandma Brenda flew in from Illinois to spend the weekend amidst the chaos that is our house and lives these days. By the time they left on Monday morning we were all completely exhausted, which I think means we made the most of our time together. Today's High Five for Friday post is all about the fun we had!

1. While Will and Hallie were at school on Friday, Grandma and I built and stained a console table for my living room. We let Lily help us stain, which in hindsight was a bad idea because stain comes off little girl skin about as easily as permanent marker comes off walls…not well.

2. I cleaned the stain off my own hands, arms, and legs (Lily managed to stain skin other than her own) just in time to attend the kindergarten Spa Day for Mothers. Hallie gave me a back rub, painted my fingernails and toenails, slathered every inch of my visible skin with lotion, styled my hair, and applied multiple layers of make-up to my face. I looked bee-ee-u-tiful.

3. My sister, Sara, turned 30-something years old on Tuesday. Because we wanted needed a reason to eat cake, Tom, Will, Hallie, Grandma, Lily, and I celebrated Sara's birthday…without Sara…on Friday night. I think Sara really appreciated the effort we put into making the Friday before her birthday really special for everyone except her.

And then I forgot to send Sara's birthday present home with Lily. Sister of the year I'm not.

4. On Saturday afternoon, Grandma and Lily came with Hallie and me to Hallie's dance recital dress rehearsal. To make the outing even more fun, as I prepped Hallie, Grandma and I also prepped Lily. From top to bottom, Lily looked the part of a little dancer in Hallie's recital - she even wore Hallie's costume from last year's recital. They were too cute for words.

5. And what would a visit with Silly Lily be without matching outfits. At the outlet mall on Sunday, a store employee asked me if they actually were twins; I accidentally laughed out loud because while their personalities match perfectly, 20 months separate their ages and they don't look even the slightest bit related.

Reunited and it feels so good.
(Both were upset with Sara and me for not
putting them in matching capri leggings.)

Pink and white striped dresses for climbing trees.

They have to match, even when they sleep.
(Their styles of going to bed - as in, they don't - match too.)

Super hero girls!

A quick stop so Lily could meet Buccee for the first time.

Saying goodbye after Muffins with Mom/Donuts with Dad
at school on Monday morning. Lily cried through the farewell. 

As I sign off on this High Five for Friday, I want to leave you with two pictures: one was taken last weekend and the other was taken three summers ago. My boy's tenderness makes my heart sing.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!

"No Shell Over Here, Baby. It Just Slows Me Down." ~ Mub the Slug

When the kids and I saw the movie Epic two summers back, we immediately developed an affection for Mub the Slug. Mub may have been covered in a thin layer of slippery slime, but he made up for that disgusting flaw with his sweet, laid-back personality. I may have even called him "adorable" once or twice.

And that's the problem here. Cartoons depict animals like slugs (and others - Charlotte the Spider, for example) as cute and cuddly, when in real life they look positively grotesque. I tried to envision the lizard in Hallie's dollhouse as an animated version of himself so that instead of trapping him in a cage of books, I could have just picked him up and put him outside. I tried to pretend the spider crawling across my kitchen floor was Charlotte so that instead of throwing my shoe at her I could have simply returned her to her babies. It didn't work.

On a typical day I don't give much thought to slugs. The kids and I see the occasional small, black slug on the sidewalk - and then laugh about how it's a good thing slugs don't have shells because shells would really slow them down - as we walk to school, but that's the extent of it.

Then one morning I headed out into the garage and found Will dry heaving behind my car. When I asked him what ailed him, he just pointed at the ground.

I'm dry heaving now.

I left real life Mub the Slug s…l…o…w…l…y inching his way across the floor of the garage to walk the kids to school. When I returned home he still hadn't made it out from behind my car, so I "swept" him out of the garage and into the yard as he oozed excess slime in protest.

I am DONE with critters, thank you very much. Give the slugs to some other state and leave us Texans be with our snakes and lizards and scorpions.

Note: do NOT use google images to search for pictures of Mub the Slug. Because one minute you'll be scrolling through pictures of cute little buddies and then the next minute - BAM - you're suddenly looking at the grossest creations on this earth. I learned this the hard way...

Tuesdays With Tux (5.12.15)

Though we have a subscription to Netflix, occasionally the US arm of this on-demand internet media provider fails to offer the movies and television shows Tom and I want to watch. When this occurs, we rig up (don't ask me how) Finland or England's Netflix and stream our programming on Tom's computer.

Tux shows very little interest in what we watch on television, ignores all activity on tablets and handheld devices, and couldn't care less about what happens on our computer screens…except when we stream foreign countries' Netflix programming.

He sits on the keyboard, nose pressed up against the screen and often accidentally pausing/freezing/changing what's playing. Tux then looks back at us as if to ask why he's suddenly looking at Tom's screensaver and no longer watching a movie. 

And we can't leave the room with the computer open - if we do, we return to find he's managed to turn off our movie, find the menu of programming options, and freeze the computer. 

Ok, so finding the Netflix menu happened just that one time. It was frustrating to not be able to watch our movie that night (the computer remained frozen for hours), but Tux "browsing" through the Netflix menu…undoubtedly searching for Milo and Otis or perhaps a Garfield and Friends cartoon…was adorable.

I Know You, Mama

In honor of Mother's Day, I decided to kick off the week a day early by posting on Sunday instead of Monday. Happy Mother's Day and enjoy your week, friends!

I don't usually tell Tom, Will, or Hallie when I make plans to dramatically change my hair. I send everyone out the door in the morning, head to the salon, and then look forward to surprising them when we reconnect after school and work. It's fun to catch my crew off guard and witness how they really feel about my new color and/or cut.

A few years ago I dyed my blond hair dark brown while three-year-old Hallie spent the morning at preschool. When I arrived to pick her up, she saw my face from across the room, smiled, and yelled, "my mama's here!" But then her eyes drifted beyond my face…and her smile quickly faded.

As Hallie made her way, slowly and timidly, across the classroom to where I stood in the doorway, I knelt down so that when she finally reached me we were face-to-face. She cautiously ran her hands through my hair and then gently rested them on my cheeks, where they remained as she looked deep into my eyes and her brain processed the confusing mash-up of a woman in front of her. After what felt like an eternity, Hallie's smile returned. She breathed an audible sigh of relief and exclaimed, "it IS my mommy! She just has different hair!"

When I saw this video I flashed back to that memorable day when, at first glance, my sweet girl couldn't find her mama with just her eyes. She had to look deeper, using both her hands and her heart, to know with certainty and I - and that the connection we share - was still there. 

Happy Mother's Day to all those celebrating (and hugs to those for whom today hurts), especially my mom, grandma, mother-in-law, sister Sara, and my sis-in-law Chandi. I love you all, and cherish our unique and special connections.

Many years have passed since I held my mother's face between my hands, which makes me wonder if I could identify her in the same manner these children identified their mothers. I do, however, know that I could identify my mother by the way her upper arm feels against my upper arm. It sounds odd, I know. But picture us sitting together, side-by-side on the couch, as I talk and she listens or she talks and I listen. We occasionally shift positions, crossing and uncrossing our legs and resting our heads on each others' shoulders, but our upper arms never separate. I know what it feels like to have someone right by my side, always. Lucky me.

High Five for Friday (5.8.15)

1. Two weekends ago, Hallie and a few of her friends attended a dance camp hosted by a local high school's dance team. Then this past weekend, the little girls had the opportunity to perform the dance they'd learned at camp during the big girls' - the Strutters' - end of the year showcase. They had the time of their lives dancing on stage and watching "their" Strutters perform. Even Will ended up enjoying himself, thanks to the two humorous senior boys who MCed the event and a photo opportunity with his favorite Strutter…

2. Will had a fantastic week, so please allow me a moment to brag on him just a little… He wrapped up his soccer season with a goal in his final game, had a piece of his artwork chosen for display in the school district's annual art show, and placed second among all of the second graders at his elementary school in their annual Road Runners competition. He came just six laps shy - 214 to 220 - of the winner, who happens to be one of his very best friends. I was so proud, not just of Will's second place finish, but of how happy he was for his friend.

            

3. Our master bathroom is in shambles! The mess doesn't exactly please me, nor does sharing a rather small bathroom with Tom, my kids, and my mom and niece (who are visiting us for a few days) lessen the chaos that defines our home and lives throughout the entire month of May, but… The work going on around here means we're getting closer and closer to a shower that doesn't leak and fixtures that aren't rotting away and counters that aren't cracked. Pictures to come!

4. I finally walked the length of Japan! (That sentence makes it sound like accomplishing this feat has always been one of my personal goals...it hasn't.) According to my fitbit, since last July I've traveled 1,869 miles, otherwise known as the length of Japan. No wonder I'm so tired...

5. This little firecracker and her grandma (my mom) came to visit this weekend. I love it when she comes to Texas, and not just because I can't get enough of these two in matching outfits.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!

Texas Poetry

Last week I pulled a folded up piece of paper out of the bottom of Will's backpack. I couldn't help but smile when I unfolded the tiny rectangle, for everything about this "gift" for his grandparents was so typically "Will".

First, the piece of paper had been folded and unfolded and folded and unfolded, likely because Will repeatedly changed his mind about how to best deliver his poem. The piece of paper was also covered in eraser marks, indicating he took great care with the wording. The decorative hearts looked messy, suggesting he added them after finishing the poem and in a hurry.

Second, Will's poetry skills closely match mine at his age.

And third, he now writes like the Texan he recently became.

When we first moved to Texas, some of the commonly-used terminology here rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't understand "howdy", stayed as far away from "y'all" as possible, and felt uncomfortable asking my kids to use "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir". (Don't get me wrong - I will settle for nothing less than respectful children. But I didn't like asking Will and Hallie to speak in a manner that, while culturally acceptable and encouraged here, was completely foreign to me.) But now, four-and-a-half years later, I smile every time "y'all", "howdy", or "yes, ma'am" escape my childrens' lips. Or in this case, end up in the first poem they ever write.