My First Trip to Austin

I had the opportunity to go to Austin, Texas for a conference for work. I've heard awesome things about it and was really looking forward to it. I got to stay at the Driskill hotel downtown which is a historic hotel. My room was beautiful but location on the mezzanine was not ideal. We ate at some pretty fancy places but I never did get to eat Texas BBQ. While at the conference, I got to hear from Malcolm Gladwell, Kelly McGonigal and Amy Cuddy who have all done TED talks. We also got to see Gary Clark Jr. perform at the ACL in downtown. He is local to Austin and it was a really hot ticket in town.
After several days downtown I headed about 30 minutes out of town to our office. I hadn't met some of the team that sits there so it was great to meet them in person. Texas was a mix of country/cowboys and super chic. It was interesting to say the least. Overall I had a great time and look forward to going back. Since it was mid-May it was quite warm and humid though so next time I'll try going in the fall.

Driskill Hotel, Indeed Exec. talking with Kelly McGonigal, me with a random guitar that they have around town, a view of the city.

Gary Clark Jr, Austin City Limits theater (ACL) and Willie Nelson statue at ACL

Indeed ball, tiny shirt, State Capitol and Driskill Hotel

 My room at the Driskill 

Driskill memorabilia

Texas State Capital

Malcolm Gladwell

 I've heard wonderful things about Voodoo donuts. They are apparently all the rage so since it was right next to our hotel, I had to try it. I wasn't impressed. The toppings were overdone so much that it wasn't easy to eat and they were soggy. I will stick with our local gourmet donut shops. 

I actually got to ride in this fancy beast. This is a good example of how I summed up Austin...fancy and cowboy = weird. Maybe that's where they get their slogan "keep Austin weird"... that's just my guess. 

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was wonderful! The celebration actually started Saturday night with dinner at Hayashi.  Sunday morning I got to sleep in. I got some work done around the house. After coming home from church we swam for a little while and we talked to Grammy and Tutu. I was spoiled and showered with presents. The boys took good care of me. We had dinner at Rubio's and spent the night relaxing at home. It was a perfect day! I'm so blessed to be a mommy to two precious boys. I love them more than words can express.

 This was a cute Mother's Day booklet from Lincoln - all about me. I'm glad he didn't try to guess my height and weight. That could have been disastrous. He's a smart boy putting just the question marks. 

 I think it's funny that he put Chinese food. One of my favorite places is Pei Wei, so in a way, he's right. Generally speaking, my favorite is Mexican food. He sure knows me...I love a good Diet Coke! 

 Among many other things I wish for, living forever, especially with my boys, is something I wish for. 

 He's right! I love a good laugh but scary pranks are not something I can appreciate. 

 Umm...so, for being the artist he is, I thought I would at least get a body. (smile) I'm guessing he didn't have time to finish. 

This really warms my heart. I feel like there are days when being a mother is really hard and that I'm failing as my role of mother. There are other days when I feel like I'm crushing it. That's just part of being a parent. You do your best and hope that you are raising honorable, kind, hard working, personable kids that will be successful and productive members of society. When I get cards like this, it helps me to believe that we are on the right track. 

Cousin Ellie

Baby Ellie turned one on May 6th. The boys have yet to meet her because we haven't made it up to Spokane, WA yet to see Asa and Theresa. Ellie definitely looks like a Manchan to me. I look forward to meeting her someday soon. The boys looked at her pictures and Logan says, "Awe, she's cute!"

 Theresa and Ellie

 Asa, Theresa and Ellie

Birthday Girl!

Logan's Soccer Spring Season

The first weekend in May, Logan completed another soccer season. I love the idea of being a "soccer mom." I could watch my kids play sports all day every day. I get really anxious and cheer and take a million pictures. That's the joys of being a mom. This year Logan played with almost all of the same kids from last year, except they had a different coach. It was her first time coaching but she did a great job. This year they were gray and called themselves the Wolf Pack.

The team went undefeated for the entire season. The final tournament day they won their first game and lost the championship game in a shoot out. It was rough. The kids had never practiced doing a shoot out because we didn't know kids that young did them. Lots of tears were shed and Logan himself cried and was angry when he realized that a loss meant they weren't bringing home the big trophy. We tried to teach the life lesson that not everyone gets a trophy but after such an awesome season, it was a hard pill to swallow.

Good news was we went to the team banquet at Peter Piper Pizza after the season ended and Coach had brought them their runner-up trophies. Logan was a happy kiddo then. We are so proud of him. He is still learning the game but I do feel like he's trying more and more while still having fun.

Logan got to play goalie in a few games.

After a game Logan and I went to lunch and ran some errands. 

 He's learning to me more aggressive. A little bribe may or may not have encouraged that aggressiveness. 

 We started a tradition of "Sandwich Saturday" which meant we went out for yummy sandwiches every Saturday after his games. Daddy's new favorite place is Firehouse Subs so we ended up there a few times. 

 By the time we got to lunch the tears had stopped and the anger from the loss had mostly subsided. He didn't want a sandwich but a few Funyun chips helped do the trick. 

Trophy and certificate for playing in the championship game.

Lincoln's Flag Football Spring Season

Lincoln successfully completed his first season of flag football. He loves the sport of football. He talks about it constantly and is always running plays and playing catch. This season started a little rough with a coach that tried to put winning over balanced play time for the kids. After Ricky and I expressed our concern with that, things seemed to get better. Lincoln was nervous for every game but he looked forward to Friday nights under the lights. Once he got his jitters out, as the season went on he got more and more comfortable with what he was supposed to do. He had some awesome games. He had a some catches, a couple of passes, some runs, scored a touchdown and some extra points along with a handful of tackles on defense that came at critical times.

Lincoln is a hard worker, dedicated player and great sport. The season turned out to be a positive one for him. The team went 8-0 and won their playoff game against a very tough team. Way to go bubba, we are proud of you!

Gloves - check, mouth guard - check, water bottle - check. Game time.

 Lincoln got to act as captain for one of the games.

Winner winner!

April Activities

April seemed to quickly come and go, just like every other month this year. It was filled with sports practices, holidays, several business trips, school and church activities. I had two different trips to Denver for a week each. As much as I enjoy the opportunity to travel and see my team and attend some training, I never like being away from my boys. I miss them terribly when I have to go. It's much more fun when I can experience life with them. Ricky does a great job of holding down the fort at home though. Both times to Denver the weather was pretty terrible....cold, raining and even snowing. I don't often feel the best when I'm in Denver because of the altitude and the dryness. I often get headaches and just feel like I have to put on lotion every five minutes. It is a beautiful place though and I'm quite comfortable making my way around the town of Lone Tree now.
Here are a few other things that happened in the

Ricky practicing football with the boys in the backyard. 

Lincoln's Scout Troop. They learned how to put up the tent. 

Lincoln earned a few badges and belt loops at the pack meeting.

A new indoor trampoline park opened in Goodyear and we went there to celebrate Broc's birthday. The boys had a blast on all of the "American Ninja" like obstacles. 

Logan is afraid of heights so this was a big deal for him to get to the top. 

Lincoln's height sure comes in handy for things like this. 

Logan, Broc and Lincoln

"Sandwich Saturday" at Firehouse. 

Lincoln asked if I would take him on date night. Of course I took him up on that request. We started the night with seeing the movie Gifted, then dinner at Olive Garden and ended with a little shopping at Target. I'm so glad that he wants to spend one on one time with me and so blessed to have this sweet boy in our lives. 

Some artwork courtesy of Logan.

The boys will be switching schools next year. I took Lincoln to meet the teacher night (Logan was home sick) and he got to meet the school mascot. Go Falcons!

The first grade students made horses and participated in a Derby horse race. Logan came in second place!