Wii Bowling Tournament

This morning we awoke to discover that we could not get a satellite signal. Turns out, the receiver died sometime during the middle of the night. So I call Dish Network and they tell me it will be between 3-5 days before we could get a replacement. Geez! As a side note, the receiver that controlls both Mason's and Reagan's T.V.'s was working just fine, so we could have watched the tele in one of their rooms, but I have to say........watching T.V. on a 13" Princess television just can't compete with watching it on a 46" LCD!!

Any who, our day was occupied with this and that, but by nightfall, we were bored to tears!! That's when a super awesome idea hit me.....we could have a bowling tournament. And thanks to the Wii, we could do it from the comfort of our living room!! We had so much fun bowling and acting silly together! It was stiff competition, but I walked away winner both times (photographic proof below....hehe!!).

Proof of my awesomeness!

After we tired of bowling, we played a few rounds of tennis, NONE of which I won (I can play in real life, but I seriously stink at Wii tennis!). We lead such a busy life between work, school, PTA, sports and Scouts, that hanging out together, without having to rush here or there, was just what we needed. It was so much fun, that I think we will make it a regular thing!

Good game!!

Turkey Day Shootout

Turkeys weren't the only thing being hunted today! After our Thanksgiving lunch, while the men were watching the Cowboys game and the ladies were looking through the Black Friday ads, our own little turkeys were having a marshmallow war in my backyard. My friend Autumn and I purchased these awesome guns at a craft fair last weekend and they totally saved the day!! The weather was so nice today that the kids got to spend hours outside playing. Seriously! It was after dark before we could drag them in!! Hands down, the best $5.00 I have ever spent on a toy!!

The Marshmallow Gang

Preston & Mason

Reagan

Kaleb

Paige

Andrew

Alexis

Also, a big thanks to the Hoskins family, the Ford family, and the Bogale family for coming into our home and making Thanksgiving so special! For Military families, spending the Holidays with family isn't always possible, so having such great friends is truly a blessing.

Raingutter Regatta

Today, Mason participated in his first Raingutter Regatta. We are new to Scouts this year, and this was so much fun! He completed his boat all by himself (I did help by writing in paint pen on his boat). Naturally, he decided to go with a Dallas Cowboys theme and we all think it turned out great! He used blue spray paint on the hull (I might have a graffiti artist on my hands folks......he loved it!), and wanted to write Dallas Cowboys on one side and his favorite players on the other side (#24 Marion Barber, #29 Keith Davis - who Adrian and I knew in high school, #81 Terrell Owens, #9 Tony Romo, #41 Terrance Newman, #55 Zach Thomas, and #82 Jason Whitten). Needless to say, his Daddy is beyond proud of his choice!!

For those not familiar with the Raingutter Regatta, the scouts purchase a kit, decorate it any way they choose, and race it in a real raingutter filled with water, using only their own breath to sail it down to the end. Each scout races the same number of times, with the winning scout going on to represent his Den in the Pack championships.

Mark vs. Mason

Reagan even got to get in on the action!

Getting a congratulatory Cub Scout Handshake from Scout Master Close.

Mason recieved 2nd place overall in his Bear Den. He was SO excited!! Not too shabby for his first time!

Mason in action!

Time To Break Out The Winter Coats

This time last week, the kids were still able to wear shorts, and now it is cold! I mean brrrrrr.....this is frigid to a Texan! Today we even saw some snow flurries coming down. So cool!! It didn't last long, and the ground was too warm for it to stick, so it was gone as quickly as it landed. The kids were in school, so I didn't know if they would get a chance to see it or not, but sure enough, the first thing they could talk about when they got off the bus was snow, snow, snow! Actually, it was the first time that Reagan has ever seen real snow (we went skiing in Boone, NC 2 years ago during Christmas, but no natural snow had fallen, so it was man-made snow. And she SOOOO knew it wasn't real, and she reminds me of that all the time....stinker).

Anywho, here are some pics I snapped of the kiddos on their way to school this morning. Enjoy!

Camp Lejeune Eagles

While football is offically over, the memories of Mason's first season will stay with us forever. It was so much more than we thought it would be. After watching the first few practices, and this being our first season and all, I thought that the kids were going to look like the 'Bad News Bears' during the games. Not just our team, but all of the teams. But as soon as the whistle blew on the first game, I was BLOWN AWAY!!! I expected tons of fumbles, dropped balls, incomplete passes from both sides, but instead, it was a real game. I mean a real, hard hitting, shoulder pad crunching, helmet banging, spiral throwing, nail bitting game!! And every other game was just as great, if not better, than the first! And these kids are 8-10 years old folks!

The Eagles started the season out with a bang, going undefeated in our first 3 games, beating the Redskins, Packers and Rams. We finished the season 3-2 (2nd place in the Div. 2 NFC conference), with the only two losses coming at the hands of the Air Station Titans, who went on to win the Super Bowl. As a side note, we were the only team to score on the Titans all year....woohoo!

Mason played defensive end, defensive tackle, and was on the kickoff team. He played an EXCELLENT season!! He had great tackles in every game, but the highlight of his season came when he recovered a fumble to help his team win the game. Go Mason! He's #25 (#90 in the practice jerseys). OU better watch out, cause this future Longhorn is tough!

We felt so fortunate to be placed on a team with such awesome coaches. Coach Rob, Coach Jason and Coach Bryan did an AMAZING job!! They were THE reason the boys had so much fun. Not only did they teach the kids the fundamentals of the game, but they taught them to be good sports, the importance of teamwork, to always have a winning attitude and to ALWAYS HAVE FUN!

I already can't wait until next season!!

Coach Jason getting the boys fired up before a game. What time is it? GAME TIME!

The Case of the Lost Tooth

While most of her friends and classmates have lost multiple teeth, Reagan has finally lost her first one!! Just as I was beginning to suspect that her teeth were being held in by cement, she got her first "wiggly tooth" and in less than two weeks, it was gone. It happened today while we were at the base theater, eating our snacks, waiting for "Igor" to start. She was munching on her Skittles when she looked at me with her tooth pointing forward (literally), and said, "Mommy, I think my tooth is going to fall out NOW!" So we headed upstairs to the ladies room, grabbed a paper towel and before I could count to 2, it was out! She didn't even know it until I showed it to her!! Later that night, she placed her tooth under her pillow and awoke to find that the Tooth Fairy had left her $2.00. She was super excited!

PS - For a few weeks leading up to the big event, Reagan suffered from "Shark Tooth Syndrome." You know, when the permanent tooth is pushing up and growing behind the baby tooth and you have two rows of teeth kinda like a shark.....hehe! So in the pics, she doesn't even look like she has lost a tooth!