I can barely STAND it!!! HELP! I'm stuck in Holiday Hoopla! Actually, I'm doing much better in terms of organization this year - but things are just BEYOND busy. I don't want to come off like I'm more busy than anyone else by any means because this time of year makes EVERYONE nuts. I just want to say WHEW! I'm glad it's almost over - and sad at the same time.
I guess the first item up for discussion is our Thanksgiving trip to Dallas. We spent a good portion of it at TX Stadium with my niece rehearsing for the Thanksgiving Dallas Cowboy halftime show (she's a Jr. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader - JrDCC).
We had to be there by 10 on the day before Thanksgiving. The girls got some meet and greet time with Demi Lovato and then they rehearsed the anthem and creating the pom pom flag. 
Ok, for someone who gets teary when I hear the anthem - imagine the inner torture when I heard it about 5 times. ENOUGH ALREADY, you're killing me!! I couldn't decide if a good bawl would fix it - but then I would look like I was abused for the rest of the day. So tearing up each time had to suffice. I was already a little emotional because I had taken the picture of the stadium - with thoughts of, "that might be the last time I get to be at TX Stadium as I know it" before we even entered.
Cowboy's (my cowboy - not the Dallas Cowboys) horseback riding instructor is single and there's been a running joke that I need to hook him up with one of the cheerleaders. So while we were there, I KNEW I had to get a pic of Cowboy with a cheerleader. My nieces friend has a BigDCC as a sister so when Nerdfish and BIL brought the boys at 3:30 (that's when the Jonus Brothers were rehearsing), I was yelling at Cowboy to hurry down the stairs. He was absolutely clueless and I kept telling him to walk around people to a different aisle than I was on. The cheerleaders mom kept saying "Come on, jump on the field hon, hurry" and he kept looking at me for validation - visibly CLUELESS. Once he got down there the mom said "Go ahead, stand next to Sarah - we're going to take a picture of you dear" he threw on the best smile without blinking an eye. She thought that was the funniest thing. Isn't he cute though?? Kind of in need of a haircut though. Ok - she's cute too but in a disgustingly gorgeous kind of way.
Cowboy and Itchy (and their cousin J) enjoyed watching the Jonus Brothers rehearse, the cheerleaders and of course THE PYRO effects. However, after hearing the song for the 4th time, Cowboy was baffled "Aren't they going to play a different song?" Heheh - the kids were getting restless so 
Nerdfish and BIL took the littles home. SIL, niece and I finally got out of there at 6:30 after hearing the JoBros sing that song another 5 or so times. My niece was super excited because she was 'stationed' right at the stage and I'm pretty sure it was heaven for her - I mean she'll be 12 next month. She touched Nick's foot during one of the rehearsals and said she would never wash her hand again. LOL she was upset when she realized it only took her 20 mins upon getting home to take a shower and wash all remnants of her teeny bop dreams away. I told her she'd have another chance the next day (Thanksgiving) at the game. They left to head to the stadium at 9 on Thanksgiving and we stayed home - the tickets and parking to the game were OUTRAGEOUS (even for the cheerleader families) so we just watched it on TV. Only my SIL and niece went. We didn't do Thanksgiving dinner until about 6:30 when they got back home so it was pretty quiet most of the day. My camera didn't have the zoomability (or a longer battery life) and I'm still waiting on close-ups from my SIL - so that's the only pic I have of the JoBros. You can really only pick out Nick from the bunch with the black guitar strap across his chest.
Nerdfish and BIL went fishing every morning except for 2 I think. Mostly because they had wounds, blisters and were sore. Oh to live and work with such injuries! They rotated out the kids on the boat so they all got a shot. Nerdfish caught several fish - you know making sure he still holds that title of "fisherman" high within the family. I think they all had a good time though and that's the bottom line.
I really enjoy our visits home - their older boys have turned into great guys and we had the best time joking around and just enjoying being around each other. The oldest nephew will be graduating this year and then heading off to college. I made sure to savor those memories with him. I miss the family terribly though. I wish we could figure out some way where we lived in the same place but for now, it's not going to happen.
Anyway - as if you thought you could get out of it...here's a few more pics!
Remember all that talk about the power of Neenee? Apparently it works for my BIL too.
Here's the whole brood of boys. I'm so happy I forced them into a quick picture. Little peanut on the right was about to break free from the grips of our oldest nephew within the next breath so I was lucky. I wish my niece was in this shot but I think she was already in bed. These are the same kids (except for the two youngest ones) that were in THIS post/picture so it's neat to see the progression. Our godchild is holding Itchy on the left.
Itchy and my niece.
Oh I almost forgot....a few folks asked what I ended up telling Cowboy about the tooth fairy and I just told him that she had already gotten 'buzzed' by his head hitting the pillow the first time. She did have to come for a visit the next night. She had to make another visit this past week for Itchy but thankfully she DID remember and we didn't have to chalk up another entry for reasons why I SHOULDN'T win Mom of the Year.
I'll update more soon!
America, the Beautiful
3 weeks ago
