Monday Night Lights

Last night was Nate's first flag football game! This is his first year playing flag football, and we were lucky enough to get him on our neighbor, Evers, team as a "free agent." (Sidenote: Football is INSANE here. If you don't start at 5 years old, you are way behind and have a hard time getting on a good team. Crazy!)

Regardless, he was happy to be on the Titans with Evers, and has been enjoying practices the past few weeks. There is an offensive & defensive coach, and when picking positions, they both wanted Nate! (Probably because he is fast & has a lot of endurance.) So, he literally played the WHOLE game !! 

Huddle with the offensive coach

He was so excited to have his name on his jersey! First time for that!

Before the game, I told him to do his best. We were playing the *best* team in the league, so we knew it would be a rough game. Nate really hustled and went for those flags when he was playing defense. I encouraged him to not be afraid to dive, and he took that advice! I was really proud of his effort.

Working hard!

By the end of the game, he finally got more comfortable on offense. Hopefully later this season, he can catch a pass/run for a touchdown! #babysteps

I was hassling him after the game for a picture, but the poor guy was just trying to drink some of his water bottle! He was exhausted from playing the whole game!

We played against his buddy, Mason. 

Nate & Evers

Our Tiny Dancer

Last week, Abby started a new afterschool activity - Dance!

She took hip hop classes last Fall, and really liked them but I wanted her to try something different this year. She picked a Lyrical class and I picked Ballet. She started with Lyrical on Tuesday....can you tell she was excited!?

 She was IN her element and caught onto the choreography really fast.

Click here to watch a very short video.

Her teacher is named Miss Ashley, and there are 8 girls in the class. It is a mixture of beginner & intermediate level, so I'm excited to see what Abby learns!

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 Then on Wednesday, we were back for Ballet. She was not super excited for this, but I assured her she'd be good at it, and it was important to learn this technique to help her in Lyrical. Once I said she could wear a pink leotard with a tutu and I'd put her hair in a bun, she was game :)

And let me just tell you what I went through to get this girl's hair in a bun!!!! Abby has pretty thin and short hair (we are growing it out but it's a long process). I had numerous friends offer advice on how to do it, which tools to buy - yes there are tools - and then I watched no less than 6 tutorials on YouTube with Abby. She got a kick out of that, because each video started with the girl saying "This is super easy, but I will show you how to make a bun....."

I was *very* proud of that bun!!

 I registered her for Ballet level 2, because of her age. There were 4 other girls in her class, and you could tell 2 of them had taken  ballet before. Luckily, the other 2 were beginners like Abby and the teacher, Miss Jenn, was super patient with them. I am SO proud of Abby for trying something new!! She listened to every word the teacher said and was doing great by the end of class.

Does she look like a pro or what!?

My tiny dancer. Can't wait to see what the year has in store for her!

(*And for the record...she was the ONLY one wearing her hair in a bun! So I freaked out for nothing!*)

Solar Eclipse 2017

On Monday, the kids' school dismissed at 11:30 for the Solar Eclipse!

(The school had originally planned to have the kids view the eclipse at school....they ordered glasses for every student, sent permission slips home, etc. But they ended up changing their minds due to liability. I scrambled to find some glasses for myself, but luckily a friend had extras.)

We headed to Government Plaza for a free viewing party. We met the Townsends there, and had so much fun! The event lasted 12-3 pm, and it was so fun to glance at the sun every few minutes and see the different stages.

It's starting!! David & Abby were in awe.

Anthony, Nate, Abby, David

They couldn't get enough!

Even Baby Thomas wanted to look :)

My cutie!

PSA: Selfies are hard when you're looking through pitch-black eclipse glasses :)

At one point, I looked over and Abby & David decided to take a walk. Waaaay down to the far end of Government Plaza. Guess they wanted to chat :) They aren't in the same class this year, so I think they miss each other! #younglove

Alba & Joe Townsend with Baby Thomas

Look at those long legs!

Eclipse shadows through the trees

So glad I got to experience this with the kids!

The gang

Unfortunately, Tuscaloosa was not in the path of totality. But we had 90% coverage, and it got a *little* bit dark around the peak at 1:30 pm. For those that didn't view the eclipse with special glasses, this is what it looked like:

The far right image was what it looked like at the peak. Then, it took about an hour & a half to reverse and get back to the full sun. SO COOL!

Happy 10th Birthday, Nate! [Part 2]

Nate's birthday was full of fun and FOOD!

He requested Daddy's French toast & bacon for breakfast. Oh so good!

 I asked if he wanted to sleep in, have a lazy morning, etc. But he said "No! I want to go to mass to see my friends and then have donuts in the Parish Hall." Ha! So we did exactly that.

He spent the afternoon working on a new lego set (thanks Uncle Kevin!) and playing with his best bud, Evers.

 Oh, and his favorite part of the day - Jimmy John's for lunch! I took pity on Abby and let her get a sandwich too :)

 For dinner, Nate requested Chuy's, which is our favorite tex-mex restaurant. He got the "big as yo' face" burrito and nearly ate it all. Hungry boy!

 At dinner, we all named 2 things we love about Nate....

-Abby said he is smart and handsome.

-Greg said he is a good role model for his friends/cousins/sister, and he loves how focused & determined he is when he's working towards a goal.

-I said that he is a good friend....he's kind, loyal, and very emphatic. I also love how hardworking he is, especially when it comes to academics.

#bestbuds #mostofthetime

 To top of the night, we celebrated with a cookie cake and ice cream. Nate's favorite!

It's hard to believe our favorite boy is 10! We are so lucky to have him in our life....he is a great son,  a great friend, and a great big brother. (There are not many other 10 year olds that will go along with his little sister's constant desire to choreograph dances and make dance videos on Musical.ly! Ha!)

I can't wait to see what the next 10 years have in store for our special little guy...

Happy 10th Birthday, Nate! [Part 1]

My "baby" boy is turning 10 today. Hard to believe he's in double digits!!!!! That saying "The days are short; the years are long" could not be more true! It seems like just yesterday I was reading pregnancy books and buying his nursery bedding and feeling him kick in my belly :)

 

As a mom, you never forget the day your babies were born (especially your first)! Mine was an excruciatingly hot day, and I had been having contractions for days. The labor & delivery was much different than what I expected, but in a good way thankfully. And I'll never forget the first time I held Nate....that was when it all became R.E.A.L!

 

Click here to read more about my labor story, and scroll below to take a walk down memory lane...

Happy "birth"day

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7  years old

8 years old

9 years old

10 years old

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Every year I ask the kids the same questions,

and here are Nate's answers:

How old are you? 10

What makes you happy? Playing with friends

What is your favorite animal? Dog

What is your favorite thing to eat? Slim 5 at Jimmy John's

What is your least favorite thing to eat? Grits

What is your favorite thing to do? Play on my iPad

What is your favorite TV show? LogDotZip on YouTube

What are you really good at? Running

What is your favorite movie? Emoji movie

What is your favorite color? Red

What is your favorite song? "I Feel it Coming" by The Weeknd

Who is your best friend? Evers & Mason

What do you and your Mom do together? Snoogle

What do you and your Dad do together? Wrestle

What is your favorite sport? Flag football

Where is your favorite place to go? Apple Store

What is your favorite book? The Harry Potter series

What do you want to be when you grow up? A millionaire & software designer

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We have a full day planned today for Nate's birthday (most involving food!), so stay tuned for Part 2 of the blogpost...

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah 5K

We picked up Nate & Greg's race packets for the Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah 5K on Friday afternoon. Nate was pumped to wear all his new gear!

#toughface

 We got to Government Plaza bright and early today, and these two were excited to run!!

Buds from school - Beau & Mason

Nate & Daddy's #1 fan :)

Helping to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Great cause!

They've raised $100,000 in just 4 short years from this race.

And they're off!

Mile 1 - Mason started out strong and was hanging with Nate & Greg....

Mile 2 was a different story! :)

Coming down the home stretch towards the finish line.... Can you tell these two are related!?

#samestride

They had a great time!

Greg said they had an 8:03 pace!!!

Trying to cool down, with Big Al

NATE GOT FIRST IN HIS AGE GROUP!!!

(Good thing this race wasn't a day later, because then he'd age up!)

Accepting his plaque

SO proud of this boy!

He was so happy to show off his plaque!!