The Great American Backyard Campout

Rip and Mason have been talking about doing this for probably a year. . .I think Mason wore Rip down, so the two FINALLY had their campout.

Despite promising to help set up their campsite, Mason got distracted very quickly. As soon as the tent was out of the box, Mason thought playing in the sandbox looked like more fun. And clearly (?) that necessitated taking off his pants. When I asked him why he was "nekkid," he said he didn't want to get sand in his undies. Aaaaaah. Gotcha.

As soon as the hard work was over, Mason was all about camping again. He got the inside of the tent all set up with sleeping bags, pillows, toys, and his beloved stuffed animals. He was so very excited.


And Rip was having a blast. He was so happy to sit by the "campfire" (aka the grill), drink his beer, and enjoy the evening. He said at one point that it felt like they were at the Ranch. Since that's one of Rip's favorite places in the world, I thought that was a pretty good thing.


The two cooked hotdogs on sticks, roasted marshmallows, made smores, and talked. It was so sweet to see.

They went to sleep around 9, and I didn't hear from them again until daybreak. They came inside smelling like campfire smoke and boys, and happy as could be.

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!"

Don't be too impressed. . .I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce that! But I DO know that it means "Let the Good Times Roll" in Louisiana-speak. (Okay, it's really French, but that's WAY outside my comfort zone.)



We GOT to EAT 'da CRAWFISH!



Our super cool neighbors, Dameian and Jerry, host a crawfish boil every spring. This is the first time we've ever been able to go, so we had to start with a little lesson. . .



Rip needed NO assistance with the nasty little buggers. He knew precisely the strategy. . .



The kiddos were more fascinated with the live crawfish than the cooked ones. . .they loved getting sticks and trying to get the crawfish to grab on with their claws. Well, all the kids but Mason. Look at the horror on his little face. . .


Admittedly, tearing the heads off crawfish isn't exactly my thing. I have a phobia of any meat "on the bone," and the full skeleton of a crawfish definitely falls into that category. So I stayed close to the table with chips, cookies, and hot dogs. Me and The Boo.



We had a great afternoon hanging out with our neighborhood friends and letting the kids run wild. I may not have loved the main course, but I absolutely loved the party!


"Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!"

SHOWDOWN SUNDAY!

We are a blended family. . .






Rip comes from a long line of Aggies, and I am a proud Boilermaker who bleeds black & gold.


What are the chances this would happen?



This is a BIG day for the Ray family. . .BOILER UP! GIG 'EM AGGIES!




(Will one of us have to sleep on the couch tonight? We shall see!)

G is for Giving

Remember my brilliant idea to do "alphabet activities" with Mason? Ummmmm. . yea. Remember how the last activity I posted about was in, I dunno, like October?

Okay. . .so clearly I'm not the best about keeping up with this. But we DID get through the letter "G." In December. I suppose this is a bit (a lot?) delinquent, but I figure it's better late than never. I'll try to be better with "H!!!"

Before Christmas, we took Mason to pick out a child from the "angel tree." Before we had kids. Rip and I used to make an annual event of shopping for children in need. Always one boy, one girl. This year, we wanted Mason to "run the show," so we let him pick. It was so heartwarming to see him deliberate, then choose one name from the tree. He chose a preschool-aged girl who asked for a "Little People Playset." He was so excited to shop for her and pick out something he thought she'd like.

Even though it was for a girl who probably dreamed of the Little People Happy Sounds House, Mason just KNEW she would want the farm. He was very insistent, so we let him select the farm.

I think the most special moment of the experience was watching Mason pay for the gift. We give him $1 in assorted coins every week, and he must divide it into "spend" (50%), "save" (40%) and "give" (10%) piggy banks. After the whole year, he had $4 in change in his "give" bank. Which he proudly carried around WalMart in a Ziploc bag, then gave to the cashier like a champ.

He was so proud that we didn't let him see us secretly slipping the cashier our credit card to pay the difference between his $4 contribution and the cost of the farm!

As soon as we got home, we talked about what we had just done, and asked him if he knew why it was important. I almost cried when he said "some little girls and boys have parents who don't have very much money for food or presents. We helped them have a Christmas, too." Oh, what a sweet boy!

And of course, we practiced the letter "G." G is for giving!

Boiler Up!

One of the (many) things I miss about living in Indiana is being able to see Purdue play on TV. I'm a third generation fan, and as they say, we "bleed black & gold." I love, love, LOVE Purdue sports. When they're good, like the men's basketball team is now, we get to catch so many more games because the networks will air them!

This season has been a ton of fun, and we've made a huge deal out of watching the games as a family. I'm trying to make little Boilermakers out of my boys, so we get all dressed up in our gear and make an event of it!

We even got our little basketball goal out and played a "pick-up game" during halftime. Somehow, it involved chasing each other around the whole downstairs, and there was even some tackling, but that's okay. We'll be flexible on the rules of the game for now!

Hail, Hail to Old Purdue!

Birthday Parties Right and Left!

Starting in January, our little family of four has one birthday every month. Brody's birthday falls a mere two weeks after Christmas, which is certainly going to be challenging, but it's also good motivation for me to get the Christmas decorations down! Those of you who know me well know that it's not odd for my tree to stay up until the end of January! So I could use the motivation for sure!!

The Boo turned ONE on January 7. and we celebrated with a little gathering at our house. . .we have a special group of neighbors and friends who are essentially our "second family," so they all came for singing and cupcakes!

This little man wasn't too fired up about his cupcake. He didn't like the way it felt on his hands! Whose child is this????

Then Mason turned FIVE this week. . .and for the first time, he gets TWO parties! Two whole days of craziness. On his actual birthday, Rip and Brody took him to McDonalds as a treat, then we had everyone over for (again) cupcakes and cocktails. Seems to be a theme here, huh? We had a riot watching him, and he was as sweet as could be in his "birthday boy" shirt.

Still to come: ANOTHER party at Gramma and Poppa Ray's house over the weekend. He's been asking all year for a "Ranch Party," so we're obliging. What a lucky little turkey!

It's actually fun to have all our birthdays in those dreary a months right after Christmas. It gives us something to look forward to, and they're all spaced evenly enough that it's not too stressful. The next birthday is the BEST one. Mine! It always seems to fall over Spring Break, AND during the first few days of March Madness. It's my favorite week of the whole year!

"I Wanna be a Cowboy. . ."

(Okay, honestly, I want to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. . .unless they're looking for middle-aged moms with zero dance experience, zero flexibility, and jiggly thighs. Don't think they are.)

However, Mason really does want to be a member of the Dallas Cowboys. He regularly tells us he's going to "Dallas Cowboys College" rather than the suggested Purdue or Texas A&M. I hope he does, indeed, get accepted to that prestigious college. That would solve any lingering fears I have about our retirement funds.

Wow, I'm all over the place.

Here's the point of this post. . .Rip scored four fabulous tickets to the Cowboys game; we took my dad and Mason, and had a blast. For one quarter. Then Mason started climbing on our laps, playing on the floor, and asking for a foam finger. And begging us to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" instead of watching the game. His "fun-meter" maxed out, I guess. We left just before halftime, but were all so impressed by the new stadium.

Everything was amazing. . .soft cushy seats, a 50 yard long television screen, Tony Romo, the shops and food venues, and watching Mason's first NFL experience. And, of course, the cheerleaders.

(So, if I can't be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, at least I can get an answer to this very pressing question: "How do they flip their long, fabulous hair around like that, and have it still look amazing? What's the trick? Seriously?")