Cuties and the Spurs

Whew...what a weekend!!! I got a call from a dear friend of mine, Cami last Friday about noon. Cami is the manager/director/coach of the CactusCuties. She made a proposition that I could not turn down...and boy, am I glad that I did not turn it down. She asked if Dustin and I would like to go to San Antonio on Saturday and Sunday (like the next day!!!) so that I could be the Cuties photographer. What sold me was that I would be taking pictures of them performing at the Spurs game!!!!! If you have not heard of them, or heard them sing, let me take this opportunity to say OH MY GOSH!!!!!! Click on CactusCuties to go to their site. Read about them there and listen to their songs.

Anyway, on with the weekend. We quickly scrambled to find a sitter and work out the kinks and on Saturday at 11, we were on the road. Just past Junction, we came up on this sign. Did anyone know that there was a speed limit of 80 anywhere in Texas??!! I had to take a picture to prove it!

And here we are...pumped to see these girls perform and to see a Spurs game!!
When we all got settled at the hotel, we hit the river walk. We took the gondola ride and the girls sang a few times for passers-by. It's so awesome to watch people stop and their jaws drop!!! We walked to the Alamo, then headed on to dinner.

The next morning, the girls rehearsed some at the hotel. I love the mascaras and pens for microphones!
Half-time outfits!
Walking into AT&T Center for Sound Check. The girls are SO cute and really best friends. They hold hands everywhere they go! They are SO not excited AT ALL!
Dustin and I after sound check(you can see the Spur's dancers in the background!)

The hype in the city is so cool! The dressing room was such fun! Hair and make-up being done, autographs being signed...

AND of course, some goofing around. This is how Madeline really feels about her mom's pep talk!

Walking down the hall to sing the National Anthem. The girls don't even know to be nervous. I, on the other hand, needed a trash can!!!!

The girls ROCKED the house!! The PR person for the Spurs told Cami afterward that the Anthem normally never gets cheers that loud!!! I wasn't allowed on the court during the National Anthem. I had to stand behind the girls. Here's some of my faves...

After the Anthem, in front of the dressing room

Before the half-time performance
With the Spur's girls...

The girls did a medley at half-time where each girl sang a solo

These girls are GOING PLACES! I know it!!! I was among super stars this weekend!! They are so amazingly talented, and they are such sweet girls! I had a blast with them.

As the girls were exiting the tunnel, this guy walks up and says, "Are you THE Cactus Cuties?" I had to tell the girls they were talking to Reggie Miller. We later explained who he is and who he played for. I got to shake his hand!! They took a pic with him. Excuse the blurriness...I was shaking like CRAZY!

After half-time, I watched the game and got some pictures. SA pulled way ahead, so Duncan and Parker didn't play much in the second half. Oh, and George Strait was there and I spotted Eva Longoria!

Duncan during a time out
Duncan on the bench talking to Bowen

action shot

18 Months

How is it that my baby is already a year and a half??!! Gosh, and she's not really a baby anymore! She has really been a lot of fun lately. She definitely keeps us on our toes! Here are some fun facts about my 18 month old...

1) She doesn't really like to get dirty or messy. If she spills something on her or gets something on her hands, she will tell you "mess" and expect you to clean her up.

2) She LOVES to dress up in anything (see the next 2 pictures). She loves all jewelry, purses, shoes, clothes and hats.

Princess Taylor

Taylor was wearing her daddy's boots this weekend. She was just in her diaper. I needed to see that naked bottom...she'll kill me one day for this! (also note the bracelet and donut hole...accessories are important!)3) She loves to show-off and knows when she is doing it. When she plays at the playground in the mall, she will go to the top of the slide, then look around to see how many parents are watching her. She will wink or wave or give a cheesy smile before she slides. She was also being a little ham on Friday at breakfast. This is how I found her eating. The girls I keep were laughing at her, so she hammed it up even more!
4) Taylor continues to amaze us almost daily with her vocabulary and understanding of so many things! Last week, she woke up from her nap and told me she wanted a cereal bar. And she said the whole thing by herself and it sounded perfect! I looked at her like, did you really just say that?! Another conversation last week went something like this...

Taylor: "my cup"

Me: "where is it?"

Taylor: "up high"

Me: "where?"

Taylor: "right there"

It's crazy that I can carry on a conversation with her!

Here are a few more pictures of my baby that's not really a baby anymore...

TOMORROW!!!

Yay, The Office is back on tomorrow!!!!! Is it bad that I am SO excited over a TV show?! And that I have been excited since they started showing the teaser's on NBC with the "Welcome Back" song?! I love that show.

We've been enjoying the warmer weather lately (except for today, although the rain was GREAT)! With the warmer weather comes fun new things for Taylor, like popsicles! Since she had her first one last week, she now begs for them all the time. My dad called this morning and could hear her in the background crying. He asked what was wrong and I told him that she wouldn't eat her waffle because she wanted a popsicle. Crazy girl. Of course, Pop Pop said I should've given it to her...well, I'm not as nice as Pop Pop! We've also been driving with the windows rolled down. Every time I get in the car, Taylor says "Mommy windows." She loves the fresh air! If we let the girl live outside, she would!

Here are some pictures of Taylor's first popsicle that she held ALL by herself! She was hosed down afterwards!


Also some pictures of Taylor enjoying left over cake batter!

Taylor has started doing some new things lately that of course I need to brag about! :-) She is counting to 7. She normally skips 2, but it is so cute! When she gets to 7 she yells it loud...it sounds like "SEBEN." She's also started singing more and knows most of the words to You Are My Sunshine and Jesus Loves Me. Unfortunately, she's also learning how to throw some BIG temper tantrums, which is NOT so cool! She's been spending some time in her bed lately for that. Otherwise, things are pretty calm and quiet here, which is how we like it. I think there is only like 7 more weeks of school! YAY!!

Hannah, Emma, Eli & Ellie

I had a busy Thursday afternoon! Two of my good friends from college, Amy and Stacy (who are sisters), wanted me to take pictures of their 4 kids. Amy has a 2 1/2 year old, Hannah, and 9 week-old twins, Eli and Ellie. Stacy has a 9 month-old little girl named Emma.

Amy and Stacy are the type of friends that you may not see or talk to for months, but when you get together, it feels like you were hanging out with them just yesterday. That's how it was on Thursday! It was wonderful for me to catch up with them!! I have lots of fun memories with these two, things like sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags, watching re-runs of Friend's and quoting every episode, and driving to Muleshoe so their mom could cut and color our hair. Amy will remember the summer of toupee's, trees, and trampolines. I also remember when Stacy came home from her first date with her now husband, and I was already putting her first name with his last name...crazy! It's so fun to see them as Mom's now and to share that experience with them. Although, I must say, watching Amy with her twins and 2 1/2 year-old makes my head spin! Thanks for a FUN day!

So, onto the kiddos...This is Hannah. She has amazing blue eyes and a hilarious personality. You should see her "shake her biscuits". HILARIOUS!! She kept us entertained with her "fake cheese smile" and her many expressions. I think I caught some good natural smiles though.


This was the last picture I took. Hannah had gone off and found someone's lipstick. She wanted to be like the big girls!
This is Emma. She is 9 months-old and such an easy-going baby! I wish I would've had a camera behind me so you could see what her mom and Aunt Mindy were doing to get these smiles out of her! Emma loves other babies and kids. She has killer blue eyes, too!

Here are the twins Eli and Ellie (short for Elizabeth). What sweet little babies! I was there for a couple of hours and NEVER heard either of them fuss. And they look SO much like their dad...it's crazy!

Here are some group shots that we took during the day. Hannah is protecting Emma in this first one. We kept saying "we're gonna getcha." Hannah did NOT want us to get Emma.

Getting the 4 of them in one pic was a bit of a challenge!
Amy and her 3
Stacy and Emma

Spring Break and Easter

WARNING - photo overload! We had a great spring break and Easter. I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Tuesday of spring break. That was pretty rough for a few days, but I'm doing great now! Other than that, we did a lot of laying around and doing nothing! I really enjoyed it! Here are tons of pictures from the last week!

Taylor and Riley in the toy box at Grandma's house

Trax and Taylor sharing crackers on the couch
This was Wednesday before church...I LOVE spring clothes!
What a ham!
On Easter...hunting eggs at the park

Taylor LOVES her Pop Pop


Taylor at Gammy's house

hunting eggs at Gammy's house
It was so cute. Taylor would point and say, "Look, a egg!" Then she would run and get it.
Eating a push pop from her aunt Staci

Okay, I have to explain these next few pictures. I almost did not post these b/c I didn't want to ruin her Halloween costume for next yr but I couldn't resist. My mom found this at a Children's Place outlet over Christmas. We keep it in the bottom of Taylor's closet. The other night after bath and pj's, she wanted to put it on. Then she asked for a necklace and a purse. What a little girly-girl!

Taylor and Sydney. Sydney belongs to the ag teacher here in Southland. I have become GREAT friends with his wife. They will be leaving after this year :( She has been my sanity so many times this yr and I will miss her SO MUCH!

Their son Landry after getting muddy in the sprinklers
Taylor's Easter dress

The kiddos I keep and our friends before hunting eggs