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crazy texas mums! {updated}

Friday, October 19, 2012
UPDATED:  Here is Will leaving for the game tonight with Mum in hand.  He will give it to his date at the game. I hope she likes it:)  I link to a funny video about the Texas mums below too.

Will mum_9745





This weekend is Will's homecoming.  Tonight is the game and tomorrow night is the dance.  He asked a very sweet girl that he has known from our church for a while.  She also goes to the all girl prep school next door to his.  So, he often sometimes goes over to have lunch with her during the week too.

Since Will is my oldest, I was new to all the homecoming hoopla.  I grew up in PA and we did not do all this.  There are t-shirts to buy, flowers to order, and MUMS.  These are TEXAS style mums.   I had never seen or heard of such a thing.  The boys give the girls these GIANT mums.    And the girls give the boys a smaller one that they wear as a garter on their arms at the football game. We did not do that in PA. 

So, a few weeks ago one of my besties (whose son is one of Will's besties) and I brought our checkbooks and went to a Mum making party.  Yup, that is right.  People host Mum making mixers in their homes for Moms to come make these giant things.  The one we went to benefitted breast cancer.

So, I made my first (and maybe last now that I know I can just buy one) Texas -style homecoming Mum.  What do ya think?





It might not look it but this thing is HUGE.  it has all sorts of bells and jingly things on it.

Okay--I just watched this video (thanks Jules) and our mum is small compared to some of these Texas mums!!!


Also this week I was so thrilled to attend my first Mother-Son luncheon for Will's school.  We had a really nice time.  The principal gave a tear jerking speech where he reminisced about the Mother-Son luncheons he attended with his Mom when he went to Jesuit (he is an alum too).  His Mom passed away quickly when he was in college and he got very emotional as he spoke about her.  He reminded the boys to really take the time to appreciate their Moms now.  I have so much admiration for a principal that shows his emotions like that to a room full of high school boys.  He showed our boys by example that it is okay to be vulnerable and it is "manly" to show your feelings sometimes.  At the end of his speech, he had all the Moms stand, then all the boys stand and tell their Moms how much they love them and give them a hug.  It was lovely.

The other speaker, Dr. Billy Cohn was fascinating too. He is a renowned heart surgeon who has invented many life saving medical devices.  His inventions have landed on the cover of Popular Science and National Geographic magazines. He talked about how he had no direction in high school but followed a few of his passions and found himself in a successful career that he LOVES!

 Here is a phone photo of Will and I (below) at the luncheon. It is a terrible photo but it is all I have.  I did not bring my camera but we did have a professional photo taken.  I just don't have it yet.


I instagram a little now:)


Have a blessed weekend.  I am sure I will have some cute homecoming shots up here this weekend!

25 comments:

  1. we are making mums this next week. we have a WHOLE week of dressing up and activities, ending with the homecoming. your mum looks great. my girl will be making her own, as "the girls" are all going in a group this yr.

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  2. Great job!!! Ohhh ya...mums are as BIG as the state of Texas:)

    You actually could pass off as his sister in that last picture my sweet friend...beautiful:)

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  3. So what do you do with the giant mum? Is it a decoration or a corsage? They definitely don't do that here in Chicago!

    I love that there are mum-making parties! That's a hoot. And you did a great job on yours.

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    1. Yes, they wear it at the game as a corsage. They are HUGE though. And apparently the girls save them and hang them on their bedroom wall or closet:)

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  4. This is awesome. It brings me back to my GMA days and my guy friends (and ex's) from the Prep. Wait till Kate goes to high school and you get to experience it with her too!

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  5. Oh Kim...I had no idea either about the mums. I grew up in CT. The first time I saw one I thought they were so odd looking. I'm used to them now. Every year Ursuline has a mother-daughter Mass and brunch. They choose a senior weeks before randomly to read a letter that she has written to her Mom. I always had to make sure the kleenex was handy. My girls were never chosen which is just as well because I was a mess listening about a mother I did not even know! Have a great weekend!

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  6. What a lovely Mum for homecoming and you're such a cute Mum to Will!! High school activities can be so fun for the students AND the parents! Enjoy!

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  7. My high school English teacher (back in the day) used to say, "Homecoming is homecoming everywhere else, but here, it's a HAPPENING event." Homecoming is definitely a big deal in the SOUTH. Oh how I remember the Mum corsages, with the pipe cleaners in the school colors spelling out the letters of our school...happy memories.

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  8. Love the mum!! I remember my aunt having one of those a lot of years ago, but we don't do them here. You did a great job :)

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  9. So glad you had time with Will at the luncheon. Sounds like a great event!
    It's homecoming in PA out our HS this weekend and we most certainly don't do the Mums. Thanks for introducing them....never seen them before in my life!

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  10. Yes, its definitely a SOUTH thing!! You did a GREAT JOB!! The MUMS are HUMONGOUS and get "quite heavy"!! My daughters who are now 31 and 23 "STILL" have their mums!! Fortunately, I had a sister-in-law who was AWESOME at this type of craft! I can remember all the little trinket buckets at HOBBY LOBBY filled with EVERYTHING a HS girl could dream of to make her MUM standout!!
    I kid you not, attending a HS homecoming game here at home, all you here are COWBELLS sounds! EVERY GIRL has cowbells of everysize dangling from their mums!! They even make "mini-mums" (GET IT)...for the elementary kids!

    One could make some "nice little change" during homecoming week Down South!! The BIGGER, THE BETTER!

    Mums can be pretty expensive!! Get this...there is an OVER THE SHOULDER type mums!! It cascades down the front and down the back!!! TALK ABOUT HOMECOMING MADNESS!!! I don't even wanna take a GUESS at how much that one is!!


    PS You and Will looked wonderful!!!

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  11. check out youtube and search "the queens mum" a southlake dad made it about these crazy mums. They seem to get bigger and bigger!! There were girls here last night at our parade that had straps to hold them up and on!! Also up here(DFW) the sr mums are all white and silver to designate them as seniors(regardless of your school colors) Last night my 4 year old told me she couldn't wait to have a mum:) LOL

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  12. This post cracked me up! I am from KY and have never heard of this. Thanks for exposing us to a little Texas culture! :) Sweet picture of you and Will!
    Michelle

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  13. Your mum came out beautiful! Please don't take this the wrong way but I am SO VERY THANKFUL for growing up in the North East!! lol The videos on YouTube are hysterical!

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    1. Don't tell anyone Beth but me too. I am a NE gal at heart!

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  14. Your mum came out beautiful! Please don't take this the wrong way but I am SO VERY THANKFUL for growing up in the North East!! lol The videos on YouTube are hysterical!

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  15. I am sitting here in Bucks County (will eat a cheesesteak for you tomorrow! :-)) totally loving it all! Seriously...such fun...totally weird...but in a good, fun way, right??? I'm impressed...and now must watch the video. What I love about blogs...it brings the world just a little closer together!!! Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Kate....you speak to my soul. You know I grew up in Bucks County!!!! And I ate a cheesesteak pretty much every single day for lunch in high school and college (La Salle University).

      xo

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  16. I've never heard of anything like the mums- sort of crazy. But I love regional traditions like that. So fun to see how different parts of the country celebrate the same thing.

    KK

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  17. Love this post!!! Died laughing when I read your post! I grew up in Texas and thought the mum thing was nuts...lol
    I LOVE Texas and miss the South!
    You did an Awesome job on your Mum! Enjoy every moment of these special occasions!!

    Lori

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  18. Love this.....its a little over the top but in a fun kind of way and more than anything, any tradition that brings together a mom and son (or daughter) I really love!! Hope he has a fabulous time.....I have such fond memories of homecoming and the fun pomp and circumstance that goes along with it.....

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  19. glad you thought the video was funny!! I think it is over the top, as I grew up with a REAL mum with pipe cleaner initials attached. But regardless it is fun to have such a crazy tradition that the kids love and it gets the parents really involved in the festivities:) Hope they had a blast at the dance and that she loved her mum.....it looked GREAT!!!

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    1. Jules,

      I agree. It IS so over the top. I would NEVER spend the $$$$ people spend on those huge ones. Ours was $60 to make and all the proceeds went to Breast Cancer research and support. But I do get a kick out of traditions. Luckily, Will's school keeps them kind of simple by Texas standards.

      He had a good time at the game and his date loved the mum. The dance is tonight!

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  20. Kim, Thanks for the video. I heard about mums and how they were used, but couldn't have ever imagined. You did a great job on your mum. It seems like
    Texas is just more fun.

    We loved Houston when we were there, and everything seem bigger, especially
    portion sizes at restaurant. I think we ate our way around Houston. There were so many great restaurants.

    Caroline

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  21. I graduated from HS in Round Rock, TX in 1983 and it was not unusual for girls to be wearing 10-15 of these huge mums during Homecoming. Do they still use real flowers? I saved mine all through HS and I had like 50 of them hanging on my wall. Good times. Thanks for bringing back good memories!

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Thank you for your kindness.