Mother-Son College Road-trip

I had NO idea that President's Day weekend is apparently a HUGE time to visit colleges.  Will is our oldest so this is our first go around at college visits.  Last Fall, Dave took Will to visit UVA and William and Mary.  He really liked both of them.

I decided (when I found out Will had off last Friday) to plan a very spur of the moment road trip for us to visit Baylor, TCU and SMU.  Now this is kind of ironic because a) I don't really do things spur of the moment, b) I don't really travel and am a homebody and c) I have a severe phobia of driving on the Texas freeways (a recent one since I have been hit a few times on them through no fault of my own).  Even Dave could not believe I had planned this little road trip.

I really enjoyed my time with Will.  He introduced me to his favorite music.  We ate a lot.  This boy ate 6 full meals on Friday.  Our first stop was Baylor in Waco, Texas.  It was my first time in Waco and we were both pleasantly surprised.  We pulled into Waco around breakfast time so we went here and had a great breakfast.  There were lots of very cute co-ed girls there and so Will was a little distracted.  Baylor has 60% females to 40% males.  I think that was kind of appealing to him.

After breakfast, we had to make a slight detour.  I love the show Fixer Upper and it takes place in Waco.  My Mom is kind of obsessed with the show and Joanna Gaines.  When she found out we were going to Waco she made a big fuss about us visiting the Magnolia shop.  So we did.

It is a cute shop but the inventory is very limited.  I hear they are expanding.  My Mom was looking for a "g" for her wall but I could not find one.  I did pick her up a little something for Mother's Day (she is coming to visit for Kate's 1st holy Communion!)

Will hated this.  He was embarrassed and did not want to take my photo.  He did notice there were lots of other old ladies in mini-vans stopping;)

Then we went to the Catholic Student Center at Baylor.  We just walked in and there were some kids studying.  They were so welcoming.  I really enjoyed talking to these kids. We got a great tour of the center and learned a lot about the campus ministry.  I felt confident that Will would find a great place to support his faith there.

Will was hungry again so we headed to this place (at a friend's recommendation)

I got a coffee milkshake because I was sleepy.  Will ate a double cheeseburger and a peach milkshake.  The food here looked amazing and not at all healthy!

Then we had a tour at Baylor.

We had fabulous tour.  Baylor has such great traditions and the campus was lovely.  We both were so pleasantly surprised.  Will had always thought he'd go out of state for college but I think he will seriously consider Baylor now.  As we started this tour, Will said, "Mom we should walk near the front of the group.  You learn a lot more that way."  And he was SO right.  On both this tour and our SMU tour, we learned all sorts of tidbits that the rest of the group did not hear.  Just my piece of advice for those of you about to tour colleges.  Stay near the front and strike up conversations with your guide as you move from point to point.

After our incredible Baylor tour, we headed up to Dallas.  It was a harrowing drive during Friday afternoon rush hour but we made it.  We checked into our hotel in Highland Park and then went to dinner with Eloise, Robert and Vivi.  Eloise is a blogging friend who we have gotten to know a bit over the years.  She has visited us in Houston and we have visited them in Dallas. They were so kind and gracious to take us to their local Mexican restaurant.  Then they drove us around the SMU campus.  They are both SMU alums as they met there:)  I did not get a photo of us and I am so bummed because I just love their family.  They have a daughter Will's age who is also touring colleges.

Saturday morning was GORGEOUS!  It was perfect Texas weather….  blue skies, no clouds and perfect temps. And the SMU campus is absolutely beautiful.  I cannot overstate how beautiful it is.

I LOVED SMU!    Seriously, I would go there if I could. If Will chooses a different school, I'm going to hope Kate or Harry goes there;) It is beautiful and the alumni are incredible.  I loved the academic programs and the traditions.  Again, we had a great tour guide and we stuck near the front and got a lot more information from him.



We did not have time to visit the Catholic Student Center but I wish we had. Next time.

Will was starving (again!) and really wanted In-n-Out.  We don't have them in Houston.  So, we went. It was heavenly.

So, at this point, I kind of needed a nap.  But we headed back onto the freeways down to Fort Worth to visit TCU.  We could not get into an official TCU tour because they were full.  But we walked around campus and talked to students in the rec center, visitor center and student union.  Will really liked the laid back feeling of the campus.  Kids were laying out on the lawn and playing music and tossing a football.  It was super chill.

The mascot is the "horned frog"

This is frog fountain.

I really wish we had an official tour.  But I think if Will wants to, we could come back and visit again.

We were SO TIRED after this visit.  I seriously wanted to get a hotel and sleep.  But we had to drive home.  It was a long drive that afternoon but Will and I had some good talks.  He slept some of the way but then we talked about some really good stuff.  I really am so grateful for the relationship we have.  I am kind of tough on my kids.  I have high expectations but I give them unconditional love and we talk about everything.  I am incredibly blessed that they talk to me and trust me too.  I will never forget our talks on this road trip.

As we pulled into Houston (I was completely fried), Will played me some awesome upbeat 80's music from his phone.  He held out on me the entire trip.  I laughed as we enjoyed some fun 80's music for the least few minutes of our drive.  I am still tired from this trip and cannot imagine touring colleges in 9-10 years with Kate.  I will be SO OLD!  

I am just so proud of Will.  He does not know where he wants to go to college or exactly what he wants to major in but he has such a good head on his shoulders and he is a good person.  I am blessed to have had this time with just him.

{All I-phone pics}

lots and lots of stuff...

Thank you so much for all of the Disney recommendations!!! I am going to book our trip tomorrow and I have lots of tips to share in a post soon. I have ordered a few pair of the shoes y'all recommended and I will keep one of them. Gotta love Zapoos!

Will is safe at camp although he is really flying under the radar. Camp Utopia posts photos for morning, afternoon and evening sessions. LOTS of photos. They also post videos. I am not sure what Will is doing there because he is NEVER in the photos. I did glimpse him in one picture yesterday and he had a rifle in his hand at the skeet range. He also had dark circles under his eyes and no protective ear phones on. I am guessing they aggravate his scar but I sure hope they gave him ear plugs. I e-mailed the camp nurse right away. Yes, I am that Mom.

UPDATE~the sweet nurse from camp just called to tell me Will is wearing special earplugs and they checked on his scar too. I love this camp!

I e-mail him everyday but he cannot e-mail back. It is nice and quiet here but I wish he could let me know how he is doing.

Harry did well at the Judo Junior Olympics last weekend. He did not earn a medal but he apparently had an awesome pin and match. He lost two matches as well. We are really proud of him. This tournament is the best in the country. These kids go onto the Olympic team (the older ones). Harry is a fierce competitor and he is not used to losing. He is ranked #1 in our state. So, we were concerned for him. He can be a sore loser sometimes. But I must say, he exhibited gracious sportsmanship. He enjoyed the experience and learned from it. He was humble and gracious which is exactly what I would hope for. He was also motivated to work even harder:) When he came home to his friends and his dojo (where he was the only kid who traveled to nationals), he held his head high and told them how he did. Dave took these few photos...

Since Harry's Judo sensei did not make the trip to Atlanta his former sensei from Virginia agreed to coach him for this tournament. It was good for Harry and Dave to catch up with them.

Kate and I had a nice "girls day" on Sunday. We dropped Will off for camp. Then we went to Mass dressed in our matching Lily dresses. We came home and had lunch, blew bubbles, played games (she beat me 3 times at hi-ho cherry-o), watched Mulan and she painted my nails. She is quite good at painting nails. I still have the polish on:) Then I let her pick what she wanted for dinner. She chose "dump-a-lings" (that is how she says dumplings). So we feasted on some delicious dump-a-lings and chicken fried rice.

I have a horrendous sinus infection. I feel miserable and have a killer headache. I am trying to avoid antibiotics since I just gave up all sugar and yeast for 8 weeks due to candida from taking too many antibiotics. So, I am using the neti-pot, sinusalia (a homeopathic), and eucalyptus epsom salt baths. If anyone else has any other natural recommendations, please feel free to share. I am desperate.

And thank you for your prayer for my friend, Eloise's daughter , Vivian. She came home from the hospital this week (after more than 30 days in the ICU) and is making huge improvements!! Praise God for answered prayer!

Prayer for Vivian

Please continue to pray for my friend Eloise's 16 year old daughter, Vivian. The doctors are not sure if Vivian has suffered a brain injury due to the complications of her illness and fever. Eloise and her husband Robert are wonderful, warm, gracious, compassionate and God loving people. They covet your prayers right now. I encourage you to read more on Eloise's blog.

Miss Eloise and Kate when we visited them last year:)

Black and White Wednesday~A Forest Fairy

Sometime this year I lost my photo mojo. There were several things that led to that one of which was my thyroid and adrenal disease. When you have no energy to do the vital things to get through the day, you don't get to the things that make you happy but are extras (like hobbies). I just kind of stopped taking pictures (took candids of the important events) and I stopped learning and practicing.

Now that I am slowly feeling a little better (although my darned thyroid is not getting better and in fact got worse!), I am trying to get back into the swing of photography. This week I am playing along with Lisa's Black and White Wednesday...

I took this of Kate a few weeks ago (around her 4th b-day). We were in a park in the middle of the city but she was frightened because she heard cicadas. Clearly this city girl is not used to nature noises.

This is darker than I usually process my black and whites and a little more dramatic. But I think it captures her mood. She was warily checking out her surroundings because of all the nature noise at 8 am on a Sunday morning:) I used Flora Bella Collection rich vintage black and white and adjusted the layers to convert it.

Here it is straight out of the camera...

PLEASE keep my friend Eloise's daughter Vivian in your prayers. Vivi is dangerously ill and in the hospital on a ventilator. Vivi and her whole family really need prayers. We have had the privilege of getting to know this family in real life and we think the world of them.

A sneak peek {tap}

Pause the music at the bottom of the blog.




What a BIG night for our family...Kate's 1st recital and Harry's big play-off game. I am sorting through lots of video and photos. Will recorded this with my new flip...sorry about the shakiness. I learned not to let my 11 year old be in charge of the video next time:) More soon.....

Eloise--I bought the new HD flip at Costco yesterday.  We were kinda far away here and it was dark.

Mish Mash

There are a couple of things I want to post about so hang in there.  This might get long.

First, the gracious and generous Kimberley at The Seventh Diamond is helping to raise money for some special babies in China.  These babies are orphans and they all have cleft palate.  A wonderful foster home has agreed to care for them but they need sponsorship.  Please go to Kimberley's blog and see if you can help these little angels.  You can also go to this blog set up just for the cleft palate babies.  Imagine the difference your contribution will make. Our family sponsors a special needs orphan in China and my children love getting updates and photos of the little girl we help.  I love teaching them that God wants us to "adopt" his children in any way we can. Someday I will share more about the darling angel that we sponsor.  She is very special.

Last weekend when we were in Dallas, Eloise graciously invited our family to dinner at their home.  We had such a nice time.

First, Eloise and I spent the afternoon chatting and browsing the shops.

Eloise bought his tres chic Philippe Starck Ghost chair for her daughter's room.

I am helping her carry it out.

I have my eye on this petite version for Kate and might get it when I get the crib out of her room. Isn't is precious?

That evening we had a delicious dinner at their home.  Everything was so lovely.

Kate was "full of personality" that night and was even kind enough to throw a tantrum or two for our entertainment.  She adored Eloise and Dots and Vivian and the cats and Robert and especially...."Hockey Boy" who was on his way to a dance.

He looks so handsome in his "Texas Tux"

After dinner, Eloise indulged Will in a game of Stratego.  He has made her promise to play either Risk or Axis and Allies when she comes for a visit.  Will loves a good strategic game.

Then Dots lead us in a game of Balderdash.  I loved that game.  Kate was on my team and we won:)

Our families really got along well.  Eloise and Robert are so warm and gracious.  Their home is beautiful and their children are a delight.  I cannot say how much we enjoyed our time with them.   Thank you Eloise and family!

Now for a little sneak peek:)

This is what my family room looks like now.  (the sofa table is out on approval~which was not very smart of me since I cannot really tell how it will look with 1/2 the room sealed off). I  should have moved that throw too.

Hopefully they will be done today but it will take a few days to dry.  So I will post the photos next week sometime.

Finally, my Will comes home today!!!!  He was away from home for the first time this week on a school trip.  I was a NERVOUS WRECK the first day or two.  I prayed a lot and talked through it with some friends (thank you).  It is SO hard to let them go.  I need to write a post on that soon.

This is Will the morning he left.  His way of saying goodbye to his brother and sister!

Isn't he the CUTEST?

Flat Screen remorse?

I have never been a fan of a TV over the fireplace.  In fact, they have always really bothered me. We have a fabulous antique German armoire that has always housed our television. However, there was nowhere to put it in this family room. We debated and debated and thought about what to do. I prefer art over the mantle. We have lived here for over month and we were not spending any time in this room. I kind of figured this is a family house and so it was time to come to the 21st century. So, I finally gave in and agreed to the flat screen. Today, we had a company come in and install the TV and speakers (it was wired for surround sound).  It is really hard to get used to.  It is so high...it kind of hurts our necks to watch. So, what do y'all think? Does it just take some getting used to? Please tell me that we will get used to it. Oh I hope we didn't make a mistake.

We are SO behind in technology...we have never owned a flat screen and we have no clue how to work all this stuff....

And you can see we have not painted the wood yet...still thinking about that one.

We DID go see Santa today though!!!!  I will post those photos after Thanksgiving. When we lived in Houston previously, we always took the kids to see Santa the day before Thanksgiving.  So, we continued our tradition today. It was so much fun!  I also had a nice visit with a fellow blogger friend. I really enjoyed meeting Eloise.  The peanuts were interrupting us like crazy but I could have sat and talked with you for hours. I hope we can do it again soon.

I hope you all have a Thanksgiving filled 

with family, love and gratitude.