I Heart the Olympics & Fun Cousin TIme

So with only four days into the Olympics, I’m already tired because I’ve been staying up way too late watching it all. But it has been worth it.

The strobe light drums in the Opening Ceremony:
So, so cool!

Michael Phelps:
Wow!

The 400-free relay:
Edge of the seat!

The guy’s gymnastics:
Happy for China, but wish USA would stop saying ‘That’s what I’m talking about.”

Synchronized Diving:
Crazy!

The 32-year-old German (former Russian) gymnast and Mom:
Pretty inspiring…maybe I should try out my vault again? :)

The commercials:
Love the J&J Mom ones and the 24-hr. Fitness ones

13 more days to go:
Woo-hoo!

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In addition to the Olympics starting, we had a really fun weekend hanging out with my family while my sister, Shannon, brother-in-law, Brad, and two cutie nieces, Mallory & Morgan, were in town. Shannon gives the play-by-play here.

Following are some fun cousin pictures from a trip to the zoo and our feeble attempt to get a picture of three children two and under to sit still, look at the camera, and smile. Good times.

And finally, a big shout out (why is that so fun to say?) and best wishes to Brad as he kicks off (ha!) his third season as soccer coach of the men’s team at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor. Go Cru!

8-8-08

The DVR is set. The Olympics issue of Newsweek has been read. The normal evening activities will soon be put on hold. Bring on the Olympics.

I have always enjoyed the Olympics. And every two years Wade & I turn into TV junkies watching every minute we can of the competitions. Thank goodness the DVR will cut that time down a lot now.

I’m not sure what it is, because I’ve never played sports or am a very sporty person, but I love watching the athletes compete. You name it…swimming, diving, gymnastics, track & field, synchronized swimming (true talent), I love it all!

I love the drama. I love the music. I love the features of the rags-to-riches stories that make me cry. I love the medal ceremonies and hearing any national anthem, even if it isn’t ours. I love rooting for the underdog or watching the rock star prove why he’s that good (go Michael Phelps!). It is just fun.

Wade & I were talking about it this week and I had a funny childhood memory that I hadn’t thought about in years. Although her Olympic moment was before I was watching much TV, I LOVED the Nadia Comaneci story. I had the 1980’s made-for-TV-movie about her almost completely memorized. With the love of Nadia and the excitement of Mary Lou Retton’s gold medal in 1984, I decided I wanted to be a gymnast.

So to see if I had what it took, I set up an in-home vault. I would run down our long hallway that ended right at the back of the love seat. Then I would flip over the back and do a headstand on the cushions finishing it off with that trademark gymnast “ta-da!” I'm sure I did his at least 100 times (sorry about the couch Mom & Dad).

Even though my gymnastics classes the next couple of years did not prove to be my big discovery, the Olympics still got me to dream a little.

So to get you in the true spirit of the games, here’s one of my favorite Olympic moments of Eric Moussambani, who had only learned to swim eight months before his Olympic debut.

Kelly Green…Well Sort Of

I had been saying I should do it for awhile, but I finally gave in and bought some of Target’s reusable bags today. My oh-so-chic-and-green blog friends Jennifer and Lynley motivated me along.

So far, I’m impressed. This was a Super Target (groceries and the wonderfulness of regular Target items) kind of day, so what would normally be about 8 or 9 of the plastic Target bags fit perfectly into 3 of the reusable bags. And I loved how it was nice and compact in the back of the car…not flopping around everywhere and crushing the bread.

Now I do have to say that I will miss when all of my stashed-away plastic bags are gone. I’ve been reusing those to bag the really stinky diapers. If a true environmentalist is reading this, I’m sure they are protesting out of disgust…disposable diapers in a plastic bag! The landfills ache with the sound of those together. But hey, the Diaper Champ can only do so much.

Although today is one step forward in my greenness, I’m thinking the amount of wet wipes I’ve used to clean Tate and his love for yogurt has made a wash out of any progress I’ve made to better the planet. Just doing the best that I can!

Ralph said it best

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
---Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well said, Ralph. Just recently, I had several days of being around many of my special old friends.

It started when the small group from our previous church invited us back for the annual weekend trip to Lake Brownwood. These are people that we shared close to 8 years with and all went through just about every life experience you can think of. I feel completely myself around these people. In fact, they got to see a real “stupid” moment of mine (as Ralph says), when I went into a mild panic attack at the sight of a tiny field mouse in the farmhouse we were staying. Despite a stray tear here or there (I'm a city girl!), we all survived.

I miss seeing all of them as regularly as we used to, but I’m also confident that the friendships are ones that will last many years.

And here’s a picture to really capture the friendship. Three of the guys (Wade, Jody, & Cody) cleaning up the Underwood’s dinner (YUH-MMMY!) for 17 adults and 13 kids (11 of which are 5 and under). It was quite a task. Thanks guys! And thanks to everyone for inviting the Strzinek traitors back. We love you!



Then just a few days later, we had the pleasure of having Bert, Paige, & Anna stay with us for a couple of nights. Paige & I met our freshman year when we lived on the same floor of Gardner Dorm. We became close friends quickly, and I can honestly say, I can’t imagine the last 14 years without her. There is an equal amount of transparency in our friendship that I will forever be thankful for. It’s comforting to have someone else out there know the good, bad, and ugly about you and still stick around for so long.

The neat thing about our friendship is that Wade & Bert have known each other practically their entire lives. So, there’s no chance anyone will be getting out of this friendship anytime soon.

Tate loved having Anna over at the house to play with. She is an adorable, sweet little girl, and I just wish we could all see each other more often. But we make the most of any time we get together and love every minute of it.

And then a few days after that, I made a solo trip down to San Antonio to help host a baby shower for my college roommate, Garyn. We also met my freshman year on the same floor in Gardner Dorm. We were then roommates for 3 ½ years (even sharing a room for 2 years), so you definitely get to know someone after that. She is a friend that I can go a month without talking to, but then when we do, it seems as if we talk every day.

My college experience was wonderful for many, many reasons, and I will always cherish the memories I had with my roommates. Oh wow, do we have some funny memories?

I feel like we understand each other really well. So well that we stayed up talking until after 1:00 a.m. each day I was there. Well that happens pretty much anytime that we see each other. She is a devoted friend, and I am convinced that she will be in my life forever. I wish that meant in the same city, but I’ll take whatever I can get.

Since her baby girl is due in September, this was probably one of our last typical girl’s weekends for awhile. We did a lot of fun baby shopping, two trips to my favorite, Alamo Café, and had a beautiful baby shower for a beautiful mommy-to-be. I can’t wait to watch her and Zach become parents.

So in a span of 10 days, I was able to spend time with many of my favorite people. I am a blessed soul to have so many special friends around me.

The Spoon

And I thought meal time was messy before? We've just entered the new phase of using the big boy spoon all by yourself.

Sure it took about 20 minutes for him to finish the yogurt. And sure it took about 20 wipes to clean up the mess. But the huge smile and giggle as he felt so big was worth it.

Just please tell me that it won't always be that messy. :)

I'm A Winner!

In the words of Diana Ross...

I'm a winner
I'm a winner
Yes, I am
She's a winner
Yeah, yes I am
She's a winner

As my whirlwind of summer traveling ended this weekend, I found out some fun news that I won a blog giveaway contest. Baby Blog Addict gave away a $40 gift certificate to Word Candy. Fun! Now I'm trying to decide what to order. The prices are pretty inexpensive, so I'm considering something for the playroom, Tate's room, and maybe something framed for our black & white wall of family photos.

More pictures from all of the travels coming soon.

Another Downside of the DVR

I experienced the ultimate downside of the DVR awhile ago, but then it recently happened again with yet another reality show.

I rarely see commercials these days because the limited TV I do watch is recorded on the DVR with the exception of a few minutes of local news here and there. So imagine my shock (yes, I don’t use that word lightly) when I read on Susan’s blog that one of my favorite shows had already started a new season. Shock people…I had no idea and had obviously missed all of the promo commercials for it!

So now that the DVR and I are friends again, I am all caught up on Project Runway Season 5.

Is it just me or does it appear that a requirement for the contestants this year is that 1/3 of your body must be covered in elaborate tattoos? If that doesn’t make them look cool enough, then it appears that speaking in third person or adding “licous” to regular words does.

No matter, I love, love, love this show….which is pretty ironic considering I have absolutely NO idea how to even sew a button.

Make it work Kelly’s blogalicous friends!

So Proud!

My list of things to blog about keeps getting longer, but I had to first post what happened tonight:






Walking isn't quite his preferred or most coordinated mode of transportation yet, but he loves being able to go about 10 feet. And of course, we love it. I know it's a big moment for every parent, but my heart is just about to burst with pride knowing how hard he (and we) have worked at this.

I'm sure there are many, many more bruises (notice the one on his cheek from walking by the window sill) to come in the next few weeks as the wobbliness works itself out, but it is all worth it to see that smile on his face.

And here's an outtake for our special features section:

You Tube Fun

I have lots of things in my head that I want to post including vacation pics, a book review, and more fun summertime pictures. But after sweating my brains out on our nice evening stroll, I'm just not feeling like it. For now, here are two videos that crack me up. Enjoy!

I know this has made the rounds on websites and blogs, but I still think I could watch it every day. If only my British accent was as good as I think it is when I walk around saying "Charlie bit me...and that really hurt."



And this children's music video Cheese by Mr. Richard is hilarious and so true. Ahhh memories...one of my early jobs out of college was booking children's musical acts for an outdoor arts and entertainment festival. They are interesting breed.

Clear the Way!

While we were in Lake Tahoe last week, Tate really got the hang of walking while someone was holding his hands. So once we got home, the push toy walker was a breeze for him. I think there's still some time before he's completely walking on his own, but it looks like that time will be here soon.

We are so excited for him and proud of him. And as you can see, he's pretty excited himself.