Reverse Reverse…

Last year wasn’t ALL about the craziness of selling the house.  There was other craziness too!! 

Within weeks of signing the papers to build the new house, we had to go to the design center to pick out everything.  Considering we are no longer rookies at this, and I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, I thought it would be a breeze…. WRONG - it was still overwhelming.  There are just too many choices!  How do I really know I’m going to like my granite when I’m selecting it from a piece that is only 5x8 in. or the backsplash from a 5x5 in. piece of ceramic tile….and what if the tile we picked doesn’t really ‘coordinate’ with either of them??  EVERYTHING is an upgrade and a big decision… countertops, tiles, cabinets, jetted showers/bathtubs, door knobs, 3 car garage or 5 ft additional space, keeping standard cabinets in kids bathrooms or upgrading theirs too, mirrors, edges of countertops, paint colors, brick colors, and light switches…ok, maybe not the light switches but seriously every inch of the house could be covered in some type of upgrade. They only have 4 standard (meaning there is no additional cost) ceramic tiles to choose from and the other 350 in their selection are all an upgrade.  Some are minor upgrades for just a couple hundred dollars more and others are thousands more.  We had 2 appointments that were each 3 hours long and I still left thinking we could have had another appointment (and could have if we’d of paid another $350 for it).  We were actually quite conservative this time around and kept to our budget.  We passed on a few of the upgrades that we really wanted because we knew we could do it ourselves for 1/10th of the cost (literally, I did the math).  I’m also looking forward to my brother coming down and putting in my wood floors. 

Over the summer, Taryn began to swim really well.  She’s quite the little fish I must say.  A friend of ours was a life guard at our neighborhood pool so we went there quite often.  Even with Kiarra in a boot, she was able to take it off to swim.  All 3 kids get soooo tan in the summer so this past summer was no exception.  I get a little jealous, I have to admit.  I can lay there and bake in the sun for 3 hours straight and barely get any color and they are in the pool for 30 minutes and get 12 shades darker.  I love their skin and am so glad they have gorgeous skin.  Taryn turned 7 and decided to have a sleepover b-day party.  Kiarra had a sleepover when she was 7 too so I thought it would be fun.  Kiarra agreed to help me so we shipped the boys to my Moms house to have an all-girls party. We had 8 girls come to spend the night and let me just tell you how times have changes since Kiarra was 7.  These girls are like little teenagers; they were talking about boys and going on dates.  I could barely handle it, Kiarra and I just kept looking at each other and saying “really?”.  I swear 6 of these 9 girls are more boy crazy than Kiarra.  We played lots of games, danced and ate pizza and all kids of goodies.  Taryn had a great time. 

Jayden played 3 on 3 (basketball) last fall.  He has definitely found his sport and is showing improvements each time he touches a ball.  He had a great coach who ended up selecting him to play on his drafted team for 5 on 5 as well.  Jayden plays best when he’s mad and as rough as basketball is, it doesn’t take much for him to get pushed and shoved around a little bit to make him angry.  I just love his face when he takes control of the ball and plows through the kids to shoot and make a shot.  He’s gotten so tall over the past year (is taller than me now by a few inches) that he towers over most of the kids.  As they get older, it’s not as funny to watch them play.  Over the past few years, Kiarra and I would literally sit there and laugh uncontrollably because the kids were so damn cute running up and down the court, dribbling it off another kids shoe or just running out of bounds - even when no one was guarding them.  Our laughing has turned into cheering and screaming (in a good way).  This is probably my most favorite video of him during 3 on 3...he is dribbling down, passes the ball, it somehow ends up back in his hands and he tosses it up backwards and makes it... 

Kiarra was a busy bee over the summer and first semester of school.  With being injured and then volleyball camps and tryouts, she stayed busy.  Before we knew it, it was homecoming and friends/family in Iowa/Nebraska; homecoming is very different in the south.  Over the years I’ve seen some things on FB about homecoming but I didn’t understand the details, I’d just look at the pictures and be a little sad that the kids are all growing up…. No one prepared me for the craziness of homecoming in TX!  The mums, the garters, the overalls, the insanity… These mums are over the top. I’m still trying to understand the purpose of them and don’t really have a clear understanding so it-is-what-it-is and I’ll just go with it.  Most of the girls decorate and wear overalls too.  They wear them to school the day of the homecoming game and then some of them wear them to the game. I didn’t know anything about under-wonder and cutting fabric and all that crafty stuff but thankfully I have dear friends who know all about it.  They helped me with everything.  The overalls ended up being very cute and Kiarra loved them.  They were also the minds behind the mum and garter which turned out amazing.  Then, there is the dance which is formal.  We found a dress on our first shopping trip and it was so pretty. They didn’t have the color she wanted so I took a chance and ordered it.  It was perfect!  Kiarra and her friends chose me to be their driver so they all gathered at our house for pictures and then a friend of mine and I drove them to dinner.  She had a great time at the dance with her date and her friends.

I finally feel like I'm caught up... what a year we had in 2013!!