Grammy and Grampy

I'm Back!!!!

2011-04-25T18:48:00.001-07:00

I'm back to blogging now that basketball is over with. Still have tennis but won't be traveling all of the time for that.

In my first free weekend in quite a while, Bear, myself and my mom went to Dallas to spend the day with the Bryce Clan. Hedder and Brodie came over and spent the day as well.

We had hoped to be able to watch ARB play softball but her game was "lightninged" out. Of course, the lightning didn't start until just before her game.

Anyway, we had a good time, enjoy the pictures with the Cubs.

Cute story

2010-11-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a cute story that I though you guys would get a kick out of.

We had Sunday lunch at our house this past weekend. Erin and Bobby and girls and Heather all came down to Waco for the weekend.

I was sitting on the couch and motioned for Landry (2 1/2) to come over to me. I whispered in her ear "I love you", she whispered the same thing in mine.

Then I told her to go tell Grampy that. She pranced over to him and said, "Grampy, Grammy loves you."

What a hoot that child is.

Gotta brag

2010-09-21T06:47:00.001-07:00

OK, you guys, gotta brag on my fantasy football team, it's not too often that I get to do that.

First, I'll explain that I was playing myself (I have two teams because we needed one more to complete the league). We have a family league, Hogs and Heifers, and I've had my Pig and Cow Crushers team since the inception of the league many years ago. This year my second team is called HOH, those of you Big Brother fans know where the name comes from. Well, the two teams played each other this week and according to the match-up the computer figures by the players you're playing, the HOH team was supposed to beat the Crushers by about 10 points.

Well, thanks to, among others, Houston's Matt Schaub (94.9 pts.) and Andre Johnson (43.8 pts) and Detroit running back Jhavid Best (60.2), the Crushers CRUSHED the HOH 340.3 - 212.5.

That is all well and good until Houston has a bye, then I'm in deep doo-doo. It will be my luck that Houston and Detroit will have the same bye week.

You Never Know...

2010-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you know that you never know what kids are going to do or say. Here's a couple of cute things that a couple of my 'grands' have done or said recently.

Erin has a daughter, Landry, who is a typical 2 1/2 year old. Landry is not particularly fond of having her picture taken and will often hide her face or just plain turn around when it's time for a picture. Well the other day she so proud of herself that she was more than willing to pose. I must say it's the best picture she's ever taken. Here is the story that went along with the picture.

Ashton and Erin were doing homework and Landry was in the playroom playing. After about 5 minutes of not hearing anything from her, Erin asked her what she was doing and when she turned around her face was GREEN!

After the "NO ma'am, we do not write on anything but paper and the white board" and "Where did you get the marker" and "Landry Paige, that is NOT a good choice" Erin rushed her to the bathroom to wipe her off. But before that Landry graciously allowed her momma to take her picture.

Luckily, it was a Crayola Dry Erase Marker that wiped right off with water, but can you imagine if it had been an EXPO dry erase marker!

When Erin asked what in the world she was doing, she responded with this answer "well, I was just trying to be Twist (from the Fresh Beat Band) wif sun-cream". {There is an episode when the band members apply sunscreen and Twist can't quite seem to get it all rubbed in.}

There's been a couple of Parker, who is just three weeks older than Landry, funnies lately as well.

On Labor Day we were at their house for a BBQ. Something happened and I said "dang it". Parker immediately said, "Grammy that's a bad word." I said, "Parker, what am I supposed to say?" He retorted with "Grammy, you're supposed to say 'Oh, man'." It seems that dang it is too close to damn it and his parents wanted to make sure no one thought he was saying bad words.

Last Sunday they were at out house and he was racing around and I said "Hey there Charlie, slow down." His reply was, "My name's not Charlie, its Parker. Charlie is a boy in my class!"

I think it was the late Art Linkletter (who most of you have never even heard of) that said "kids say the darndest things." So true!!!!

A Day with Parker

2010-08-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Megan and Ricci had a wedding to go to so Parker and I had a date.

With permission from Megan, I took him to see his first movie. Since he LOVES Woody and Buzz Lightyear, we went to see Toy Story 3. Well, half of it any way which is more than I really expected him to last through.

After we left the movie we went to visit Ninny. He has special toys at Ninny's house and makes a b-line for them each time. I thought he was going to try to take his favorite flashlight home, but a quick pocket check showed that he was a good boy and had put it back in its storage place.

Next it was on to Toys R Us. A couple of weeks ago I babysat him and since we couldn't stay around our house (Bruce was sleeping) or go t Megan's (she was having a party), we went shopping at Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. I told him before we went to TRU that I would buy him a small toy but not a big one. I let him walk around rather than ride in a cart and he did great. Had a blast playing with all the toys. He would find a toy that he liked (mainly a Firetruck) and I'd say no that's too big, I'd find a small firetruck and he'd say no that's too small. This went on the whole time we were in TRU and WM. It was hilarious.

Anyway, back to the original story. Ninny asked him if he was going to get a toy at TRU and he said no, just gonna ride the toys (meaning sitting in/on the big motorized cars and tractors). When we got there that's the first place he wanted to visit. Luckily, all of the 'batteries' on the cars were 'dead' and he couldn't drive them, just sit in them.

To make a long story short, since he was so well behaved, we got him a fireman's suit. After eating at McDonald's (his intake consisted of chocolate milk, a few french fries and then he literally drank what was left of his BBQ dipping sauce). How gross is that, didn't touch his chicken nuggets.

Then it was off to Auntie Heather's to proudly show off his fireman's outfit. Then it was time for Grampy to wake up so we went there to visit him. We headed back to Parker's house about 8:15, intending to put him to bed, NOT.

He was soooooooooooooo excited about showing his mom and dad his new toys that he insisted on staying up until they got home. What's a Grammy do to, say no? I don't think so. LOL.

So, when they got home (about 10:15) he was sooooo excited. Hopefully, he slept in for them this morning. I don't think they had an easy time getting him to bed because when I left he still had the coat on and had gathered up the hat, mask, fire extinguisher, badge and hatchet, put them in a pile and was laying across them saying "don't take my fireman toys away from me!!!"

Aw, the joys of being a grandparent and being able to leave and go home.

Enjoy the pictures.

Landry's Swim Lesson

2010-08-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

We try to go to get to at least one of Ashton's activities a season and did see a softball game this spring.

Landry is taking swim lessons so I figured that it would be nice to go watch her. My mom and I went up and saw a lesson this morning. As active as she is, I am amazed that she is willing to sit on the edge patiently awaiting her turn. Very proud of LPB in the pool.

Family Visit

2010-07-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

On our way back from West Virginia we spent Sunday night in Knoxville. We were able to visit with my cousin David, his wife Sharran and my Aunt Olive. I had seen David and Olive at the Ham-Bilyeu family reunion but hadn't seen Sharran in almost 20 years.

A good surprise was that John (David's brother and my cousin) and Bonita had gotten back from their trip to New Guinea so we were able to visit with them as well.

They all came over to our hotel and we visited for a couple of hours.

David, Sharran, Olive, John and Bonita, thanks for coming to visit with us!!!

West Virginia Trip

2010-07-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Bruce and I recently returned from our trip to West Virginia. If was his first trip there.

We left here on a Tuesday and drove to Nashville then on to Jenn's apartment on Thursday. Kaylie, Ryan, Reed and Kelsie came over that evening and ate supper with us. Reed had just woke up from a nap and was not too sure of us, he was afraid of Bruce because he had a ball cap on. Needless to say, the cap came off and was not worn again!!! He finally warmed up to us.

While we were there Kaylie and Ryan had Reed's first birthday party even though he won't be one for a week or so. He was born nine weeks prematurely but as you can see, he's doing just fine.

The theme of his party was Elmo (or Mo-Mo as he calls him) and Jenn baked and decorated the Elmo cake. It turned out really cute. Ryan, Jenn, Kelsie and Kaylie all wore Elmo shirts.

Got some good four generation pics and pictures of Jenn and her girls Kaylie (19), Kelsie (15 1/2) and Brianna (13).

Enjoy.

Nashville

2010-07-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

When Bruce and I went to West Virginia recently we spent a day in Nashville. He's a real country music fan so I knew that he would love the city.

We spent most of the day at the Country Music Hall of Fame. We toured the famed Studio B where tons on country music stars recorded songs. This is where Elvis recorded most of his songs. In fact, the piano that is pictured is the one he used and you'll see Bruce looking at a cabinet, that's where Elvis kicked the cabinet.

After returning from the Studio B tour we toured the Hall of Fame. I'm not a history or museum buff but I thoroughly enjoyed the Hall of Fame and spent just as much time as Bruce did looking around.

If you're a country music fan, put this on your bucket list!!!

Kiddie Land

2010-07-10T18:23:00.001-07:00

Today Megan and Ricci wanted to go out to dinner so I graciously agreed to keep Parker. I decided we'd go to Kiddie Land at Lyon's Park in Waco. It's a very small place with about six rides and a train that goes around the park. He had a blast. He thought he was big stuff since: 1) he gave the attendant his own ticket, 2) he could ride everything except the train by himself. He drove a boat, road the train, drove the horse buggy, rode the horse on the carousel, flew a rocket ship and flew an orange thing-a-ma-jig.

After we finished at the park, we had just enough time to go by McDonald's and get Parker a Happy Meal and go to our house so he could eat dinner with Grampy.

Enjoy the pics.
PS - he wants to take Ashton and Landry there next time they come to visit!!!

Sorry, try Facebook

2010-07-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

I have tried to post two Parker videos on this blog but for some reason they won't upload.

I have posted them on my Facebook profile. One was last week, Parker's Tools and today's is Parker's Pool.

Ham-Bilyeu Reunion

2010-06-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the 96th annual Ham-Bilyeu Reunion. Mom and I left on Thursday and stopped in Edmond to visit some of her cousins. We had a nice lunch with Lila, Connie, Barbara and Virginia.

Then we went on to Stillwater and spent three nights at Aunt Vera's house. Of course, in my mind, it's not an official trip to Stillwater unless I eat at Bad Brad's BBQ so we did that on Thursday.

Friday morning we spent visiting the Pryors. I hadn't seen David in 20 years. Also got to visit with Aunt Olive and cousin Mark and his wife Christi. Friday afternoon we spent visiting with Grover and Ginny in Perkins.

Saturday was reunion day. Got to see a ton of people (it had been two years since we'd been to our last reunion). The food and fellowship were great. Saturday night we spent at the Pryors again and visited the David, Mark and Aunt Olive again and added Greg and his family, Edd and Barbara and their granddaughter Toni. Had a good time telling stories (mostly David telling embarrassing stories about Edd).

Stayed until Sunday morning so mom could go to Sunday school and church.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

PS - BIG props to mom for buying a digital camera while we were there (I forgot to take mine!!!)

Downsizing

2010-06-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Many people are downsizing now days, I joined those ranks but not with a house, a car.

Now that Bruce has a big truck with air conditioning, there was no need for me to also have a large vehicle.

So, I traded in Elvira the Expedition for Edie the Edge.

Just my size, a cute car to boot! It even matches my hair color!!!

Happy 40th!!!

2010-06-07T12:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Bruce and I celebrated our 40th anniversary. The girls had a luncheon for us at Megan's house with some yummy Mexican food.

It was so awesome to have almost everyone together for this momentous occasion. Bruce and I really appreciated everyone who was able to share it with us.

Ashton (age 7) decorated the cake. She took a cake decorating class just before Mother's Day and has become an expert as you can see from our cake. She even drew up a plan of what she wanted to put on the cake and carried through with the plan. Way to go Ashton, we are so proud of you and your cake decorating abilities. This cake means much more to Grampy and me than a store-bought one would have.

We got some really nice cards and the "remember whens" were priceless. We were all laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

I got a really special present from Bruce via my mom and dad. Dad had given mom a necklace that had little diamonds shaped into a heart with a ruby in the middle for their 40th anniversary. They gave it to me. After that, there was not a dry eye in the house. What a precious gift!!!!

I have taken many pictures of the necklace, trying to get a good shot of it but what I'm posting here is the best of the lot. It is kind of blurry and doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.

Thanks again for all the special memories from yesterday.

PS - one super-cute thing... Parker and Landry (both 2), didn't understand what an anniversary was and kept telling Bruce and I "happy birthday Grammy and Grampy".

The Girls

2010-06-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

When Erin and the girls came down for Chris' graduation (Friday), Erin and I had made plans for the girls to spend the rest of the weekend with us. They were coming back on Sunday for Chris' graduation party and would pick them up then.

On Saturday morning Ashton, Landry and I met up with Megan and Parker. We went to Baylor's Mayborn Museum, they were having a special Leggo exhibit that day. Sorry I don't have pictures from that day, I was rather busy chasing after a certain female two year old. Megan did get some pictures so maybe I can bum some off her to post later. She was pretty busy too chasing after the male two year old. Thank goodness Ashton was along, she was a GR8 help to us.

Can you believe that we spent almost two hours in the museum? In addition to the Leggo exhibit they have a whole floor devoted to the kiddos with lots of hands-on things for them to do. Then it was a trip to McDonalds before heading home for Landry's nap.

Once she woke up (and since Grampy was still sleeping, he works the overnight shift), we loaded up and went to Megan and Ricci's house to play.

On Sunday we got up and went to WallyWorld to shop for groceries. After loading the girls in the car, I glanced back to Landry and saw that she had put her hat on backwards. Luckily for me, she was in the mood to have her picture taken and the camera was close.

The picture captures Landry to a 'T'. Cute, sassy and unpredictable!!!

We had a good time with the girls and was glad they got to spend some time with Grammy and Grampy. Thanks for loaning them to us Bobby and Erin.

Chris' Festivities

2010-06-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Friday night Christopher graduated from Lorena High School, boy how time flies. Due to operator error, I missed them announcing his name, etc. But did get some video afterward, Everyone was able to make it except Bobby, he had work obligations in the Metroplex.

Kudos to Erin and her girls for fighting the Memorial Day traffic to be there for Chris' important occasion.

Enjoy. I guess you can tell I really like my Flip Camera!!

Landry the Acrobat

2010-05-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

OK, so now having posted virtually NOTHING for six months, I get three done in a week. I'm on a roll. Hope to keep it going.

When Bruce and I went to Frisco on Wednesday to watch Ashton play softball, I also captured Landry showing off some of the activities she's learned at My Gym.

Hope you enjoy the video, I'm finally getting the hang of filming then posting.

ARB the Softball Player

2010-05-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Grampy and I were able to go up to watch Ashton play softball on Wednesday. Boy has this girls improved since we saw her play last fall. She is very good on defense, as evidenced by the fact that they are playing her at first base and pitcher. Boy, can she smack that ball when batting too.

We really enjoyed seeing her play and visiting with Erin, Bobby, ARB and LP.

I captured some video hope it comes out OK.

Enjoy this little Cubs player, we sure did!

Bet You thought...

2010-05-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

Bet you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth, huh? NOT, just been verrrrrrrry busy. But, now that basketball is over with and I have such a great student doing such a fine job with tennis, I find myself with some time to spare.

Thought you all might get a kick out of these pictures that I scanned in this week. Just found them laying around the house. Erin, make sure you show them to ARB.

Woo-Hoo

2009-11-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday (my birthday) they delivered my double oven, cooktop and vent hood!!

The guy came yesterday afternoon and installed everything. Woo-Hoo!!!!

I have wanted a new oven for soooooooooooooo long but wouldn't spend the money until the old one officially crapped out.

Megan suggested that I get a double oven and I thought it was a great idea and Dad agreed.

Anyway, now I'm almost ready for Thanksgiving. At least the cooking part of it is taken care of!

Next up for the kitchen, new cabinets and countertop (but that won't be for a while).

Sweet Okole #1

2009-09-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

A Bennett family tradition began its 21st year with this week's first Sweet Okole.

We have a new player this season, Ashton joined in and was given the nickname of THE PRINCESS by Grampy. Everyone has a nickname. This first week I'll include the person's real name as well as the nickname but after this will just use the nicknames.

Winner - Snookums (Heather) edged out Grammy on the tiebreaker (Who would have thought that OU-BYU would only have 27 points!!!), we both finished with 11 wins out of 15 games.

10 - The Princess, Bear (Bruce), Dinky Dog (Megan)
9 - Bubba (Chris)
8 - Boo Boo Bear (Erin), BroDog (Brodie), Wyatt (Bobby), The Saint (Ricci)
7 - Sweet Cheeks (Jonathan)

Next week will include pro games so there will be a total of 20 games, 10 college, 10 pro.

No money involved, just bragging rights. I think Dinky Dog has won the last two years. Time for her to be dethroned.

The Trophy Moves North

2009-08-23T17:07:00.001-07:00

The Bennett Family Wii trophy was won this week by one of our Frisco residents, Bobby. This was the second tournament of the season.

Round 1
Holly - bye
Jon 119, Grampy 110
Megan 202, Chris 180
Erin - bye
Bobby - bye
Ashton 159, Brodie 142
Grammy 165, Ricci 144
Ninny - bye

Quarterfinals
Jon 170, Holly 133 (no way to treat your girlfriend)
Megan 178, Erin 138
Bobby 178, Ashton 144
Grammy 143, Ninny 108

Semifinals
Megan 225 (six strikes in a row), Jon 139
Bobby 164, Grammy 120

Championship
Bobby 180, Megan 174

Congrats to Bobby!!! Had to get a little creative with the picture!

Bowling Tournament

2009-08-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Since we have a Wii now, I thought I'd organize a friendly family bowling tournament which would run before/during/after family dinner. I purchased a traveling trophy (see picture), got it properly "engraved" and displayed it on the fireplplace mantle for all to see.

We had a 10-person single elimination draw then we drew names out of a bowl to fill in the bracket. Brodie, Megan, me, Erin Jon and Bobby all drew first-round byes. Since the Bryce's couldn't make it down for the day, they bowled at their house then phoned in the scores (bummer with this was there was no opportunity for smack talk!).

Ashton and Ricci were paired against each other in the first round and Ashton bowled an impressive 141 but Ricci countered with a 181. Chris and Bear faced off with Chris posting a 164 to his Grampy's 114.

In the second round Ricci downed Brodie, Megan trounced her mother, 199-97, Jon edged Erin, 134-113, and Chris beat Bobby, 180-168.

In the quarterfinals, Megan rolled a 218 to beat Ricci while Jon and Chris underwhelmed each other with a 101 and 117, respectively.

Since Chris had to go to work at 4:30, he and Jon bowled after he got off work and Megan bowled her championship game after she and Ricci faced off. She was a "little" miffed that she only scored 139. After Chris beat Jon, he rolled his championship score of 147, thus beating his aunt by eight pins for the championship.

It would have been much more competitive and interesting if Megan and Chris could have faced off against each other, a lot of smack talk would have taken place as well.

A good time was had by all and the Bottoms are looking forward to the trophy residing in their house in the near future rather than Heather's house.

PS - Megan averaged 185 throughout the tournament while Chris managed a 152. But, it's the head-to-head competition that counts!!!

Beware!!!

2009-08-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been sooooo long since I blogged.

On my last post you saw where Chris was catching fish, on this one, he's about to be bit by one! (see picture)

On our way back to Texas from California, we spent a night in Las Vegas. One of the highlights was going to the Mandalay Bay and touring the Aquarium there. If you ever get the chance, go there it's awesome (but a little pricey).

Another highlight, at least for Jon and Chris, was Grampy and his trick-or-treat bag. Next time you see them, ask them to explain. Also, maybe Bruce will show you his "card collection" from Vegas. :-)

Fishin’ Pros

2009-07-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we (minus Bruce) got up and were on the road early, heading north to the Sacramento River where Becky and Les have their yacht anchored. Upon arriving, after a 2 ½ hour trip, it was so windy we weren’t sure we were going to be able to go out of the river to fish, etc. That would have been fine with us, it would have been fun to just sit on the boat and chill.

However, Les and Becky decided that we could at least take the boat out on the river for a cruise. After getting out there, they decided that it would be fine for fishing if we went back into one of the sloughs (sp?) where it was calmer. So we headed back to their slip, hopped in the car and went to the bait shop to buy day fishing licenses for the boys and sardines to use as bait.

We headed back out to their favorite fishing spot which takes about an hour to get to. First off, Les grilled hot dogs and brats for us to eat and boy were they yummy. Oh, let me backtrack. On the way out to the fishing spot we sat up where Captain Les sits and just enjoyed the weather, ate snacks (SALAMI!) and learned a lot about the river.

Back to the grillin. Les has this neat little grill that he attaches to the back of the boat and cooks away. Jon can attest to what a master griller Les is (we’ll tell you later what else he’s a master at), the boy ate two hot dogs and two brats!

After eating it was on to fishing. Chris has lots of experience shallow water fishing and this was Jon’s first experience fishing. Well, let me tell you, they both did themselves proud. With Les handling all the baiting chores (for which he was deemed the master), the boys both set to fishing and promptly caught fish. The pictures are of Jon with his first fish and Chris with one of the large catfish he caught. Chris ended up with seven fish, four catfish and three striped bass and Jon caught six striped bass. Jon was dubbed the Master Caster for his casting prowess while Chris earned the Catfish King title.

Jon and Chris both though it was pretty cool when Uncle Les let them steer the boat.

HUGE thanks to Becky and Les for letting us come up there and visit with them and their yacht. The boys are already talking about coming back and fishing the other “sweet spot” Les told them about.

New Wheels

2009-07-19T11:42:00.001-07:00

Bruce got a new ride last week. His truck "Titus" had some mechanical problems that were going to cost some big bucks to fix so we decided that it was time to get him a new set of wheels.

I have a gold car and Titus was gold so he decided that he would keep in that tradition.

As seen in a previous post, we name all of our vehicles. Since this one is a Gold, Ford Truck, its name had to start with a G, F, or T. This new truck went through several names before we finally settled on one.

First name Bruce came up with was Goldilocks, but we decided that a girls' name just wouldn't do. Next was Gomer, but he was too dignified to be a Gomer. I suggested Tyrone but we decided that didn't 'fit' him either. Next came Thaddeus and Texas but he finally settled on Teddy Roosevelt. I call him Teddy but Bruce uses his full name.

I think Bruce's favorite part of the truck is its Sirrius radio. He can now listen to his Classic Country (Willies Place or Roadhouse) commercial free not matter where he is.

Enjoy the pics.

Our First House

2009-06-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Since I was in San Antonio this past week, I thought I'd go by the house we lived in for the three years that we were there (1977-80). It was the first house we ever bought and it was brand new. This is the house we lived in when Megan was born. Two shots, one closeup and one from across the street.

When we lived there there were no trees at the street and only one in the front yard, the one on the left side of the yard about the middle of the lawn (which you can't see).

Enjoy.

25 Year Award

2009-06-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

I recently received my 25 year service award at our national convention. It was held in San Antonio so that enabled Bruce, Heather, Megan and Parker to come down for the presentation. Another special circumstance was that my boss, Nick, is president of the organization (CoSIDA) this year and was the one presenting the award.

Enjoy the pictures. Parker was asleep in his stroller for the picture.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2009-06-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

While the WV crew was here I snapped this picture with Grampy and six of the nine grandchildren. On the couch with Grampy are (l-r) Kelsie, Landry, Ashton and Kaylie. Brodie and Jon are behind the couch.

Chris was working, Parker couldn't miss school (Megan was on call and couldn't get the day off) and Brianna decided not to make the trip to Texas. We missed them.

West Virginia Kin

2009-06-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Jennifer, Kaylie, Kelsie and Kevin made trek recently from West Va. to visit us. The three days passed quickly and a good time was had by all.

They arrive around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and after they rested a bit (from the 18 hour drive) we went to Waco to visit my mom. Later that night we all met at Cheddars for dinner, compliments of Ninny.

On Thursday we loaded up two cars and headed for Frisco. Spent the day with Erin and her crew, swimming and eating.

Friday was spent shopping and a dinner at our house.

Thought it was cute when they gave Parker a cupcake, enjoy the picture.

They left to go home this morning, travel safe. We enjoyed having you!!!

PS - BJ we missed you.!!!!

10 Years Later

2009-06-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Thought you all would get a kick out of these pictures. Heather's boys in 1999 and again in 2009.

Jon Boy R Graduated

2009-05-29T06:39:00.001-07:00

Jon graduated from high school last night, Lorena High School Class of 2009.

Several tears were shed, although not from Jon but mom and Grammy for sure. Megan and Parker were there, Bobby, Erin, Ashton and Landry came from Frisco and Ninny was able to go as well. Grampy had to work and wasn't able to get off.

Thought you all would get a kick out of these two pictures, kindergarten graduation and high school graduation.

Kaylie, Jennifer's oldest, graduated last night as well, but that was back in West Virginia. Congrats KJMW!!!!

Congrats Critter!

2009-05-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Christopher, Heather's middle son, is just finishing up his junior year of high school. On Monday we went to the school's annual Academic Awards ceremony.

Chris didn't get just one certificate, he got THREE of them. He earned outstanding academic achievement in English III and geometry and was named the school's most valuable student athletic trainer.

Way to go Critter, keep up the good work.

He had a whole crowd there cheering for him: Grampy, Grammy, Ninny, Heather, Jon, Brodie, Megan and Parker.

Elvira

2009-04-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, the Bennett Clan names all of our cars, a practice started (as far as I know) by Bruce. Currently in our immediate family (me & Bruce) we have Titus (Bruce's 2004 F-250 Truck), Elvira (my 2004 Expedition), Mickey Mustang (a 65 Mustang that sits in our backyard), Lilly Lynx (inhabits our field), Molly Mustang (also in the field) and Ferdinand Ford (in California safely tucked away in a garage). We have also had (among others) Delbert Dodge, Ellie Explorer, Thor (F-350 truck), Freddie Falcon, Mildred Mustang, Sunny Sunbird, Oscar Oldsmobile and Virgil Vega.

Anyway, I deviate from my original thought so I'll get back on track. Elvira, which I bought brand new, just recorded her 100,000th mile on Friday. As you can see from the pictures I recorded the 99,999.9 milestone as well as the 100,000.

I know Brodie (grandson) thought I was crazy. As we were toodling around Waco on Friday I had to time the milestone so that we were on a street that I would be able to pull over and take a picture of the odometer. Luckily we were on Old Lorena Road and it worked like a charm.

One of Life's Best Jobs

2009-04-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

One of life's best jobs is being a grandparent and I'm blessed nine times over!!!

Earlier this year Ashton, Erin and Bobby's six-year-old, came to spend a weekend with Grampy and me. The visit coincided with her winter break and home women's basketball games. Ashton called me last week and read her report to me and I was totally impressed. Specifically with how much detail she remembered. Erin typed the report out exactly as Ashton wrote it. I though you'd all get a kick out of it, it's precious. I have provided some translations in red in case you couldn't figure it out).

“My FavoriteTthing About My Winter Break”

{Typed as she wrote it}

My favorite part about winter break was going to a Baylor game! I got to help my gramo the hole game! We got ther around 3:15. Me and my Grammy had to get redea. We had to get the candy for the cochis (coaches). Coch Kim likes the Hony bitse (Bits). I like the Souer appel (sour apple). My most favorit part of the game was Rachol Allison scored her 1’000^th pointe! At a time out they gave Rachol a vaere spechol basketball that had her name on it. By now I think it was 25 to 14. Texas was getting beat. When you sit ware the peapol wrke you can not cheer. It has to be qite because so the peapol can wrke. My Antei Hether wrkes thar. She sits down the rowe. We sat by the end. Evrea ones in uwiol (awhile) a lady woud put a piece of paper that had the score. And the players. Now the score was 95-45. Baylor was 95 Texas was 45. I sat next to a man he called me budy (Buddy, he calls everyone that). When ever I hadide (handed) him the paper. He seid thank you budy and gave it to the man beaside him. The man next to him had a green and white T-shrt that had a yellow BU with outling on it. He was a guy whoe has a computer that shoes (shows) what is going on in case the Referea needs to see wut is hapning in case he or her maks the wrog (wrong) call. The Lady Bares were grate. I got to see the men four a bit. And then me and my granpa and grammy went to Texas Rode house. I love ther rolls with sinumin butter. I had a chees brger. I didn’t like it that much but it was good. I ate a lot of peanuts. The best part about eating peanuts is you get to throe them on the grownde. After we were finished we

Went home. I had a grate time at my gramparints houes.

Isn't that priceless, see what I mean about it being the best job in the world?

Another Ring

2009-03-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo, the Lady Bears won the Big 12 Championship by defeating Texas A&M in Oklahoma City on Sunday. Another ring for me!!!

What makes this one so special is that it was unexpected. So, with that being said, I decided that I was going to savor the moment. This time I actually climbed the ladder and cut down some of the net. I had always been too busy to do that before but decided that I was going to do it this time.

Found out last night that we're a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play in Lubbock on Sunday and if we win that game will play again on Tuesday. Both games should start around 8:30 (CDT). ESPN2 will carry the game but if you don't live in the Texas market, you will only get what they call whip-around coverage (they're carrying 4 games during that time slot).

If we win both those games, next up will be Raleigh, N.C., for the Sweet 16 game, that game would be on the 28th.

SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been sooooooooo long since my last post:
1) I've been busy
2) I forgot my password to get into the blog

Today a light went on and I fiddled around until I got into the site to update!!

Basketball has been going well, we're currently ranked No. 8 but have been as high as No. 3. Two home losses dropped up down this week.

We're on TV on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 11 a.m. (Central) on Fox Sports Net, playing No. 18 Kansas State.

When we hosted Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago we had a special couple come to the game. President George W. Bush and Laura made the Lady Bears' game their first public outing since leaving office. I got to spend quite a bit of time with them on the visit and have posted a picture that was taken in the Lady Bear locker room.

That's all for now, more later as time permits.

Stuck in Portland

2008-12-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

Oh, what a road trip this has become! We left Dallas on Friday and flew to Portland. Then took a bus to Eugene as we had a game on Saturday at U of Oregon. Won that game, 81-71.

They say that they only get one snowfall out here a year. Well, there's enough here now to take care of the next five years.

Since we had reservations to fly out of Portland at noon on Sunday (today) to fly into Oakland, we decided since the weather was bad and supposed to get badder we would bus to Portland after the game last night. What would normally take two hours took about 3 1/2 hours. The last 90 minutes was verrrrrrrrrry slow going, since the roads were total ice. Props to Richard our bus driver for getting us to our hotel in Portland around 3 a.m.

Since the weather is so bad, all the flights out of Portland were cancelled today. So here we sit. We had to cancel our game at Cal on Monday. We don't know if we'll even get out of here tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be home by Christmas. Let me just tell you, we won't be singing the song "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" any time soon.

There are various other dramas associated with this trip as well. When we arrived at the hotel in Eugene on Friday, one of our players got a call that her mother had been murdered. You can read a very well-done story about it on the Waco Tribune Herald's website: wacotrib.com.

The picture I posted is from the player's outing into the snow today. They were playing and having snowball fights and tackling each other. Then they saw a car that couldn't get into the hotel parking lot so they trekked to the top of the parking lot and pushed to get him going again.

Check one off the Bucket List

2008-12-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have always wanted to do was go parasailing. I got the chance when we were in the Virgin Islands over Thanksgiving. So, I got to check on thing off my bucket list. But, through the process, did add another item to the list.

Lori and her daughter Emilie and Makenzie (Mulkey's daughter) and I all went parasailing on Saturday. Since you go in pairs, that is Makenzie up in the air with me. They said we were about 400 feet in the air. As they're reeling you back in they slow down so you can dip your feet in the water, that's the only time we got wet. Took off from the boat and landed on the boat.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get pictures up but I had to get them from Lori.

It was a totally awesome experience. Although one of the other parasailers on the boat said that it was fun but what we really need to do is the one behind the speedboat called the Screaming Eagle. Hence, another addition to the bucket list.

Enjoy.

Missing You All

2008-11-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

Since I am having to be away from the family for Thanksgiving, I guess St. Thomas, Virgin Islands isn't too bad of a place to be.

We got here late Tuesday night, sharing a charter flight with Texas Tech. It was a four hour flight which wasn't bad at all.

Today we had practice after lunch, then went on a snorkling trip then came back and went up a tram to Paradise Point where we saw a bird show then had dinner.

I am posting some picture for you to enjoy (if I can get them to upload, the connection is reallly slow). We are staying at the Frenchman's Reef which is a Marriott property. Iguanas roam free around the grounds, big ones too.

We start our games tomorrow. We play Central Florida tomorrow, Villanova on Friday and Wisconsin on Saturday. We leave here early Sunday morning and should be back in town by noon.

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

MOOOOORE FOOTBALL

2008-11-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

For the first time since 2001, Lorena football has made the playoffs. That means Jon's high school football got extended by at least one more game. In order to advance to the playoffs they had to beat the league's top team which, up until Friday night, was undefeated in league action.

Jon was credited with two touchdowns and 102 yards in the victory although he said he only scored one. The error makes up for the one that he got shorted earlier in the season!!! He is now over 1,200 yards for the season.

I didn't get to see the game as the Lady Bears had an exhibition game last Friday. However, Heather and Brodie each kept me informed throughout the game via text messages. They will play on Thursday night so both Bruce and I will get to see it.

The roaming photographer again captured family pictures in the stands and I've included one of Megan, Heather and Parker.

Friday Night Photo Bug

2008-10-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Since I am friends with most of the media/photographers that cover high school football games, it gives me a hook up to get pictures taken. Friday night Lorena had a home game and the photographer got several good pictures of the Bennett Clan.

In addition, there’s a good article on Lorena’s game and Jon made the front page of sports. He ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns.

To view the article and pictures go the to the Waco Tribune-Herald's website: click here.

Scroll down to the High School Section and click on the Come Back & Vote link. Jon’s action picture should pop up, you will also be able to read the article. From there if you click on Fans in the Stands: 3A Games: Oct. 17 you will be able to see several family pictures: 113 – Me and Parker; 118 – Chris; 153 - Heather and Jon; 159, 171, 172 - Jon; 290 – Heather; 298 – Parker sleeping.

Enjoy!!

Friday Night Lights Again

2008-10-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Went to Jon’s game again last night. They went into the game underdogs, the local paper had them losing the game 28-24 on the road. Oh, how wrong they were!!! The Leopards won 56-35.

First off, Jon-Boy just busted it loose last night, 38 carries, 202 yards rushing, a couple of caught passes and THREE touchdowns. Not only that, he really punished some tacklers and also laid some hellacious blocks for others.

Noticed a big difference in him this season as compared to last. This year he keeps churning when the tacklers get him, last night he was twisting and turning and gained extra yardage most of the time.

For the second straight week, he made all the local TV station’s highlight reel. In fact one of the stations said this during his segment. “And here’s Lorena’s Jon Bennett a favorite and his grandma too, here’s to you Julie….” Talk about doing a double-take when we heard that!!!!

Gotta go for now, am at the football stadium getting ready for our game with Iowa State, GO BEARS!!!!!

Frisco Softball

2008-09-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Ninny and I went to Frisco to watch Ashton play softball. She plays every Saturday morning and since I'm either working on a media guide or at a football game, I haven't gotten to see her play.

Thursday morning on my way to work I realized that if I got up early and headed up there, I could be back in time to do what I needed to do at the equestrian match. So, mom and I left at 7 a.m. and drove to Erin and Bobby's house. We didn't tell Ashton we were coming.

When we rang the doorbell around 9:15, Ashton asked Erin, "who's ringing our door bell on a Saturday morning." Erin said, "go open it and see." The look on Ashton's face was priceless! She was totally shocked that we would drive up there just to watch her play. The game reminded me of when we used to watch her mom and aunts play at that age.

After the game we got food from Rudy's and spend some time visiting before heading back around 1 p.m.

We had a really good time not only watching softball but playing with Landry and visiting with Bobby and Erin.

Picture Shows

2008-09-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last night Lorena played at the Waco ISD Stadium, a first visit there for any of us. It is a really nice complex.

Jon had a really good game although he only played three quarters. He got his knee bunged up in the first half, he played a little bit of the third quarter (I think the offense was only on the field once, it that tells you how the game went). The trainer and the coaches decided to hold him out the rest of the game as a precaution.

I don't have his stats but do know that he had two touchdowns, gained lots of yards, had a touchdown called back and laid two awesome blocks that resulted in touchdowns.

On the Waco Tribune-Herald's website they have a slide show of pictures from various high school games, both fans and game action. On their fan site there is one of Megan and Parker (#57) and on the game action Jon's pics start about #155, he's #21.

Go to the following link, at the top of the page you'll see Photo/Video, click on that then go to Fans in the Stands (3A) for Megan and Parker and High School Action (3A) for Jon's pics. Click here for pics.

OH CANADA!

2008-08-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is sooooooooooo beautiful up here, and cool (weather wise) too.

We left the Ferrell Center at 12:45 yesterday and despite a large amount of traffic heading north, didn’t make too bad of a time getting to DFW. As soon as we got in the terminal, a big thunderstorm blew through the area. Well, you know what that means, DELAYED FLIGHTS!!!

Ours was supposed to leave at 4:45 but they kept posting delays. We finally took off about 6:35. The four-hour flight passed pretty quickly and since I didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. the night before, I slept for the major part of it.

The Vancouver airport is gorgeous. They are hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and they probably have been working on it. There are several historical and Native American art areas that we passed through on our way to customs. May I just say, MY PASSPORT IS NO LONGER A VIRGIN. Although I was disappointed that they didn’t stamp it, I was really looking forward to that. Luckily, the lines for customs weren’t very long, I’ll bet we didn’t stand in line for more than 10 minutes. Maybe it would have been a longer wait if we had landed at our original time.

We got up this morning, had breakfast in the hotel, and then got of our bus to do a little sight seeing. We went to North Vancouver to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It is this neat nature area that features seven suspension bridges and a rain forest. Everyone, even a couple that had to be talked into it, ventured across the main bridge. We all received a certificate that has an official stamp and states, “I made it across world-famous Capilano Suspension Bridge. Be it known to all people that the bearer of this certificate braved the heights of 230 feet and a 450 foot span across the raging (they sure weren’t raging today) waters of Capilano Canyon in North Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. In due respect for this act of daring bravado, the proprietors of the world’s greatest suspension footbridge hereby grant the bearer bragging rights for the period of two years from the date of issuance (but there’s no date on it!!)”

Our hotel, the Fairmont Waterfront, is right across the street from where all the cruise ships dock. When we came out of the hotel this morning there were two of them that had docked this morning. Boy, are they big.

That’s all for now, we’ve got a game tonight against Simon Fraser University. Not expecting too much since we have seven newcomers and have had only four days of practice.

Later.

BUZZZZZZ

2008-08-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

Buzz goes the clippers. Yep, Jon did it, joined some of his football teammates in getting a buzz job.

This took everyone by surprise as Jon is one that likes his hair long and usually keeps it as long as the football coaches and school's dress code will allow.

On Thursday before a scrimmage some of the boys decided to join the ones that had already cut their hair short.

Practice began at the beginning of August and they've been working hard. They've had a couple of scrimmages, one which I got to see. The other was in McGregor.

This is his senior year and I hope he is able to stay injury free and have fun.

Another Factoid

2008-08-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

One factoid that I forgot to include on my final blog about our Road Trip 2008.

You know when they say they have graves of racehorses at Churchill Downs? Well...they don't bury the whole horse, just the head, heart and hooves.

Don't know about you but I wish they hadn't told us that!!!

Back to Work

2008-08-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

After three weeks of vacation, it's back to work for me tomorrow.

Two weeks of my time off were spent in a car on our 'road trip' and the other week was spent on Bennett Acres.

Bruce and I both had the past week off and spent it doing 'projects' around the house. When I stopped by Pilot of my way to the grocery store this morning one of the cashiers said, "Has Bear (that's what they call him there) been enjoying his vacation?" I replied, "I don't think Bear would categorize this past week as a vacation!"

We spent the mornings working in the fields. For those of you who haven't been to our house, we live on two acres and have a large field behind the house and one to the side. We mowed and cleared both fields, Bruce had to do most of the 'dirty' work because there's a lot of poison ivy/oak around and we have found that I'm highly allergic to it but it doesn't bother him.

One thing I did was add our house number to the front of the house, after living here for 15 years I figured it was about time that we had our address on something other than the side of the mailbox post!

The around noon we'd move on to projects inside the house.

I did go into the office a couple of times during the week for an hour or so and Bruce did the same at Pilot.

I go back to work on Monday facing two media guides and several other immediate projects. Bruce will return to work on Thursday.

Also this week, Erin, Ashton and Landry came down and spent the night. We all went out to dinner on Monday, besides the Bryce's, Ninny, Megan, Ricci, Parker, Heather, Jon, Chris and Brodie joined us at Texas Roadhouse.

Tuesday morning Brodie, my sister Sara, Bruce, Erin, Ashton and Landry all went to Waco's Cameron Park Zoo. It is a fairly small zoo, it took us two hours to see, but was perfect for Ashton. You are able to get much closer to the animals than you can at the larger zoos and it wasn't too crowded.

That's all for now...later.

Random Stuff From the Trip

2008-08-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Sightings:
- Black squirrels at Fort Meade, Md.
- A red fox on Fort Meade
- A Longhorn in every major city (guaranteed Becky that in Baltimore, Boston and NYC we would see someone wearing something from TU, it happened)

Don’t let the tree huggers tell you there’s a shortage of trees…In the East, you get away from the big cities and that’s all you can see.

Most people say that ‘Easterners’ are unfriendly…NOT…every time we asked a local a question (which was often, especially in NYC), there always gracious in helping us. Oops, one exception, the guy from the hotel in Princeton who picked us up from the train, needless to say, he wasn’t rewarded. He should have checked with his cohorts, they would have clued him in.

Seems like it took all day to drive across Massachusetts, I can imagine what people say about Texas.

Even is you have a GPS, it’s a good idea to have an atlas with you. Bossy was generally on target, only misguided us twice, once which resulted in us ‘visiting’ Maine twice and New Hampshire three times in the space of 30 minutes!

Duck Boats are a good way to see everything if your time is limited and you don’t want to walk miles.

New York City
- Crowded (of course we were there on a Friday night)
- It would help in navigation the subway system if we knew if we were wanting to go uptown, downtown, etc.
- Crowded restaurants (we ended up eating our meals at Penn Station, there’s Nathan’s hotdogs down there that we patronized twice)
- Forget Krispy Kreme, Duncan Donut shops were everywhere. There were more of them than Starbucks!!
- Who knew that one end of Manhattan Island is all trees.
- The statue of Liberty is awe inspiring, so majestic.

Baltimore
- Went to a visitor’s center at the waterfront and asked directions to Charm City Cakes. I already had directions but wanted a backup. The gentleman was gracious and said that he gets requests for directions there about four times a day. I reassured him that I knew that we wouldn’t be able to go in, etc. All the while one of the other volunteers was muttering “I don’t know why anyone would want to go by there, you can only see the outside of the building.” I was ready to tell her to stuff it but refrained.
- The waterfront area was a very nice area to visit, very clean and lots to do and see.

Boston
- Very clean city
- Dodging traffic to get a picture of Sara crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon (good thing it was a Sunday)

Hampton Inn – Evolved into our home away from home.

Pilot Travel Centers – passed 41 of them on our trip.

I got Becky hooked on sun flower seeds, she can now pack a bunch in her right cheek instead on going at them one at a time.

Passed the following baseball stadiums: Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park (Boston), Camden Yard (Baltimore).

Best way to see the big cities is to stay out in the ‘burbs’ and take a train in. Hotels are cheaper and you don’t have to worry about traffic and parking.

Home Sweet Home

2008-08-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

We are finally home…got home on Friday afternoon. I think the last time I posted was when we spent the night in Jamestown, N.Y., my how time flies.

The last couple of days of the trip I didn’t have any internet access and have been lazy since I got home. That’s why some of you out there thought we were still in the Chicago area!!!

Tuesday morning we got up and as usual left around 8 a.m. We thought we would spend the night around South Bend, Ind., but we got there in early afternoon and decided to go on. At South Bend we turned north on Highway 33 and went into Michigan, checking off another state.

From there we headed to the Chicago area but it was fixin’ to be rush hour traffic so the decision was made to keep south of the city on I80. We angled up to I39 then stopped at Rockford, Ill., for the night.

Wednesday morning we got up, hopped in the car and drove to Wisconsin, which was about 10 miles north of Rockford. With that state ‘visited’ Mom and I have now been in 49 states.

Once crossing the Wisconsin border we turned around (how sick is that) and ‘headed for home’, mission accomplished!!

We traveled on to Raymore, Mo., (just south and east of Kansas City) by way of Des Moines and spent the night with Kim (Becky and Les’ daughter) and her husband Steve. They were very gracious hosts and it was awesome to get to know them better. We briefly met them when they came down to Stillwater in January for Dad’s memorial service.

We have always heard what great people they are and now that we’ve gotten to know them better we can definitely concur with that. We also got another treat while we were there, we got to meet one of their children, Mike, his wife Nani, and their adorable daughter, Alana (I hope I am close on the spellings!) Being around Alana made me miss my grandchildren even more.

From there we traveled to Stillwater, Okla., arriving early afternoon. Stopped by and visited with our Aunt Vera (her granddaughter Britton was there too), then went to the Pryor’s and visited with John, Bonita and Aunt Olive. It was Olive’s 88th birthday so that was special to see her. From there we stopped by the cemetery and visited Dad. Becky and Sara hadn’t been there since the headstone was placed.

We hit the road again that day and spent the night in Norman, Okla. It seemed weird to be in Norman and not be going to a basketball game. One ‘basketball’ tradition we did keep when visiting Norman, we ate dinner at my favorite Norman restaurant, Charleston’s.

Friday morning, the last day of the trip, we headed to Frisco, Texas, to drop in on Erin, Bobby and the girls. Everyone had a good time visiting and playing with Ashton and Landry. Then we headed to Waco, making sure we stopped at Braum’s in Hillsboro for one final treat.

We gladly arrived back in town around 3:30. I was glad to get home and I know mom was too. Poor Becky and Sara still weren’t home though. Becky arrived back in Reno on Monday and Sara hung around Waco to help mom with some painting. She’s going home on Thursday.

I will post one more blog about the trip, mainly just some random stuff. Check back in a few.

Monday

2008-08-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today was at travel day for us. The only "touristy" thing we did was bop up into Vermont, 10 miles into to be exact. It was a first visit to the state for all four of us.

We began the morning in Portsmouth, N.H., leaving the Hampton Inn (which has become a favorite of ours it seems) by 8 a..m. From there we went south then hit the Mass Turnpike to the west. We continued west on the pike which turned into the NY ThruWay. At Schnectady we cut down on I88 to Binghamton, had dinner in Horseheads, NY (just past Elmira). From there we had a two-hour drive to Jamestown where we are spending the night. It took us almost 13 hours to get here, Erie, which was our original destination was still another two hours. Don't know what made us think it would be doable (is that a word?) distance.

Tomorrow we will check off three more states. We'll leave here go through Erie, Pa., Cleveland, Toledo on I80/90. The interstate runs along the border of Ohio and Indiana to the south and Michigan to the north. At some point, we'll jaunt up a couple of miles and touch Michigan which will be a new state for us. Don't know how far we'll make it tomorrow but hope to make it to Elkhart or South Bend, Ind.

From there it will be to Chicago, turn north until we get to Wisconsin, turn around then head south.

The scenery going through New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts, and across New York was absolutely gorgeous. It seems like since we got to Arkansas and east, all we have seen is trees. Becky says she doesn't know what the tree huggers are complaining about. Obviously they haven't been to the northeast!!!

That's all for now....later.

Oh, BTW, Jennifer reminded me that it was my second time in the Atlantic and she's correct. I was there in North Carolina when she and the girls came down there when we played there. We took a boondoggle to the beach.

PS - sorry no pictures on this post, for some reason nothing would upload.

Boston and New Hampshire

2008-08-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

This post is going to cover a couple of days...they are running together and it is hard for me to remember what we did which day. Also, what day it is.

We left the New York area on Saturday morning and drove towards Boston. Sara was a champ at driving through New York. We stayed in Newton, Mass., which worked out really well as the hotel was next door to the T station. That afternoon we caught the train into Boston (we could take that particular station straight into the Government Center stop) and went to Fanuiel (sp) Hall and Quincy Market. We ate dinner at Quincy Market where mom got her fish and chips. Then we caught the train back to Newton. Going in, we were on the train that was taking fans to the Red Sox game as that particular train passed by Fenway Park.

This morning we left the hotel at 8 a.m. then took the train back into Boston to take a Duck Tour. We had planned to take the 9 a.m. tour but didn't get on one until 10:30. It was a very interesting tour and on Sunday morning, they didn't have to deal with the Boston traffic. By the time we got back to the car it was 1:30.

From there we headed towards New Hampshire and Maine by way of Glouster, Mass. We went through Glouster so we could see the coastline, etc., but it was raining so hard we didn't get to see much and didn't get out of the car.

From there we traveled up north and stopped at a little shop in Ipswich (sp), Mass., and I got my fresh lobster dinner. Sara had one too and the guy/waiter/owner graciously got it all cracked up, etc., so all we had to do was eat it and make a big mess, which we did.

Then it was on to New Hampshire and Maine, both new states for Becky, Mom and me. We decided to spend the night in Portsmouth, N.H., because the traffic going back south was backed up for miles. I guess everyone was going back home from their weekend trips.

The last three days we have not travelled as many miles as we had planned so, since we have around 2,000 miles still left to travel we have decided to skip the Niagara Falls part of the trip.

The picture that I have posted to this blog is what New Hampshire trees look like. Not really, I just saw on the beach where someone had made a sea weed tree and decided to pull your chain.

Becky and I both stood in the Atlantic Ocean today, a first for both of us. I will try to upload some slides for the slideshow so check back when you get a chance.

PS - Mom/Ninny has been a real champ on the trip. We've drug her all over the place, in fact, if her knee didn't make it hard for her to navigate steps, she'd be leaving us in her dust!!

That's all for now, later.

New York City

2008-08-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a busy, busy two-days we've had! I know it's hard for any of you who aren't from back East to comprehend, but in one nine hour span, we had been in five states.

We left our hotel on Thursday morning and headed to New Jersey via Annapolis. Smooth sailing until we got to the Bay Bridge that takes you across the Chesapeake Bay. Traffic was backed up and it took us 40 minutes to get through the toll booth. We thought traffic would take off once we passed that point but, NOT. The traffic was all being channeled into two lanes to go across the bridge. Becky was driving and as we were merging, she saw a state trooper coming up behind and stopped (no one else was) and waited for him so he could merge in front of us. Amazingly, no one honked or raised their middle finger at us. Anyway, once he got in front of us and he made his way up to the front of the line, they opened up a lane on the other side of the bridge and he motioned for us to follow him. He led us and all the rest of those behind us across at about 60 mpg (speed limit on bridge is 45 mph). Meanwhile, all of those that wouldn't let him in or had cut in front of us, were on the other side of the bridge creeping along. See, it does pay to be nice!!!

From there it was smooth sailing. We proceeded up and went through Philadelphia, man I didn't know there were so many bridges in Philly. We passed Trenton and went on to Princeton where we were going to spend the night. Once we checked into our hotel we headed for NYC.

OMG - what an adventure that was. We took a train to the city (a 70 minute ride). We were hoping to make a 4:30 boat trip at Pier 93. We got off the train at Penn Station then took a cab (not as much of an adventure as I expected it to be) to the Pier, but just missed the boat. So we caught a bus up to Times Square and bought tickets for a double-decker bus tour. We took the tour called the Downtown Loop. It took us through/past the following areas: Greenwich Village, Times Square, Empire State Building, Union Square shopping district, Soho, Chinatown, Little Italy, East Village, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and many, many more areas. It was totally worth the price.

After the tour we took the subway to Penn Station then caught the train back to Princeton, getting back around 11:15.

So, we experienced a NYC cab ride, train, subway, bus and tour bus!!

Friday morning (we keep having to ask each other what day it is) we caught the train back to NYC as we had bought tickets the day before for the 12:30 cruise around the island of Manhattan.

Let me just say, today was much less stressful as we knew which subway to take, which bus we needed and which train track we needed to go to to get home.

We made it to Pier 93 with about an hour to spare and waited for our "cruise" to load. The three hour tour was fascinating. I had no idea there was so much wooded areas of Manhattan. The highlight of the tour for me was seeing the Statue of Liberty.

Off to Boston tomorrow. I've been having trouble uploading pictures so Megan can add them to the slide show. I'll keep trying.

Later!!!

Baltimore

2008-07-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Bossy we made the trip to the Fort Meade area just fine. We left Charleston, W.V., at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning and headed for Alexandria, Va. to pick up sister Sara. She had spent the last week in Hawai'i, taken the red-eye back to LA (that's where she lives), didn't even leave the airport before catching a flight to D.C. She got there about 6 p.m. Monday. Even thought she made it to D.C., her luggage didn't arrive when she did. She finally got it on Tuesday, an hour before we were to pick her up.

Bossy got us to her hotel in Alexandria, then from there we tasked her with finding our hotel in Hanover, Md., which she did.

My nephew Reese, who is in the Air Force stationed at Ft. Meade, Md., got off work around 3:30 so he, his wife Heather and her sister, Jamie, came to our hotel. We all went to dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ, which was pretty good even if it isn't in Texas.

This morning we went sight seeing in Baltimore. We went to the Inner Harbour and took a Duck Tour. It was very interesting and informative and we really enjoyed it. We wandered around for several hours.

From there we tasked Bossy with getting us to Charm City Cakes, site of one of my favorite TV shows, Ace of Cakes. They never let anyone come in and they were on vacation anyway. But all I wanted to do anyway was get my picture taken in front of it and I did.

Tonight we will go out to dinner with Reese, Heather and Jamie. Tomorrow we will leave to head to New Jersey and on to New York City.

Check later for more pictures to be added to the slide show.

Later!

West Virginia

2008-07-28T15:47:00.001-07:00

We arrived in West Virginia on Sunday morning. It took us an extra 10 minutes as we took Becky to Ohio because she hadn't been there before. Just before Huntington, W.V., you can take the Ironton exit, go across the river and you're in Ohio. We did that, flipped a u-turn then, crossed back across the bridge to WV.

After an afternoon spent relaxing, Jenn and the girls fixed a delicious dinner. The we just lounged around the rest of the evening.

This morning we went exploring some of the WV countryside. Becky says she's seen more trees in the last four days than she's seen in her whole life. Anyway we went to Hawks Nest State park and took a tram down to the river and saw some gorgeous views. From there we went to the New River Gorge. Also went over the New River Gorge Bridge which I think is the longest/highest bridge in America. They close the road down once a year and people bungee jump off of it. In fact, I think that a few years ago there was a commercial made there where they dropped a car off the bridge or something like that.

After that we were all hungry so we found a Pizza Hut. Let me just say, all the Bennett girls and their dad will all remember this, it was an experience duplicating a certain trip to the Old Country Buffet in Nebraska. There is a picture that Megan is adding to the slide show that should give you a clue.

Anyway, since I'm a "slideshow dunce" I have to get the pictures to Megan to add to the slideshow so she'll have them up soon. She's just adding to the current one as she gets them from me.

We'll be off to Maryland tomorrow to visit Reese and Heather, stalk Charm City Cakes and tour the Baltimore waterfront. We should be there until Thursday morning , then look out New York City!!!

Later.

Road Trip - Day 1 & 2

2008-07-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Mom, Becky and I left Waco around noon on Friday and drove several hours before stopping in Foster City, Ark., for the night. I know, we broke our cardinal rule on not spending any money in Arkansas but couldn't be helped. Foster City is about 30 miles west of Memphis.

Mom asked us of Friday night what was the earliest she could wake us up n Saturday morning. We told her 6:30 but we were all awake and up by 6. After eating breakfast which was complimentary at the cafe next door, we were on the road by 7.

Our goals for Saturday was to go to Louisville then go on to Lexington and stop for the night.

Let me tell you about our neat toy before I go any further. I bought a GPS for the trip, which after a day of listening to a female voice tell us where to go, we have given the GPS a name, she is now referred to as Bossy. She came in pretty handy today. Between Memphis and Nashville, Mom decided she needed to stop at a Wal Mart. So, Becky told Bossy to find a Wal Mart in Jackson, Ark., and she guided us directly to it. Oh, and remind me next time you talk to or see me, to tell you another story about my gullible sister.

We got to Louisville and went to Churchill Downs. We went to the museum there and also had a tour of the racetrack. It was really cool. We got to see a retired racehorse, the paddock area, then on out to the racetrack to the winners circle then back to the museum and gift shop area. The winners circle we went to wasn't the one they use for the Kentucky Derby that is on the infield and is only used for the KD. I will try to figure out how to post a slide show of our visit there.

After touring Churchill Downs we headed east to Lexington. We there early evening and checked into the hotel. Then climbed back in the car and I took Becky and mom on a tour around Lexington which included, Keeneland Racetrack and a we stumbled upon a scenic driving tour around Keeneland. After that we went to the Kentucky Horse Park and drove around the whole place. Let me just tell you, I'm a sucker for white fences.

We're hunkered down in the hotel for the night and will go on to Jennifer's in the morning. We should be there by mid-morning.

I will try to post to the blog daily, depending on internet access. We plan on staying at Jenn's until Tuesday morning then go on to D.C. and pick up Sara then off to Reese's in Maryland.

That's all for now, catch you later.

PRECIOUS!!!

2008-07-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

On July 6 our grandaughter Ashton celebrated her sixth birthday. We weren't able to go up there to help celebrate but did send a card and some money. Yesterday, we received the most precious thank you card, one that we will keep with our important papers!!!!!!!!! I scanned a copy of it and have posted it with this blog, however, I am providing a transcript in case there's a couple of works you can't figure out.

Grammy & Grampy,
Thank yall for the birthday money. I loved the card. Whose idea was it to get the card? I wanted the Ariel nightgown but they were out of them. So I don't know what I am gunna get.
Love, Ashton

Bruce's Birthday

2008-06-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

Bruce's birthday was yesterday but the Bryce's hosted a birthday party for him at their house on Sunday afternoon.

Mom and I had been to Stillwater to the Ham-Bilyeu Family Reunion on Saturday and drove down to Frisco on Sunday morning. Everyone else came up from Lorena on Sunday.

This was the first time that Parker (6 months) and Landry (5 months) had been together since either of them has been able to "do anything". It was fun watching them lay on a blanket together. Parker, who is an arm flapper, was continually clubbing his cousin with his waving arms. In order to combat that, we switched them so that her feet were at his head and vice versa. That resulted in Landry rolling on her side with her feet in his face and she was chewing on his fist. Neither action phased him in the least.

After a delicious lunch, Bobby took Jon, Chris, Brodie and Bruce on a ride and showed them where Deion Sanders lives and well as Torii Hunter and a couple of other pro football players whose names I can't remember. The boys were impressed, not only with being able to see these 'houses' but the fact that their Uncle Bobby has hung out with some of them.

While the guys were touring, Ashton and I went to the pool while Megan and Erin fed the babies. That Ashton is a fish...she takes after the Botts and Bennett girls in the pool, might we have another competitive swimmer in the family?

After returning from the pool we had cake and ice cream (Bobby made a very tasty peanut butter frosting) and then Bruce opened presents and cards. Ashton made Bruce a birthday card of her own, featuring phonetic spelling, a hot air balloon, blue shirts (she picked out the two blue shirts they got Bruce), two birthday cakes, more balloons, a butterfly, a lady bug, a sun, carrots, a tomato plant and flowers. It is just precious.

Did You Know?

2008-06-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

DID YOU KNOW? ( a friend sent these to me and I thought I'd pass them along).

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
panding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-
row openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

Slow summer, Not....

2008-06-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

I thought things were supposed to slow down once summer came! That doesn’t seem to be the case this year though. And, I can’t believe it’s the middle of June already.

Actually I think the reason things don’t seem to have slowed down is that I’m trying to get ahead of the curve for next year. I’m trying to get as much of my three media guides (equestrian, basketball, tennis) updated and done as I can this summer.

This weekend is the annual Ham-Bilyeu Reunion in Oklahoma then on Sunday, Erin’s hosting a birthday party for Bruce. Mom and I will leave on Thursday afternoon so she can have some time to visit with Stillwater/Perkins friends on Friday. The reunion is on Saturday then on Sunday morning we’ll get up bright and early and trek to Erin’s house.

The next weekend I will leave for Tampa and our annual CoSIDA Convention. The convention will be at the Tampa Waterside Hotel & Marina and that’s where I’ll be staying as well. Sounds like an awesome site and Tammi (Texas Tech) will be my roommate.

After that, I’ll be home until Mom, Becky, Sara and I begin our road trip on July 26. First stop will be Jennifer’s, then on to Reese and Heather’s, then who knows what route we’ll take.

Sometime during the summer, I plan on doing a little trim replacement and painting on the outside of the house. Now, if I could just decide what color to paint (that’s the main stumbling block, that and the fact that it’s soooooooooooo dang hot!).

Sorry I don’t have any good stories to tell like Erin and Jennifer do. Guess Bruce and I are just too boring!

Awesome Mother's Day

2008-05-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Even though I had to work on Mother's Day, it was an awesome one!

All my 'chicks' had checked in by noon. Jennifer called before she went to church with her girls on Sunday morning. Heather and Megan and their families came over at 9 a.m. They brought brunch over (two breakfast casseroles, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, OJ and chocolate milk. That was a special treat. I talked to Erin before I left for town.

The girls all went together and got me a "Grammy" bracelet. For those of you that want to see which one I'm getting, I chose the Vicky bracelet. Can't wait to get it!

On my way into town to tennis I stopped by and visited my mom. She had one of her back muscle spasms and wasn't feeling too great.

Heather's oldest son Jon celebrated is 18th birthday on Saturday. We're all going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.

I'm off to Tulsa on Wednesday. Both of Baylor's tennis teams have advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament so I will go up to cover them.

Later!!!

A break in the action, summer travel

2008-05-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

After spending three days last week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) driving back and forth to College Station for Big 12 Tennis Championships, I actually will have a weekend off. Well, at least a weekend with no Baylor stuff. But, alas, there's plenty of stuff to do at the homestead.

I've got a few traveling things coming up. On May 14 & 15 I'll be in Dallas for Big 12 Conference meetings, then on to Tulsa (driving up there) for the NCAA Tennis Tournament. Hopefully I'll be there until the 20th (that means one of the teams are playing in the championship match).
Things slow down a bit after that, that will be my last official Baylor sports obligation for the year.

June 28-July 2 I'll be in Tampa at our annual sports information director's convention.

Then from July 26 - August 10 we will making the first annual "Botts Female Road Trip". I have a personal goal of visiting all 50 states. There are only eight states that I haven't been able to check off: Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Alaska. I mentioned to Bruce that I wanted to take a trip this summer and told him I wanted to go to New England, stopping by West Virginia and Maryland. He wasn't interested in going so I enlisted my mom and sisters.

First stop will be West Virginia to visit Jennifer and her family, then on to Ft. Meade, Md., to visit my nephew Reese and his wife Heather. From there we'll make our way east and north with plans on hitting Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine and any state that we pass through on the way to those.

Besides going to the above states, we'd like to take a train into NYC, visit Ellis Island, and eat a real lobster dinner (not at a chain restaurant). Also, I don't think you can go through Baltimore and not drive by Charm City Cakes (they don't allow tours).

If time allows (depending on how much we putz around along the way), we may drive across NY to the Niagara Falls, then go into Canada, down to Michigan and then "swing by" Wisconsin. Not a huge priority but a possibility.

So, I will be able to check off at least five states on my 'yet to visit list", and maybe more.

I know of two trips that I will be making with the Lady Bears next season. We'll be going to Canada in late August to play two exhibition games. Then over Thanksgiving we'll be playing in a tournament in the Virgin Islands. It will be my first visit there.

That's enought gibberish for now.

The mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee

2008-04-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cup of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes'.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life...'

'The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.'

'The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car.' 'The sand is everything else---the small stuff'. If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.' 'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with your grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.' 'Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' 'The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Sorry...

2008-04-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that it's been so long between postings. I thought that once basketball was over with I'd have some free time but that hasn't been the case.

We are hosting the Equestrian national championships next week and I've been busy putting together (literally) a 32 page program for the event. Luckily, I had started on it early but still it has been a very labor intensive project. I sent it to the printer today.

Now the next challenge will be hosting the event. This is my first season working with equestrian so I'm a rookie. Hopefully all of my hosting experience from other sports will help me out.

Bruce and I worked outside all weekend, cleaning up limbs, mowing, etc. We were sure feeling our age this weekend! Muscles that I didn't know I had (or forgot that I had) were making their presence felt. I just hope that I was able to stay out of the poison ivy. I have found out since we moved to Texas that I'm highly allergic to it.

I didn't work the Final Four this year and really missed being there. Although if I had worked it, I never would have gotten the Equestrian program finished.

Megan and Ricci's son, Parker, was baptized a couple of weeks ago. Erin, Bobby and the girls came down for it so we all went out to dinner afterward. It was good to get most of us together (Bruce had to work).

That's all for now...hopefully I'll post more often from now on.

I was Tagged

2008-03-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jennifer tagged me and I enjoyed reading 10 fun facts about her and Erin (Erin tagged Jenn), I decided to accept the challenge.

10 Fun Facts About Julie:

1. I like cold tuna but not hot tuna...I will eat a tuna sandwich but won't touch tuna casserole.

2. God got the Bilyeu women's butts and bellies switched...Our (a lot of us that is, not all) bellies are the shape that our butt should be and vice versa.

3. I am the runt of the family ... I am the shortest of my sisters and all of my girls are taller than me.

4. I passed my drivers test (a loooooooooooooong time ago) on the first try and got a 100.

5. I only will eat cheese if it is melted or very finely shredded...I will eat a grilled cheese sandwich but won't dare eat just a piece of cheese.

6. As a senior citizen...I still love to drink milk. In fact, my husband and I go through three gallons a week.

7. I will go anywhere by myself if I want to go bad enough...Have driven all the way to West Virginia and back solo.

8. I love women's basketball...Not a fan of the men's game, especially the pros.

9. I love to read books...The latest author I'm hooked on is James Patterson. He writes mystery books, the new show on ABC, Women's Murder Club (with Angie Harmon and Rob Estes, two of my faves) is based on a series of his books.

10. Last but not least, I have no fettishes like Jenn and Erin...I will eat meat off a bone (love Buffalo wings and ribs) and it's OK for feet to touch me!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

2008-03-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like Albuquerque but geez this is the third time we'll have been there for NCAA Tournament play! We will be playing 'our' alma mater Fresno State in first-round action on Saturday at noon (Albuquerque time) on ESPN2. Those of you in the central Texas and central California area should get the game (or most of it) in its entirety, the rest of you will get snippets of it in what they call 'whip around coverage'. If we beat Fresno State, we'd play again on Monday night but won't know the time until after Saturday games are finished, it's an ESPN thing. If we lose, our season's over. For once, I won't be rooting for the Bulldogs!

As you all know by now...

2008-03-16T16:30:00.001-07:00

As you all know by now, Kansas City was a total bust. Can you believe we were up by 16 at half then lost by 15!!!! Neither could the coaches. I think it's just a case of tired legs.

Anyway, now its on to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is Monday on ESPN, 6 p.m. central time. We'll have a watch party at the Ferrell Center. I just hope that we aren't sent to Albuquerque. Nothing against Albuquerque (other than it being hard to type) but we've already been there twice for NCAA play, time to send us somewhere else!!! The days that we play will depend on where we're sent. Games played at Albuquerque, Baton Rouge, Des Moines and Stanford will be on the 22nd and 24th while Bridgeport, College Park, Norfolk and West Lafayette will play on the 23rd and 25th.

I am not going to work the Final Four this year in Tampa. I need a break, plus since I'm doing equestrian this year I'll be busy preparing for the National Championship that we're hosting. Somehow I have to get a 32 page program done and to the printer by April 4.

That's all for now...I'll try to blog more often.

KC Here I Come

2008-03-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

I will be leaving tomorrow for Kansas City and the Big 12 Tournament. We will play on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT), taking on the winner of the Texas/Texas Tech game. It will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net on a national basis. If we win that game we will play again on Thursday and if we win that one, we'll play for the championship on Saturday. All games will be on FSN. Lets just say, I hope I'm gone all week, especially since we squandered away the regular season championship. We needed to win two of the last three games, two of which were at home where we were undefeated this season, and we didn't get it done.

I need to go on the road to get some rest!!! I kept Master P (Parker) this weekend while his parents went to San Antonio to celebrate Megan's big 30. I had forgotten how much work babies are. Parker doesn't seem to value sleep as much as his Grammy does.

That's all for now....keep blogging all you Bennett girls.

Another Birthday Party

2008-03-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

We had another birthday party this Sunday. Heather and Megan both celebrate birthdays this week, Heather on March 2 and Megan on March 7. They got their choice of the menu so we had fajitas and quesadillas and all the trimmings.

I made a combo birthday cake, kind of corny but a cute idea. You can tell that I am not a cake decorator. The lady at the grocery story checkout said, "either you're celebrating multiple birthdays or someone is mighty old."
You can tell from the cake how old they will be on their birthday.

Sunday/Birthday Dinner

2008-02-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Ninny's 83rd birthday (Feb. 22) with a Sunday dinner at our house. Erin, Ashton and Landry were able to come down. We all enjoyed good food and good company.

Ashton somehow talked Jon, Brodie and Chris into playing Sequence with her. I even think I heard some rumors that she won.

It was good to sit around a tell stories and catch up on everything.

On Thursday, the basketball team traveled to Ames, Iowa, for a Saturday morning (11 a.m.) game. We would normally go on Friday afternoon but Iowa State was having a gymnastics meet in the arena on Friday night so the only time we could practice on floor was from 9-11 a.m. on Friday. That meant that after 11, we had nothing to do the rest of the day. Well, we managed to go out to eat then went to the movies later in the afternoon. I saw Juno and would recommend it to all.

We played the game and posted a 5-point win. From the arena we went to the Ames airport to board our charter flight back to Waco, we were slated to arrive back at 4 p.m. We had all boarded the plane (lugaage was loaded as well) by 2 when Coach Mulkey noticed that the plane had a flat tire. They didn't have the facilities to fix the tire (how random is that) there so we had to get off the plane. Luckily, our bus hadn't left yet. So, we boarded the bus, eventually found a restaurant in Ames that had room for 24 people and had a lot of television sets so we could watch basketball games.

As it turned out, we had to wait until the plane carrying Iowa State's men back to Ames from Lubbock got there. We finally left Ames at 7 and got to Waco about 9:15. So much for paying for the convenience of a charter flight. All I can say is, it's a good thing we won the game!

That's all for now...later.

I Forgot....

2008-02-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

I forgot how bad it is to be on a bus for a couple of hours after you've lost a basketball game. Remember those times Erin? I have gotten spoiled this season. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, the Lady Bears lost at Texas on Wednesday night. Not only was it a late game (8 p.m. start), losing didn't help. I just kind of buried my head and did some computer work on the way back to Waco.

Got another tough one coming up, we host No. 10 Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon. It's televised nationally (FSN) so tune in, you may get a glimpse of me. We beat them in Norman earlier this year so I'm sure they're really out to return the favor.

Greta has been posing a challenge for us lately. I guess when Bear took her to the vet she decided she liked it on the other side of the fence. Several times since then we've come home to find her terrorizing the cats in the front yard. We've plugged one hole (with a toilet*) but haven't been able to find out where she's been getting out since we plugged that hole. It doesn't help that neither one of us gets home before dark to check.

Megan and Parker spent the night last night and I got to 'cuddle him to sleep'. Prior to me actually accomplishing the feat, that I had him laughing. It was so cute, he had the biggest grin on his face and his arms were flying and legs were pumping. I must have looked pretty silly to him, I know Dad thought I was acting pretty silly.

That's all for now, gotta go home so I can come back to work tomorrow.

Love to all.

* Bruce's has saved two of our old toilets to make planters out of but I've put the kibosh on having them in the front yard so they're been relegated to the back yard. Oh, and before you ask, no they're not planters yet, just fence pluggers.

On the Road Again

2008-02-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well, in a few minutes, we'll be leaving for Austin. We play the Longhorns on Wednesday at 8 p.m. central time. It's televised on ESPNU, so if you get that channel, tune in. We only beat them by one in Waco earlier this year.

On Sunday, we'll host the Sooners, that game will be televised nationally as well, FSN, it begins at 12:30 p.m. central time.

All is well here, dad enjoyed his two days off. He had fun taking Savannah to the vet on Monday. For a good chuckle, you'll have to ask him about the last two trips to the vet with dogs. Good thing they only go once a year.

I am almost finished with the tennis guide and once that's done, my life will be my own again, at least then I'll have some free time.

Hosted Sunday dinner on Sunday (when else would we do Sunday dinner?), we had spaghetti, a favorite of mine as it's quick and easy.

Well, gotta go catch the bus. To keep up with Jenn, Erin and Megan's groups, check out their blogs...that way I don't have to remember who I've told what to and also don't get it 'balled' up.

Catch ya later...love to all.

We're online!!

2008-02-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, since three of my four children have created blogs and it has become so addicting to me, I decided to take the leap. I'm not promising that I'll post often but I'll do the best I can.