The homemade thermometer

Thanks to the weather today, we had an unexpected free night!!  No late baseball game!!  Woohoo!!

Luke wanted to do an extra credit project for school, so we jumped in and hoped for the best!!  The project was to make a thermometer out of some around-the-house materials.  Here's how it happened ....

It started by adding some food coloring to a bottle of cold water.  

Next came putting some play-do around a straw without squishing the straw 

Next he filled the bottle with water and put the straw in with sealing the top with the play-do.  Notice the water begins to come up the straw. 

He then put it in a bowl of cold water and waited to see what happened.  

Luke then started cutting a scale out of cardboard. 

When we tried to attach the scale to the straw, the seal of play-do was broken so it's accuracy was well, not as accurate!  

Overall though, when the air temperature is warmer than the water, the water goes up the straw.   When the air is cooler, the water goes back down. 

And Landry decided to have a little fun with the extra play-do ....

Nice bird!!

A nice young man

Parker had the privilege of meeting a TCU football player at a TCU basketball game a few months ago.  Parker and Skye Dawson texted off and on, with Skye even coming to watch one of Parker's basketball games.  Skye was a Senior and was hoping to get into the NFL.  Parker watched the NFL draft religiously, hoping his friend would get his big break.  While he didn't get drafted, he did get picked up by the Washington Redskins as a free agent.  He has since been to Washington to try out for the team and was successful at making the team!!  He was back in town last week and he and Parker caught up before he heads back to Washington.  I've met Skye on a couple of occasions and have been very impressed with him.   To take time out of his busy schedule for a young boy who looks up to him is admirable.  He is very polite and respectful and a good role model for young boys.  Here's hoping he's as successful on the football field as he is off of it!

Hungry??

Alex has not been a huge eater in his teenage years, by most standards.   Tonight was a different story.   It is currently 9:30pm and he has just sat down to his second supper.   (His first being a huge baked potato with broccoli and cheese before basketball practice!)  This supper consists of ....scalloped potatoes and ham, mashed potatoes with little smoky sausages added, a soft taco with taco meat and queso, and a plate of little smoky sausages.   Can that skinny boy eat all of that??  It remains to be seen!!

P.S.  He was watching basketball ....hence the funny look!

P.P.S.  He just said that adding the sausages to his mashed potatoes was the best decision of his life!!  :)

Springtime baseball

Luke and Landry are enjoying this year's baseball season. They both have good coaches and teams .....and being on a winning team definitely helps in the fun department.   There have been many big wins and Luke's team is undefeated at the moment.     I am often reminded of the words a wise man once said ......"A blowout isn't fun for anyone!"   And Luke, who has been a big winner this season and is reading as I type, says he definitely agrees!!

Luke on the mound....

Luke .....gearing up for a home run!!

Luke's team lined up for the National Anthem ...

Landry's ready to go!

Bust it baby!!

Landry the catcher!

It's been a fun season .....and still going!!

MVP!!

Alex had another great basketball season this year and at the end of the year banquet, he was awarded the MVP for the JV team!  Congrats Alex!!  Very proud of you!!

And my favorite comment about the picture of Alex and I came from Luke ...Wow Mom ....you're eyes are so blue in this picture ....they're sticking out like sore thumbs!!!    Ummm ....thanks!!??

SIXTEEN????

My firstborn son is officially SIXTEEN years old!!   Hard to believe, indeed!

He decided he wanted to go to El Rancho Grande with a few family and friends, so that's what we did!

(The pictures and I are not getting along so I'm just going to tell the tale in the order that they are!)

This was taken on his actual birthday and was his token gift to open on the "real" day.   So, here's the deal .... I've wrapped everything I've gotten Alex in the last few weeks just so it would be done and out of sight.  I knew what gifts were for his birthday and which ones were for Christmas, but I wrapped them all in Christmas paper.  So when it came time for him to open his birthday present today, I got the box that I thought was the right one and as he tore into it, I immediately realized it wasn't the right one!!   Nice!!  I busted out laughing and grabbed the box back!!  :)  Here he is with the wrong box!!

Here's the birthday boy with his momma!!

And here he is with his good buddies .... Spencer and Reagan.  I so wish this had turned out better!  I was so surprised that they were all actually smiling at the same time, I rushed to get the pic!!

Here's the birthday cookie cake!!

And here's Alex with his favorite birthday card from Ryan, Katie, Meagan, and Lexie.   You can't really tell it from the picture, but Alex thought this card was really funny!  And if Alex hadn't just gotten a haircut, it would have looked just like him!! 

So it's been a great weekend of fun for Alex.   Here's hoping the next year is Alex's best one yet!!  Happy Birthday to a really great kid!! 

A nice break ....

It's been a great week off from the normal routine of life! Here's some of the fun we've had ....

Lots of football playing ....




Even more basketballing ...... this either shows Alex's great speed, or my amazing camera skills ... not sure which!!!

Shooting free throws ....

Reagan taking his turn at free throws .... 

Building forts in the living room ....

Having lunch with friends ....

More basketball ??   And brotherly love!!

And the guaranteed-to-be-entertaining event .... PING PONG!!! 

All in all, a very fun, relaxing week with some of my favorite peeps!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always full of family, food, football watching, and just a bunch of fun!! Here's our day on pictures …

Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without a little basketball!!

Landry and BigPa playing a little ipad!

The Crittenden's ...... Edith, George, Ben, and George Earl

BigPa and Grandma facetiming with Justine .... Grandma's sister in Virginia that she hasn't seen in a really long time!  Isn't technology awesome?!  This was very cool!!

Alex teaching BigPa a few things about his new phone!

Whaaat??  Alex is old enough to want to take a nap on Thanksgiving???  What is this world coming to?!?

Landry spent a good part of his day building!

Let Thanksgiving 2012 be known as the year Mom decided to move away from the traditional path of turkey and dressing and explore uncharted waters such as pork loin!!   After the initial shock of it, I think it went swimmingly well!!   Thanks for hosting, Mom, and for a great feast, as always!! 

And .... I'm not sure why the pics are huge .... will work on that!!

6 months??!!

It appears that it's been 6 whole months since I've blogged!! That's pretty crazy!! I'm going to do better!! That's all!!! :)

Freshman Basketball

Alex had a great basketball season this year. It was capped off with a banquet last month where he was awarded the MVP of the Freshman team!! Good job, man!!!

Here's Alex with Reagan and Coach Chapman.

And here is Alex with the Varsity coach, Coach P.



It was a lot of fun watching Alex play ball this year! Keep up the good work!!

My how you've grown!!

Alex has had a huge growth spurt lately ..... 

See for yourself ..... here he is with BigPa ......

Being tall makes him smile so big!!!   :)

Hard to believe, you say???

Well ...... maybe!!

Ooook .... here's the real deal!!

Pretty funny though!!!  

Ewwww!!!

Someone in the family has just learned firsthand the benefits of wearing deodorant!!!  Yaaay!!

When this someone got in the car today, he reminded me that he had put on his deodorant that morning  and asked if he smelled bad.  Other than smelling like he'd been playing football outside, which he had been, there were no traces of the dreaded B.O.!!!!   Yaaay!!

He then says, "Does B.O. just come from your underarms ...... or does it come from other places too?  Like your underlegs??"

Ummm ... let's just go with underarms!!!   :)

What the heck happened here??!!

At the risk of copying my good friend, Deneise .......

how did we get from these cute little cowboys . . .

  . . .  to boys that are DRIVING???

Time is flying faster than it's ever flown!!

Love these guys!!

The Golfer

Alex decided to play golf this year and managed to get a spot on the Varsity team.  He played in the Fall, switched to basketball during the Winter, and picked golf back up in the Spring.  There were definitely some ups and downs along the way, but overall, it was a good experience for him.  These were all taken with my phone so the quality is not so good!

At one of the tournaments, their team came in 2nd place (maybe) and Alex came home with a  trophy.  Here's our special boy with his little trophy!!

DORK!!!

Way to go, Alex!!

A couple more ......

 I was looking through my pictures and came across these.  I couldn't forget this guy . . . he is DA BOMB!!!

Soo sweet, kind, funny, and a big hugger!!



He was sick on the day of the actual competition, but he played hard in our qualifiying event!! 

Great kids!!