The Cinderella Ball

Today was the Cinderella Ball at school and Kellis was Prince Charming. It was so adorable! He has been so secretive about the whole thing but he had the only solo singing part. It was hilarious, and he did great! I was afraid that he wouldn't do it in the end because he can be so bashful. Yesterday, he said that he wished that the Cinderella Ball wasn't real, I think he was getting nervous. 

The kicker is the teachers, not knowing that Pat is a wild card, asked Pat to be the knight that introduced all the kids. He said them all in this crazy Monty Python voice that was like a crazy old English lady...I'm not sure what else to say about it. I can maybe revisit it tomorrow!

Also, Rainey dresses up every day and was so happy that other people were dressing up, besides her. She was elated and thought that she was going to school to marry Bubba (Kellis)...hmmmm. Anyway, she got to walk in the parade with all of the Kindergardeners and fit right in. They were so sweet to her and took great care of her! It was such a great event and all of the teachers and kids worked so hard, I am so proud of everyone. BTW, I think my top kind of looks like I am the friar...but I wasn't dressed up, I promise. 

First Baseball Game

Tonight we, (actually, I didn't play) went to our (once again, I didn't play, but it is a hard habit to break) first baseball game and the boys did so great! Kellis had a couple of hits and a run. Those boys are so cute, little boys in baseball uniforms are so adorable! At one point, a little guy in the outfield stopped the ball and picked it up and all of the parents were screaming, "Throw it! Throw it!" He looked so dumbfounded and stood their holding the ball and looking at us. When he figured it out, the sweet guy cried the rest of the inning. We felt so terrible. He is new to the team and has not yet experienced the obnoxious creatures known as (parent) sports fans!

Here is Kellis on first...baseball ready!

Kellis on first feeling proud and not so baseball ready!

I wish I had a video of Rainey in the background singing High School Musical 2's "Swing, batter, batter." the entire game....by herself. Priceless.

Well, it was a beautiful night but we have to get to bed because Kellis is Prince Charming in the Cinderella Ball tomorrow! Hopefully, I will have some great pics. I will leave you with part of the prayer Kellis said tonight. "...Lord, please help the people in Haiti, the blind, the poor and the scrimmage. Amen." Hmmm....I have no idea!

The Cake

I heve been totally out of the loop in the cooking world. I have been SO lazy. I had knees surgery and was unable to cook for a couple of months and I think I might have gone forever before starting up if I didn't have a family to feed. Some of you are probably surprised to hear that, because I have always (ok, maybe not always, mom) loved to cook. I was able to not cook and got very comfortable to with my status as eater and non-helper, but the kids weren't going to let this keep up.
When we got back from Spring Break, my favorite cooking magazines had come in the mail. Food & Wine and Bon Appetit. I went through them and marked a few recipes I wanted to make and...poof, I am back! I am having fun cooking for everyone again. So I decided to take on the birthday cake for a great friend of mine's birthday party. I was a little nervous because so many of the fantastic women in attendance are such great cooks but, oh well, here goes!
It turned out great! It was the Tuxedo Cake from the Pastry Queen Cookbook...it is such a pretty cake and a very LARGE cake. The party was at Joe T's, so by the time we got to the spot we were having the party I thought my arm was going to fall off. Here are a couple of pictures of the party (and the Cake)!

Jennifer and the cake...funny candles, huh?

Windy!

Well, my mom blew in from Wests Texas this weekend. Wow, was it windy! Oh well, it was beautiful, at least. She and one of our friends, Debbie, brought the kids Easter baskets. We have been hunting Easter eggs every since, if practice makes perfect...we are perfect!

You also have to notice the fab outfits...flip flops and fur coats, and Kellis in his favorite camo pants!








Anyway, we had a great weekend and I have been working on beaded cuffs for a bride who is getting married SOON! I might mention that I am not a seamstress, so I am very happy that my mom was here to help me with prototype. I will post a photo of the bracelet tomorrow. I think they are going to turn out great, I just have to decide the best way to close them.
Moose and the kids were so happy to see my mom. We had such a relaxed weekend...yogurt at Menche's, baseball practice, hunted Easter eggs, Central Market, Mi Cocina, hunted Easter eggs, drove to Arlington to pick up Pat's knight costume for the Cinderella Ball (more to come Tuesday on this...much more), making bracelets and did I mention hunting Easter eggs? The kids also went to see "How to Train your Dragon" with Pat and LOVED it! Apparently, it was great, and I got to go have mani/pedi...so I thought it was an awesome movie!

It has been so long since we had a laid back weekend and it was great. Tonight, when I put Rainey to bed she said, "My heart is sad because Khaki is not here anymore."

Pat was all over the place this weekend. He had a fun trip to Ole Miss, somewhere I haven't heard of before in Lousiana...Nachisomethingoranother, New Orleans and Pharr, Texas. The last day was a crazy long drive for poor Russ, the bus driver... New Orleans to the border in a day and back to Dallas, UGH! Pat also got to have the Super Bowl trophy on the stage the night of the New Orleans show because our good friend, Sean Payton, is the coach was there. He also got to see the Saint's training camp! So neat, what a great story for a great city!

American Idol

Hmmm...I wonder how the television I am letting the kids watch is affecting them? I think I have some proof or at least a little social commentary.
We were watching the results show tonight and Kellis said, "I love the boys!"
Then Rainey said, "The girls are my favorite."
To which, Kellis responded with "Isn't it funny that we each chose our own," (wait for it...like I did) "species."
Actually, the same feeling to this day holds true for me. Except for being boy crazy for a few years of my life, I think that the girls are my favorite, too! Of course, Pat is my very favorite, but I seem to be inspired, challenged and entertained by the fabulous women in my life. So, thanks for that ladies...grrrr.
Anyway, go Casey James!
See I told you this blog was about contradictions...I just contradicted myself, if you don't watch American Idol. (he's a boy)

Photos

Here are a couple of pics of the kids from last summer in San Diego...ahhh, it makes me ready for summer. I am also feeling a tad guilty for the selfish comment about Spring Break...so I'm giving them a

little attention! 

 

Achoo..........Spring is here, hopefully!

Okay, I just changed the template on the blog last night and I have been sneezing ever since. Maybe I am allergic to it? Also, I am thinking in blog-like talk to myself all day, like a 24-hour commentary. I am really annoying myself! It's like when I would go rollerskating or skiing when I was a kid and it felt like my legs where doing it all night. Well, maybe not skiing, because it was against our religion. That is another story that I will spare you.
Anyway, I realized that Pat and I moved here 5 years ago this week...yikes! No wonder I am having cabin fever and allergies, we have never lived in the same place this long. The week we moved here I almost died of allergies. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I sure remember every year when the anniversary comes around.
I realized that Spring Break has nothing for me personally anymore, except gross abuse of my nickname...Momma. Momma, Momma, Momma. You get the picture.
What did I do the day after Spring Break? I celebrated with getting my hair fixed because I was way over due, for a reason I will decline to share with the GP. I have realized I can't leave Fort Worth...where else can I get my hair curled and back-combed with a straight face? I was inspired to curl my hair the other night when we went to see Faith Hill in concert. I was also inspired to grow 2 more inches and lose 25 pounds but that is another story, as well. I decided to deal with the things I can make happen immediately. Actually, it wasn't immediately and I needed a ton of help. I tried to do it to myself the day after the concert and it was a total failure! Seriously.
Pat walked in and said, "What happened?"

Roadtrips

Ahhh, the melancholy that follows a road trip. Especially a road trip to the Hill Country and Austin. It leaves me feeling like I am hopelessly uninteresting.

There are so many people willing to take risks and put themselves out there as artists. It feels like there are stickers and paint everywhere you look in Austin. Would you ever think to paint on a bridge or a building?

They even paint on themselves. We were walking into Anthropologie and Rainey came in and said,  "MOM, MOM...there was a girl with PURPLE HAIR!" Which may come across in written words as judgmental but it sounded more like jealousy. I agree, there is a freedom to be exactly who you want to be there, not to fit into a mold of who you or someone else think you should be.

With SXSW there and spending time with all of our old friends in our old city, it leaves me thinking I've lost my edge. I have come home with a great sense of wanderlust...it reminds me of heading back to Lubbock after a Spring Break road trip to Austin when we were in college. Like I have just returned to my cage...maybe it will pass.

The Beginning

I have been trying to decide how to begin this "blog"...whatever that
means. I mean, how do you begin? At the beginning, you know, like
Genesis or begin with current events complete with relevant and
interesting flashbacks?

Well, I'll start here and we will see where is takes us...
First off, I struggle with if this will be interesting to anyone but
me. I've decided it is worth it, even if I am the only one to benefit.
I have so many amazing memories but they are only stored in my brain
and I am learning just how fallible that device can be. I know I love
to hear stories about my mom, dad, grandmothers, grandfathers,
great-...Well you get the point, it's fun to read things you wrote a
long time ago and my kids might like it some day.

I hope I can avoid embarrassing my English teachers too much, in case they happen to see this.
I know it won't be the Queen's English, given my bad habits
fostered by email and texting. You know, over usage of exclamation points, emoticons, ellipsis, u, g8t, things that make me appear to be a teenager rather than a middle aged woman and mother.

I think that leads to what the common theme of this blog will involve.
Self doubt and contradictions, like Kate Gosslin's hair. The doubt that anyone will care what I have to say, or

worse, I might offend someone. I'm a city girl from a tiny West Texas
town with one stop light, I'm like the opposite of the Pioneer Woman. Actually, we had a stop light and it broke and they decided the traffic did not warrant replacing it. I love living in Fort Worth but I am always afraid that I might be deported back to the country, far away from the Central Market and restaurants with wine lists. (Sorry mom!) Here is the contradiction, I do wish the country was closer because I miss everyone there.


I am married to an awesome guy that happens to also be a fairly popular musician, Pat Green. We have been married for almost 10 years, YIKES! You know the old adage, time flies. 
Here we are on the day we got married and I think I still have the same expression on my face, on most days anyway! I would put a more current one, but once you have kids I am not sure if you are ever in the same photo again. 

My kids are 6 and 3, Kellis and Rainey. People ask if we are having more kids and I can't give
them a straight answer. No, Maybe, we are thinking about it...


Well, here are the kids we do have and they are so awesome! Everyone thinks that about their kids, it's how God made us. Otherwise, we might leave them on the side of the road...

I'm a jewelry designer. (Can I really say that?) When I fill out
papers at the doctor and the kids school and it says "occupation", I
have an epic struggle with myself. Can I write jewelry designer down?
Don't I need a certificate or something? It's also the part that
stresses me out because I know the next 3 lines are coming:
employer...self, spouse's occupation...musician, spouse's employer...self. Are
these valid answers that they will accept when considering whether we
are worthy to participate? Ie: Just how flaky are we and will we pay our bill?

Well, after thinking it through I go through with it. And here are my criteria: 1)I make and design jewelry 2) I often see it on people I don't recognize
3) people I love and respect wear it often, even when they are not
sure they will see me. 4) A few stores deem it worthy to occupy their
space. That being said, i still am a little timid about it, but I am
planning world domination of Tory Burch magnitude! I'll let you know
how it goes.

I'm not sure exactly how we got here, but wow, I never expected such a
full, rewarding and exciting life. I am truly blessed. We are able to enjoy so many fun and interesting experiences, I don't want any of this to seem like bragging. However, you will probably take one look at me and any jealousy will quickly subside! My hope is that this will be entertaining to you and I both and it will chronicle my family's experiences. Maybe it will be like a super cheap therapist and I will be able to objectively and calmly reflect on my struggles and modify my behavior accordingly. Ha! We will see how that works out.

Given the common theme of self doubt and contradictions, you can
expect to see anything and everything on this blog. Stories about
travel, kids, jewelry, fashion, cooking, etc.
I think that is enough for today, I don't want to run out of material! Well, here goes....I'm a little nervous.



Kori