Resident President

The weekend before last, something special happened.  First of all, my parents came up.  This girl loves her parents so that in itself was special.  We had a weekend of woo piggin' planned - Hog baseball and basketball followed by a horse show for Alli.  Alli, Ryan, and Dad went to the Razorback game.  Alli saw Ribby, almost caught a foul ball, and continued to improve her seed spitting.  She's going to be quite the softball player this spring.  Ryan worked on getting a wicked tan.

To make a special weekend even more special, my boss let Ryan and Dad use his father-in-law's courtside seats for the basketball game.

And it was Riley's first basketball game and the whole family got to be there.

And oh by the way, my favorite former president was there, sitting just rows behind us.

Can't tell who it is?  Let's get a better shot, shall we?  Here he is with the two greatest coaches in Arkansas basketball history, Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson.

Can you tell now?  No?  How about now?

That's right, Bill Clinton came to Riley's first Razorback basketball game, along with Eddie and Nolan.  Oh, and the Razorback final four teams.

I was Alli's age when these two were hooping, and I had posters of them both on my walls.  My parents even took me downtown to see the parade after we won the National Championship in 1994.  So being in Bud Walton with them being honored was a little surreal.  So Riley attended her first basketball game with some of the greatest players, coaches, and presidents to ever grace the University of Arkansas.  And we got a Hog win out of the deal, too.

Sunday we went to Alli's horse show, and on the way home the last special thing happened.  We had been telling the family about the park right off of Garland and how some people use it for LARP'ing on occasion.  What's LARP'ing you ask?  It's Live Action Role Playing, and it means in this case that a group of people don actual armor and have fake sword fights.  Well lucky us, LARP'ing was going on right as we passed.  Ryan turned right and we slowed down to watch someone actually have to get carried off from a sword fight.  Talk about capping off a perfect weekend!

Quick Updates

I am falling so behind in my blog posting - I am never going to hit my 2 posts a week for the year goal unless I really turn it up!  We Lowes have been pretty busy getting ready for little Riley's arrival, attending soccer games and riding lessons for Alli, and just living!  Here's a few things we've been up to lately:

• Razorback Red White Game - My daddy and my brother came up this Saturday to attend the annual Red White game for the Razorbacks.  This year was pretty highly anticipated since we have a brand new coach and a new offensive scheme.  We were running late getting there, so Ryan pulled right up to the stadium to let us out.  A police officer started telling him he couldn't do that and needed to move on until Big Mama got out of the car.  At that point, the police officer sheepishly told Ryan he was fine, and then he was overhead saying "What was I going to say when she got out of the car?"  Special treatment?  I'll take it.

• Alli learned a life lesson - After the Red White game, we all went to eat and then I went to do a little nursery shopping while Ryan, Dad, and Alli went to the Razorback baseball game.  I went to bed before they got home, and the next morning, I asked Alli what her favorite part of the game was.  She didn't hesitate at all and announced, "Learning to spit sunflower seeds!"  Apparently her father and grandfather thought it was high time she learned how to properly eat sunflower seeds at a baseball game, and she caught on pretty well.  That's my little lady.

• Cash had surgery - I noticed a small lump on Cash's neck right by his collar, and when we took him in to the vet, they aspirated it.  They said it looked okay (he gets blocked sebaceous glands regularly), but they decided to send it to a lab in Little Rock to test it.  The lab called back and thought we needed to have it removed - apparently they saw some cells that they didn't like.  I've been pretty shaken up by the whole deal, but we knew it was best to tackle it head on and get it taken care of.  He had surgery last Wednesday and was doing really well until Saturday when he scratched open the stitches.  Ryan took him back to the vet, where they stapled him, but ten minutes after being home, he opened them up again.  When Ryan took him back the next time, they said he had opened his inner and outer stitches and would need to go back under to get fixed up.  That was Saturday, and now we're at Tuesday.  He's been spending his days in the crate with a sock over his foot and his evenings with me following him around saying "Don't scratch!!"  It's looking pretty good, but we still have about ten days of this to go.  Worn.  Out.  Ryan tried to create a solution, but our active boxer just can't seem to keep a bandage on.  So say your prayers that the results of the removal are positive (the lump is down in Little Rock getting analyzed, and we should hear something any day now).  

• Riley's room is coming together - Thanks to some major deliveries last week and huge strides in decorating, Riley's room is almost complete!  I should be able to share some pictures this weekend, but it's probably one of my favorite rooms I've ever done.  Seriously.

• Alli finished her first soccer season - Last Friday, Alli wrapped up her last soccer game.  She's made dramatic improvements since the beginning of the season, and almost made a goal twice!  She's also turned into quite the goalie.  We're so proud of her and can't wait to see her continue to develop through camps and fall league.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Night

If you've been around Alli at all over the past few months, you know just how much she loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  She comes by it naturally, after all.  Her parents are two of the biggest TMNT fans around.  She spends every night in her mama's old Ninja Turtle sleeping bag, sleeping on top of her covers, with her head on a Mikey pillow, usually wearing one of her four Ninja Turtle t-shirts.  It's pretty much an obsession.

So when we got tipped by my sister that there was going to be a TMNT promotion at our local minor league ballpark, we were in.  I bought tickets a few weeks ago, and we've had a lot of discussion in our house about how awesome it was going to be, what we were going to wear, and what the Turtles would look like.

We got to the ballpark early and let Alli bounce on the inflatables.  Alli and Ryan wore their TMNT shirts, and we spied lots of other kids (and a few adults) sporting Turtle gear.  Then, while we were waiting in line for some grub (funnel dog, anyone?), they announced that the Ninja Turtles were walking onto the field.  I bailed on Ryan, grabbed Alli's hand and ran to get a view.  Leo threw out the first pitch, and there was a lot of cheering.  Alli was beside herself.  The Turtles walked off the field, and I turned my attention back to my funnel dog.

We went to sit in our seats, eat, and watch the game - all the while keeping our eyes peeled for the Turtles.  Finally, after the 4th inning, I walked up to Guest Services to make sure the TMNT were actually going to come out for pictures.  They assured me they'd be out soon, but we had a very impatient fan on our hands - and Alli was getting antsy too!

I saw a lady in front of us grab her son and whisper "I heard the Turtles are about to come out!" so I alerted Alli and Ryan and made a beeline for where a crowd was already starting to gather.  Thanks to that lady, we were about fifth in line!  And let me tell you, that line formed quickly behind us and it got loooong.  Alli could barely stand it she was so excited.

When it was her turn, Alli went straight to Mikey.

 But we also got a shot with the whole gang too...

And then, with a little prodding (okay, none at all), Ryan took a picture of me and my original true love.

This is a picture 20 years in the making, people.  Take it in.

Afterwards, we took her over to the playground to play, and on our way out, we caught Sinker, one of the Naturals' mascots.  He was no Raph or Mikey, but he was cute too.

We went home with a very happy little lady to watch the new episode of TMNT, and she fell asleep the second time through on the couch.  I'd like to think TMNT night was a total success.  Turtle Power - Cowabunga dudes!!

Soccer Stud

Thursday was Alli's first soccer game!  She started and got to play a lot.  She took some shots at the goal and was really aggressive going after the ball.  Her team tied 1-1, and most importantly, she had an awesome time.  I can't wait to see her back in action Saturday!

Soccer it to Me!

Today Alli had her first soccer practice.  She's started bugging me in the winter about signing her up for soccer.  I was a little nervous - she's done dance, gymnastics, and horseback riding, but this is an organized team sport.  Plus, at eight with no experience, is she already behind?  Thanks a lot, overachieving moms who put your kids in every single sport imaginable at the earliest possible age, for putting the pressure on me.

But luckily, our city runs a great recreational program, so I signed her up for spring.  Most of the teams were already formed from the fall, but they had some openings.  We got an email from her coach about a week ago giving us all of the information for her practice.  She's been beside herself.  We knew it was going to be pretty cold, so we dropped by Academy last night to get her some tights and a Nike DriFit turtleneck.

Today, she was pumped.  She kept calling it "my big game" even though Ryan reminded her over and over that it was just practice.  We got out to the field, and she knew two people on her team:  Jayden - who is in her class at school - and Georgianna, who is in her Sunday School class at church.

Alli had a great time.  I was really happy that we got the uniforms right when we got there (she had been worried about that), and I was really glad to see that she didn't stick out as the newbie.  Her coach knew her name and was prepared with lots of drills.  There were kids of all skill levels on the team, and Alli certainly didn't stand out as one who had never played before.

Then they scrimmaged with another team, and Alli played goalie for a little while and blocked a goal!  She ran up after practice red-cheeked, winded, and grinning ear to ear.  I am so thrilled her first practice went so well for her, and I can't wait for her first game (next week!!).  But I do need to brush up on my soccer knowledge.  Between the two of us, Ryan and I know next to nothing.  I am sure we'll learn...right?