The Time Has Come

Cooper has waited his. entire. life. for this day....his first football game. It's always been like the cruelest joke for the boys that their dad is a football coach yet he would not allow them to play pee-wee football. So, they've waited and waited and waited for THIS day!

I have to admit I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. Todd on the other hand was on edge just about all week! Coop was just plain out excited.

It was a misty/rainy day. My parents, who thankfully come to almost all the kids' games with me, wanted to sit way up at the top to get out of the rain but I toughed it out, sitting on the front row so I could get some pictures.

He did really, really good, making two goal-line tackles to deny the other team a touchdown! They even announced his name over the loudspeaker! It was a great day. I was so proud. And, I'm pretty sure that good, ol' nervous dad was pretty dang proud himself!

team captains

touchdown

campbell was the waterboy and super excited for his brother!

pumped up waterboy!

nervous dad

relieved dad!

Oh yeah, we won! 38-20!

As any photo-loving mom would, I was dying to take some pictures of Todd and Coop after the game but he wouldn't have anything to do with that. Ugh. Maybe next time!

Go Bulldogs! We love #50!

a|m

Pup Pups!

Just a few fun puppy snapshots from yesterday. They are all such snuggle pups. We love them so very much!

Sweet, sweet mama, Honey

puppies beaucoup!

Summer has been a whirwind. Baseball, track meets, vacation, etc. etc. It's hard to believe that school starts in less than a week. But SOME of us are happy for getting back to a regular routine...and bedtime (ahem).

The most exciting news is that our sweet, sweet dog had puppies a couple days ago!! Nine puppies to be exact. Goldendoodles! However we seem to be not so much golden but the unique black velvet color. Hooray!

So Saturday morning at the crack of 5:30 we hear a yelp and rushed into action! Chloe was there from the first minute. What a really neat experience to share with her. By the time the last puppy was born (5 hours later) we were all worn out!

They are such whiny babies. It is so funny just how LOUD a bunch of hours-old pups can be. We are having so much fun with them. Honey is such a great mom. Just two days before they made their debut, Honey wouldn't put any pressure on her front foot and was hopping around on three legs. Poor baby. Turns out somehow she broke her foot. 

But the vet told us that once the puppies were born that she would forget all about her poor foot. And, sure enough they are right! When she gets up to eat or go outside she runs out and then rushes back in as fast as she can to get back to her babies. Such a good mama!

Now to just come up with nine names...Velvet, Coco, Kohl, Steele, Jet, Onyx...what else would fit a matched set of nine black puppies (five girls, four boys)?? Suggestions appreciated! 

They are the most precious, precious creatures. What a reminder of just what a real miracle life is and how blessed we are!

Puppy love!

a|m

victory

It's only been one week of summer and I'm ready for a break. Typically you think of summer and a nice break to the hectic schedules of the school year. I think it's pretty much been established that we're not a typical family so summer means crazy times.

Last week we had 6 baseball games, 2 baseball practices, summer track workouts for all three kiddos, and a really fun, awesome week-long experience for the boys to participate in the FCA Victory Bowl. So basically the boys left each day about 6:30 a.m. and didn't get home until about 10:30 each night. They were absolutely exhausted. Especially the biggest boy.

The Victory Bowl was put together by FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). It's basically an all-star showcase for graduating seniors. It is a big honor to be selected to play. And to coach, too. They have practices, speakers, devotionals, dinners, a pancake-eating contest, service projects and fellowship. Cooper and Campbell got to be there all week, handing out water, doing chores, setting up practice fields, and basically just hanging out with the big boys who were really just awesome to them.

The game is a pretty big deal around here and is televised locally. The boys were really pumped about getting to play at Floyd Casey Stadium, the home of the Baylor Bears! Campbell was the ball boy and was really excited because on Friday nights he hasn't yet gotten the call downstairs. Coach Seward asked Cooper to signal in the plays. How cool is that?

The Red Team has never lost so there is a lot of pressure to keep up that tradition. The game was really close and came down to the last minute. Literally. We caught an interception on the 5 yard line to basically end the game, ensuring a Red Team victory. It was exciting for sure.

Like I said before, Campbell hasn't gotten to be on the field on Friday nights yet. He's had plenty of JV game time but hasn't been called up to the big leagues yet so being on the field for this game was super-awesome for him. The one thing about the boys is that they study football. Just about all they do is draw up football plays and talk to each other about different formations. It's kinda exhausting to be honest. Bottom line, they know a lot about football. So when the Blue team was kicking off to us with just about 2 minutes left, Campbell ran out into the huddle with the warning "Guys, they are going to do an on-side kick."Hilarious. Super-hilarious. Well, it's super-hilarious now but the coaches really didn't see it as so hilarious in the heat of the moment. Now it's something the coaches, and players!, will probably never forget. Good times.

I'm definitely a reluctant coaches wife but when my kids get these really incredible opportunities I'm so, so thankful. I'll add this to my list of the only good things about having a husband who is a coach:

1. Free ice. (crushed ice people!!!!) 
2. All the girls want to babysit for us (little do they know...)
3. and just added...Incredible opportunities for my kids (in the future I might just make this number 1)

Onward.

a|m

perfect

OK. I've said it before, I LOVE baseball. I especially love baseball when my kiddos are playing.

This past year we moved to a new city only about 20 miles from where we were before. With that move came new schools, new neighbors, new friends and new teams, specifically baseball teams. Cooper had been with his baseball team for about five years. We loved our coach so much. He taught Cooper so much and was just a really super coach. We've been really lucky to have a really great team here in our new town, too. Thank goodness. We know what it's like to have not-so-good coaches unfortunately.

Last week we had to face our old team and we were nervous. I mean, of course we wanted to win but more importantly we wanted to play AWESOME. Now if you know me I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to baseball. And if Cooper is pitching, well then it borders on insane.

old picture from 2010

We started out really, really bad. Coop was on third and we ended up walking in seven runs to give the bad guys a one run lead at the end of the first. Ugh.

When Cooper jogged out to the pitchers mound I was kinda about to die. Would he do good? He hadn't thrown in a few weeks. Maybe he just needs to catch. Can he handle the pressure? OMG!! And to make it worse my husband wasn't there to calm me down/punch in the arm/hide my eyes.

And so it began. One down--strike out. Strike out number two but dropped third strike so batter advanced to first. Ugh. Next batter, strike out! Two down! Fourth verse same as the second...strike out slash dropped third strike. Next batter STRIKE OUT! I was freaking out! Five (technically!) strike outs in one inning! Woohoo!

Next inning he was on again. But this time three up, three down. All three strike outs. Incredible!

Finally in the last inning here we go again. One up. One strike out. Two up...strike out. At this point I was so nervous because I wanted this perfect (practically!) game for him so bad. So the third batter comes up and four pitches later. STRIKE OUT #11. Amazing. I was so, so proud. Couldn't believe it.

It was a perfect night. To have THAT kind of game against our old team was incredible. And, yes I couldn't stop smiling for days. Woohoo!

Fingers crossed for beaucoup games like this in the future!

a|m

pride

Even though Memorial Day was last week I still have patriotic touches around the house. Let's be honest, these decorations will stay up through the Fourth!

I have a few ideas of things to add but that may or may not actually pan out!

Just thought I'd share because I love how all the flags look! I also laid out my red, white, blue quilt on my table. I love this quilt. It's the second quilt I ever made and I love the fabrics in it...my favorite being the Pledge of Allegiance.

I hope to have more patriotic touches in time for the fourth!

Thanks for stopping by!

a|m

fun times twelve

Memorial Day weekend went by in a blur.

With baseball, birthdays and a going away fiesta for a dear friend it was a busy weekend.

First of all this cutie lost her front tooth. As if she could get any more adorbs. (I'm her mom, I can talk like that!)

This tooth has been loose for.ev.er. Finally the night before she was determined to make it happen. Finally an hour past her bedtime I made her go to bed. I was actually worried might just fall out in her sleep because that tooth was just hanging on!

That tooth even made it through school all day! But leave it to a bunch of coaches, after school that baby came out!

And, Chloe was ectastic that the Tooth Fairy paid a visit. Finally!

Saturday we celebrated Coop's birthday all day! Twelve. Wow. I've always said that until you have children you really don't realize just how precious and quickly time goes by. He's about to be in seventh grade. That means playing football. Man, I remember being in seventh grade like it was yesterday! Next thing I know he will be driving and it's all too much.

We had a really fun day, heading to a local old-fashioned goodness hamburger joint for lunch complete with giant birthday sundaes! Health Camp is a fun, old-fashioned hamburger joint. Nothing there is healthy so don't let the name fool ya! We were laughing because we heard someone ordering and ask for a whole wheat bun. Sorry dude, you're in the wrong place.

Later that afternoon we headed to Eddy, TX to continue the birthday celebration....swimming, catfish fry and a special surprise from Pops.

I don't know who introduced who to the unimaginable, red-neck wierdness of Duck Dynasty but anytime the boys (well, let's be honest, even Chloe watches this crap and can recite entire episodes verbatim) go to Mimi and Pops' they looove to watch it. Most recently they watched this episode about eating frog legs. They talk about it all the time. Well, good ol' Pops happened to find some frog legs for Coop's birthday soiree and it was a big hit. I mean it was fun and all but I don't think anyone/kids really LIKED eating the frog legs ("they taste like chicken") but it sure made the boys' night. Even the brown-bag wrapping was indicative of the awesomeness of Duck Dynasty.

My mom and dad have some land and they have worked really, really hard clearing some of the woods and have a firepit and cook-out area by the creek. It was a nice night and we had a really fun time all just hanging out together.

Chloe has been loving Dancing with the Stars. At least it's a lot more palatable than DD. All she wanted to do was dance down by the campfire. Everyone got in to dancing mood and it was a lot of fun.

My mom even started to teach the boys how to two-step. It was so cute. But mostly Chloe wanted Todd to lift her up "like they do on the show" and twirl her around. I'm pretty sure he got a good workout in with all that!

We ended the night with Cooper's traditional birthday cake, a humongous Chocolate-Covered Oreo Cake. Not an Oreo fan myself, this cake is actually pretty awesome. How can you go wrong with cream cheese and Cool Whip mixed together?

Sunday the boys drove to Bellville to pick up Coop's birthday present, a full-on weight bench. Thanks Coach Rowe! We cleaned/organized the shed so it's now a semi- home gym. Pretty cool. He can crank the jams almost as loud as he wants now!

borrowed from BaylorMegs Instagram

Sunday was a one more, final goodbye fiesta for a dear co-worker and friend. She's heading to Vanderbilt to pursue a fab life as an event planner and to be with her long-distance love. To say that we will miss her is an understatement. Her office was right next to mine and we would just talk all day long. We became fast friends and I actually looked forward to going to work each day just because it was so much fun. We had many fun, quirky/snarky routines: creating hashtags, junking during lunch adventures, airmail messages, a love for Mr. Snow sno-cones and general work gripe sessions. She leaves on Wednesday. So not looking forward to goodbye. But it's really not so much goodbye as "see ya later". And even harder is that Chloe simply adores/worships/idolizes BaylorMegs. She is definitely going to be a sad little chica without her dose of Megan. A trip to Nashville is definitely in my future.

borrowed again, BaylorMegs

Of course no fiesta is really a fiesta without my new fave concotion: the Beer-Rita. It's this super-delicious mixture of 1) limeade; 2) a can of beer; 3) tequila; 4) ice. Simple as that. The best part is that when you blend it up the beer gets all frothy and it just adds this greatness to the whole thing. Delish!

Monday, Memorial Day, was a day for relaxing and doing nothing. We were pretty much wiped out from all the weekend fun. I wanted to share some of my fun patriotic decorations but that will have to be another time!

Beaucoup blessings!

a|m

beaucoup

So, today we had an impromptu "communications meeting" at our favorite junk store, Laverty's. We were driving around downtown scouting out some locations for a photo shoot and I just happened to see that there were a lot of cars in the parking lot there. See, they aren't open on a regular basis and they basically just announce on Facebook when they will be open. We had all thought there were supposed to open tomorrow so it was a surprise when we did a quick 180 to see what was going on! We got there about 10 minutes before they opened and there was a line of about 20 people already gathering to bust down the doors!

There is such a wierd mix of junk there...from cool (and sometimes not-so-cool) furniture to industrial-ish items to kitchen stuff. Today they had this really cool display of vintage street signs hanging from the ceiling. I loved it.

This time I only walked out with a cool arrow sign and a small, vintage school chair that I'll probably use for some photo shoots or to display things. In the past I've bought things like scrabble tiles, a coffee table, ironstone, soda crates...

I spotted an old French-English dictionary and took this pic to commemorate the birth of my new blog! I've been thinking for months, literally, for a name for my blog and it just hit me one day: McCauley Beaucoup. It's like all McCauley's all the time! McCauley overload. McCauley's to the max!

I don't know what my real plans are for this blog but mostly to share pictures and fun things with family and friends. And God only knows just what crazy, fun, hilarious things those kids of mine are up to!

Tonight we have a baseball game. I love baseball! Can't wait!

Until next time...JKL.

a|m

maybe

This little song/video has gone VIRAL with my work possee. One day a while back while at baseball practice Chloe grabbed my phone and wanted to watch videos. I thought "she'll like this because it has Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber in it" so I turned it on for her. Little did I know that this song would become her life.

That night she HAD to make her own video. Being the Dance Mom (another story/another time) I am, obliged. The best part is that an unsuspecting big brother just happens to walk by and just jump in the video as if it was planned.

All this results in total awesomeness. Sorry for the total UNawesomeness on the video producers part. Just turn your head to the side and deal. It's worth it.

Where you think you're going baby? JK. Thanks for watching. Hope you don't think I'm crazy!

a|m

pleasantries

We are a super-fun family of five McCauleys with beaucoup things to share. We have an abundance of laughter and good-times. We soak up Friday Night Lights and all things baseball. Love the Longhorns and Bulldogs. You can sometimes find us in deep conversations about epic rap battles and Legos. A prolific artist with an affinity for horses entertains and keeps us on our toes. Creating fun projects and playing house take up the rest of our time.

Come back and visit us for a good laugh and a glass of sweet tea*.

a|m

*Sweet tea may be substituted with other refreshments at the whim of the hostess