Babies' First Bowl Game / New Year's Eve

I am so far behind in blogging that I will never, ever be able to catch up. This makes me so sad. There are so many things the boys did or said in the last six months (not to mention a trip to Disney World and our first semester of homeschooling) that are gone with the wind, all because I didn't have/take the time to write them down, so rather than continue to bury my head in the sands of defeat, I'm just going to pick up right now ... well, with a few days ago when the boys and I went to watch the Cats win the Belk Bowl!

As soon as I found out that Kentucky would be playing in Charlotte, tickets to the Belk Bowl rose to the top of my Christmas list. Jeremy had to work and couldn't make the trip, but "Greenville Pop" (also known as "MaymePop," as opposed to "NanaPop," who lives here in Canton) was up for the drive. We arrived early enough to grant Jones's request of driving all the way to the top of the relatively-empty parking garage; Freddie was thrilled to show off his new closet-full of Nike gear, and I was just happy to have seats on the shady side of the stadium (an added bonus to avoiding the blinding sun is the perfect lighting in these photos!). It was a GREAT day for football - sixty degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Also, mercifully, the boys have reached an age where they're a breeze to take to ballgames - it's been this way for the last and a half year or so. Gone are the days of them asking when it'll be over before it's even started. They no longer require a million trips to the bathroom or concession stand. Jones almost never needs his noise-cancelling headphones anymore. As I've said so many times, the bigger the boys get, the better. I love the fun we're able to have now that they're mature enough to handle it. I also love that my boys get excited about my Cats. We won a thriller, almost at the buzzer. Given the way Lynn Bowden won us the game, this one will live in UK lore for decades to come, so I'm so glad the boys and I were able to be a part of it!

Oh, and an eleven year old girl from Charlotte sang the National Anthem. She did an AMAZING job. As she sang, Jones turned to me, his hand over his chest, and said, "She's gonna wake up the bears in Canton!" That was, perhaps, his highest form of praise. Because the game had a noon kick-off, we were able to be home early enough to join Jeremy for a New Year's dinner at the Blue Rooster. From there, we did our traditional countdown with King Julian (thanks, Netflix!), and the boys were in their beds by 8:30. Jeremy and I followed not long after. We always assume the ball is gonna drop whether or not we're up to see it happen.

Here's hoping 2020 is as good to us as 2019 was!

I am OBSESSED with Freddie's
Nike obsession. I think his passion
is absolutely awesome, and I love seeing
his personality take its wonderful shape.

College Colors Day

Happy College Colors Day! Prior to watching the boys' first-ever Pisgah / Tuscola high school game tonite, we made sure that they boys were decked out to celebrate College Colors Day.

I look forward to this day more than I probably should every year. It's just that, by the time it rolls around, I am SO MUCH MORE THAN READY for the start of the football season that College Colors Day kicks off.

This reminds me of something funny Freddie said while we were coloring earlier this week. He had three bats to color (we're talking about nocturnal animals around here lately), and Freddie said, "I'll color that one Wildcat (blue), and this one Tennessee (orange), and this the green team."

Maybe I'm not the ONLY Pressley who's ready for College Colors Day.

Freddie sat like this for the picture,
because he wanted to show off
his "Buzz shoes," which are handed
down from Jones. He was so
excited to find a new pair. 

Freddie looks like he is NOT much of
a Cat fan in this picture, but Jones looks
so cute that I hated to delete it.

Freddie's stance is one
of his Spider-Man moves.

Mrs. Dellalio from school emailed
me this picture of Freddie from school
on Friday. He'd built his own rocket!

Kentucky kind of weekend

When I was a kid, we moved around a lot. 

OH. SC. NC. MO. SC.

One of the constants of my vagabond childhood, however, was the way we'd take regular trips back to where it all began - in our beautiful, beloved, old Kentucky home. 

Even now, as if prompted by some kind of biological clock, I get a tick to go back to the Bluegrass State several times a year - most of them, admittedly, come during basketball season, but I want my boys (who saw the Cats play in Rupp last Winter) to know "the finer side" of Kentucky life, too, so we planned a visit to where the ponies play. No weekend spent at Keeneland's Fall Meet is complete unless it's served up with a side of Wildcat football.

This was that weekend. 

It began with Mom and me picking the boys up from school and celebrating Friesday. After that, we headed on to Lexington and a trip that could best be described as "made agonizing by Freddie's INCESSANT whines from the back seat." UUUGGGGGHHHHH.

Daddy met us at the Hyatt, where we stayed (Jeremy drove up after work that nite). The next morning, the boys and I were up and off to Breakfast at the Works at Keeneland. Remarkably, Jones agreed to have his face painted. Not only did he have it done, he LOVED it! We toured Lexington a little bit before taking naps and heading out to watch the Cat Walk before UK played Mizzou at the freshly-dubbed Kroger Field.

Sunday started with a visit to the horse farm owned by the man who is the major shareholder in Daddy's company. It was pouring the rain, but we still got to walk through his amazing stables and get closer to clydesdales than my boys have ever been before. 

Soon after that, it was time to head to the track. We had ZERO luck in the races, but the boys LOVED the "suite life" of having run of an entire corporate box. We got home well after bedtime, but the boys did great. Well, Jones did great. He was invited to ride home with Mayme and Pop. Given that whole "four hours of whining" episode I alluded to above, Freddie was not (when we loaded them up, Jones matter of factly said, "You guys take the little child; Maybe and Pop will take his big brother").

Freddie stuck with us, which was harder on him than we'd expected it'd be. See for yourself.


Here are some more highlights of what was a wonderful weekend.

To look so angelic, they sure were a handful on this nite.

1) For dinner Friday, Mom, Daddy, and I just took the boys to Arby's. It was convenient to the hotel and allowed us to get them in the bed on time. Plus, they love to go "where the pirates eat" ("Aaarrrggghhhh-bys").

Freddie'd finished most of his, but Jones still had about a quarter of his left. "Eat that sandwich," I said, trying to spur him on. Before I could blink, he'd spit crammed his mouth full and thrown the wadded up, silver wrapper on the table. I was instantly suspicious that my slower eater could do anything so quickly. On a hunch, I unwrapped the paper. What did I find but all of the beef, hidden like that time Eugene Morris Jerome covered his livers with his mashed potatoes.

2) We had lunch at Chick-fil-A on Saturday. Before going in, we were talking about the playground

when Jones told Daddy he was too big for the playground. "Look in a mirror!" he exclaimed, reminding us all of that time Camden told Daddy he was "full of air."

3) Before we went down to breakfast, the boys were looking at each other in the full-length mirror in the hotel room. This, of course, led to the usual fisticuffs, and Freddie's overreacting to Jones's looking at him the wrong way. I made Freddie go sit on his bed, after which Jones looked at himself in the mirror, his Kentucky blue foam finger on one hand, and said, "I got him good," as if he'd planned the whole thing.

4) At breakfast, Freddie had a mess of yogurt on his face. Daddy said, "You've got a mustache!" Freddie comically looked around, saying, "Where? Where?"

5) I asked Jones why he and Freddie can't sleep in the same room, assuming he'd know the answer and say, "We might talk." Instead, he had a different answer.

ME: Jones, why can't y'all sleep together?
JONES: Because I don't like him.

Fair enough.

6) Jones played magic tricks in the box at Keeneland. He'd use the black straw as his magic wand. He told me one time that he would make a Coke disappear, "Put this napkin on your head," he told me. After I'd covered my face, he poured the Coke from one cup into another and, when he was done, said, "Now, take it off."

Sure thing.

It was a great weekend in one of my favorite places on the planet.