Easter was a great. Actually, the whole spring break week which ended with Easter was great. I'm exhausted now and Grant actually threw up last night from eating to many chocolate eggs, but we all had such a good time. Both Grant and Jackson really got into the egg hunt, we actually had 3 separate hunts this weekend, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. By Sunday, Grant really had the egg hunt down. At first, he would just get one egg, open it, and eat the contents. By Sunday he collected all his eggs first, then sat down to enjoy them.

Mutton Busting

Ok, when I said that we were "all in" on the cowboy thing, I didn't even know what I was talking about. NOW we are all in. I know you'll want to see this before you finish reading, so I'll go ahead and tell you, scroll forward to the 4:15 second point. Jackson was the second rider. He participated in "mutton busting" at the rodeo yesterday. It was by far the most hysterical thing I've ever seen. It started out by us watching the 11:00 showing. Jackson leaned over to his grandpa and said, "I can do that, I want to ride." Heath dutifully signed him up, sure that he was wasting $10. They got in line. Silence ensued. Heath: "Jackson, are you sure you want to do this?" Jackson, nodding. Heath: "Ok buddy, let's do this." Jackson, pumping his fist down: "YEAH!" And then suddenly, my baby boy was fitted with a helmet and padded vest and placed on a huge "wild" mutton. Connie was jockeying for position to take a picture, I maintained that there was NO way he was going to get out that chute. Imagine my surprise when he shot out of the chute and just held on for dear life and lasted 4.75 seconds. He came in 3rd place, behind a couple of 6 year olds. As you can see from the video, most kids don't make it out of the chute; he stayed on longer than most other kids! We obviously felt the need to buy the video...and the T-shirt. The shirt is great, it says "Mutton Busting...toughest sport on wool." Jackson wasn't even all that impressed with himself afterwards, he just looked at me after he got off and said, "mommy, can I have popcorn now?" However, later on in the car he told us that he was a "real cowboy now." Grant thought he wanted to mutton bust. Grant screamed bloody murder when we placed him on a camel. Maybe next year. I'm sure for the next several springs we'll be out at the Livestock Fair and the boys will be vying for the World Championship of Mutton Busters!

Big Dolphin

It's official, Jackson is a swimmer! He passed his final float test last Thursday. He's been in training for this day for 5 months now. Last August he wouldn't even put his face underwater. Now, thanks to the wonderful Houston Swim Club teachers, he is considered "water-safe." What that means is that if he were ever to accidently fall into a body of water, he would know to immediately flip over onto his back, put his hands behind his head and float until either help came or he could get out of the water. He also is able to swim the width of an olympic sized pool. I am so incredibly proud of him, but what's even more important is how proud HE is of himself. He didn't think he could do this, and he is now so puffed up with pride that we constantly hear about how he's "the best swimmer ever"! He now dives off the side, slides down the big slide, and is learning to freestyle swim.

Little Cowboys

My babies are growing up to be cowboys. Unlike the song, I'm pretty happy with the cowboy profession though. In my opinion, in today's world, having your boys dream of being cowboys is a good thing. Cowboys are good guys, cowboys are down home, salt of the earth type guys. Besides, I'm a GRITS and every good GRITS needs a cowboy. (If you don't know what GRITS are, just google it.)
This is the time of year we do a lot of cowboying-up. It's rodeo time here in Houston and we are all in. From the kick off at the BBQ cook-off through "Go Texan Day" and "Cowboys/Cowgirls for Christ Day" at school all the way through the actual rodeo itself. No one is too old or young to participate. Grant at 2 walks around in his hat saying "I cowboy mommy." My friend Angie's daughter who is only 4 recently looked at herself all dressed up in her best pink cowgirl outfit and announced to no one but the mirror, "now that's what a real cowgirl looks like!" Angie is from Minnesota, so she just shakes her head. Jackson has announced that he wants to do the mutton busting contest next year after seeing a 3 year old enter in the contest this year. Mutton busting is hysterical. It's where a little kid basically bronco rides a sheep.
So today we went to the Livestock Show. Saw the cows, got mauled at the petting zoo, rode ponies, watched chickens in various stages of the hatching process, bought Grant his very first palm cowboy hat, ate popcorn, caramel apples, hot dogs and funnel cakes and basically had a wonderful day.