Super Mav with the Superheroes

 As if the Superheroes weren't already cute enough, 

they for sure were when their new mascot arrived on the scene!  Introducing Super Mav!

A girl and her pup, ready to score some goals.

 

Super Mav was on his very best behavior.  He assumed his position on the sidelines, making sure to sit right in front of his team's bench.

And he gave out last minute hugs to any kids feeling anxious about the game.

#12 played so well!  She kicked the ball in many times...

dribbled it down the field...

tried her best to score...

but this pesky green team was always in the way!

Good game, good game, good game.

Our team didn't win, but they still had fun.  Goooooo Superheroes!

My baby girl

Our baby is growing up so fast!  I'm trying so hard to soak it all in before she goes to Kindergarten.  That'll happen before I turn around, though.

She's old enough to have spontaneous trips to Sonic after shopping with a friend.

Old enough to be the one holding the newest member of the Hays family...

and looks so grown-up doing it!

Out of all the kids, she takes care of Maverick the best.  She's always talking with him, cuddling him, and giving him more food and water.

And definitely old enough to have a mind of her own and know exactly who she likes hanging out with the most--Miss Mallory!

I am loving my days with Cami more and more.  She is just the best and I hope she always keeps her spunk.  I simply adore this little girl.

Crawfish Boil

 We went to our first crawfish boil a few weeks ago--such a treat after spending most of the weekend at soccer and softball in the rain!  The sun came out on Sunday afternoon, though, and brought with it so many smiles.

Cami found Lexi and Nash, two of her very favorites, and was all set.  When she got to ride on the unicorn float, her day was totally made.

Did I mention there were a lot of kids?

Jackson had his buddies as well, and they were rowdy as always:)

Madison had plenty of friends, including Sydney, but they weren't nearly as rowdy as Jackson's, though!

And Lila had her group of second grade friends, who were happy just hanging out in the hot tub.

Meanwhile, Jackson's crew was busy going bananas.

And then they brought out the crawfish!  Eeekk!

This is as close to a crawfish as Jackson would get.  And I didn't blame him one bit!

Madison, on the other hand, was all about it.  She took a few lessons from Kristen...

and then ate so many of these little suckers!  I love her adventurous spirit, but please, keep those critters away from me!

We've got spirit, yes we do!

It's that time of year again! School events just keep piling up.  A few weeks ago, Cami's school had their annual St. Jude Trike-A-Thon and the kids raised almost $5000 for children in need.  Such a great organization and one that these kids can relate to.  They had pep rallies all week, leading up to the big event, and Cameron came home talking about ways that St. Jude helps so many sick kids.

They staggered the classes, so Mrs. A's class got their own time around the track.

Go, Cami, go!  She zipped around the circle...

through the car wash...

and was back at it again about 15 times.  Afterwards, they celebrated with popsicles.  Pretty cool way to spend your Friday morning.

That evening, I took the big kids to the Frisco Roughriders game to support their school.

We even met the mascot!  Bonus!

Such a fantastic night with some of their best friends. 

School spirit?  We've got it!

Maverick

Our girls have been begging for a dog for a long time.  It was the very first thing Cameron said to Santa Claus when he came to our house. "I want a real Golden Retriever for Christmas.  A real one!"  Lila only reads books about dogs.  Bailey's story, Molly's story, etc., where the main character is a dog.  She is slightly obsessed.  And then there's their daddy.  He has been telling me for a long time that the kids need a good dog.  I told him I wasn't sure that those existed.  The previous two that we had were mostly headaches and the kids never really interacted with them very much.  I was so leery.  And then he started showing the girls and me photos of puppies at Operation Kindness.  I held strong for a week, but then even I had to admit that some of those puppies were precious.  And so did Jackson, my non-animal lover.  A few days later I was working at Jared's office and had just finished up the billing for the month.  We had just enough time to run grab a bite to eat before I needed to go pick up Cami from preschool.  We got to his truck and he said, "how about if we just run over there to see?"  I asked where he was referring to, but I already had a good idea.  Sure enough, his truck started driving to Operation Kindness.  When we walked in, I realized that he had already filled out the adoption application online.  Soon after, we were walking around looking at lots of dogs.  We came upon one named Cinnamon, and immediately remembered that this one was Cami's favorite--the one that she kept going back to at our computer.  We kept walking and looked at all the other dogs, but then went right back to Cinnamon.  There was just something about this puppy.  

We asked if we could meet him and pretty soon we were out in the backyard taking him for a walk.  And oh my gosh, we just fell in love with him!  Look at those sweet eyes!  I asked if they could hold him for a few hours so that we could bring our kids back to meet him.  That wasn't an option, so it really left us with no choice...

we just had to get him right then. 
Less than an hour later, he was ours!  Riding in Jared's truck bound for Murphy, TX.

We picked up Cami first and then got home to introduce him to Jackson.

He made them laugh right off the bat, when he tied up Jackson in a few swift seconds.

We encouraged Jackson to take him for a little walk...

and within minutes, they were friends!

It was one of the sweetest things ever, to see him in his new home.

Totally unprompted, he laid down under Jared and hugged him.  Awww!!!

Finally, Lila got home and got the surprise of her life!  This girl was a little bit in shock but so very, very happy.  We got her reaction on video and I will treasure that for years to come.

Needless to say, our new puppy had a very big afternoon.  A nap was in order.  Cami covered him with a baby blanket and we debated on what his new name should be.

Before we took him to Lila's softball game that night, we had figured it out. 
Meet Maverick.  The coolest dog on the block!  I'm so glad he's ours.

Happy 10th Birthday, Madison!

 My favorite niece turned 10 last month!  10 years old!  

That's a big deal, so I had signs delivered to her house to celebrate the special occasion.

She loved them, which made me so happy.

Madison is such an amazing little girl, who is turning into a young lady before our very eyes.  She is kind, funny, athletic, a good singer, a great actress and a good friend to many people--such a treasure to have in our life.  We love you Madison Reese!

Home Run!

Jackson has been playing baseball for a long time.  Since he was 4 years old, actually!  He  has played in extreme heat and in blustery cold, but never have the elements been so atrocious as they were a couple weeks ago.  He had an 8am game and it was only 34 degrees.  With the 40 mph winds factored in, they were playing in 18 degrees windchill!  Holy cow!  That's freezing in every sense of the word.  Even his daddy said it was unbelievably cold.  I made the call to stay home with the girls in our warm house, and we followed his games on game changer.  During the first game, guess what happened?  I still can't even believe it.

Jackson Hays hit his very first out-of-the-park HOMERUN!!! I couldn't believe that I missed it, but I was so crazy happy for him!  He led his team to a win that game and even though his body was frozen, he had the biggest grin on his face.  Way to go, #7!