Living in Texas

All ready to go. "Where are we going, mom?"

In case ya'll haven't figured it out yet...we live in Texas. Where its ok to wear bows bigger than your head! Ha!

In Texas, its just tradition, or whatever you want to call it, to spend your Friday nights at the high school football game.

In case I haven't told ya'll yet(see how "Texas" I'm being today with all the ya'lls:) I don't like football.

But...

It was Friday night, it was Homecoming, we have two teenagers who were attending, and it was the "thing" we were supposed to be doing...so...we loaded up Ashley Kate and went. I figured it was a "right of passage" or something like that for her since she is a Texan.


Let me be honest and say that it is not my idea of a good time to take Ash in public and have people stare at her "antics". It makes me want to crawl in a hole. Literally. Its more my hangup than anyone elses. Just part of our life I haven't really gotten used to. You see, I can't make her be quiet. I can't make her not throw a fit if she so chooses. I can't make her do much of anything. I just have to role with it. So...I did.

I am so glad we took her. It was rough for the first 20 minutes or so. She was out of her element, not sure she wanted to watch a football game, or listen to the announcer, or see the cheerleaders up close and personal like, or hear the drums of the band play. Then what we had hoped would happen for her did indeed happen.

She adjusted. She got happy. She started to clap. She smiled. She laughed. She enjoyed the sights, the sounds,



the crowd, and the lights. It became fun. SO fun. For her and for us. For the next 2 and 1/2 hours she totally enjoyed the game, and we enjoyed having her there with us doing something so normal for most other families in this town. In this state for that matter!


I learned something about myself Friday night. Something I should have figured out years ago. I don't really care what the crowd around us sees, or thinks about us and our 6 year old. We are determined to allow her to live and experience this life she has and part of that includes Friday night football games and such.

Holding up her hands in hope of getting a football from the cheerleaders.

I also learned how incredibly grateful I am for the friends who are in our lives. The true friends who LOVE us and who LOVE Ashley Kate. Those who just come right down where we are sitting with her and who talk to her and love on her and become a part of her world. You can't put a price on people like that. You just can't. So in this "semi-public" forum I want to thank you guys for being there for us Friday night. For encouraging us to bring her. For checking on her and us throughout the game to see how she was doing. For making us feel like a normal part of your Friday night. I love you guys. More than you will ever know. For the big things you do in our lives and even more for the little things. You know, like stopping to say hi the other night, for speaking to Ash, for bringing your little ones down and posing for pictures with her, and for just being our friends. Love you guys so much.

She did indeed get one and it made her whole night! She was so happy with that ball!

Who knows you might see us all there again soon. She really did have a great time. Minus that first 20 minutes you all had to witness:)

For some reason she really loved the goal posts? Go figure, I would have never guessed that one!

And then we took her home and she slept. Really, really well:)