In the fall Bubba spent eight weeks learning the game of chess.  The school he attends has a chess club for kids in grades 1-6 and Bubs had a ball.

Sometime in November I was looking at Sprout & About to see what kind of “goings on” were going on and I saw that the World Chess Hall of Fame was having a family event that very morning.  I called to see if they had space for Bubba and, in a surprising display of spontaneity, the two men in my life headed west to check it out.

There was an exhibit of chess games made from all types of materials and Bubba got to make his own chess pieces out of nuts and bolts.  Pretty cool, I must say.

There was also time for him to paint a chess masterpiece.

The guys had a super time and I was thrilled that such a wonderful option exists in one of the quaint crevices of our city.  It was great time for father and son to be together and Bubba left feeling like a king. . . 

Chess club starts back up next week and while Bubba is at club I am going to readChess for Children, the book we “got him” for Christmas.  I’ll need all the help I can get 🙂

We have been married 12+ years and just bought our first brand new couch. Brand New.

Bubba just said, without even looking up from his game, “I looove this new couch. Thanks, mom, for suggesting it!”

Yeah, we all have grateful hearts.

1. Last night I typed this blog post and the power went out. In the hullabaloo I accidentally shut the app without saving. Drat is all I can say about that.

2. The electricity went out last night at 6:09 PM/cst. Little immediately ran upstairs and I heard her a click before she called out, “It’s out in my room too!!”

Honey was at a meeting and so the kids and I proceeded to turn on our flashlight apps and march single file up the stairs to get the lantern from my closet. It was soooo 2013. Then we discovered that half of the batteries were missing from the lantern and so we jumped into bed and played games while we waited for daddy to come home with batteries. It was so fun. Kids were in bed at 7:30 and I was asleep on the couch by 8:30. Honey read the championship game on Twitter and his ESPN app. Good times.

This morning when Little awoke I heard her click her light on, gasp with excitement and then turn the light back off. She walked across the hall to our room and said, “Mom! Did you know the electricity is back on in my room?? Is it on in your room too?” I told her that it was and she jumped up and down and said, “Isn’t it fantastic how the electricity came back on?” Yes, my sweet girl, it is FANTASTIC.

3. Not only was yesterday our mini-blackout, it was also my brother-in-law’s birthday. He turned 33. I have his name written really big on our wall calendar but I have it written on the 6th. Bubba came into the kitchen to check out the new calendar last week and told me that I had Brice’s name on the wrong square. I replied, “I am pretty sure it’s on the 6th, Bubs.” He answered, “I am pretty sure that last year it was on January 7.” I called my sister and she confirmed that Bubba was right and added, “Why would you question him?” She’s right. I know she is right.

4. We were riding in the van today and listening to Taylor Swift sing “We are Never Getting Back Together.” KB asked me what the song was talking about and I proceed to explain in the simplest of terms that the girl and the boy she spends so much time with “broke up”. I told her that meant that he had said he didn’t want to spend time with her anymore and then he would come back and say I do want to spend time with you and then break up again. I explained to KB that the singer was fed up and was saying we are never getting back together.

My daughter’s first response was to say, “Mom, you know everything about what songs are about.” HA! Then she thought for a minute and said, “I guess that’s what happened with me and Chris. We used to play together every day but then he said he wasn’t going to play with me anymore but he wanted to play with Matthew. He broke up with me but I am not going to say that we are never getting back together. And Nolan broke up with me when he quit playing with me to play with Luke. And then Lucy broke up with me to play with Jessa.

I smiled and reminded her that she is only 5 and there is plenty of time to play with everyone in her grade before anyone gets together with anyone. Sheesh.

5. Sometimes when I am playing SongPop I start listening to the song and end up losing. Maroon5 and Train get me every time.

6. We took the kids to see Wreck it Ralph right after Christmas and it was such a fun walk down memory lane. I got a bit misty thinking of riding my bike to the arcade in Manning, SC and wanting so desperately to get better at PacMan while secretly loving Donkey Kong more. I only saw the first 30 minutes – that’s all Little would stand – but Honey said it was great and Bubba really liked it too.
My friend, Lance, wrote a piece about it here and you are going to want to go and read it. He is such a good writer and the essay will leave you all smiles.

7. If I had a dime for every toy my children have asked for SINCE Christmas I would be in good shape.

8. When I was engaged I lived with my parents. Gifts consistently arrived at the house after the invitations had gone out and we got to know the mailman pretty well. “Pretty well” like my mom took my picture with him and it’s in my wedding album! That’s the kind of woman my mom is – she rarely meets a stranger and she cares about people. Well, I did the most “Kathy Cheely” thing today (that’s mom’s name). Our mailman’s wife died at Thanksgiving after a year’s battle with cancer. The fact that I know that shows the influence my mom has had on me. The fact that I made him two meals for his freezer today takes our similarities to an entirely new level. While I was wrapping one pot pie with tin foil I actually stopped to laugh about it. The mailman kinda thinks I am a freak but I can tell he is also touched. Good times.

9. Today women’s Bible study started back at our church. That means I went back to work in the nursery today. I gotta tell you, I love working with those little kids. They are between 14 and 24 months and it’s been long enough that they know I love them. Well, most of them know. My dear friend’s daughter is in our room and today she fell of the playground equipment. Yep – from a high point near the slide. Everything slowed down and she landed on her arm. I wasn’t aware of just how upset I was until I was sure she was okay and then I started shaking and sweating and got all choked up. Sheesh. I am ready for bed.

10. I am going to go watch Castle. I still love Castle. We are keeping a gratitude journal this year and I am going to put Castle in it.