“Listen, if you need to go home, y’all go.” That from Mama as Corbin and I were discussing the football coach’s text that popped up on Corbin's phone Saturday evening during dinner. Bottom line, he wanted Branson home for practice Monday morning. We’d just arrived in...
I was a little worried Bran might have talked KIVU up too much for Hudson over the past year. But even with the week at camp flying by for them, and even with several favorite activities rained out, I’m realizing that it’s just not possible to over-build...
Essie looked up at me, her big brown eyes bloodshot and face pale, "Mommy, you know I\'m not faking feeling bad, right? " "Oh Essie, I can tell, sweetie. You look miserable. Let's get some food and water in you." This took place last Thursday afternoon in our hotel...
The road to Sectionals, that is, including both our boys' teams. If you're looking for a place for your boy to play baseball, it doesn't get better than Fort Worth's University Little League. And I would say that even if we didn't win District in ALL FIVE age groups...
Mama and Daboo took Basden and Nettie May on a "10-year-old Adventure" to New York, and I got to tag along. It was a fantastic handful of days ~ a few highlights we want to remember: - Flying in felt like we were traveling to a foreign country - Daboo's extensive...
We took a rebellious family vacation last weekend. Rebellious in that we struggled against the tyranny of school, baseball, field trips, Stanford testing, etc. to take a couple of days at the beach for our family. In the aftermath of a full April and May, and then...
Last Saturday we celebrated the dedication of the new "Stephanie Woodard Family Pavilion" at our home away from home, University Little League. The celebration opened with Don Bescher sharing a few thoughts and thanking donors, and Tom Hill closing with a lovely...
I spent a few hours (yes - hours) last week trying to put our Spring Break trip into words, but Corbin summed it up nicely in this email to my brother - Trey - Don’t know if you had talked to your mom/dad about our trip, but we planned a Spring Break cruise out of New...
I watched intently from the stands as that blonde head went up for rebound after rebound, arms extended, jumping high under the net to grab the basketball and pass to a sprinting teammate. As the players swarmed in and out under the net, Bran spent most of the game...
James Gang - 24 (really 25!) and counting... All of my brothers and their families gathered from their far-flung homes in Tulsa, Alpharetta and Bozeman for a Fort Worth family Christmas. So far our little group weighs in with 24 members, and it'll be 25 this summer...
My brother Trey's name appeared on caller ID a couple of months ago, but when I put the phone to my ear it was six-year-old Marshall's sweet voice on the other end. And he got right to the point. "Aunt Tonya, Jesus is in my heart." "Whoa, whaaat? Marshall ~ I'm...
"You will never believe my afternoon," I told Corbin one evening a couple of weeks ago. He raised an eyebrow and continued making lunches as I cleaned the dinner dishes and ushered kids upstairs for bed. It had been a looonnnng day, and even with the bizarre proposal...
Yesterday I witnessed a miracle. A real, live, medical miracle. I wrote about my mother-in-love's bravery a month ago as she endured Biometric neurostimulator brain implant surgery for a familial tremor. For the past month as Jamie has been resting and healing from...
"Basden Joy, would you rather do gymnastics or horse lessons this fall? Or volleyball?" She looked thoughtful as she helped me pull her duvet cover and sheets to the top of her bed, aligning the pillows as we straightened her bed that morning. "Well, do they have...
A cascade of red roses flowed across his casket, deer antlers and pheasant feathers framing the bouquet. As the octogenarian Baptist minister described Brett, “He was all man. He was 12 inches of a foot, 36 inches of a yard, and 16 ounces of a pound.” Mom, dad and I...
Coach Tim Bostick and Coach Marty McCutchen The 6th grade Panther football team concluded our four-year run last Tuesday night. The team celebrated Sunday evening with the Paschal High School alumni field presentation, then moved the party to Pop's Garage for...
Mama - You are Brave. It's a little unsettling when the one who takes care of everyone becomes the one who needs to be cared for. For the past two decades, my mother-in-love has helped us move homes, clean out garages, paint rooms, and play-play-PLAY with our kiddos....
I was practically giddy on the drive to Durango last month.I’d been telling Branson all summer that he had no idea what an incredible week lay ahead of him at KIVU.Mom, Corbin and I drove the gorgeous route from Angel Fire to Durango, and the four hours each way kept...
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this post, Yukon has grown old with our little family. Yukon began our training for parenthood Both have a few more gray hairs Yukon turned 14 this past spring, and in the past couple of years maintained a lot of necessary spunk to put up...
We named him Yukon. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later, receiving his Husky certification in the mail, that we realized we’d given him his grandfather’s name. Skipping a generation, the name was surely meant for our little Yukon. He’s been with us for fourteen...
I had just sat down in the living room last Saturday afternoon, feet up on the ottoman, laptop in hand. I glanced out to where Corbin rested on the pool float, reading the newspaper in the sun, and thought, “Here summer begins.” After an amazing, full week of CCBC...
Dear Hudson, Sitting in the folding auditorium chairs at Tanglewood last Friday morning, I got a little choked up watching the 5th grade parents file into the room. We gathered for the awards ceremony, one of the “lasts” of your elementary school events. And now...
I even surprised myself. At the end of a very fun, very relaxing Memorial Day weekend at the lake, with all of the cars loaded and ready to head home, I burst into the full kitchen in a fit of anger and spewed out a couple of demands. Virtually incapable of...
Dear Mama and Papa, Cappy and Daboo, in response to yesterday’s attacks... We are grieving after yesterday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon. Grieving on so many levels. For the victims and their families, for the city of Boston in general, and for our country...
I can still picture the look of surprise on her face when I told her I didn’t know Isaiah 40. Pulling out her worn Bible and thumbing through the pages, Grandma shook her head and said, “Why Tonya, you really don’t know those verses? Oh, you must go and memorize them....
Snowy white powder under our skis, none of us could keep up with Esther today on the slopes. Seriously. Now, that's not counting the boys, as they were on their own snowboarding. But Basden, Nettie May and I could barely keep up with little Essie, who plowed straight...
An article I wrote for the Laity Lodge Family Camp's December newsletter. A huge thanks to Jessica for editing ~ you put a pretty frame around my words! I glanced across the den at our measly little Christmas tree, the sparse, glittery branches suspending a handful...
My sisters-in-law get a prize. A really big one. They each endured plane trips and road trips to Texas with all their little kiddos for a fun-filled week at the lake. Because our family has exponentially grown in the last five or six years, we've never all been...
Oh my gosh. This is so super yummy, I cannot tell you. Auntie Cameron greeted us with this warm-from-the-oven granola this summer, and it is to die for. I made a triple batch Saturday morning, and it barely lasted 48 hours. I have a feeling as the novelty wears off...
I can tell I'm a little out of sorts. Second-guessing decisions, feeling pressure when I'm asked to give more of my energies or time to something, and at times on the edge with my family. The words that exit my mouth involuntarily show evidence of my insecurities,...
"Well, I've never seen those boys pray like that before a game." Huh? I was rounding the outfield fence, headed back to my folding chair under the trees, when a fellow team parent uttered those words through a sideways grin. I glanced over towards our dugout...
A few years ago, on Dad's 60th birthday, I made a meager attempt to capture what he means to me And now with Father's Day today, I'm thinking again of how to honor him, thank him, frame his influence on my life. Problem is, my little computer screen - nor my heart -...
My birthday letter to Chris, who just celebrated his 40th birthday last Sunday. He is a gem, his friendship foundational to us, and just someone we love being with. Proud to be family, Chris. "Ok, Essie, just take out the 2nd baseman if he gets in your way." Dear...
Sitting in the deserted bleachers yesterday during practice, I watched Branson walk, head down, into the dugout. A couple of moments later he exited with his batting helmet and gloves, bat in hand, headed slowly to home plate. \"He still doesn\'t look good,\" I...
We're in Chicago for a few days, just Corbin and me, a welcome break from "normal" life. I just read John Grisham's book, Ford County, on the plane here. Like most fiction readers, I love Grisham's writings. I appreciate his legal insights as I'm married to this...
B - Seriously, 12?! Goodness. I always find myself at an impass on your birthdays. On one hand, I'm surprised at how these years are flying - a reminder that hearts created for eternity are not intended to comprehend the passing of finite time. But on the other hand,...
A force to be reckoned with. With another one of those open-mouth/astonished expressions that she's into these days Now, I can honestly say that I never anticipated this phone call. Checking a few emails before the end-of-day-run to get carpool, my cell phone rang....
This Christmas photo, circa 1976 or so, takes me back to my growing up years when we spent every holiday in south Texas with both sets of grandparents. Here I am with Pappy, Cappy's daddy. Pappy had more interesting stories than could possibly fill this blog, and...
His thoughtful gift not only took me off guard, but it surprised me how much it meant to me. He met me in the kitchen, eyes bright and expectant, and ushered me to the festive gift bag and generous plate of cellophane-wrapped brownies perched on the counter top. He...
Last week's unique date 11.11.11 prompted a myriad of celebrations around the world - weddings, over-the-top anniversaries, treks to casinos in hopes of extra luck on an extraordinary date... and our family even welcomed a new little gal into the world on that...
Scripture describes itself as living and active. And it is. I've seen it, experienced it. But I'm reminded tonight that many words are living and active, that it's not just the Bible that can touch and convict and encourage, in different ways, in different seasons....
I knew it would be a special weekend. I’d been looking forward to our time in a part of the country I’d never been, one that is important to me because of a few really great people who live there. But even so, our time in Montana and Idaho has been even sweeter than I...
We’re a little over a week and a half into the school year, and it’s hitting me. My little Essie has gone to school. I miss her. My heart is sad today, a little heavy, which leaves me on the verge of tears in any given conversation (including with the mailman) because...
Today after church Corbin asked me how I was feeling about our YOUNGEST starting kindergarten tomorrow. For eleven+ years now we've had babies at home, so tomorrow is the start of a whole new season. I responded that I was a little sad that we'd been so busy lately, I...
Sometimes my moments, or days, as the matriarch of our little family simply catch me off guard. I've grown to expect the unexpected, to believe the unbelievable, and I stay pretty convinced that my days will not go the way I plan. So I haven't quit planning, because...
340. Celebrating fifteen years this week (!!)341. Essie\'s generous and constant \"I Love You\'s\"342. Getting to indulge in The Mountain Between Us - one of my fav fiction ever!343. The privilege of watching our children enjoy the beach, entertainment that suits all...
If we stood out traipsing through DFW pulling primary colored suitcases, you shoulda seen us making our way through the San Juan airport. It was after dark when we landed, and walking out of the rotating doors onto the busting sidewalk, a blanket of wet air lightly...
You just never know what to expect with her. She loves my kids, and she loves surprises. And she continues to surprise me. Last night after dinner, Aunt Julie kidnapped Hudson and headed to the store, "to get dessert." They returned home twenty minutes later with tubs...
We made it back to Fort Worth last night after four days in Waco for Branson's Sectionals tournament. With six weeks or so of daily practices and successful tournament play under their belts, his team won District and then headed to Waco with high hopes of securing...
The house is still, at least for a few moments. The three big kids tumbled into the car this morning, headed to their last full day of school, with lighter backpacks and gift-wrapped packages for their teachers. Esther still sleeps upstairs, subconsciously thankful...