Mady and the last of Junior High
Mady has been a 14 year old teenage girl way to much lately. She 
has finished her volleyball for the year and she is currently debating on playing in high school or not. First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to her for making the high school golf team. She has worked hard these last couple years playing in the summer and going to lessons. She practiced for tryouts for a couple months focusing on hitting and walking the practice holes. But during tryouts all Coach Boyd had the girls do was hit a bucket of balls. It looks like she is the top of the Deer Park high school golfers right now even though she will only be a freshman. The dilemma for me and Tressa right now is how much to push her to play other sports. P
ersonally I would love her to play volleyball and then she would be socially interactive with some girls from other schools. Atleast for her freshman year. 
I have noticed lately how goofy and funny she acts with her friends and I want that to continue and for her to build relationships with new people. She is debating on volleyball but loves basketball. the only problem there is that would interfere more with golf. She is better at golf than basketball but we cannot push her to pick only one. That she will have to find on her own. I don't want to say "If you only play golf you will be the best one and on varsity as a freshman" then later down the road she regrets not playing other sports and ends up not liking golf. But whatever she chooses we will support a
nd back her and as long as she is doing something that is all we want. Now on a personal note I am so so so very proud of her. She has worked hard and made it important and right now she is also making summer training program at school important. It will only get her better and make her stronger. I hope she stays with it all summer.
She played in her first 18 hole tournament and got first . She shot a 103. It was awesome to watch her and coach Myers and coach Boyd followed her for a couple holes. She played at Deer Park and beat 4 girls in her age group but if she played in the 15-18 year old group she would have gotten 3rd and there was about 10-15 girls in that group. We are really excited about this summer golf. Tomorrow she plays againest stiffer competition which will be good for her.Her 8th grade year ended with her getting awards for robotics and for playing all 6 sports in junior high which is called the "super 6" award.
I am very proud of her for that too because you have to commit yourself to participating in everything and not just going home after school. She did this while playing golf, club volleyball and making the honor roll. It is bittersweet about her leaving junior high. I love seeing her succeed a
nd moving on and growing up but I will miss her being a baby and needing me. I love her independence and I will love seeing her grow and move on making a life of her own but I will miss her being a baby.Her tennis season ended up being a fun one to watch. She did
n't take it too serious but she actually competited and I was proud of her effort. I won't miss not watching tennis but it was good to see her play.I wanted to talk about her school sports, her activities and finishing junior high in this post then speak about the 8th grade dance and all that fancy stuff in my next post.
In a nut shell Mady is my oldest baby and will always be close. She acts like me her mother says and I have watched her play all the sports for years. Soon she will be making grown up decisions about what she wants to play in high school, what activities she wants to be in and what she plans for her life after school. I will be there to help with whatever she wants. I will misss seeing her play the "kiddy" little league stuff and not be able to coach or influence her that much.
I could not be more proud of the young woman she is becoming and the way she has matured in her physical and social aspect of her life. It fills me with happiness even if I am grouchy about having to be a taxi cab for stuff or complain about her goofiness. Most of it is an act, just like hers, she too lives in my heart. Thank you Mady for letting me watch all the different things you have done and for all the new things you are fixing to embark on and accomplish. I love you more than anything in this world.Ya'll be safe out there !!
Brad's Baseball 2012
WOW!! I have not posted in forever. I have been so busy with school and the kids and I had gr
eat plans to sit at home at night and p
ost things that happened. But I get home worn out from my taxi cab service taking the kids everywhere and at work I have been super busy getting ready for the end of school. Anyway I am gonna try and catch up. I am gonna do this by writing about both kids one post at a time then about what else has been going on. Ity may take a few days. I'll start with Brad.He had a great baseball season. We moved up to 12U this year and I was a little worried that he would struggle. He did a great job and ended up being a 2nd best pitcher behind a 7th grader. We didn't have anyone to play with off hand so we got a call from Mike Biggs. He is a great guy and ask if they could freeze Brad and I said sure. He ask if I would help coach and I said yes so I was first base coach and I sat in dugout while we we
re in the field. Brad played a little catcher, outfield, third and pitcher. We went to Ricky Crawford to help with his hitting and it paid off. In the last couple of games he was 3-4 with a triple off the wall in left and a walk. I was sure the ball was gone. It hit the top of the fence. I usually yell at the guys to run and quit looking at the ball. In this case I was looking as well. haha!! Our friends Jody and Jennifer Mcbride's son started playing teeball this year also. It was really neat to see Bubba on the big field and Bubbie on the little field. It was very endearing to me to see the girls grown and the boys just starting . Jody and Jennifer are the friends you are close to whether you see each other alot or not. I consider them family and their kids ar
e mine.He had an awesome year at pitcher as well. He has come such a long way since last summer. He pitched sporadically and even one time couldn't throw a strike. This year he went 2-3 innings with ease and keeping us in the game. I am very proud of how he competes and makes things important. I was most impre
ssed by how he threw in the end of season tournament. It is all week and a kid cannot pitch more than 8 innings in the week. So like I said we had this 7th grader that was our best. The coaches thoughts were to save him if we could. So The first game they started Brad. He was pulled after 3 inning winning 9-3 did great. The 7th grader only had to pitch one inning to close it out. The next night Brad pitched 4 innings and left winning 9-5 and seventh grader pitched 1 inning to close it out. So in the championship we could use Chase Moen the 7th grader the entire game. We ended up winning 9-7Â I think and Brad was a huge part of that during the week. He had a great time this year and made some new friends.
We are currently playing a little all-star tournament againest the laporte all-stars. Last night was awesome. We won in extra innings. There was a little tricky thing that Brad did that got me 
excited while coaching first. He was at 2nd and a guy on 3rd. Somehow our guy goes home on a passed ball he is called safe and the catcher drops the ball on the ground. He begins to try and argue with the umpire and Brad rounds 3rd . Well as the catcher is arguing he has left the ball on the ground and Brad sprints home sneekily and slides just under the catchers tag after he notices him coming. It was very exciting and I was very proud of him making something happen.Next year we will stay in this age group. I will put him on the mound more so he is even more comfortable. He has exceeded any e
xpectations I have ever had for him or myself. He is a tremendously loving but competitive young man who I cannot be any more proud of. He lives in my heart.
Ya'll be safe out there!!
Garden - past and present!!!!!
I have been growing a garden for about 14 years now. It started when we lived at our old house even before the kids were born. I started with a small 10x10 fenced in area. I grew a small amount of cucumbers and tomoatoes and just messed around with different stuff. When we moved to our current house I put in a garden on the right 
side of our garage. It was fairly small and I had a fence built across from the garage to the big fence to seperate it from the yard. The tomatoes didnt grow very well because there was always too much shade. I had success with eggplant and peppers. So what I did in the last couple years was extend the garden past the garage and all the way down to the back of the fence. It is now a pretty big area. I also built another fence all the way back to the end of the back yard. I tilled up as much as I could last year until the tiller burnt up and planted all my plants. I had some tires that I planted tomatoes in and they worked great. It was messy but very productive with okra, peppers, and tomatoes. The cucumbers did pretty well but they were a little taken up by weeds. The eggplants thrived late in the year as well as a couple pepper plants. I had trouble with the weeds and the mud next to the house.
All in all it worked out good though 
and I also had a good success with my cantaloupe. I had never grown them before and learned alot about keeping them from getting mushy. My okra went crazy and I was able to freeze a bunch of it and the peppers and eggplant. Well this year I tried to fix it all up and make it nice. I made a walkway down the side with crushed granite and steps. I also had a guy come in and clean out all the weeds and grass and put in two yards of dirt. I also moved one of my sections of cyclone fence so the cucumbers could grow up the side. Before I go on I did plant a winter garden for the first time last year as well. I planted, collard greens and lettuce,cabbage and brocolli and cualiflower. The brocolli and cauflower didn't produce as good but the greens I love. The lettuce was hard because it was hard to keep it from getting mushy but the cabbage did good and I am still pulling off collard green leaves and eating them. Brad loves them as well. Anyway, this year it is better organized. I have nice rows and I even tr
ied to seperate the cantaloupe from the other stuff. I read that it likes shade better so I but it in the front. The stuff I planted in the tires works better so I may start trying to get as many tires as I can. The tomatoes in there now are huge. I also got some tomatoes from Stephen Harrell's dad. He grows them from seed so that is exciting to have some Livingston grown tomatoes. My peppers don't look as good right now but I am hoping they will come on strong. I planted a yellow squash that looks great. Ofcourse the okra is going good but like I said the peppers are what bother me. Just not growing as fast as I want. The wee
ds are coming in alot also I think I want to get a small tiller and till inbetween the rows to help out. I lined the outside with landscape timbers to try and help. I also put in some solar lights , haha, it looks cool but I don't know how productive it will be.It is very relaxing and frustrating at the same time. I love getting it going but hate the weeds. I do have a great deal of pride when I am able to pull a large bucket full of produce. For example on nights we eat deer meat or fish or sausage and cook up some greens or okra and tomatoes everything we eat is from the garden. Except the cold beer!!!! Well I am looking forward to alot of produce and can't wait to fill the freezer.Ya'll be safe out there!!
Steer, Goldies Ranch, Champagne of Beer
We recently told my buddy Cary Grayson that we wanted him to put up a steer and feed it out for us to buy from him. He has
cattle in Lagrange and me and Goldstra
w and Beau decided to split one. It was in september or october when Cary started. The time came a month ago to go get it from the butcher. Goldstraw said , let's just go to my ranch near there for the weekend and hangout and we can pick the meat up the next day. It was a plan and we were all set up. Me and Tres couldn't go until later in the day because of Brad's basketball game. So after that we all headed up. Beau and Brandee were already up there. So we get there and it is cold and windy. The kids played outside and we sat at the table talking and drinking. We had some chicken spaghetti that we heated up that night to eat and basically sat at the table all night us 6 adults sitting at the table talking about old times.  The wives went to bed fairly early and me and Beau and Goldie stayed up until about 2:45 solving life's problems. A
bout 2:38 we see Brandee come
into the living room and say, "do ya'll know it's 3 oclock?" I quickly reply with "no Brandee it is only 2:38" needless to say we all went off to bed. I had t
aken some wine so we all had our fill and no one was in a rush to get up in the morning and get g
oing or stay another night. So we caravaned to Breham to the butcher. They filled our ice chest and we were on our way home. When we left there we stopped by the
 Casa Ole' that Cary used to own and ate. At home we split the meat up and I stacked mine in the freezer. I soon decided in the next day or so that we needed to cook one of the big sirloins. The things were huge!!!! One of them all four of us ate on. It took up almost half of my bbq pit. So I cooked it to perfection, we also made some homeade mashed potatoes. It was perfect. We have since made the rib eyes and some T-bones. That Cary Grayson can really grow some beef.Ya'll be safe out there!!
Aunt Sissy, AJ Truax , and Tending to our Wives
Well it has been awhile since I posted after the move to my own domain name but I do have everything lined up with pictures to match some new post. I guess I will start off by talking a little about my aunt sissy. She passed away last night and was 85 I believe. She was the last living patriarch of the family. She was My Uncle Lanky's wife. I knew it was coming but when I heard there was a flood of memories from Christmas and holidays and all the times at their house spending the night growing up. I remember once when Melody (her daughter) had girls over to spend the night and they were telling scary stories in her bedroom. She was older than me and I got scared and went in the kitchen with aunt sissy. I remember her making me feel like we were having a better time than Melody and her friends. It was a great feeling. So anyway, today is a blah, blue, emotional day for me. I guess I am taking this kinda hard because of her being the last one. I dunno. I am just struggling with it today. I have been moving alot of old reel to reel movies on to DVD and alot of old memories have been seen. Aunt sissy was a tremendous lady. She always understood the kids it seemed and was never harsh on us. I am sad today for losing aunt sissy and for feeling like everything from my youth is slowly slipping away.
I don't wanna get too emotional so I will talk about one of Lounsbury's buddies name AJ Truax who came down over spring break. He has been friends with louns forever and he was always telling me that I should meet him. Well I finally did. They came ov
er one night and we sat on the porch and hung out and cooked. I made him some homeade sausage and we sat around and cracked on louns. Grisham showed up for a little while too and he jumped on our side. Usually Louns is attacking me or AJ. But we sided with each other and were getting on him about normal stuff. It was to the point of Louns saying " I don't know if I like the fact that ya'll have met". It was a great time sharing stories growing up, he was a great guy and that makes two people that Louns knows that are good guys, me and AJ LOL!!,. We hooked up again at Border and we had dinner and then I went over Louns the last night he was here. I gave him a Texans shirt to take back to New York and us three had a few beers and visited before he left. I consider him my firend now and not just Louns buddy. Maybe some day we can make the trip to New York and see them up there.One
little sidebar funny is about our friend Rick Holt, he couldn't come over cause he said his wife was sick and he told us to stop texting him while he was tending to his sick wife. We pictured him like Wyatt Earp with a wet rag while his wife lay in bed and patting her head with the rag. Then when she dozed off he would finally have some time to sit and relax.
SOOOOO being the non sarcastic guys we are we sent him a couple pics of us "tending" to our wives.Ya'll be safe out there!!
Al's Birthday, Brad's 5 pounds, and Orange Bombs
Well this is my first post on the new site. Hope it is as easy as the old one
cause it took forever to transfer everything. Anyway my buddy Al Vasquez had a birthday recently and we went up to Guidry's to celebrate. It 
turned out to be a long
fun night of crawfish and drinks. The owner is a guy named Chad Guidry and Al has been hanging out there for a long time. It even goes back to the days during softball when Guidry's was just a hole in the wall place where you had to bring your own beer and only served crawfish. Now he has a full menu and a neat restaurant with regular seating and a nice little bar area. The crawfish is great as well. Ok, so we meet them up there and get a big round table. It is Al, Sonja, us, our kids, Robert Sanchez and Al's sister to start off. We get us a few buckets and order the crawfish. Brad eats 5 pounds on his own , plus a boudin link, and an order of boudin ball
s. Ofcourse sonja is impressed. The conversation is great and Chad starts sending samples of different appetizers. He also starts sending over shots he calls "orange bomb
s". I call them roofies because everytime we have them someone gets way too drunk. They taste like sunkist drink shots. So the night progresses and we eat more and more crawfish and have a great celebration. We end up leaving and Al sta
ys a little longer and you can tell by the pic he was having some fun and feeling no pain. We all had a blast and I even mentioned to Tres the next day how great a time we had. We always have such a good time with Al and Sonja. I can't wait for Garner and to spend the week with them then. ok, lets see if I can postYa'll be safe out there!!
Brad playing Baseball and his teams website
Basketball, Kristen Stehling, Volleyball and Golf
ld like her to pass the ball a little better but she is g
etting taller and playing hard and having fun. The district tournament was this past weekend and she did really great. They beat Friendswood which is always tough to do. I think Mady played 3 different posititions and had 4 points and 2 rebounds and a steal. It is great to see her so excited and enthusiastic about playing. She uses her body very well when she rebounds and plays great defense using her size. It is so cool watching her play againest a much taller post but she works hard not letting the girl go around her. Then turns and has excellent position on the rebound. They had a free throw contest at the varsity game awhile back and Mady ended up winning. She hit 4 out of 5 and got a shirt. I was so proud of her. In the tournament they played DPJH on saturday and came up short. It broke my heart to see her upset on the bench as her team wasn't able to put together a victory. I could see her ph
ysically upset and crying as the time winded down. One of our best players and a great kid, Arika Halling, fouled out and when she sat next to Mady she was patting her on the back. Is tears you up because you want all the success in the world for your kids and never want them
to have dissappointment but then also you know it is good for them to experience the ups and downs in life. Anyway, she had a great year and loves basketball. Her club volleyball team is doing good also and she is one of the better players. It is still the lowest team but she is building confidence in not just volleyball but leadership as well. At her last tournament we just happened to see my cousin's daughter who is an excellent volleyball player at Klein Collins, we don't get to see them much so it was cool to get her and Mady to get a picture together. Mady is also making some new friends on this team that I also think is great for her
socially. Golf is kinda taking a backseat and I am struggling with that. Coach Mark Boyd has mentioned to me that with Mady's scores and how she improves she has th
e possibility to be on varsity or JV as a freshman. He mentioned a group of good girls they have that would be a good influence on her as well. Well I know there is no garuntees and I know she must earn any spot she gets but thinking as an excoach I wanna tell Mady what her best options are but I have to be a parent and let her do what she wants and be supportive. I am looking at her playing 9th grade volleyball and 9th grade basketball or possibly varsity or JV golf golf, but I want her to choose what she wants to do. Everything is moving so fast and she is about to be a high schooler and I just want it all to slow down. I miss my baby!!Chinese New Year and "I gave them 3 of them"
ay the whole time. It was rainy so after dinner the ki
ds didn't go out in the street to see the dragon dancers but they danced throughout the entire restaurant. It was us and Greg and Amanda to start and soon after Bo and Amanda showed with their kids. This year something funny happened. Dada had gotten 100 dollars in ones for all the grandkids to give to the dragons. Well he handed it to Mady and told her to split them up equally between each grandkid. It came out to be about 15 dollars a kid. So we ate and the food was great as always. I screwed up the diet I was on by having a few scotch and waters and ofcourse I had to have some of the spicy shrimp. But anyway the k
ids all walked around the room and sat at the bar giving their dollars to the dancers. Mady had brought a friend n
amed Chelsea Graham and she was showing her what to do and to give the dragons the dollar bill through their mouth. I didn't pay much attention because I had seen this take place numerous times throughout the years. So the night ended and we drove home. When we got home Brad ask me to hold a wad of dollar bills. He got his wallet from the cabinet and ask me to place the bills in it as he held it open. I noticed it was 12 dollars. I said "bubba where did you get this money" he replied with "dada gave it to me" I said, "Bard you were supposed to give that to the dragon dancers" he said, " I gave them 3 of them". My son the entrepreneur. Year of the dragon I believe.Brad Basketball and Starting Baseball
d every week. We practice at the same time as the other Fairmont Elementary team and I think it has helped us to scrimmage them every practice. At first Brad seemed to try and force alot of
shots and act as if it was basketball played out in the driveway. But he has since calmed and has been a good team player. I have notcied he has a very nice shot and has very good court sense. He shoots his free throws well, and is aggressive on the press. We got beat bad in the first game. But then made adjustments and won our last 3. We were even losing 10-1 in this weekends game and came back to win 17-12. I think Brad had 6 points in that game. I played our best 5 in the last quarter and had Dylan Heim and Brad on the court at the same time. Their athletic ability really showed and helped us come back to win. Looking forward to seeing these guys play in 7th grade. I am very proud of his competitiveness and athleticism. I try and coach him and help him understand I am not griping like a dad but trying to coach him and make him better. One example is this weekend. At the end of the game we were winning by 6 points with 1 
minute to go. I kept sa
ying lets not force a shot and slow down we don't have to score. Well I mentioned this in a timeout and then in our next possession Brad tried to force a shot so I took him out with 40 seconds to go and explained to him why. He was upset and I told him why. He did seem to understand. Hopefully that will be in his mind for later on. I want him to know the entire game of basketball so he will understand why and what to do. He will be starting baseball soon. We move up to the 12U field and will be playing with Mike Biggs. I am looking forward to Brad being pushed with the older kids. I hope I stay focused on watching him grow and be pushed by someone other than me. More on baseball in coming post. I hadn't posted about Brad so I wanted this one to only be about him.
Tailgaters of the Year and Stephen and Alyta
s ar Eric and Randall. They have won before and their team is the onl
y team to have won it more than one time. The last game of the year we took Stephen and Alyta and went to cheer them on in Bud Plaza. It was neat being able to take our good friends and share in what we do evbery sunday. We have been on vacations with them and even live around the corner from them. We love spending time with them whether it be at a poker party , the deer lease or a Texans game. It was cool, I took Eric and Randall a bottle of wine that I had made that had a picture of the Texans defensive line o
n the front. We had some of their good food and drinks. We watched as they announced 
them winners then headed into the stadium. It was a terrible game because we had alreadywon the division and made the playoffs. But the day was fun and we were able to share it with Stephen and Alyta.
BWW
since it opened. It 
all started with my birthday. It always falls on wildcard weekend in the NFL. About 6-7 years ago I told Tressa I wanted to just go hang out all day there and watch the playoff games. We invited a group of people and headed up there about 30-40 minutes before the games started. It was cool because back then it was never packed and not very popular. We stayed there all day and it never really got too crowed. Nowadays you have to wait forever to get a seat for any event that comes on TV. Since that time we have had many great times at BWW. We even went there for John Holt's birthday one time and, well I won't get into what happened, but it was a big scene. Wha
t we used to do is go every wednesday. Mady had volleyball 
practice on that day at gameday and Tressa was coaching the team. Me and Brad would go up to BWW and I would give him about 5 dollars to play games while I ate an appetizer, had a cold one, watched whatever sporting event was on TV and waited for Tres and Mady to meet us when practice was over. They would come up and we would eat and have a few.
love the wings there. I
used to get the "wild" sauce, they are the second to the hottest. But I have grown into the hot or medium. I have been eating some "mango habenero" but I think that is just a phase for me. The wild has gotten too hot. I guess it is old age.
here and we have just hung out there numerous times. We have just sat in the bar area or sat at a table. Years ago all the young kids that were Jake's 
age hung out there. They would call me at about 10-11 and say they were at bww and to come on up. I would go up there and hang out until 12-1. We also would have a big group of those kids meet us up there. That was before our kids were old enough to just hang out. Nowadays we bring the kids and they have their own table alot of time. I have a ton of memories there from different activities like all of Mady's junior high games afterward going up there to eat. Even birthdays there for me. We have went up there when Texans players
were there. I have met guys up there to watch games. It is just a great place that I feel at home and love the food. I am sure I will continue to like it. Mady, Tressa and Brad alread
y make fun of me because I want to go there all the time. I even buy the sauce in bottles and take them home to use at the house on different things I cook at home. But I prefer to go there, it is my favorite and will continue to be for a long long time. BWW rocks!!
Mady's Robotics - 2nd Place Going to State!!!!!
otics tournament. It was at Bonnette junior high. 
She is on a team with two other boys and from what I hear from her teacher she does most of the work and tells these boys what to do. Their project or robot is an invention and it is called "Dentassist" it is to help handicapped veterans with one arm brush their teeth. They have a power point presentation and when judges come by they tell them what it is about and show them what it does. They didn't place in the district warm-up tournament but got 2nd in the area tournament and are getting to go to state in April in Austin or Irving I don't know which one. But it is soooo awesome to see her working on the robot and taking charge and presenting. She has alot of pride in it and does a tremendous job. 
The funny thing was the actual day 
of the area tournament she also had a basketball tournament. So here is how it went. She played at 10 in the morning at Pearland. Then after the game we hustled home and put on a dress and we went up to Fairmont junior high. She checked in and began setting her invention up. When it was time to judge the parents and coaches had to leave the gym and only the students would be in there presenting to the judges. A funny note is that Mad
y had on her basketball socks on the whole time she set up, then when the judges came in she slipped them off and put on her flats th
at were hidden behind the table. It was so funny watching this happen through the window. It was also nerve racking not knowing what was going on in there. Then we waited until they were finished and there was an awards ceremony. I sat in the stands as they annouced second place to Fairmont. I was so proud and excited. All her sports activities we have helped her, but this she did all on her own. I could not be more proud of her. She is the most awesome girl in the world. Great job Mady, Good Luck at state!!!!!!!Sea-Bass and the 8th Grade Girl Pose
ose in the pictures as 
well and I don't remeber ever doing that. Well I started making fun of the girls when they would pose for the camera. So while at BWW one night one of Mady's friends and a top notch poser came up there and I proceeded to get a picture with her and tried to emulate their posing. Her name is Taylor Fleming and she is a friend of Mady's and plays Basketball on Tressa's team, I have nicknamed her "sea-bass" (long story). She is a good kid with a funny personality and a quick wit so I felt like she needed to make the blog posing with me and Tressa. SSOOOO here you go Sea-Bass, you have arrived and made the blog!!!!Wildcard Weekend Videos
Basketball Tournament, Wildcard Weekend, Victory Formation
purchase our tickets back in December for whatever game they were to play. It ended up being on wildcard weekend. We had the home game at 3:30 on saturday. Just so happened that Mady and Tressa both had basketball t
ournaments that day as well. So the week of the game we didn't know who was going to go. Mady played at 4:30 on friday if she won then she would not be able to go because she would have more games on saturday. The championship for Tressa's team was at 2 on saturday so if she made that she would go late. Mady won so Brad got to invite a friend. He chose to bring Brandon Meza. Me and the boys would ride with Beau's in laws and we would meet Tressa there later during the game. Well we left at about 1:30 and got to the parking lot. Normally there isn't that much activity that early before a game but it was packed with people ready for the first playoff game. We were told to be in our seats at 3 so we hung out in the parking lot with Dale and Wade Grayson for a little bit then headed inside. There was all kinda stuff going on with a circus type atmoshphere. It made me miss coaching because when you coach you 
aren't in the circus you are focused on the field and lockeroom and not worried about all the extra fan stuff. I bought a program an
d the boys got a couple hotdogs and we found our seats. Dave Herring and his wife were already there we could see the NFL network and all the other stations and media down there right by the field. Alot more than normal. As it got closer to game time the place was a buzz and even when the specialty players came out to warm up the place got loud. When it came time to introduce the players it started off with them announcing Bum Phillips the old Houston Oilers coach who everyone loved. He is Wade Phillips dad who is currently the defensive coordinator. The place roared when he walked out. Then the team was announced and it was rocking in that place. When the game started it was as loud as I have ever heard it. Tressa wasn't there yet and the boys were standing below me and everyone was standing up during the entire game. Usually everyone sits down but everyone was excited and standing up cheering. Tressa got there about halfway into the 2nd quarter. She had two beers in her hand and a small "toro" tattoo on her cheek. I took a beer and Brad said they wanted tattoos. We told them where to go, gave them money and they headed up. Well lo
w and behold when 
they got back Brandon had a small tattoo but Brad had his entire face painted red white and blue. It was hillarious. Well the game was close the entire first half until JJ Watt jumped up and intercepted a pass from his Defensive line position and ran it back for a touchdown. The place went wild and that sent us to halftime with all the momentum. The second have only got better for us, we started running the ball better and Arian Foster even had a spectacular run down the sideline for a touchdown to put the game out of reach. We played great in all aspects and we as fans had a tremendous time and did our part by cheering the whole game. It ended with TJ Yates kneeling in victory formation and then the players and fans went crazy. It was the first playoff game and first playoff victory ever for the Texans. I hope it is a memory that Brad will have for the rest of his life. He seemed to have sooooo 
much fun. Even leaving the stadium the fans continued to yell and cheer all the way to the parking lot. We hung out and threw the football around for a little while then headed toward the house. We stopped at BWW on the way home and had beers and wings with Dale and Wade and watched the second game of the day. It was a great feeling to watch another gamne knowing the Texans had already won and were moving on to the next round. It was my birthday as well so that was a great birthday present to have a playoff win. We are looking forward to the Texans continuing to win and us making more memories with the kids.New Years Eve, Last Game of Year, Waiting for Wildcard Weekend
ready to serve. We fixed some finger foods and just sat and talked. It was pretty low key and I don't recall anything major really going on except kids running in and out. The Texans played their last regular season game the next day so we didn't get too rowdy. We didn't tailgate though and just went to the game, It wasn't very exciting because since we had already won the division and were slotted as the number 3 seed a bunch of backups played and we eneded up losing. The big fun would be the next week on wildcard weekend when we played the bengals in the opening round. More of that to come.Christmas, Basketball Goal, Cleaning House, and Wine Closet
y time of year. We have to go different places and rus
h but finally get to relax back at our house in the end. This year we went to Tressa's mom's early on Christmas eve. We snacked and Greg and Amanda were there with the kids. We opened presents and the kids had a good time. We stayed for a little while then went home and got ready to go to Tressa's dad's. We ate turkey and dressing and he also had some steaks over there. Mady has a good time babysitting the young kids over there. It is really neat to see her carry them and take care of them feeding them and making sure they are ok. Brad loves running around with the boys as well. I am very proud of them, they are always so well behaved and get completes from Dada and Ebby and their behavior. Meme Billie is there also and we encourag
e them to visit with her. She is getting up there in age and I want them to spend as much time as they can with her on o
ccasion. They all opened presents and Mady and Brad got some cool banners of their favorite teams. In fact Mady racked in on the LSU gear this year. We went home and got in comfortable clothes and hung out at our house with some wine and Meme and Greg and Amanda came over for awhile. Then it was off to sleep to get ready for Santa. On Christmas morning the kids ofcourse get us up early. They rummage through their stockings and go through all the presents from me and Tres. Mady got a basketball goal from Santa, which I put together, wow!! what a project. Brad got a psp game and he has been real responsible with it so far.
rnoon working on one project. Well I acvtually finished and was proud I did it myself. By the way I got some tools for Christmas and have already used them to fix the fence and will soon put together my 
table that I will put beer bottle tops on the top. I always have great intentions to build things and I think that will be one of my New Years resolutions. So Christmas was over and a success. We were heade for New Years. The kids were playing basketball and I was determined to get our room organized. I cleaned out the bottom of the bed. Went through all my clothes. I took 4 big bags to goodwill. So once I was done I had organized most everything I have and THAT is a huge resolution. I feel so much better when I know where everything is and it is in the right place. Oh we also bought the kids new TV's for their rooms. They are 32 inch and flat. We cleaned the gameroom and both kids rooms. Now I only have the "hunting" room. I will explain later once I start.2011 AFC SOUTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!
ts. So as of right now I have missed 3 home games in the last 7 years. I have stuck by my Texans through thick and thin. As the season unfolded I was overwhelmed with excitement through the ups and downs. I can remember being in my seat and scanning the sidel
ine looking for Mario Williams. Only to find out he was in the locker room. I remember the death like silence of reliant when Andre went down and the feeling of "here we go again" just like all the other years and the "maybe next years". Well low and behold at the Pittsburgh game I felt something different. We played with confidence and it seemed like we played to win not played to lose like I had seen during the "sagecopter" game. We have guys that were young 1st or 2nd year players a
nd they play with such passion and unbridled wildness. One of the sports radio guys Lance Zierlein referred to our defense as a bunch of zombies who could not be stopped, he likened them to the zombies in the movie "28 days" but I like to think of them in the movie "I am Legend". But anyway he is exactly right, and I have bought in even m
ore and drank the whole jug of Texans koolaid. Right now we are 10-3 and playing a Carolina team that has cam newton, BUT, we have the front 7 "I am Legend" or "Bulls on Parade " is what they have been calling themselves. Named aft
er a song from Rage against the Machine. But to get back on track I am just so proud to be a part of this and for this city to be enjoying this. It is like a movie, there are no more David Carr's, there are no more white safeties named Stephen's, or any running backs who changed their last names and we jumped for joy when they ran for 1000 yards. These guys don't give a crap about anything except busting their ass and going crazy. They aren't mature off the field, they take pics of 
each other and paste them on twitter and then the next day go out and demolish their opponent. I just love it, they are characters, but their leader Andre Johnson has character and keeps everything classy. He has been here 9 years now and h
as been through it all. But now he has a group on the other side of the ball who don't understand that they shouldn't be doing this right now, they are too young, they don't have enough experience, its like the kid that makes the great catch in street football and just assumes everyone else can do that, it's no big deal. They expect it!! and they prepare like warriors and play like zombies.
s that they would never forget. These Texans have helped me accomplish that. My 10 year old loves going to the games, when we beat Indy for the first time at home last year, we were hugging and jumping up and down in the stands. This year is no different he gets upset when we lost to raiders and shows pure elation when we win. After the bengals game he runs to me and hugs me saying we won! we won! Hopefully those are things I can give him and he can tell my grand kids that he got to experience things with me. I wanna thank the crazed zombies for helping me make those memories.
ar 
we will go in the playoffs and I don't know if we will keep winning next year. I would love to have a perennial winner here in Houston but my point is I am living and loving and taking all this in this year. I feel like I have waited so long. When I realized the titans lost and we were division champs I didn't jump up and down, I had a calmness and just stood in my living room and Brad screamed we won, and said quietly to myself "we just won the damn divison". I felt relief, I felt like Hakeem Olajuwon after we won the title. It pictured him sitting on the scorers table taking it all in and drinking in the entire moment. That is how I felt last Sunday.
on my coaches speak, this thing isn't over, we are all happy we won but I don't want to clap at the end of a playoff game we lose saying how proud we are of this team this year. I expect victory, I expect the next man up to take charge and do what is expected and that is WIN!!!!. But th
e funny thing is , our front seven probably has no idea what I am talking about, all they know is it is dark, they are zombies, and they want out to attack whoever is in a different jersey, they don't know any different and they can't play any different. "I AM LEGEND"My Brush with Greatness.
ponsored by Mcdonlads and it brought in a bunch of people and teams from a long way away. Well I was at one of the games and I see Roy Williams walk in the gym. THE Roy Williams head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. I go in the mall and tell him hello. He introduces himself to me like I don't know who he is. I introduce myself and he ask where the hospitality room is. I walk him down there as he ask a few questions ab
out the school and how nice it is and when was it building. He goes and gets some snacks and all these folks are chatting him up and talking. He eats a bit then comes back in the mall and walks over t
o me and says "hey coach I am looking for a place to get some good Texas BBQ". I tell him how to get to Cattle drive (which isn't the best but the closest and thought he would like the atmosphere). He thanks me and tells me about a story when he was coaching for Dean Smith and they went to a hole in the wall place in Lubbock and it was just great. I told him this place is next 
to a Conoco gas station so you can't get much more hole in the wall than that. He laughed and said great and thanks. I go on home and the next monday Louie Means comes to me and says Roy Williams was looking for you last night. He said he went to eat BBQ and loved the place and when he got back he ask where I was so he could thank me for sending him to the place.