I keep telling myself I'm going to start doing better about posting in this thing, but life sorta gets in the way of that, but here I am, nevertheless.

So what's been going on in the Brewer household lately? We finally got our tax refund check in the mail last week, and we've been getting some much-needed stuff for the house and for the kids. Yes, we've been buying a few "wants" here and there, but it's not that often that we get to treat ourselves. The day we got our check, we loaded up the kids and went to Shoe Carnival to buy Travis his "T-ball shoes", and then did the Walmart thing and spent about 2 hours in there. We bought 1) Bissell Proheat Deep Cleaner (for the carpet), 2) The kids' Easter outfits (very cute), 3) Bambi on DVD (kind of an Easter present for me I guess?), 4) 2 photo mats that have the 13 spaces so you can put the kids pictures in there, one for each year, 5) We let Travis and Jacob each pick out a toy...Travis chose a wrestling ring and 2 wrestling figures, and Jacob chose none other than CARS, 6) Cordless phone with Caller ID (my old phone gave up the ghost, plus it didn't have caller ID on it), 7) A magnolia swag to hang over my big magnolia picture in our bedroom, and 8) A phone jack splitter so we can actually have the phone and computer plugged in at the same time, 9) Some much-needed t-shirts, socks and underwear for Travis, and 10) A scarf thingy to put in the living room window. So NO, we didn't BLOW the money on useless junk. We really did buy some things we needed. Then on Thursday I went to Target and Old Navy. In Target, I bought a really pretty wall shelf for my bathroom, some pillar candles to put in my candle holder in the living room that's been empty for like 2 years, some new bath towels/hand towels/wash cloths, a new bath mat, an Oust fan (those things are awesome, by the way), and 2 Crest spin brushes for me and Michael. In Old Navy, I bought Travis all of his clothes for spring & summer...play clothes AND church clothes. The great thing about that is, Jacob will end up wearing those clothes later. I always take really good care of the kids' clothes...what can I say, I take pride in my laundry :-) Like I always say, "Mama's got the magic" lol. Anyway, I also bought Jacob a pair of pants for church, and both boys got a new belt and a new ball cap. I bought Michael 2 polo shirts, and me 4 solid color shirts, a polo style shirt, and 2 skirts. I have also mailed off the check to pay for our new kitchen table, and paid our state taxes we owed, and Michael made our annual Tiger Clubs donation, and he is going to order our Football Season Tickets in the next day or so. Then we went to Freds and bought a park bench for our front porch (I desperately wanted to get rid of those old, ugly plastic green chairs that we've had since our apartment). We are also going to dig up the flower bed in front and plant some flowers. I hate all those rocks and shrubs in there...ICK. And I want to get some hanging pots to hang on the front porch, too. The plan this Saturday (weather permitting) is to get all of the shrubs and rock dug out of there and get the ground ready to plant. We can't actually do any planting (according to my Mom) until after April 15 because there is still a chance of having a cold spell and a frost would really hurt anything we might plant. We're taking Travis and Jacob Friday to have some good pictures made at some lady's house down in Nesbit. We wanted some pictures better than Walmart or Sears, and the plan is to get a portrait of the boys the size of my wedding portrait that hangs over the fireplace...it's a 20x24, btw. I just know that it would be something that me and Michael would treasure FOREVER, and they are only going to be like they are right now, RIGHT NOW.

Jacob has been talking up a storm lately. His personality has REALLY blossomed, and he's a little clown. What's funny is how he has a deep, husky voice. And he LOVES cars. He will lay down in the floor for HOURS and roll cars back and forth. He can be sitting in the middle of a bunch of cars, and if Travis takes even ONE from him, Jacob gets VERY mad!! We went to the park Saturday afternoon (the weather was SO NICE!) and Jacob held a car in each hand all the way to the park, and when we got there, he still wouldn't let them go. He was trying to climb the steps to the slide, and still wouldn't let go of the cars. He even has to have cars in his hands when he goes to bed. If he doesn't have cars when he goes to bed, he will cry until I give him some. He definitely hasn't shown any interest in sports the way Travis did by the time he was this age. We are saying Jacob is going to be a "car man". Michael said "He's going to be a racecar driver" to which I replied, "Umm? I was thinking more along the lines of a MECHANIC??!?!" lol

Last Friday night we went to the FedEx Forum for the Conference USA basketball tournament, and Memphis beat South Florida, which meant that we would meet up with Louisville on Saturday ONE LAST TIME. I mean, serious, Saturday was the end of C-USA as we know it (with all the teams leaving for other conferences, and a bunch of new teams coming in). What a storybook ending, considering all of the history between Memphis and Louisville. Michael was scheduled to work Saturday, but we worked it out to where he could have a few hours off work to go to the game, and my Mom agreed to keep the kids, and the guys sitting next to us had the same seats we were sitting in for sale for Saturday's game, so we took those tickets off their hands. And WHAT A GAME IT WAS!!! Folks that had been Tiger fans for 30+ years say it was the greatest game they had ever seen. I promise you I was holding my breath the entire time. The game could have gone either way the whole time, and emotions were running high for the players, coaches and fans. Even the staff workers at the Forum were getting into the game. The thing is, we HAD to get that win in order to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Louisville was getting in whether they won the game or not because they had a better record this season. Well, in the last second of the game, Darius Washington (the freshman point guard) got fouled making a 3-pointer, and he missed the 3-pointer, but he was going to the line for 3 free throws. There was NO TIME on the clock...as in 0.0 seconds. Everyone was like holding hands or something, lol, and the first shot made it in. The crowd was going WILD. ALL we had to do was make the 2 free throws, and we would win the game by ONE POINT. HOLY COW! He went for the 2nd free throw...it missed by like a quarter inch! We still could tie the game though and go into overtime if he made the 3rd free throw. He shoots the ball, it was off,it didn't go in!!!!! It was all I could do to keep from CRYING! And D-Wash buried his face in his jersey and hit the floor crying...CRYING! Another player and Coach Cal had to go to him on the floor and pick him up off the ground. He had to practically be carried back to the locker room. This game was so emotional, and everyone felt SO BAD for D-Wash, and there wasn't a Tiger fan that saw that game that didn't just fall in love with him! I know he's definitely my favorite player now. I started out this season sort of disinterested in Tiger basketball, and a lot of that was due to the fact that my favorite player (Antonio Burks) was gone and let's face it, the Tigers SUCKED until Sean Banks left, and it was disheartening and depressing to watch them. I'm not saying I wasn't a fan anymore...I still watched games and kept up with them, but I know that when basketball comes around next season, I am going to be VERY excited about it because I have a new favorite player.

SORRY this was so long, but I needed to write a good update because Lord only knows when I'll post again. TTFN!