Magic Time Machine

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Magic Time Machine with these sweet friends to celebrate Tony's birthday.  Our family hadn't been there since Jessie was very little.  It was more fun than I expected and way more food than I needed.  We always enjoy these people and this day was no exception.  

There were lots of laughs to be had when you dine at a place like this!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 4

Today and everyday, I thankful for Jonathan.  He keeps us entertained all day long.  He can be funny and makes us laugh (sometimes without meaning to).  He is very literal.  I find myself having to explain or over explain many concepts, because he is slow to catch on to inferences.  I wouldn't change him for anything and so glad we have this fun boy!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 3

I am thankful for this crazy girl!  Because of her, I've had to stretch and grow more than I thought possible.  She challenges me, but she makes me smile and laugh.  I love her sensitive, caring nature and the way she loves little children.

I am so very grateful that I have the opportunity to be her mom.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 1

Day 1 for me is going to be my Halloween recap, because I really am thankful for this time of the year and the fun that starts from Halloween and goes all the way though New Years.

I feel like it is a time to spend with those you hold most dear to you.

We had the best time visiting with each other at the Garstka's house.  It doesn't seem like we get to do that nearly enough!  We even ran into Fred's sister while we were out and about on Halloween night.

Because, I am a good sport and want to be known as the "fun" one, I let Madison paint my hair.  I was truly scared when Madison and Angel came at me with two cans.  I didn't sign on for Angel to paint my hair.  I was a little worried, but it came out in time for church.  There were spots on my scalp that had been sprayed purple.  I thought it might be like that forever, but I shampooed my hair about 4 times with a clarifying shampoo.  The things we do for love!

I feel like this sums up perfectly what life with Madison must be like on a daily basis.  She is fun and crazy.  I like to say that she is a one-woman party.  She comes ready to have fun.

We love her and her sweet sister!  I have maybe one picture of Ally and I together, but I have several pictures of Madison and I.  And, they are always silly!

Our cute little friend, Isabella, was a unicorn.  She and Jessie were both unicorns.  Madison and Ally were of the Super Hero variety.  

I told Ally that we should have all dressed up like Batman and we could match.  I thought she was going to die. No way, could we a) pull it off or b) dress like her.  Almost-16 year olds are so funny.  In the end she didn't go trick or treating with us.  I reminded Angel that Jessie's Sophomore year, she thought she had better plans than to hang out with the family.  Jess chimed in with, "Yeah!  They were no fun!"  So, she promptly came back the next year!

 Jonathan is this blob.  Every year.  He doesn't even try!  He sits with the men and hands out candy.

Angel and I follow behind our teenagers, because trick or treating is still fun!  No matter the age.  Young or no-so-young!

This year we had Isabella in tow.  She scored a dollar and a teddy bear.  It pays to be little and cute.

 We had so much fun and we are thankful for a little Fall Fun with friends.

Band Mom

UIL Regional Contest

I'm a Band Mom and I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a Band Mom.

I didn't think we were crazy, but maybe we are.  I was sitting with another Band Mom at the game on Friday.  We were hooting and hollering for our boys.  A non-Band Mom friend just kept shaking her head. 

There is a neighboring school.  I won't say their name, but those Band Moms are a special brand of crazy.  When they were the Visitors at our game, they came to our Home side to cheer for their band.  And, mercy me, you should have seen them at the UIL marching contest on Saturday. 

For me, being a Band Mom means wearing a wild looking pink shirt all day (so that I wouldn't have to change) for the Pink Out game that said "Fight Like a Knight." The graphics took up the entire front of the shirt.  Perfect for the teenagers.  Maybe not perfect for me.

Being a Band Mom means that I sometimes go to football games by myself, because Fred often has other obligations (usually church obligations).  However, we usually stay within the city of Frisco, so that makes it easy.

Being a Band Mom means that I am cheering on boys in a game that I know nothing about.  And, I usually stay until the last second even when we are losing by a landslide.  Only cold weather or Fred's firm insistence will make me leave early.  

Being a Band Mom means that I've cheered on the same show for weeks and weeks in a row, but always do it with more enthusiasm than the week before.

Knights Band Warming Up

Being a Band Mom means that I sit in a parking lot ready to take Jonathan to band practice just as soon as he gets out of seminary.  It means that I've sat countless times waiting for him to finish up from practice or after a game.

Being a Band Mom means going to bed late on game night and getting up early on the morning of marching competitions.  It means hitting McDonalds to buy his favorite breakfast and Subway to pack his favorite lunch on competition day.

Being a Band Mom means sending good luck text messages and congratulation texts to your boy and others that you hold dear.

Being a Band Mom means rushing back up to the school to see them off even though your tuba player never even realizes that you are standing off to the side to see the bus off.

Being a Band Mom means attending Marching Competitions.  Sometimes by myself-- like on Saturday.

Being a Band Mom means cheering so loud at competitions that your head feels like there is a percussionist INSIDE your head.  (I seriously had a migraine from no food and cheering on Saturday.)

Being a Band Mom means skipping lunch to get to the competition or missing dinner to make it to the football game.  Or, worse, eating meals from the concession stand.  

And, for me, being a Band Mom means not just cheering for our Knights Band, but also cheering for every underdog on the field.  I feel like our band is the underdog.  Last year, they were brand spankin' new and marched without any seniors.  This year, they are more seasoned, but they are still smaller than most of the bands in our area.  I also played in a smaller band in high school. I want all the smaller bands to do well.

UIL Regional Contest

 Jonathan asked me about volunteering and wanted to know why I didn't want to be a chaperon this year.  Of course, I want to.  You have to be available at 5:00.  They already had volunteers for the days I was available. However, I can be an IHS Knights Band groupie!

If we have children, then we are some kind of mom.  We are cheering, buying spiritwear and following our kid around. 

I love the band and I love being a Band Mom.

Courage and Heart

Well, it all started on Friday night.  I went to pick Jonathan up at 6:45 p.m.  Supposedly they got out early, because they had to be at the school early for their Saturday contest in Denton.  As it turns out, it was past 7:00 before I saw in band members heading back to the band hall. 

I had shown up before 6:45 p.m. so that I could claim a prime parking spot.  Little did I realize that I was parked next to James who happens to be the brother of one of my very favorite band members (not counting a certain tuba player).  

So, anyway, Faith spotted me as she was headed out to get in her car and gave me a big wave.  I jumped out and gave her a hug.  I would like to point out to you (and I already pointed out to Jonathan) that while Faith was nice and sweaty from all of her hard work, she smelled fresh as a flower.  Jonathan says that is because she is a girl and probably just used more deodorant before leaving the band hall.  He said he didn't have time for more deodorant.  He was just ready to go home.  Faith asked if I was coming to the contest on Saturday and I told her I wasn't sure, which actually meant that I hadn't planned on it, but now I was having second thoughts.  I had already told Jonathan not to expect us, but now having a second person ask about it, I was starting to be swayed.  If one more person had asked, I would have committed right then and there without talking with Fred.

So, I went home and told Fred that I felt compelled to go to the contest.  So, he struck up a deal.  Fred loves to strike up deals.  It's his favorite thing.  He told Jonathan that if they made it to the finals then we would be there.  Jonathan was super excited and held us to it.

On Saturday, I got a text letting me know that they made it to the finals.  Performance time?  9:00 p.m.!  What kind of deal did Fred make?  Why wouldn't he just commit to the preliminaries?  Tickets were $16, so we got there in time to see almost every band perform.  Fred said he wanted his entire $16 worth!

In the Finals, all bands were judged against each other regardless of size or ability.  One of the first bands we saw was Atoka (I think).  They were so tiny.  I think they had 14 band members 4 flags and 1 drummer and he was on a trap set.  I seriously teared up when they marched out.  I wanted them to be amazing.  The guy behind me was laughing and his wife was shushing him.  I cried for their determination, heart and guts. I texted a picture to my brother and asked him if it reminded him of his band at Community.  I'm not sure that we were even this small my first year and we had the luxury of including 7th and 8th graders.  And, we were probably only bigger by about 6 more members.  What courage it took for them to compete against a huge band like Wakeland High School.  Way to go!

There were some pretty amazing bands competing.  All were more seasoned than our band and many were larger than our band.  The Knight Band did a great job on the field and put on a magnificent performance.

They came in 7th place behind some very fine bands.  Wakeland was 1st and Colleyville Heritage was 2nd.  Honestly, Fred and I thought it would be the other way around.  They were both outstanding. (In the preliminaries, I understand that we were 2nd in our class and 5th overall.)

Fred and I sat next to the Denton High School band.  At first, they were loud, annoying and stinky.  I guess all band boys stink.  A few used inappropriate words.  It was not behavior that I was used to.  I have been fortunate to spend time around some amazing youth from our church and school.  It is no secret that I just love young people and I ended up falling in love with the row of girls directly behind us.  The group as a whole was still unruly, but I loved those girls.  They were so in to each and every performance.  And, they got excited over every group.  They cheered for every band that was competing against them.  They would yell, "Nice!!" when they would do something especially impressive or "Alright!!"  I didn't notice it at first until I heard the most enthusiastic girl cheering for our Knights.  They were on their feet applauding Colleyville Heritage High School.  

What a great way to conduct our lives.  We can all learn something from those girls.  

Playing Dirty

Happy Friday!

Do you know what I hate about Thursday games?  They make us super tired on Fridays.

But, do you know what I love about them?  We get a Friday night off!  We pick up Jonathan at 6:45 from band practice and then I plan on being lazy!  Usually, he doesn't get finished until 7:15, but he gets out early due to a marching contest tomorrow at the early hour of 7:00 a.m.

Thank goodness for General Conference weekend, because we need it!

Oh yeah, and way to go Knights!  They almost beat those sneaky Titans (48-41)!  So proud of those boys.  They worked hard.  I have limited football knowledge and told Fred (who left early) that the Titans played dirty and let the time run out at the end, so that we couldn't try to tie it up.  Fred said that isn't playing dirty.  He said that is just football.  

I say that football isn't very fair if you are allowed to play dirty!

(Put that on a shirt.)

Some of My People

I recently read a book called Home is Where My People Are:The Roads that Lead Us to Where We Belong.  Well, if  home is where my people are, then some of my people just happened to be at Texas Roadhouse celebrating our girl Madison's 12th birthday.

Madison was deserving of a big celebration.  She spreads sunshine and laughter wherever she goes.  She is pretty much a one woman party.  I love her attitude.  If you want to have a good time, then stick with Madison, because you can't have a bad time when you are with Madison.  Another thing I love about Madison is that she had to decide between the 6 oz and the 8 oz fillet for dinner!  I love that she loves steak, because it is my favorite, too.

These kids have been friend/cousins (some really are cousins and some just love each other like cousins) their whole lives.  That is such a blessing and something that they can take with them and hold to forever.  We are missing our sweet Laura and Katy.

I love my people and I am so thankful that I have them.  I only get to see them on special occasions, because the crazies in this picture keep us all so busy.  We hope to see each other at Halloween, because that is our holiday.  The one where Angel talks the big kids into begging for candy even though they are way too old.  The holiday where I have to eat beans in my chili even though I hate beans.  The holiday where the men man the candy table and overwhelm the kids with so many candy choices.  Yep, it's our holiday.

Home is where your people are.  I am so fortunate to have so many people that care about the Fortenberrys.

P.S. I asked Jonathan why he crossed his eyes and he told me he thought Aunt Angel was done taking pictures! (Geez Louise.  I give up!)

The Cezar and Odin Chronicles

A couple of weeks ago, Fred and I had been out late with friends. Jonathan had band practice that evening, so we seemed to have missed each other that night.  Fred and I left before he got home and he was in bed by the time we got back.  However, I found this creepy little gem on my love seat.  The Cezar and Odin Chronicles.  I'm not sure which frightens me more, the evil looking squirrel or the giant guinea pig.  If you find this in a comic book store near you, then you know that I stand corrected!  Meanwhile, I'll be having nightmares of evil squirrels and giant guinea pigs.

Me and the Boys

The boys and I attended Fred's company picnic this weekend.  I'll be honest.  I went against my will.  It was at Sandy Lake Amusement Park.  I think they should consider removing the word Amusement from their name.  Seriously.  They should.

In the end, I was glad we went, because I've been on a lucky streak lately.  I've been winning lots of stuff at work. It's been pretty exciting.  I never win anything.  Unless you count the Nouveau bowling tournament the night before Jessie was born.  And, it might not have been worth it. Okay, it most definitely wasn't worth it, because we ended up at the hospital the next morning.  I think we won a gift certificate to a restaurant that we weren't able to use for a very long time, because we ended up with a newborn ahead of schedule.  But, I digress.  Where I was going with this whole winning streak  thing is that we won a 40" Smart TV that we can put in our bedroom, so that I can watch Netflix! 

They fed us barbecue and we sat around talking while there was face painting and games.  Then we were given 30 tickets a piece for rides.  Plus, there must have been extra tickets, because Fred and Jonathan each ended up with an additional 30 tickets.  Jonathan was excited about the Spider.  Let me tell you, I remember the Spider getting closed down when I was young, because someone lost their lunch.  I didn't want to be bad sport, but every ride went around and around.  I don't do those kind of rides because they make me quite sick.  I'm more of a light roller coaster girl.  Think Judge Roy Scream at Six Flags.  I went one time on the Spider with Fred.  There was too much of a weight difference.  Our bucket/car thingy was spinning and spinning.  I think I felt my barbecue in my throat.  Jonathan used all of his tickets on the Spider.  He stayed in and just kept giving the guy ticket after ticket.  I thought I was going to die.  It took me all evening to recover.  I took Dramamine when I got home to help with upset stomach that I still had.  Went in a dark, quiet room and went to bed.  Clearly, I am an old woman.

I hope that I never have to go back to that place ever... unless they're giving away TVs!

Go Knights!

The Independence Knights played the Princeton Panthers last Thursday.  It was our first game of the season.  Our boys tried really hard and gave the band several opportunities to play the Fight Song! I think the final score was 39-27.  Not bad, I tell ya!

Princeton's Fight Song just happens to be Washington and Lee Swing also known as Community High School's (my alma mater) Fight Song.  I really, really love that song.  I feel like it is bad form to clap along to your opponent's Fight Song.  You probably aren't supposed to yell Go, Big Blue or Git 'Em Braves, Git 'Em!  (You read that right.  It is git.  Not get.) I mostly apologize to my friends at IHS.  I couldn't quite help it.  I still yell BRAVES in my head when the Star Spangled Banner is sung and it gets to the part that goes "and the home of the brave."   Old habits die hard, I guess.

Everyone worked so hard and played well.  Those tubas were in fine form.  I feel like someone needs to get those squirrely boys in sync if they are going to let them dance around in the stands.

The band's performance was amazing!

I am so proud of their new show, Metamorphosis.  They've come so far since last year.  Jonathan says there is more to the show than what we've seen.

I went to the game by myself, since Fred was under the weather, but I hooped and hollered enough for both of us!

Wouldn't you hate to get stuck behind a bunch of drums and tubas?  Or, wouldn't you hate to lose your footing and fall backwards and then cause a domino effect with all those large instruments?

I sat behind the Royals all night, so that I could be close to the band.  This was my view.  Fred usually likes to sit on the 50 yard line.  Since I was by myself, I got to sit over by the band!

And, the first game of the season is in the books!

One Year Older and Wiser, Too

Last Friday, we celebrated our sweet friend, Rod.  Not only was I happy to celebrate his birthday, I was happy that he picked Outback for his celebration.  It is one of my most favorite places.  I stuffed myself silly with steak and baked potato.  I personally chose not to partake of their yummy bread, so that I could have more room in my tummy for what I came to eat-- meat and potatoes.  However, Fred and Jaiden came for the bread.  They sat next to each other and shared loaf after loaf of bread and tub after tub of butter.  And, that was before the meal arrived.

Fred is serious about his bread.  My mom once threatened to serve garlic bread instead of rolls for dinner and Fred "jokingly" said he wasn't coming to dinner.  He was joking, but I think he was half serious.  Now, he has a bread friend.  Fred and Jaiden were serious about that bread, too!  I also think they were more than a little offended when I suggested they slow down.  I mean the bread was flowing like wine (if we drank wine, that is).

We are so thankful for great friends to celebrate birthdays with, to stuff ourselves silly with and to eat good bread with!  And, we think that Rod is the best!

Fun Friends on a Saturday Night

Saturday night, Fred and I spent a wonderful evening with the youth and other leaders from our ward (congregation).  We had the opportunity to attend an FC Dallas game and had so much fun.  We have amazing youth and leaders.  I feel so blessed that I get to hang out with all of these wonderful people.

 

Jaiden brought 2 friends.  Jessie seemed to find common interests with one of them.  They talked about all kinds of things that were foreign to me.  They traded numbers, so they could continue to talk about quirky/weird stuff.

Fred and I knew that our first attempt at a selfie was a fail.  What we didn't realize was that we had a photobomber in the background.   I posted this pic on Facebook and Instagram.  The Colony ward happened to be sitting behind us.  His daughter and granddaughter both claimed him.  One on Facebook and one on Instagram.  How funny!

And, last but certainly not least, I had the opportunity to get to know this awesome Beehive-to-be.  I mean I knew her before, but I feel like I really got a sense of her precious, fun, sweet and energetic personality.  I am counting down the days until we can be Personal Progress buddies.

I am so thankful for each of the youth and each of the leaders that I spent Saturday night with.  They are such great examples to both me and my family.  I am thankful that my family can spend a Saturday night hanging out with them and having fun.

Party Bus

Friday night we drove ourselves to San Antonio, so that we could be at Trinity University bright and early to pick these cuties up from EFY.  Let me tell you, it was like herding cats trying to get them rounded up.  I thought Ethan was just going to stay in San Antonio.  

Paris and I decided to ban any talk of COWs (crush of the week).  That is all the boys could talk about.  We pretty much were over it after about an hour.  

We stopped off at my Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe's house and went to breakfast.  We had a great morning.  I got the prize for having the coolest aunt.  Paris and I posed with our Texas shirts.  We are pretty proud of our home state and we didn't even plan our outfits!

We hit the road where we had DJ Ethan or DJ EJ (I forget what he calls himself) spinning tunes for us all the way home.  He said he was taking over for Big Mama (our friend Rod who DJs the church dances).  I guess Rod better watch out, because Ethan's got it going on.

We partied all the way to Buc-Ees where we obtained gas and some Beaver Nuggets.  Those things will make your eyes roll back in your head they are so sweet.   It's a small world, because we missed my cousin by 40 or 45 minutes.  He rolled through the same Buc-Ees 40 minutes after we did.  Too bad we didn't hit it at the same time.  We could have had a family reunion and some Beaver Nuggets.

We had so much fun with those three kiddos!  We heard all about each of their EFY Companies, Ethan and Jonathan's COWs and all about how Jonathan had to shave (apparently Jonathan's mustache fuzz violated the "no facial hair" policy).

If you're ever looking for a good time, call for the Fortenberry Party Bus rates.  We're pretty cheap!

Lazy, Crazy 4th

I just love this time of year.  We had a fun, lazy, crazy 4th of July Weekend.  I'm going to try to summarize it into one post, but it might be kind of hard.  On Thursday, we had a cookout at work AND got off work at 3:00 p.m.  It doesn't get any better than that!  Because, when you think of me, the first word that comes to your mind is brave, I popped over and had my nails done very patriotically.

The nail ladies laughed and laughed at me.  I kept smiling and telling them how much I liked my nails, but they could see the fear in my eyes.  I get to live with these nails for about 3 more weeks.  Lucky me.  Lucky you, because they are very noticeable. We all know how I like to standout.  (That's a joke.  In case, you weren't sure.)

Friday we were invited to go out on  Lake Ray Hubbard with the Moffitts and Palmers.  My cute little Jonathan had the time of his life on the tube.  Jessie was a trooper, but would have rather just stayed on the boat.  The pictures are horrible, but tell quite the story.

Conner would grab Jonathan and pull him back on the tube to make sure that he didn't fall off. 

I guess it pays to have really strong friends.

Jess just put her head down and hung on for dear life.  Seriously, though, the boat was going about 5 mph!  She hated it and was scared to death, but got off smiling!

Given a couple of Excedrin, Conner turns into a stunt man!

Saturday, we attended the Ward Breakfast bright and early at 8:00 a.m.  Who thought that was OK?  I vote that they change it to 9:00 next year.  

(Stole this off of Facebook - this is not my pic as evidenced by the fact that I am in the background!)

We were one of the first ones at the breakfast, because Fred had to prepare for the Flag Ceremony.  He forgot to tell me that he needed to swing by the church for the flags.  I couldn't figure out why I was being rushed out the door at 7:35.  I need to understand these things, because I was planning on leaving at 7:55.

The Young Women were in charge of face painting... again.  We pretty much have the market cornered on face painting.

I scored some sweet art on my arms.  You know you love someone when you let her paint a dragon on your arm.  My goal was to prove my undying love to Jaiden by keeping the dragon on my arm all day, but it was so wet that I kept smearing it on everything.  I finally had to wipe it off with make-up remover towelettes.  Fred suggested Clorox Wipes.  He's hard core!

Katelyn thought I should have a more patriotic star on my other arm.  Maybe the dragon was a bit much?  I'm not sure?

You know you've got skills when you can paint your own face using only the reflective surface of your iPad. 

Later that afternoon, we went to see Terminator Genisys and out to eat.  I tried to take pics of Fred and Jonathan, but they clearly didn't cooperate!  I had never seen any of the Terminators, so I was a bit skeptical, but I watched anyway.  I liked it, but had to ask Fred a few questions afterwards.  Now, he wants me to watch the earlier ones.  I'm not sure if that is necessary.  I thought he could just get me up to speed.

On Sunday, we hit the road for Austin. 

We stopped off at Auntie Jan's and Uncle Joe's to visit with them.  Surprise, surprise... we ran into Mom and Dad there.  We stayed in a sketchy La Quinta. It was quite the adventure.

We dropped our favorite boy off at EFY on Monday!  I am going to miss him.  After we dropped him off, I really wanted to go back and pick him up.  I wasn't allowed to drop him off last year.  This is probably why.

Fred got all the way to Trinity University and we started looking for a restaurant to feed Jonathan.  I started using the GPS to locate eating establishments.  They were all "local favorites." 

We ended up stopping at Burger Boy that was just outside of campus.  Jonathan got the Working Man special.  He thought he had died and gone to Heaven.

On the way home, Fred and I stopped at HEB for some souvenirs...fajita meat and Whataburger ketchup.  I'm serious.  They have the best fajita meat and while we were there we bought some of their Whataburger spicy ketchup and jalapeno ranch dip.  When can we get an HEB?  Can someone please tell me?

By the way, Fred got off the interstate for something.  I think it was for the HEB and he said, "Well, the Whataburger is on the wrong side of the freeway.  There is a McDonald's."  I let him know that I could wait, because he had already fed me McDonald's one too many times.  Now, here is where communication is key!  I should have said I can wait about 15 minutes.  Fred had it in his mind that he was waiting for the optimum Whataburger.  I started noticing that we were passing eating establishments right and left and I heard him mention his dismay over all the Whataburgers being on the wrong side of the road.  Finally, I pointed out a Zaxby's, because I know that he really likes that.  I've never had it, but at this point I would take the McDonald's that I turned down.  He passed the Zaxby's up!  Finally, he found the perfect Whataburger at 3:30 p.m.  I was so HANGRY (hungry/angry) that he ordered me a #1 without even consulting with me.  We ended up throwing away half my sandwich, half my fries and a jug of drink. But, I guess Fred figured that he would rather be safe than sorry, since I was so upset!  

We'll head back to San Antonio on Friday after work so that we can get our boy on Saturday morning.  

Other than our Whataburger incident, we had an exceptional holiday!