Once Upon the Hubs' Dream Come True

Once upon a time, I was watching a little girl and her little sister while their parents were out.  After I had tucked the littlest of the two blondies in and wished her goodnight, I went to the oldest and tucked her into bed.  She looked up at me from her purple pillow, a mountain of stuffed animals and dolls rising up from the other side of the bed behind her, and smiled.  We sang a couple songs, then I asked her if she would like to pray.  "Oh, yes, I do!" was her reply.   "Alright," I said, "what would you like to ask Jesus for before you go to sleep tonight?"  In the sweetest, most casual voice she answered, "Oh, just that all my toys would come to life and all my dreams would come true."

No big deal.

I had to stifle a giggle, because her request was so cute, and I think I altered her prayer a little bit so she wouldn't feel slighted if Jesus didn't make her toys come to life overnight. =)

Later that evening, I went home and told the Hubs about her prayer request. To this day anytime one of us wants something a little over the top, we quote her.  For example:

She says: "Honey, for Christmas I want a big sewing table and my own room to put it in.  In a new house.  In the country.  With no loud neighbor dogs. And also, I wouldn't mind a trip to the beach." 

He says: "Oh, ok.  So just that all your toys would come to life and all your dreams would come true?"

And then we laugh.  Every time.  Because we love the innocence in her answer and because who doesn't want all their toys to come to life and all their dreams to come true?

The moral of the story:  Last Saturday night, all the Hubs' toys came to life and all his dreams came true.

He has never wanted anything more than to have his whole family meet up for a throw-down tailgate party before going to a football game at our alma-mater.  He's dreamed of it for ever.  With everyone's schedules and a less-than-fabulous weather forecast, it didn't look like it was going to happen.  It certainly wouldn't be easy.  It kinda felt like maybe he was asking Jesus to make all his toys come to life.  It was just a stretch.  HOWEVER, in a stroke of pure awesome, Saturday night his dreams came true.

 (We missed you, Aunt Corndog and Uncle J!!!)

Neither rain, nor sleet nor snow could stop that guy.  It was Family Day at the game, and though there was storms in the forecast, we decided to tough it out- rain or shine. 

The Hubs had Newbie saying, "Home Team FIRST DOWN!" from his carseat in the back while road-tripped out to the game, and he was grinning from ear to ear the whole way despite the lightening and black storm clouds on the horizon.

When we got to campus it started to spit at us a bit, but then the clouds blew over and cleared off, making for a great night of football.  The Hubs led us on a full tour of campus, and it was really fun being back at the place where we spent four years straight out of high school.  So many memories of piles of homework, studying ferociously on benches outside of various classes before exams, paying 10 dollars for vitamin booster smoothies, pulling a 2 foot shower rat out of my freshman dorm room shower drain (some memories were more fond than others) and lots of fun dates with my man.  We had a blast reminiscing and showing everybody our old stomping ground, and the fall colors reflected in the trees across campus were just the icing on the cake.

 

(Why, hello, gorgeous!)

The Hubs even took us through some of the halls in the academic buildings where we spent the better part of the mid 2000's.  Newbie brought his wagon.  It was awesome.

 

(Many, MANY a study cram occurred on this bench just outside of my Spanish class freshman year.  Shout-out to my Spanish 201 amiga, Kat, who shared that bench with me on many occasions!)

After the tour, we opened the tailgate for a state-of-the-art football feast.  The best part?  We parked right across from an RV promoting campus housing that was giving away endless free hotdogs, gum, and candy.  Total SCORE, baby. We had a quite a spread in the back of the car: Buffalo Wild Wings, homemade caramel apples, jalapeno poppers, and mini blueberry muffins just the right size for Newbie.  YUM.

 

(Mom, these were the BEST!!!)

After tailgating, we made our way over to the stadium, where we drank in as much football hoopla as we could.

 

 

(Never let anybody tell you this little guy is not a stud.  He took that practice sled on like nobodies business.)

We had a fabulous night.  Newbie was still bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 9, when I decided it was time to hitch 'em up and head 'em out lest we miss church the next day due to a few sleepyheads.  The Hubs stayed behind and caught the rest of the game with my MIL and FIL while me and Newbie rode back with G-Mama and Grandad.

The Hubs was sorry to report over coffee the next morning that our team didn't win, but I think the caramel apples and Tour-de-Campus plus the freebie hotdogs made up for the loss.  It was a win for this family circus, that's for sure!

(Full circle moment #4647 for me this football season: introducing Newbie to our school mascot (who my dad lured into my freshman dorm room for a photo-opp on move-in day:that's another story altogether)  and Newbie going in for a solo-high five just as the camera snapped! hehe)

Happy Wednesday, y'all!