It's the Great Pumpkin William Baker...

It's that time of year, when families travel to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin for their front porches. We put up some Halloween decorations earlier this month - six pumpkin posts along our driveway. William runs to them every time we walk out the front door. We tell him they are pumpkins and he giggles.

We headed out to one of the local pumpkin patches on Saturday, October 14 (Post Aggie/Baylor football game) to help William find his very own little pumpkin (not stuck on a post).

He had a grand time. It took Dad and William a little while to get from the car to the pumpkin patch. There was so much to see on the way - he's really into cars and trucks at the moment.

The pallets the pumpkins were sitting on were also great fun.

And oh, so many pumpkins to run to and point at - wanting us to say "pumpkin"

We were so excited to see that the Aggie Habitat for Humanity (the pumpkin patch we buy from) had set-up a little photo spot. William really is a ham!

Coaching the Aggies to Beat Baylor

I know it's been a few weeks since I've posted. Sorry about that. It's been busy around here and I've been cranking out pages for my good friend Darby Roberts to edit for me. The goal is to defend my proposal before winter break when one of my committee members departs for a new institution.

I've been going through the pictures and there is a lot I can write about so, the next several weeks of posts will probably be out of date order as I recap the June-October activities.

Today's post is about my Guest Coach opportunity. Working in the Dean of Students Office has its perks. One of the fun things our athletic teams do is ask folks from around the University to Guest Coach at sporting events and as the Assistant Director of Student Life - I received an invitation to Guest Coach the Aggie vs Baylor Bears football game today (Saturday, October 15, 2011).

What an experience it was. I was allowed to have a guest attend with me; Cameron and I rounded up some friends (Stephanie and Nick Zuniga) to William sit and off to the Aggie Game we went at 8:00am this morning. Even though kick off wasn't until 11:00am, there was lots of preparation to do:

1) Enjoy a fancy buffet breakfast in the Football Lounge attached to the stadium.
2) Enjoy front row seats to 'March In' - this is where the Aggie Band leads the football team into the stadium to get ready for the game.

Cameron and I on the road side awaiting March In

The Aggie Band leading in the team

3) Take a tour of the A&M Athletic Museum

4) Take a tour of the A&M 12th Man Club Houses (these are fancy rooms used by 12th Man Foundation staff to recruit donors)

Interior of a club house - what a sweet gig

View onto the field from the club house

5) Take a tour of the Press Box and meet some reporters

View of Grid Iron from Press Box

View into the College Station Valley from Press Box

6) Take a tour of the Football Teams Weight Room

Look at this weight room!

7) Stand on the sideline while more pre-game activities occur

As fans begin to file in, Cameron and I hang out on the field with the team

8) Be introduced and have your face plastered on the stadium jumbotron

That's me on the jumbotron right before kick-off

9) Watch the team warm up

Now I know who all those people on the sidelines are - ME!

Aggies warming up

10) Enjoy the boot line - this is wear the team runs into the stadium and is lined by the Corp of Cadets Seniors - known as boots - because they are the only class that wears boots in the Corp

Boot Line - see the Corp Seniors - we were facing the student section

11) Sing the 'Spirit of Aggieland' with the football team and yell leaders

One of the five Yell Leaders
There are no Cheerleaders at A&M, only five men - three seniors and two juniors elected by the student body

12) Enjoy the game from the 15th row

Baylor and A&M at kick off

13) Take in the Aggie Band at Half Time

I just love the Aggie Band and their military style
They only play military music too

This is on the jumbotron
While the 15th row is amazing for the game - the band is better enjoyed from higher up to watch the intricacy

14) Watch the Aggies win 55/28

What a Great Day!

So,  here is the funny story for the day. When Texas A&M started discussing a move in athletic conferences from the Big 12 to the SEC, all the presidents of the Big 12 schools signed a letter indicating that the Big 12 would not seek legal action against the SEC if A&M were to move. Two weeks later, Baylor sent a letter to the SEC indicating that while they signed a letter as a member of the Big 12, that was for the Big 12 to relinquish all rights of legal action but not individual institutions. Baylor declared their intent to sue the SEC if A&M were to leave the Big 12. It created a significant stir amongst Aggies and one alumnus took it upon himself to purchase a billboard ad space right next to the Baylor campus. The billboard read "Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's conference deal."

Well, our students thought this was an appropriate phrase to restate during the game by use of a slick sign over the ledge of the second tier. Note it took officials 30 minutes to finally get the sign from the students. Too funny for us on the other side of the stadium.

The students typically wear maroon but this game had sold white shirts to raise funds for the wild fires we've had do to the Texas drought

William turns One

So the truth is that first birthdays and probably even second birthdays are more for the parents and their adult friends then they are for the child. This is what happens when you combine two people who both like to cook and bake, an artist and a crafter. My poor son...

Decorations:

This is a wreath I found instructions for on the Internet. It is literally made out of scrapbook paper. Super easy and very eye catching. It was much bigger then I anticipated so that is all we placed on the door.

We had bug cut outs every where. This was Unkie Herb's job. A friend of mine at the office had originally made them for my Student Life baby shower. We saved them, Beth gave me a few new ones, and presto instant wall art.

I love this banner, unfortunately the balloons got in the way when we took the photo. The artwork was created in Adobe Illustrator and the rest from some good 'ol elbow grease cutting and gluing.

This caterpillar is a replica of William's invitation and has each months photo attached. Turned out even better then I had envisioned in my head.

Food Central:

No surprise that in the Baker household the food table would be the centerpiece. Typically I'd be the one decorating the cake but in this year's efforts Cameron did the cake and cupcakes, we split the work on the homemade chocolates, Cameron did the chocolate Happy Birthday and I did all sugar cookies and the rest of the food.

The cake was Devil's Food with grass. The original plan had a cupcake caterpillar on top of the grass but Cameron didn't realize the cake would be so small. At the last minute we improvised.

 Here are my cookies. I need a lot more practice. Not too bad for a first attempt at cookie decorating. I also borrowed Cameron's office candy jar and turned that into a fruit salad server (I thought it looked good).

There's the plate of chocolates in the back. Most folks wouldn't eat them because the thought of brown bugs was unappetizing apparently. They tasted great. The lower plate is allergy free shaped cupcakes. We have friends with gluten allergies, one of the little girls is allergic to strawberries (which was the cupcake flavor), and dairy allergies - so we tried to have a little bit of something for everyone in the sweet category.

This is just an overhead shot of the cake and cupcake caterpillar.

Presents:

I'd been advised that one year old's focused more on wrapping paper and bags then on the actual gifts. We spent time wrapping things just so he'd have paper to tear.

In the beginning that sentiment held true, the paper was fun.

Tissue paper was even better.

But in true William fashion, once he found out that there were toys in the packages, we had a battle to move on to the next present because he wanted to play or read everything that got opened.

Angry Birds - a big hit with our friends, William is still undecided.

William is in love with gears and other things that spin and move - hence a number of gear toys.

Cake Eating:

Finally it was time for the cake. At first he was interested in the candle. So I had to intervene until everyone was done singing Happy Birthday.

He went for the chocolate Happy Birthday spears.

Then the hand dug into the corner of the cake.

At first he was unsure and spit out what he had shoveled into his mouth.

But as you can see, it didn't take long for him to figure out that cake and icing are a yummy goodness that should be shared with others and smeared on his face.

Overall we had a great party. We are still recovering a week later.

Cozy Coupe Travels

William had a fabulous birthday party on Saturday and I promise to post about it soon. There are so many pictures I'm going to have to go through them first. However, Grandma and Poppy sent William a Cozy Coupe, trailer attachment, and a Summer Adventures Mulching Mower. The items arrived yesterday and Cameron and William had a grand time putting them together.

Well, actually Cameron kept pulling parts out of William's hands as he grabbed and ran. So much fun for the house. By the time everything was put together William didn't have much time to enjoy them.

This evening in his usual ritual he pestered to take the dogs for a walk until we caved. But, instead of the usual stroller William had a new ride...

What do you think he thinks of it? Unkie Herb thought he wasn't very excited. My favorite part was the about half way into the walk when William decided he should lounge around...

look closely at the arm. He's too funny. He steered his steering wheel for a while and honked the horn. Needless to say, the walk was a huge hit. I'm afraid there will now be no alternative than the Cozy Coupe!