Royal Rumble, Baby!

So, Bub LOVES the WWE.  Like, LOVES it.  Don and I, well, you know... well, how do I put this?  Well...  we could do without it.  How was that?  But because Bub loves it, we've been forced to at least acknowledge the presence of the WWE in our lives.

The last 2 years' Halloween costumes have been WWE "fighters."

Hulk Hogan last year

And here's the post from the year before.  (here)

So, for Christmas this year, Don and I got Bub tickets (2, for Don and Bub only...  not me... no sirree) to the Royal Rumble which was held in St Louis.  Needless to say, he was EXCITED!

A few weeks ago, the boys took the MetroLink to downtown for the big show (haha.  big show is the name of a wrestler... just a little WWE humor for ya).

Don took the camera and got some GREAT shots of the night.  Just thought I'd share some of them with you.

A cage match.  Apparently one of these big dudes is Big Show (see previous "joke")

John Cena.  I know him because he was in a movie I've seen.  And he's the dad in that annoying Fred movie on Nickelodeon.

Crazy fire.  And crazy HOW. MANY. PEOPLE. ARE. THERE.

Bub was into the event

This is one of the funniest pictures I think I've ever seen.

This final picture actually got me all teary-eyed when I saw it...  the raw, pure expression of excitement and joy on Bub's face was unbelievable to me.  He poses for photos with a "cool" look... which I also like, but this?  This captures how excited he really was.

EXCITEMENT

Mysterious Mysterio

So, hehe.  Remember a few months ago, when it was October?  Do ya?  And it was, um, Halloween?  Yeah, I barely do, too.

But funny thing... I was just downloading photos from my camera today to get it ready for the kids' Christmas program tonight, and guess what I found?

HALLOWEEN PHOTOS!

Well, of Bub anyway.  Did I mention that Sis decided she was too old to dress up this year?  Oh, the sadness!  (From me, not from her!)  Although, when she heard me tell someone else she was finished dressing up, she informed me that she just wasn't dressing up for THIS year... and it wasn't so much that she was too old as she didn't like what I was going to have her dress up as.  Ah well.

But my GOOD child (just kidding...) (REALLY!) did want to dress up.  As a character I'm not familiar with.  And he LOVES!

His name is Rey Mysterio, and he's a wrestler with the WWE.  THIS is what he look like.

Image from Lightinthebox.com

This is EXACTLY how I hoped my son would dress for Halloween... as a masked, shirtless dude with tattoos all over him.

So, guess what he dressed up instead?

Haha!  I TRICKED you!  He really did dress up as Rey Mysterio.

Except his mean mom wouldn't let him go in the cold temperature with no shirt on (say, WHAT?).

So, Don, Sis and I created Bub's costume... on Halloween Day.  Bub wanted to wear green pants (which I guess Mr. Mysterio sometimes wears), so the only pair I could find were in the Women's department at the Walmarts.  So I bought those, and pinned them up in the waist.  Then I did the fancy lettering down both legs of the pants, just as Bub requested.

We bought a long-sleeved white t-shirt that we drew "tattoos" all over to try to replicate Mr. M's tattoos. And then Bub wore his mask that he got at the State Fair a few years ago (yes, he's loved Mr. M that long!).

Here are the finished results.  Please don't be frightened of his intimidating tattoos.  He really IS a softy on the inside.

Happy Halloween, y'all!  And a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

It's kinda like a treasure hunt!

So, since I am the primary photographer of the family (or "pitcher-taker," as I like to say), it's pretty rare for me to find photos on the camera to be downloaded that I didn't take.

But as I was downloading pictures from last weekend's state fair (more to follow on that another day!), I ran across some photos that Don took while he and Bub were at the Army Nationals Wrestling Tournament a while back.

This is the weekend that they camped out in a pup-tent, and then wrestled all day (and watched some of the bigger boys on the team wrestle as well)... a good old-fashioned testosterone-fest! Sis and I shopped, ate out at the Ol!ve Garden, and just acted really girly. Which wasn't really an act.

Here are some shots of boys being boys:

It finally happened!

So, Bub really loves to wrestle... I mean, REALLY! The thing that he DOESN'T like is to lose. Or more specifically, he doesn't like to NOT get a trophy or plaque. Or whatever the 1st place winner gets.

When he hasn't won in the past something REALLY good, tears have ensued. Don and I finally figured out that it was more about the goods than the win. So, Don told them that if he didn't throw a fit the rest of the season about not winning and still did his best, then he'd buy him a plaque at the end of the season (if he didn't win one of his own). So, that was the end of the tears.

Last Sunday, Bub had a 10 and under tournament. And it was a good day in Bub's wrestling world. He got 1st place!!! Yup, FIRST PLACE! And what a tournament to win first place at! He got an 18" high trophy, AND he got the bracket paper framed, AND there was an awards stand where the winner got to stand at the highest place for photo opportunities!

Oh, does he love that trophy! We stopped at Cracker Barrel afterwards and he took the trophy in with him. He kept it right by his side the whole time. And that night when we went to church, the trophy accompanied him. I even caught him licking it (he said he thought it might taste like cherries!). Here are a few shots of him on the winner's stand: