Father's Day / DIY Corn Hole

Whenever I even think about my dad, I get a little sentimental-feeling. I look up to him so much and always have. Father's Day is the one day a year that we recognize our fathers for everything they have done for us and for everything they mean to us. We get them cards, buy them manly presents, and spend as much time with them as we can. My dad is really the best. When I was part of the dating game before getting married, I looked for someone who had many of the same qualities as my dad, and oh my- did I find him? It is crazy how similar my dad and my husband are, and I would not have it any other way. 

It is always hard to buy presents for men. I have always thought that. Men have it much easier... get her some flowers and jewelry and call it a day. Men- not so simple. So I was thrilled when my brother called and had the idea of building a tailgating game for my dad for Father's Day. We went back and forth between corn hole and washers and as a team, finally all decided on creating a corn hole game... from scratch. 

First task was buying the supplies: 

• two 24" x 48" sections of 1/2" plywood (we ended up just getting one big piece of plywood and cut it ourselves)
• four 2" x 4" x 48" for the frame (sides)
• four 2" x 4" x 21" for the frame (top and bottom ends)
• four 2" x 4" x 11-1/2" for the legs (two on each board)

Then, we decided since the most use it would get would be at the Fighting Texas Aggie Football Game Tailgates, we would put the Texas A&M symbol on it and paint it maroon. Once that was decided, all supplies and kids ended up at one place, and so began the DIY-ing...

Cutting/Assembling each of the game boards:

• Cut the plywood into specified measurements.
• Cut the 2 x 4's into specified measurements for the frames of the game boards.
• Attach the 2 x 4's to form a box, ensuring the 21" pieces are placed inside of the 48" pieces. To attach, use 1-5/8" screws.
• Repeat steps for the second game board.

Cutting/Assembling the legs: (this is where it got a little tricky... especially in the dark)

• Cut the 2 x 4's into specified measurements for each of the four legs.
• Measure 1-3/4" down the length of the 2 x 4 and mark it in the middle. Place a compass point in the center and create an arc. Use a jigsaw to make the cut you drew. 
• To attach, turn the game board upside down. Place a leg in the corner, parallel to the board so that the arc is tucked into one of the top corners. 
• Drill a 1/2" hole through the side of the box and through the leg.
• Install the carriage bolt through the hole, and attach it on the inside with a washer and wing nut. (We used the locking ones just to be on the safe side.)
• Repeat steps for other three legs.

While the legs were being assembled, Brooke was intensely sanding all parts of both game boards, and Katie was cooking us a delicious dinner!

Painting the Game Boards:

We had bought a can of spray paint that covered 25 sq. ft. (and much to our surprise, it wasn't enough). It covered one board fairly well and a little of the other, but we did as much as we could with what we had. To create the stencil, we had traced a Corps of Cadets trunk that had a huge "aTm" sticker on it. Then we used that stencil to create our design. 

Finishing Touches:

The following day, I had purchased two more cans of maroon spray paint and a can of polyurethane (and we already had the white and black paint). I coated both boards a few more times, and also finished our aTm logo. A few coats of polyurethane later, and we had our finished product ready to give to Dad for Father's Day...

As you can imagine, he was very surprised and very excited to receive his gift. He couldn't believe that all five of us worked together to make this for him. We gave it to him Saturday night at the bay house (one day before Father's Day), and all the boys played that evening. Success!

The following morning, we all went to church together as a family (probably one of my Dad's favorite things), and we took up an entire row at the West Isle Presbyterian Church in Galveston. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you!!

Ahh... Summer!

I really cannot believe it is already June. That means that I have completed my first year (well, semester) of full-time teaching. And now I get almost three months off- amazing. What will I do with myself? I plan to craft, play, shop, cook, and spend sweet time with my sweet hubby. All of these things will hopefully begin consuming this blog. I also plan on spending a whole lot of time with our family and our friends. We have already gotten to spend so much time with friends, and I've loved every minute of it. Here are a few highlights from the last month:

May 5th -- Cinco de Mayo at the Hills

May 26th -- The Holder/Schaefer Wedding

May 31st -- bayhouse with two of my favorites

June 4th -- PPL Roomies Reunion Dinner

June 5th -- Astros Game with a whole crew (yes, we won!)

June 8th -- The Witzenman Wedding...

...and the USA v. Ireland Rugby Game with the Batte's

We really have the best friends. Both the Mr. and I have been very blessed in that area of our lives. We are surrounded by people who not only are fun to be around but that support and encourage us in our walk with the Lord, as well as in our marriage. We are looking forward to many more dinners, games, parties, weddings, and weekend adventures this summer. 

I hope you are also having a wonderful summer beginning! 

One Year in One Post

DISCLAIMER: I want to start off by apologizing for the length of this post.

This weekend signifies our One Year Anniversary as Mr. & Mrs. (the paper anniversary), so I guess we will be getting each other Hallmark cards... and plane tickets! We are going to Sonoma! That will end up on a later post since it will be after school is out for me. For now, we are just going to sit back, relax, and reminisce on our last year together as husband and wife. On April 28th of 2012, we were married at the same altar my own parents said "I do" thirty years ago. It was the most amazing day of my life, and I love getting to relive it with pictures from that day that make me feel like we are getting married all over again. (Thanks to the one and only Kelly Hornberger Photography) I don't really want to get all gushy on the world wide web--I can save that for the Hallmark card. So, instead, here goes some highlights from our first year as "The Bormanns" in pictures...

APRIL 28th: Starting from the beginning, our wedding. I got to dance the night away with my handsome groom, and we were sent off by all of our family and close friends! Thank you again to all of our incredible vendors!

APRIL 29th-May 5: We traveled to Kauai, Hawaii for our honeymoon! We enjoyed every minute of it and called ourselves "The Honeymooners." The first picture was before we took a tour of the Kauai island from a helicopter (with no doors) and the second picture is from the Smith's Family Luau. We cannot wait to go back one day.

May-July: My parents bought a bayhouse, and we all spent many many days over the summer down at the bay. Matt caught the very first fish out of everyone--hopefully, there will continue to be many more catches! 

July-September: Our sweet girl, Avery, went to training camp a puppy and came back a wonderfully trained dog. Even though she was gone for a long time, it was well worth it, and she had a blast. We called it "Summer Camp".

 

October 5th-7th: We went to Palm Springs, California with my parents and grandparents to play golf and enjoy resort-life. This was our first married vacation after the honeymoon. Let's just say that we looked better than we played. :)

October-November: Many, many Texas A&M University tailgates and Corps of Cadets march-ins. Gig'em! 

November 21st-24th: We spent our first Thanksgiving in Dallas with Matt's amazing family. We started the morning off by running in the Turkey Trot in Downtown Dallas, and then his grandmother hosted all of us at her house Thanksgiving Day.

December 15th: I graduated from Texas A&M University! (finally) I walked across the stage, received my diploma, and then we celebrated. Along with Matt's and my immediate families (including my wonderful parents), both sets of my grandparents were there (man, how I love getting to say that.) It was such a special day.

December (Christmas): Our first Christmas together as a family. We spent part of our Christmas break in Gruene, Texas with Matt's family. We participated in the "Annual Bormann Bowling Party," but unfortunately did not come home with the trophy this year. We came back home for Christmas dinner with my family.

December 31st: I planned my first wedding. What? Yes. Well, kind of. My cousin got married on New Years Eve, and she and my aunt had planned most of it, and then I came in and helped with the "week-of" planning and bossed people around the "day-of" :) Okay, not really "bossed" but you get the idea. It was so fun--something I hope to get into more a little later in life.. or now. We'll see.

  

January 8th: Start my first day of my career as a middle school teacher. I teach the most hilarious and quirky little 7th graders. The subject I teach is science, but I hope and pray every day that they are learning more than just science from me. 

January 13th: After 6 months of training, the Mr. completed his very first marathon! We ran in the Chevron Houston Marathon (Mr.) and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon (Mrs.) This was definitely a huge accomplishment. I am still so proud of him for running 26.2 miles! Awesome!

February-March: The Mr. and I both joined Houston Rodeo committees back in October--the Mr. on the Calf Scramble committee, and I joined the Mutton Bustin' committee. We had a blast working our shifts in the 2013 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We also met some new friends this year in our Newlyweds or Close class at church and got to take them to the rodeo for the first time. 

March (Easter): We went to the bay for the first part of our Easter break with my grandparents and parents. Easter morning, we were back home and got to go to the early service at church and then had a delicious Easter lunch with family at home. He is risen indeed! 

 April 12th: Another Aggie in the family got his Aggie Ring! We spent the day in College Station, Texas to celebrate with Matt's brother, Sam, who got his Aggie Ring!

April 19th: We celebrated the 60th Wedding Anniversary of my grandparents. What an incredible example they have set for the rest of us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in every part of our marriage.

And here we are. One year later. A pretty awesome accomplishment. It's not 60 (yet), but we are on our way. Thank you to my husband for being my better half and best friend. I have loved going through life together this past year, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. I know it will be great things. I love you!

Bormann [Blogger] Life

First post. A little strange, but here goes nothing! My husband came up with the idea to start this Mr. & Mrs. blog as we come up on our One Year Anniversary of being "The Bormanns" along with our awesome golden retriever, Avery, who I can already foresee will be written about quite a bit I'm sure.

We have started this blog for a couple of reasons. Matt, or the Mr. as he will be referred, has a wonderful job that he loves, but he has recently decided that along with that job, he would like to tackle graduate school. So, being a smart guy, he reads a lot, which in a round-about way brings me to reason #1 that this blog has been created. He is reading the book, A Guide to Christian Ambition by Hugh Hewitt, and the author wrote, "The advantage of blogging is that it will oblige you to live in the world of ideas and debates, and to do so at the modern pace. At present, no great blogger has emerged with a distinctly evangelical world view. When one does, with humor and insight attached as well, that person (or persons) will have an enormous impact on the world." So... more on that quote later when he is posting, because you see, there will be two authors of this blog- hence the "Mr. and Mrs." and the plural form of "Life with the Bormanns".

If you haven't been able to tell by now, I am a teacher. I teach 7th grade science, and I love my job. This brings us to reason #2 that this blog was started. I have stories, oh do I have stories and lots of thoughts, and really let's be real- our era is web-based. So much of what I teach and what my students learn is on the computer or computer-driven. My classroom is fully equipped with an ActivBoard, nine iPads, and four laptops. Remember the day of the dry-erase board? Old news. What about the chalkboard? Completely foreign. It's all about the ActivBoard now. I teach a flipped classroom. What? Yes, flipped as in upside down. No, I'm just kidding.

So here's the deal. My students listen to our science team's pre-recorded lectures on YouTube at home, and then in turn are given class-time to work on what would have been homework for the unit of study. So far, so good. Have I mentioned I just graduated in December of 2012 from the best university in the world? Yes, you guessed it, Texas A&M University, in the good ole College Station, Texas. This means I began teaching in January 2013. This also means I have the very best mentor a first-year teacher could ever ask for. But again, more on that in another post.

So, here's to another blog being created on Blogger, hopefully one that entertains the heart, challenges the mind, and glorifies the Lord, because really that's why we're here.