Football hero

The Austin Bulldog Freshman football team defeated the Dulles Vikings 39-6 tonight, and the highlight for us was this catch by Brady:

Here he said everything starts moving in slow motion. You turn, you wait . . .



catch it and hold onto to it . . .



turn and run for the endzone . . .

Touchdown!!! Six points!!

First catch of the season - a 40 yard touchdown reception!! Absolutely no feeling like it in the world!!

It was wonderful!! Congratulations, Brady!!

Bulldog Football

Football season has begun! Brady is playing on the freshman football team. He has never played organized football ever (most players start out on a little-league type of team when they are kids then play in middle school). He's always been a baseball guy, but our baseball coach suggested he play football for the conditioning work (much harder than fall baseball).

So he started August 10th, and he's been working out at receiver. Our goal was that he play as little as possible to avoid getting hurt, preferably on the second team (we have two freshman teams). He's grown a bit, but he's all of 5'5" and around 115 lbs, on a team with guys bigger than me. So naturally he fell in love with the sport and made the first team, backup receiver. So he plays way more than I hoped, mostly blocking for our really good running back. Thankfully, three games in and he's still standing (keep your fingers crossed).

Here he is lined up at his position. He runs to the line and points at the referee on the sidelines who points back to make sure he's up on the line of scrimmage. That's really my favorite part of the game, the pointing and pointing back - cracks me up. I'll try to get a picture sometime (they've been playing at 7pm and the light is fading, so the pictures are blurry).



His really important job (besides the pointing) is he's one of the guys who the coach tells the play to and he runs in and tells everyone else. That's a tough job because you have to actually remember the play. Not everyone can do that apparently - LOL.

When the team is on defense, he gets to do his other favorite thing - hang out at the water cart.


So far, they are a really fun group to watch. The varsity football coach says that this is one of the best freshman teams to come through in a long while. They are 0-1-0 so far, with two rainouts. They only lost 22-20 last week (our varsity lost to the same team 45-10) so there's hope for a victory.

The scariest statistic is that 7 guys went to the ER last game. From the opponents we had a torn ACL, broken finger, and a dislocated shoulder. From our team we had a dislocated/broken wrist (two separate injuries on one play - yikes), a concussion, a broken hand, and a calf injury.

I'm just hoping that he stays healthy! Go dawgs! Be nice!

A new school year!

A new school year has started!

Here's Brady on the first day of school. I had to drop the girls off, so I couldn't go with him the first day. It's really hard to get him to smile these days because of his braces.

We'll call this picture, "At least look pleasantly at me or I'll show up in your 3rd period and take your picture in front of all your buddies . . . "

The girls are much more cooperative. Abby curled her hair for the first day of school and looked just lovely. She's a big fifth grader this year - the oldest kids in her school. Very exciting!

The biggest challenge for me is getting pictures of the middle schoolers because it's hard to snap a picture while driving the car. I asked KC to make sure to smile and she suggested I just park and take a picture. So much more cooperative than her brother . . .

Three kids in three different schools - it's going to be a long year - LOL!

We've been going for almost 4 weeks now. All is going fine.

Brady is a bit overwhelmed with high school, keeping extremely busy with football and all his academic classes, but he's doing well. He's mostly at peace these days with being in school with mom and dad, but he does appreciate running by to get a snack after second period.

KC is doing very well in 7th grade, working very hard, and socializing with her 7th grade buddies. She's read 3 books already since school started, just on her own, and she has started writing her own novel!

Abby is doing well in 5th grade. This is her first year to switch between teachers, so she has to carry a big old backpack with all her school stuff in it. It's almost as big as she is! She's especially enjoying her reading class this year! They are on their first novel of the year and she's really into it. :-)

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of school!

Summer comes to an end . . .

Summer is coming to an end, sadly. I've worked way more than I meant to (also sadly). We took a short vacation to New Braunfels at the end of July. Bill's Uncle Ben's family has a ranch in Hunt, Texas (about 2 hours west of San Antonio) so we took a day to drive out there and explore. We arrived in time to have lunch on the patio where we meet a deer the girls named Sweetie. At first we were afraid we'd spook her, but we soon learned she was pretty tame:





After feeding Sweetie, we took Uncle Ben's tricked-out four-wheel-drive golf cart out for a cruise on the 300+ acres of land. We let Brady get some practice driving:

Then we went down to the Guadalupe for some swimming:

I actually decided not to swim out to that float. I did get into the water, and had someone needed rescuing I would have swam out there, but thankfully no one needed me because there were a lot of fish there and I'm not big on swimming with fish. Oh, well.

We also shopped at the San Marcos outlet stores, walked the Riverwalk in San Antonio, and went tubing on the Comal River in New Braunfels:

That was really relaxing (aside from the bus ride there and back, oh well).

It was a nice end to the summer. Now everyone is getting back in the swing of things. Abby will be in 5th grade (last year in elementary school - wow). KC will be starting 7th grade, and Brady will be a freshman in high school. He had Freshman Orientation last week:

We have to be sneaky and take pictures only when he's not looking. He is playing football this year, for the first time ever. They had 2-a-days last week, and this week they just have evening practices. He's working hard and trying to learn all the plays and positions. He'll wear number 83 (we think) and will play mostly receiver and defensive back. Please say a prayer that he makes it through the fall without any serious injuries. This hitting thing sure looks scary when you are the mom . . .

Bill and I are back at work full time again and the kids start next Monday. Tomorrow is Brady's 15th birthday, so it's the 15th anniversary of the day my entire life changed and I began this journey known as "mom." It's so much harder than I ever imagined, but rewarding beyond what I could have ever dreamed. And I am so very proud of all three of them! Abby makes me laugh like no one else does, and she is the most loving and loyal child I could have ever wished for. KC can make friends absolutely anywhere and even though I know she has her insecure moments, she carries herself with such self-assurance that I am in awe of her sometimes. Brady is fiercely loyal, kind, and loving. He thinks he has a terrible temper, but he really is very even-keeled (like his dad, thankfully), athletic (like his dad) and very smart (like . . . well, you see where this is going). He's a terrific young man and I feel very blessed to have three wonderful children!

Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all this I turned 42. This getting older stuff really isn't that bad. Sure as heck beats the alternative!

Wishing you all blessings for a wonderful 2009-2010 school year!!

A star is born!

Las week, Abby not only turned 10 years old (Happy Birthday, sweetheart!), but spent the week at her very first musical theater camp. Friday afternoon, Abby made her stage debut as the golden fairy, Solara, in Sleeping Beauty. Yes, we know the movie only had 3 fairies, but we have it on good authority that it was only due to a breakdown in contract negotiations with the golden fairy. She apparently wanted more . . . gold.



Thankfully, there were no such issues with the Fort Bend Theater production. The golden fairy was all ready to make her debut . . .



Here she is singing "Let's have some magic now . . . "





Leading the fairy chorus in the finale reprise of "Once upon a dream . . . ":

And posing afterwards for pictures with her fellow fairies plus Maleficent and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).

I think I can say (completely unbiased, of course) that she was wonderful! She remembered all her lines (and helped a few others remember theirs) and sang wonderfully and (most importantly) loudly. She did a great job, and we were so very proud of her!

Almost as soon as we got home from the cast party . . . er . . . dinner at Sweet Mesquite, she was already wishing she was back on stage and asking when she can do theater camp again.

Hopefully this will be just the beginning, and there will be many more stage appearances in her future! Great job, Abs! We are so proud of you!

July!

July is a bit more than halfway over! Bill and I have worked way more than we usually do, but as long as I can finish by lunchtime I suppose I can deal with it. We've had tons of sun and very little rain so far, so we are hoping to get a few downpours before the summer is out!

Brady spent the first 6 weeks of summer running and lifting weights at the athletic conditioning workout at school. He managed to attend every day so he was rewarded with a pint of vanilla ice cream! Over the 6 weeks he gained 8 pounds (which for him is a good thing)! Good work, Brady!

KC has been attending weekly dance classes where she's working on some tricky lyrical combinations and she's taking an Irish step dancing class, and she's doing great! I think she might be a natural - LOL. Last week she began learning the light jig and we all thought about our cousin Christine's wedding in Boston and Aunt Pat dancing a jig among our Irish cousins. That was such a great day. :-) Hopefully some day we'll get to travel to Ireland ourselves and say hello to our cousins again, and hopefully I'll get to see my Boston cousins again soon. Miss you guys! You'd get such a kick out of seeing KC dance!

Abby is doing Fort Bend theater camp this week. Today was her first day. Tomorrow she will audition for a part in the production of Sleeping Beauty. She's hoping to play a goon, one of Maleficent's crazy sidekicks. She's been practicing her singing tonight - she's quite fun to watch! Hoping she gets a part she loves and that she has a fun week!

On to some pictures! We had a good (toasty) 4th of July. Mom and Dad, Jill and Sierra came over to hang out with us and swim. My three kiddos managed the very difficult triple tower:

It's made trickier by me yelling at them to knock it off before they hurt themselves while Bill takes pictures. They did have fun and thankfully no one got hurt.

We decided one day to have a family Luau (for absolutely no reason other than it was Monday. Abby loved listening to the beach boys and hanging out on the waterfall:

Bill grilled beef, pork, and chicken shish kabobs and the girls and I made a pineapple upside-down cake.

That's Bill looking for a little love for the chef . . . and showing off his Hawaiian style (yikes).

We ate amid the tiki torches, drank from our coconut cups, and generally had a blast!

Abby will celebrate her 10th birthday this Thursday, and about a month from now Brady will turn 15! He is already excited about learning to drive - way more excited than I am! Yikes.

Hope everyone is having a good summer! Sending prayers to my good friend Virginia's soon-to-arrive new grandson and to Amber that the delivery goes safely and smoothly! Also to my sweet godsons - James and Josh, you are always in my prayers even if I don't see you as often as I wish! My dear niece and goddaughter Sierra, you are always in my thoughts as well! To all the rest of the wonderful girlfriends, cousins, mom, and sister who have made a difference in my life, past and present, you are always in my heart and in my thoughts! I wish you all blessings!

Take care, all! Taking a vacation next week - and boy, do I need it!

June has flown by . . .

I can hardly believe it's the last day of June! Where does the time go?

This month we had KC's 12th birthday party at the local bowling alley. Even Bill and I got to bowl (he won one and I won one). KC did great, she won both games on her lane!

KC's former dance teacher, Miss Robin, who recently retired from running her dance studio, wrote a really cute children's book called Patty Bouree' and her cat Jete'. Patty is a lovely little redhead, so KC was asked to appear at a book signing playing the role of Patty Bouree':

Finally, in June, KC spent a week at the Kids and Cops camp at our local middle school. Kids and Cops is a program designed to teach kids about teamwork and problem solving and to foster positive relationships between middle schoolers and police officers. Each team earns points for participating in various competitions, including dodgeball, basketball, solving riddles, writing skits and songs. This was KC's 3rd year to participate, and her team ended the week with the most points to take first place! (Brady's team also won during his 3rd year, and although he is strong in the physical events, I never even know they had song and skit competitions until KC started 3 years ago).

Speaking of Brady, he has been busy with baseball in the evenings, and a conditioning program for football and baseball in the afternoons. His select team, the South Texas Sliders, played in a tournament in San Antonio on Father's Day weekend. They won 3 out of 4 games over the weekend (there was no championship, though, just a round-robin tournament).

The girls enjoyed hanging with the other sisters in San Antonio.

Brady's also been busy playing on his high school Mickey Mantle team during the week. He's been catching and playing some shortstop and second base.

Bill and I have been working part time and catching up on a few projects around the house. Abby's been keeping busy taking a hip-hop class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and catching up on all the Disney Channel shows she misses during the school year. All of us are really enjoying our summer! I am so glad we still have another month off, though, I still need it! LOL

Looking forward to seeing my family this weekend for the 4th of July. Jill just had a house built, so she should be moving into her new place this week!

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!