Peyton and Alexis

Thursday, September 15

Today is Peyton's big play date with her new classmate Alexis...she was so excited!  I didn't have any idea who she was, but Peyton has been talking about her for a week or so and they seem to really have connected.

This was a big step for Peyton, we actually called Alexis and set this up.  I talked to her mom on the phone, we exchanged numbers and addresses and it was all set!

Alexis and Peyton

The tire swing is always a big hit...I wish you could have heard them squealing and laughing and screaming and giggling and just being girls!



Poor Murph...

Wednesday, September 14

The day started in a panic.  Someone stole Keaton's lock yesterday in the locker room.  No big deal, right?  Well, it occured to Patrick that now his football gear and cleats are left unlocked and unprotected in his locker and the 8th graders might have stolen them...Keaton was a wreck!  Patrick got up early to help him with one last bit of algebra - some of these concepts are so awful...and, dare I say, useless...I know, I know, bad parenting!  But really, I NEVER use this stuff...I use a lot of math, but I never minus a negative...I don't have any plans to minus a negative...oh well, we will get him through this and he may end up an engineer or something...I'm cool with that - then he can minus a negative whenever he wants to!!!

Anyway, off we go to practice with him in a state of panic...not the best way to start the day...luckily I got a text 3 minutes after they opened the doors that all his stuff was safe and still there...and he has a brand new lock to keep it that way!  Yay!

About 10:00am I get a call from an unknown number - it's Keaton calling from the nurse's office - a big kid fell on his arm during practice and the buckle on their shoulder pads smashed into the underside of his elbow...OUCH!  He said it was fine, but he sounded so down....

I called Patrick to let him know and he told me that Murph had a rough practice - big kid falling on him, the coach thought the team looked lazy so they RAN!  and then Murph ended up in "Breakfast Club" - that's  football team detention - kids who have failing grades or a behavior issue...how did my son end up in Breakfast Club.  Keaton apparently did the work and didn't whine or complain, but when he walked by Patrick after practice he was "a ball of goo" and told him "Apparently, I'm failing history", put his head down and headed into the locker room....

Patrick ran home, checked Gradespeed and he's got a 98 in history, so he sent an e-mail to his Coach (who is also his History teacher) and they put the wrong Murphy in BC!  Poor Murph!  Patrick ran to Whataburger and grabbed them both lunch and pulled Keaton out of school and took him home to eat.  He needed that.  Then Coach Stitt pulled him aside and apologized for the mix up and praised him for doing the work and not complaining.  But oh my goodness...what a day for a 12-year-old!

I took the kids to Chili's for dinner - we had a coupon!  Peyton decorated a St. Judes pepper pal, she also made a play date with a new friend over the phone...big accomplishment for her!  Our server was unusual and very nice - Keaton loves unusual!

 Super Hero Pepper (and very strong Peyton!)

We also took her new animal erasers to dinner...they go most places we go these days!

All in all, it was a good ending to a tough day for my boy...let's just ignore those "oh, my arm" excuses to not help feed the dog or pick up his shoes or be nice to his sister!  We never give out excuses for bad behavior, but I was probably nicer when I called him on it, because he really had had a tough one!

Thank goodness, tomorrow is a new day!

A day without anything big!

Tuesday, September 13

Today was a day without anything big on the calendar...no games, no practices, no scary meetings at work, no special events at PGE, no doctors appointments or bills due or prescriptions to pick up...not even a lunch date.

I have to admit - I adore these days!  I adore time to catch up, time to make lists and cross every single thing off them, time to pop in a co-workers office and chat for a minute, time to feel a bit lost because I'm not panicked about finishing something. 

I love these nights at home with the kids too.  We had dinner on tv trays (we are SO 50's), meatball subs for me and Keaton and a frozen pizza for Miss P.  Homework got finished and backpacks got packed up for the next day.  It was probably a little bit boring, but it felt so "normal" and relaxed.

I am trying to be dead-on in keeping everyone on schedule this year - especially bed time.  My kids, although they don't want to admit it, need their sleep - and that means a 9:00pm bedtime.  That's tough after a summer of 10:30 or later bedtimes.  Keaton has been pretty agreeable - football practice keeps him worn out!

Speaking of worn out...he sat down on my bed to pet Sophie while Peyton and I were brushing our teeth and washing our faces...and he went OUT!  Nothing sweeter than a sleeping child.

Huskies Football

Monday, September 12, 2011

Today is Keaton's first football game of the season - they play at 5:30 at Byron Nelson HS in Trophy Club.  Big day!  Big excitement!  Big prep!

 The boys have to dress up on game days - how handsome is my boy!? 

 The first play of the game

 Murph's first tackle - I know you can't tell, but I took the picture anyway

 This is the face of a boy who caught an interception and ran it back 10 yards and had an awesome block on a kid a full head taller than him to end the game!

Playing Inside Linebacker for the Hillwood Husky 7th Grade Blue Team, #54, Keaton Murphy!!!

It's a Red White & Blue kind of day!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and it was a somber morning for me.  I have such vivid memories of hearing about the towers, listening to Howard Stern, of all things.  And then trying to get out to Desert Sky to get Keaton - his day care was really close to Luke AF Base and they wanted us to get our kids.  The freeways were nuts, the faces behind the wheels were so serious, you could tell everyone was listening to their radios and for the first time I could remember, people were really nice on the freeway in Phoenix.  I took Keaton to Chris-Town and headed DT for a meeting and found Kari there a wreck...her brother is a NYC Fireman and no one could get ahold of anyone - all the lines were busy.  We had to evacuate our meeting - government offices next door...so back to C-T only to have to evacuate our building because we got a bomb threat.  I remember calling the racquetball guys and having to listen to them get mad at me because they couldn't play!  Which only proves my theory on racquetball guys and swim team moms... none of the moms got mad at me that day, but I stand firm on my opinion that they are a lot of work!

Anyway, lots of moving tributes on CNN - so painful to watch the children who never got to know those mommys and daddys.  And, today was our first Patriots baseball game - a double header in Burleson.

 Our officials - all decked out in their commemorative umpire shirts - great way to show some respect even though we're out playing baseball on a day like today.

 Best luck (and field) ever - a playground right next to "Quarter" field - and the snack bar and the restrooms!

 Murph coaching first base - interesting idea - the last out of the previous inning coaches first - great lesson for the boys...but really?  my son?  I was so worried he'd be too busy making friends with his opposing first baseman that he'd get his teammate picked off!

 The fave piece of playground equipment - the spinny thing - no way I could do this, but she loves to spin!

 Queen of the hill - so cute - check out her feather flying in the breeze!  she's my stylish girl!

 Murph on first - holding a guy on - he was really focused throughout the game - so proud!

 This is the team handshake after the first game - what you can't see is how hard this was for the other team.  They thought they had the game won, up by 2, 2 outs, time expired and then we got two base runners on 2nd and 3rd and the mighty Keaton Murphy came up and hit a 2 RBI double to tie the game...so they thought they had the tie...but no, California Tie Break - weird, won't even try and explain it, but we won - 13-12!  Whew!

 Keaton and Alex - together again and happy with their win!

My daughter the balancing act - she has the most natural sense of balance - roller blades, ice skate, skateboards, jungle gym equipment...amazing... and  I can assure you she didn't get an ounce of it from me!

I can't tell you how good it feels to be playing baseball again!  Go Patriots!

The Kitchen Table Ain't Just for Eatin'!

Saturday, September 10

School is back in session and I am trying to wrap my arms around the fact that my kitchen table will never be cleaned off or pretty (at least until I have some kind of domestic melt down around Thanksgiving!)

But this is what I adore about my son...

 Math homework goes faster when wearing your new batting helmet...and when keeping your new socks nearby...and with extra pencils...and having a lucky peace symbol made out of pearler beads...

Peyton's year is a bit easier than Keaton's - so she gets more time for computer games...I believe she is sending a "Gardens Of Time" gift to Gramma Dar! 

Cupcakes on my Mind...

Saturday, September 10

Got up, worked out, played with Sophie, trained at McDonald, stopped by to see mom and put away her laundry, talked to Lisa on the phone, caught up on the blog and I still have the house to myself...

I think I need to bake something....

Forecast Week...

Tuesday - Friday, September 6-9

It's forecast week at the Y and my brain is tired and my calculator is tired and my pencils are tired and Jean is tired and the branch execs are tired...or bewildered...or thankful...or relieved...or wrecked, trembling under a desk somewhere...what a week...

This is how I left my desk Thursday night and this is how I found it Friday morning...good heavens!  Wrapped up with Northwest on Friday morning...whew!  Gave my numbers to Jaye, tidied up my binder, put away my ruler (notice that it's magnified for my old eyes!), said 'have a great weekend' to my calculator, thought about crying...decided against it and am not going to think about numbers again until next week when 2012 budget prep officially starts!  I realize I already have HC done, but next week is ES, RY, BB and WS.
I will take my vitamins!

HMS Mini School

Wednesday, September 7

Tonight was "mini-school" at Hillwood Middle, so it was me and the kids.  The idea is you spend an hour following your child's day - start at their 1st period class, hear from the teacher (or coach, in our case), have 3 minutes to find their next class and so on...sounds good to me!

We started in the gymnasium and Coach Stitt lived up to his reputation as a man of few words and no nonsense - he spoke for about 2 minutes and then we went to check out the locker rooms...ugh!  the smell was so dirty-gym-sock it nearly knocked me back at the door...but Murph was proud to show off his locker.

 I was surprised he had a lower locker - that usually brings complaints from my tall children, but I hadn't heard about it...I think he is just so proud to have made the team!  Lower locker, upper locker, gym bag tucked in a corner - whatever!!!

How disgusting is this?  creepy, smelly, messy, disorganized...this, to me, is a preview of his car or at least his trunk once he is driving!!!

Off to 2nd period - ART!  The quietest teacher on the planet ... perhaps!  She mentioned quietly about the power point that was running and that was it.  Keaton did show me his work folder and his shading work... but she never said another word...

A work in progress, but very cool - I love his artistic side!

I must admit, that was the last picture I took - the other teachers had presentations and hand outs and great information for us, so I just forgot!

3rd period - Pre-AP Algebra, Mr. Birt

I like him!  Very math-teachery, but clear, concise, helpful - but they're 7th graders, so they need to ask - not you and not me - they need to ask! 

4th period - AP Science, Ms. Burns

She's high energy, fun, "not a homework kind of teacher" (yay!) and their first lab involved gummy bears.  What can be wrong with that?!  Keaton likes her too...Peyton was a bit overwhelmed by her!

5th period - Texas History - Coach Stitt

Once again, no nonsense, but obviously passionate about Texas History and being a teacher.  I really liked what he had to say, I know Murph likes him and his class...should be good!

6th and 7th periods - AP English, Ms. Chapman

She's my favorite.  Great classroom atmosphere, loved the way she is teaching them about writing.  Seems geniunely nice and caring and understanding. 

I think this is going to be a great 7th grade year for my boy!

Are You Ready for Some FOOTBALL?

Tuesday, September 6

Back to work after a long weekend and a near-perfect Monday and it's time for Metro Fantasy Football.  The draft took 90 minutes, I really only cared about getting Aaron Rogers or Tom Brady and wanted Ray Rice a little bit, but I got the 5th pick and since I didn't want Ray Rice more than Adrian Peterson and Aaron and Tom (and Michael Vick...I didn't even dare to dream...I NEVER get the first pick) were already taken, I didn't get any of them...I went in with the idea of drafting based on the charts and ESPN, but I waffled back and forth between the players I love and a couple of folks ranked high that I really don't know...anyway... here is my team!

Yes, that's the Steelers defense...sold my soul to not lose to Corn...may regret it - sure to regret the Ochocinco and Tony Gonzalez (I think he may be my age!) picks, but I love them...Beanie too...oh well, it makes it more fun for me on Sundays and keeps me paying attention to all the teams, so I have to play... but I may not win many this year!

The simple things...

Monday, September 5

Happy Labor Day.  So far, a perfect morning (let's just pretend I didn't have to have that 5 minute conversation with the kids about 'the rules of the day' and 'what needs to be accomplished'!!!)

Got my workout in, updated some aps on my phone, played a little computer, made the perfect toast and tomato sandwich (thanks Trace for turning me on to one of my all time faves), showered, good hair with minimal effort, cool morning to water the flowers, kids in a good mood - clean, dressed and getting along.

Danger zone approaching...Peyton blew off her reading Saturday and Sunday...will this ruin our day?  Will she fall into a fit of "I don't want to"?  Nope, we all went out on the back patio and spent a perfect sunny, not too hot hour reading.

I just couldn't be more content!

A Right of Passage

Sunday, September 4

As we all know - it's officiall, Murph made the 7th grade football team.  And with that comes new football cleats - the UnderArmor won out over the Nikes, continued 6:15am practices and dressing up on game days!

Patrick hit Kohls for the perfect tie - school colors, I think and picked one out to give to him after Sunday dinner.  He found the manliest gift bag, black tissue paper (who knew?) and that bag tormented the kids all afternoon once one of them spotted it!

It was a hit!  But, unlike ties of our past (preschool graduation, school field trip to the Symphony, Easter Sunday) - this didn't have a clip, a zipper or any elastic strap around your neck...this is a REAL tie.  A grown-up tie.  A "I have to tie it myself at school after I shower in the locker room around a bunch of other kids" tie.

Clearly, we must practice...

 Over, around, over, around, over, through...

 The tail is ALWAYS too long on the first try!

 Oh wait!  Keaton is left handed...hmmm...around, over, around, over, through...but the other way.

 Ready for the big finish....

tah-dah!

At one point...Murph says to me, waving his tie, "Hey Ladies...you know what this means...yes, I AM on the football team!"  love my boy!

Sophie

Sunday, September 4

Sophie and I were the first ones up this morning...I have decided to blame her for my lack of workout today.  She was too adorable, too intent on going outside where it was cool for a change, too intent on playing a game of tennis ball and rattle pig, so I blew off my elliptical and rustled with Sophie for an hour or so.  Then I sat down for some me time at the computer and she layed down right beside me...

That's one long, stretched out dog!

Sophie's great gift to our family is her ability to make everyone happier - unless she is biting your feet or licking something.  If she deems you worthy of being her furniture friend (she sits down beside you and no one else), we all feel pretty proud.  If she brings you her toy for a game - you know you are clearly the best dog friend in the house.  If she chooses your bed to sleep at the end of...the highest honor of all...you will contort yourself into the smallest of shapes so she won't leave!

But on Sunday's - Grandma Peg is Sophie's joy.  I am sure it's because my mom delights endlessly in Sophie - how she looks, everything she does, the games she plays, the way she chases her tail, the way she barks at the tv and especially the way she lays her head on her lap all through dinner...Grandma Peg's been known to drop a crumb or two!

Sunday Sophie naps are more often than not, right beside my mom on the couch!

3-Day Weekend Saturday

Saturday, September 3

Today is the best kind of Saturday - the one that starts a 3-day weekend - and we made the most of it.  I got up early, spent a rockstar hour on the elliptical, watered the front lawn (we are on water restrictions and Wednesdays and Saturdays are our days to water).  Grabbed a quick shower, got everyone dressed by 8:00....whew! 

Keaton had baseball practice, so Peyton and I headed to Starbucks for a way-overdue girls coffee chat.  We got the comfy chairs, we didn't take work or books or video games - just mom and daughter talking.  It was wonderful.  We stayed about an hour and then headed home to accomplish some Saturday things before the boys got home from practice.

I cleaned the entire downstairs with a vengence...it really needed it, but it feels so good to not glance over under a chair or behind the tv or in the newspaper basket and see dust, a random sock or a pile of recycling.  I find solice in tidy!  The bathroom got a good scrubbing too...the on-your-knees-behind-the-potty kind of scrubbing I tend to want to avoid!

Sophie hates the vacuum, so she stayed out of the picture for the most part.  Peyton is always willing to help, so she tacked the outside watering - all the backyard flowers and trees...

 She watered not just until one drip came out the bottom, but until they had a 'really good drink and just couldn't drink anymore'!

Peyton is very serious in her work - if she's going to do it, she wants to do it right...give a girl a Grande Decaff Cafe Vanilla Frappacino with one raw sugar in, double blended with whip and she'll do anything!

Checking the List

Friday, September 2

The final football team list is supposed to be posted tomorrow morning by 9:00am officially.  Of course, Murph told Coach Stitt he had baseball practice at 9:00, so Coach told him a "secret"...the list will be up by 7:45am at the latest.

Murph kept his blue jersey all through practice on Friday, so it should be good news...but I keep praying.

It was an especially long day at work and Patrick and I were sitting in the living room catching up when his phone went off...an e-mail from Coach Stitt saying the list was posted...at 5:30pm on Friday!  EVERYBODY UP - LET'S GO!!!  We were all in the car and headed to Hillwood in record time.  We parked by the door and Murph ran right up...

 that's the face of one happy boy - he made the team!  He felt really confident, he worked really hard, he practiced well, he likes his coaches - he deserves this. 

Not the world's best picture, but here is "the official list" on the door - Murph's name is right below the big ole glare from the sun!  So proud of my boy!!!

No idea if I'm doing this right...but it's Murph's "I Made the Football Team" Happy Dance!  Hope you can see it Grandma Dar!

Eye Exams

Thusday, September 1

The kids are finally getting their eye exams - Peyton has been convinced for a year that she needs glasses and Murph has mentioned this first week of school that he can't quite make out some things on the blackboard.  So it's off to Target to see what's up....

 Peyton doing the "is one better? or two?....one?...two?" thing

 Peripheral vision check

 waiting patiently

 Peyton conquers her fears!  The puffs of air into her eyes...Keaton went first and she was worried!  HEY!  It wasn't that bad after all!

 Verdict is in - Keaton doesn't need glasses that badly, but it wouldn't hurt to have them for classroom time...and these are his faves.  Peyton doesn't need them at all...and she really wants them!

Glasses of choice...we have to look a couple of other places...wouldn't want to buy the first pair we see!

The Blue Jersey

Monday, August 29

I've had these pictures that Patrick sent me since last Monday, but I just couldn't post them - I didn't want to jinx him...but Murph got his blue jersey today at football practice.  This is high praise and a sign that as of now, he is on the B team.

 Patrick has stopped by a few of his practices and it sounds like Keaton is one of the smallest guys in his group and then guys that are bigger are HUGE...he tells stories of a couple of kids 7 inches taller and at least 50 pounds heavier and he's usually having to try and tackle them or block them.

According to Murph, he got the jersey after he jumped over a kid to tackle the running back after 'leveling' 3 kids earlier in practice...it was his day!  He was still beaming when he got home from school...I am guessing his feet never touched the ground that day going from class to class...he was flying!

He had a really good week of practice - on Friday, he was snapping for the gold team quarterbacks and they were saying he was their favorite long snapper...I am so proud of the work he has put in.  It may not come naturally, but this is a great lesson in how hard you can work when you want something badly enough.

Maaaaaaahhhmmm...can we have a treat???

I've been on a bit of roll this week - making the kids eat at home, healthier food, not nearly as exciting as something from a drive-thru (to them anyway), so when they asked if they could please have a treat - how could I resist?  Unfortunatly, all we had treat-wise, was some vanilla ice cream....so it was time to be creative.  I found some caramel sauce hiding in the fridge (and some other things that had to go away...they had clearly stayed too long!!!) and we made homemade vanilla whipped cream...yum!

 Keaton has this mastered - first you whip the heavy cream in a cold metal bowl until it forms soft peaks (and yes, he knows what that means!)

 then you add the vanilla...let's start with a capful and then 2 heaping spoons of powdered sugar...maybe just a touch more...

Success - two happy kids, 3 delicious ice cream sundaes and we didn't have to drive anywhere or spend any extra money...not that I wasn't craving Applicious...this just made me crave it less!!!

2-sport weekend

Saturday, August 27

Big sports day today for Keaton - football practice in the morning, then the first meeting and uniform fittings for his new baseball team right after.  He was feeling like a rock star when he woke up...and then...

 ...outdoor football practice in the crazy Texas heat.  This is the practice where they are starting to identify and split up the players based on A team and B team and not making the team.  The drills were interesting, the bleachers were miserable, it was really hard to see what was going on and the 8th graders were out there making the 7th graders nervous.  Funny to watch the comraderie of football players - even at this early age.  You can't really tell from the picture, but Murph is wearing #58 and he's the right side end guy facing away from my phone camera!

They had the guys in 2 teams later in the day running offense/defense running back drills.  It was pretty clear that the line closest to us was the "chosen" group.  Murph made a couple of great defensive tackles, but was less-than-impressive on offense...so he stayed in the back line throughout practice. 

Then they took the players to the back corner of the field to give them a pep talk (or whatever) and then they started the "Serpentine Drill"...oh.my.goodness....this was football torture, a let's-see-what-you-got drill that was almost hard to watch!  Started at the goal line - ran it, up/down, ran to the 5, up/down, ran the 5, up/down, ran to the 10, up/down....all the way to the 50, then they "just" had to run the lines to the other goal line.  I am sure I embarrased my son, but I was cheering him on - I knew he could do it, even if it didn't feel like he could and I knew he would regret giving up.  He was awesome!  I think the coaches noticed.

Sunday, August 28

As if yesterday weren't enough sporting activity for this family - today was Murph's first baseball practice and true to this Texas summer - it was brutally hot!

But you know Patrick and Keaton - if there is baseball involved - heat?  what heat?  besides, Murph had his new practice uniform and that trumps everything else!

 My new Dallas Patriot in his practice duds!

Sounds like they had a good practice - Patrick said it was miserably hot, but I knew that!  Peyton and I went to the pool. We took Gracie so Peyton had someone to do her synchronized swimming/gymnastics routines with and I could get one last day of sun.  I felt like I was truly on vacation.  I didn't have to pick mom up today - I knew I needed a break, so I went to see her Saturday morning and got her all set up for Sunday.  It was exactly what I needed.  The girls and I stayed at the pool until 2:00, we dropped Gracie off on our way home and Peyton and I got to be lazy the rest of the day!

Monday, August 29

Got an e-mail from the Patriot's team mom and the roster for the new Fort Worth club has been posted on their website...



always good to see your name in print...