Comeback Kid

The Murphy Mustangs faced a tough opponent yesterday.  There were lots of injuries and many necessary substitutions.  Check out the blonde kid on the far left--poor kid must have gotten hurt 5 times. 

Portugal came to play and we had to buckle down to stay with them! 

Jackson scored the first goal from pretty far away.  Right after it went in, he looked for us in the stands with the biggest smile on his face. 

He and Brady played the whole game except for the second quarter.  They were well rested after halftime and ready to rock and roll.

Gigi and Boom were there cheering on the Mustangs with me and Poppi.

The boys had to get their gameplan from Coach.

Jackson was all over the field...as my dad said, he played offense, defense and special teams!

The kid was so close to scoring lots of times, making 2 goals and barely missing 6 more!  The Mustangs were down 3 - 2 at the end of the game and he finally got his last attempt to go in the goal.  When it did, our sidelines just erupted with cheering parents!  The game was over 10 seconds later and we tied. 
Way to go, J man!  We are so proud of our swift little soccer player.

Undefeated!

The Angry Birds have had an awesome season.  They tied their first game and have won all the rest...most of the time by 10 goals or more!

Bella, Madison and Brendan were three of the four starters for yesterday's game.  They got us going and the Birds didn't slow down.

Maddie stayed right in there and had to fight to keep the ball, even from her own teammates sometimes!  So goes the world of 4 year old soccer:)

She has improved so much in only a few months.

Jackson has been a faithful linesman for all of the games that he got to attend.  He has also served as assistant coach, much to Maddie's dismay sometimes!

It was in the 70s, but there were 30 mph winds, so I gave up my fleece to this little cheerleader.

Goooooooooooo Angry Birds!!!

What a fun season!

Highlights

Highlights of our week:

All three kids got to vote at school this year.  Lila even got a cool sticker for all her efforts!

We have been loving the amazing fall weather--the static, we could do without!

Just because it's the off-season does not mean that this baseball player can't get in some good fielding practice.

Spring training will be here before we know it.  This guy has got to be prepared!

A little tough to see, but both girls glittered themselves quite well and added some beautiful lip gloss as well.  They were both very proud.

Madison's wish came true--she got to sit by Brendan at her soccer party last night! 
She might have a slight crush on him.

All 8 Angry Birds had so much fun at Napoli's celebrating a great season.

The J man had fun at the sibling's table and enjoyed hanging out with our next door neighbor, Abby.  She's a third grader, so I bet he thought it was pretty cool to get to sit together.

And finally, the biggest moment of the week--Madison got her very first trophy!! 
She is beyond proud and even took it to school with her today.  She has had a fabulous first soccer season and can't wait to play again.  The Angry Birds are a great little team and Coach Byron rocks!

Lila's wedding

I was getting ready the other day and Lila came strolling into my room.  The following conversation ensued and it was just too cute not to write it down!

Me: What are you doing?
Lila: I'm going to a wedding.
Me:  Oh really? Whose wedding?
Lila: Mine
Me: Oh yeah?  Who are you marrying?  I didn't even know you had a boyfriend.
Lila:  My daddy

I thought her daddy might actually shed a tear whenever I told him this story:)  Pretty sure she just wrapped herself around all 10 of his fingers!

Twins

These two could so be twins, if it just weren't for the 3 years or so separating them!

The twins were worn out after two soccer games and cheering on their Memaw:)

60 Miles!

Heart of Gold - three good words to describe my mother-in-law, Shelley. 

She is such a great example to all of us, showing us every day what dedication and love are all about.  This past weekend she walked in her 4th or 5th (not sure!) Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk.  Yes, I said 3 days.  During those 3 days she covered 60 miles across the Dallas area and raised over $2500 for breast cancer research and treatment.  As someone who very well may face cancer sometime in my life, I am so grateful. 

Friday morning after gym class, Lila and I went on a mission to find Memaw!  We knew that she would be coming up to a cheering station sometime, but since they give you a 3 hour window, it's a little hard to guess when that might be.  We got out our sign, though, and headed up to the sidewalk, cheering on all of the walkers.  I must say, this little girl got lots of sweet compliments and many walkers even took pictures of her! 

We were so excited when after only 15 minutes, we spotted Memaw and her friend.  Hooray!!

Lila was a little overwhelmed with the crowd, so she decided to stay put for a minute.  There were people cheering, cars honking, people wearing pink tutus, men with pink mohawks, and even a poodle that had been dyed pink!

Memaw knew just what this little girl needed--a sucker!  That got a little shy smile to come out:)

The next day after the kids both won their soccer games, the whole fam drove to Dallas to find her.  We weren't quite as lucky with our timing, but thanks to the wonders of texting, we made contact and were able to find her.  Saturday was a much hotter day and we couldn't believe how well she was doing.  She's a warrior, I tell you!

Poppi worked the crew this year, manning the hydration station back at base camp.  I heard he did a great job.  He was there to see Shelley when she finished the 60 miles.  He, and all of us, are so very proud of her.  Way to go, Shelley!  We love you.

GHS Homecoming

We took the whole fam to William's Stadium to school them on the greatness of the friday night lights.

It somehow has been 15 (yes, 15!) years since I cheered on these sidelines and Jared played football on this field.  How in the world has it been that long?! 

Lila is a born cheerleader.  She clapped and hollered "Go Owls!" whenever she heard the crowd start to cheer for the team. 

Lots of our friends brought their kids, too.  Sawyer was so pumped that he got to hang out with his buddy Jackson.  His daddy told us later that he kept talking about how, "I got to sit by Jackson!" all day yesterday.  So cute.  I hope they grow up as best buds.

It would have been impossible to get a picture of all of our families, so just went with one of us girls. 
So fun seeing all of you!

After halftime we spotted Ollie Owl down by the field, so the kids and I made a beeline down the steps to go see her. 

Lila was too afraid to be near Ollie without me there to guard her, but she has talked about the owl all weekend.  Guess mascots make a big impression--she loved her!

The Owls won big against Naaman and Maddie helped cheer them on, that's for sure!
Gig 'em Owls!!