How big is Grace?

Grace's favorite game is "So big." When she was little we'd ask, "how big is Grace?" Then we'd stretch her arms over her head and say, "Sooooo Big!" It would always end in giggles. Once she realized that she got a laugh for it, Grace decided to take matters into her own hands. Now when we ask, "how big is Grace?" she throws her hands in the air and reaches as high as she can. It really is adorable. And on occasion, if she thinks the level of attention being paid to her is insufficient, Grace will preempt the question and stretch her hands in the air hoping for a laugh. The following pictures are captured one night at dinner during such an instance. Excuse the lasagna-covered baby.

SOOO BIG!

Here's one just for Daddy

"What's up Dad?"

A big stretch for the brothers always gets a laugh

Attention garnered, she's so proud of herself.

Playing Tough

I caught these action shots one day when Sam was playing with his friend R. Like all things with Sam, it's "go big or go home."

On the fort working on slide technique

Big Muscles = successful slide atttempt

In which I play a lady of ill-repute

For the October social night, our ABF held a Murder Mystery dinner. Pasta and Pistols was the perfect combination of dress-up fun and dinner fellowship. Everyone was randomly assigned parts; Luke drew the part of Rocco Scarfazzi, an Italian mobster, and I drew Tara Misu, his much younger girlfriend. Cue the awesome 80's garb! As we read the script, it became obvious that Ms. Tara had a less-than-virtuous outlook on life, proving my (church appropriate!) costume to be spot on. In the end, both Rocco and Tara were innocent. Thank goodness for that!

Rocco and Tara

I won best costume at my table. The awesome glasses were my fabulous prize

Rice Harvest Festival

After living in Katy for 4 years, we finally got around to visiting our first Rice Harvest Festival. Katy does rice, did you know? Boy do they ever do rice! Turns out that flat prairie land that geese and duck love so much is also pretty good for cultivating the delicious grain. The festival kicks off with a cute hometown parade on weekend 1 and then culminates on weekend 2 with the festival. It was fun and the kid had a blast! My favorite part? The bumper sticker that read, "Eat rice. Potatoes make your butt big." Here are some pics from our time at the Festival. I suppose this means we are real Katy-ites (finally!).

Jack and Sam on the carousel (Sam did NOT want his picture taken)

I looked up to see my boys walking through the crowd like this. See they really do like each other!

Oh if this doesn't speak volumes!

The firetrucks were, by far, the coolest part of the day!

more firetruck time

had to visit some more

All I really want for Christmas...

I've found it. The thing that will make this the perfect Christmas. Gee I hope Luke gets the message!

My day...

Here's a run-down of my day. I know you've been waiting in breathless anticipation.

My alarm (otherwise known as Grace) sounds bright and early. 6:30am
roll out of bed, feed baby, shower, dress, head downstairs.
It's HOME STUDY DAY!! Luke's home so he's been breakfasting boys while I ready myself for the day. Start lunch-making. Cajole boys into eating. Repeat x 2323u3484. Call time limit on breakfast. Send everyone upstairs for morning jobs. "GO! GO! GO!" Clean up Grace, wonder why baby slobber mixed with anything makes concrete. Change and dress Grace. Head to boys' room to supervise morning jobs. Break up fight over flashing toothbrush. "One more word and I'm throwing it away!" Say the words "get dressed" 293934 times. Herd my crew downstairs. Assist in bag-packing for the day. Remind Sam that he's not going to school "right now" so we don't need his bag yet. Pack his bag anyway -- it's easier than a fight. Shuttle children out the door. Say morning prayers on the way to school, "open mind to learn new things, keep heart focused on You." Jack sobs at car. Begs "I want you to home school me NOW! I want to rest!" Heart breaks. Worst mom every.

Drop Jack at school. Head home. Begin doing dishes, must impress caseworker. Hear Sam in bathroom singing. Song of choice? "Some poop is green, some poop is brown." on repeat. load crew (minus Jack) and head to Sam's school. Drop Sam at school. Visit with friends heading to Bible study. Luck wished, prayers given. IT'S HOME STUDY DAY!!

Head to polling place. Early vote -- civic duty done. Stop at sonic. Consider second breakfast a reward for all the work we're about to do for home study. Arrive home. Grace naps. Eat delightful breakfast with husband. Do not have to cajole anyone. Randomly decide to clear messages on answering machine. Last message? Home study cancelled.

ANGER, and tears. Spend some time on the couch. Luke disappears to fix a doorknob. Grace wakes. Decide Freebird's and retail therapy are in order. Head to IKEA. Check out crib/toddler bed selection. Also browse couches. Purchase a mingling of Christmas decor, gifts and other sundry. Am happy. Lunch at Freebird's. Laugh watching Grace dance to the music. Still angry about home study but no tears (and no capital letters). Head to Petsmart. Ginger comes home this weekend. Purchase random Christmas collar and new tags. Browse new beds. Decide none are good enough and leave. Consider if I've taken leave of my senses -- this is the dog I tried to convince to run away not 3 months ago.

Visit Target. No suitable dog beds. Head to Petsmart next door. Declare no more dog shopping. Find bed that works and purchase. Return to Target for shoes. Find 2 shirts.

Get Sam from school. Ask "mom" questions about the day. Receive "son" answers -- silence. Head to other Target in search of pants for Luke. No pants found. Sam declares "tummy hurts." He decides he needs to poop and announces it to the store. Luke takes Sam to poop. Sam returns to loudly declare "poop was green!" Proud moment for me. Quickly leave Target.

Send Luke to get Jack. Begin peeling/de-veining shrimp for dinner. Realize Freebird's has overfilled the tank. Opt for no dinner. Nuggets for boys. Begin Grace's cake. Send Luke and boys to football. Bed Grace for the night. Return to cakes. Finish as boys return home. Kiss all. Send littles to bed. Dinner and then couch time. Ahhhh....

Football Frenzy

We are about to close out Jack's first official football season, and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Jack is LOVING football. He's found his niche and really enjoys that he's "the best" (not really but at his particular position, he is pretty darn good!). The league is 5 on 5, flag football and Jack is in the 5-6 yr old division. He is one of the youngest and one of the smallest on his team. None of that has slowed him down! The coaches try to let the kids rotate positions so every one gets a turn at every thing but since about Game 2 Jack has played almost strictly defense. Once or twice he's lined up at center but that didn't go so well. Now he's almost exclusively put in as a safety (sometimes they'll line him up at defensive tackle). He's great at getting moving as soon as the ball is snapped and usually has his timing just right so that he doesn't cross the line of scrimmage until the ball has been handed off (one of the rules...we don't understand it either). So far he's gotten at least two "tackles" (sacks on the QB) each game.

The best game was 2 weeks ago -- the other team was confident they were going to win. Most of their players were a head taller than most of ours. The coaches strutted like peacocks. Then, skipping on to the field (yeah I said skipping...like a little girl) came Jack. There is absolutely NOTHING about him that's intimidating -- until the ball is put into place. Then he starts fidgeting, his feet can't stop moving, his hands are twitching and he's chewing on his mouth-guard with what seems like the intention to actually swallow it. A few plays in a row of having their QB sacked by the smallest kid on the field and the coaches of this particular team began to quickly and rather frantically re-think their game plan. I found it HILARIOUS!!

Last week's game was tough. The coaches had prepared in advance and had guards on either side of the QB to protect him. Jack was really frustrated and had a hard time finding his rhythm. He also was really dejected that he hadn't gotten any flags. Of course his coaches kept telling the "defense" that they were missing flags and needed to work harder. Jack took it all very personally. It was a learning moment for him. He managed to pull it together and had a great second half (and still got his two sacks!).

Here are some pictures of Jack in action. I literally have dozens more but these are my favorites so far!

snatching that flag before the kid even crossed the line of scrimmage

lined up and ready to go

quick direction change -- I think it looks like he's dancing!