A Battle Royale

The 'Dawgs visited the Lion's Den yesterday. It was a beautiful day for football and both teams seemed to know it. We watched as the two teams battled back and forth, up and down the field several times. #19 played on special teams in the first half and played both offense and defense in the second half. He made two receptions out of four attempts: two came up short, one was a lateral pass that resulted in one of the hardest hits I've seen him take to date and the other was a NFL worthy catch made over the head of the defender that was, unfortunately, called dead as soon as he caught it because of a false start. Both defenses stood strong and each team really had only one chance to cross the goal line. At the final buzzer the score remained 0-0.

A Star Is Born

Meet Miss Brooke

Born at 6:32 AM

8 Pounds, 1 Ounce

20 1/2 Inches Long

The new little family is doing fine. Hopefully Kelli and Matt got some rest while we were gone.

Keep in mind that Pappaw just spent over 12 hours in a hospital waiting room, trying to catch cat naps on uncomfortable sofas. We will try to get more pictures when we go back for the evening visitation and get them on the website by tomorrow morning. I apologize for the delay in posting...but the Internet connection was down when we arrived home and Nonna needed some sleep!

Broncos Unseat Bulldogs

It was a nail biter at the end. The Dawgs led 12-0 at the half. In the third quarter, the Dawgs had a touchdown run of 25+ yards called back and penalized another 10 yards for some reason unknown to me. (Jim wasn't there to translate hand signals for me and Brian wasn't paying attention at the time.) I felt so bad for #12 and his parents who were sitting in front of us when we all noticed the flag lying at the line of scrimmage. The Broncos made a touchdown and earned the extra point at the end of the third quarter, making the score 12-7. #19 was disappointed that on his only pass play of the game, the quarterback was sacked. Then, with less than a minute on the clock, the Broncos ran in the game winning touchdown.

Final Score:
Bulldogs 12 - Broncos 13

Move Over Mr. Atlas

I have a confession to make: Last week I watched Transformers - twice! It was a delicious diversion full of 'eye candy'. Hollywood personalities usually do not have much influence on me...but I have to admit he makes me swoon!

Don't worry, Jim knows all about my Hollywood fantasy beau. He even whispered to Kelli as we were watching it with them, "Your mom is going to be over here glued to her seat in just a minute."

And I was. But tell me, who can resist this kind of muscle?

Ain't It Always The Way

We are experiencing the most amazing weather right now. The air is getting crisper and cooler as the day progresses. There have been a few showers, but nothing too severe. The boys and I started this morning at 6:30 with a temperature of 76 degrees rising to 78 by the time I dropped them at school and made it in to the office. It is now 58 degrees and dropping. According to Yahoo weather the thermometer has fallen 14 degrees in the past hour!

And here are my shoes...

Oh, well, at least I remembered to pick up a jacket. Maybe I can use it to cover my feet later!

Name That Goat

Bri's new beau sent her a gift that can only be fully appreciated when you live in a rural area. Meet 'Belle', a black pigmy goat.

She was given to the beau's father...who happens to run a feed store. Belle's previous family was moving and could not take her along. Now, lest you think this is an odd gift to give to the girl you just started dating (I know you are thinking that right now!) it really stole her heart. You see, Bri has been asking for a goat since we first announced we were buying property. She talked her dad into agreeing to a fainting goat for her birthday. She did all the research and then decided that although the fainting variety were hilarious to watch on video, she would rather have a smaller breed. Long story short...we now have 'Belle'.

Notice that I keep typing 'Belle' with single quotations around the name. That is because we do not call her 'Belle', we call her Goat. If I am feeling sorry for her, I call her Missy Goat. (I hope she doesn't turn out like Grandma J's Missy Coon...that thing would eat you alive!) There are two reasons that we don't call her by her given name. First, I have a friend who has a goat named 'Belle' and it just seems like cheating when you only know two goats and they both have the same name. Secondly, she just doesn't look like a 'Belle'!

I think it would be fun to see what you would name her. So, take another look at her picture and post a name suggestion in the comments section. Let's see who can NAME THAT GOAT!

You Know You Have Entered Their World

...when your eldest son walks up to you and says, "Hello, suburban mom. Still learning to enjoy the simpler things in life?"

I guess that means he found my blog!

Game Called on Account of Rain

The Bulldogs were scheduled to play the Panthers this afternoon. It was one of two Monday night games for the season. As Jim and I were trying to navigate the Beltway in the middle of a monsoon, we received a call that the game had been cancelled. Jim had scheduled a meeting with a client since we were going to be "in the neighborhood", so we made the trip in the driving rain, while #19 was sitting at home, all nice and dry watching a movie. His only comment when we got home..."Mom, I need a cell phone. I was trying to find a phone for 10 minutes!" Kids!!!

Can You Spell H*E*A*R*T*B*R*E*A*K

This was the byline in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday Morning:

Byrum kicks another winner for Auburn

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Wes Byrum kicked his second game-winning field goal in three weeks, this one from 20 yards with 21 seconds remaining to give No. 22 Auburn a 9-7 victory over Arkansas on Saturday night.

My congratulations go out to my Auburn friend, (you know who you are)...but I must say the last 1:28 in the game broke my heart. Last year the Razorbacks were the unofficial 'Alabama state champions' having beaten both Auburn and Alabama...this year: 0-4 in the SEC. I sure hope we have a chance next week against Ole Miss!

Let's go Hogs!

Five Reasons Why I Think It Might Be Fall

1. The temperature has dropped below 60 for two nights in a row.
2. The air is crisp when I walk out to take the boys to school.
3. We had to turn off the air conditioner in the bungalow this morning.
4. I haven't had to turn on the fan at the office all day.
5. This morning I was able to wear a jacket for a whole 10 minutes!

Hope the weather is pretty wherever you are today!

Dancing With The Bears

The 7B Bulldogs waltzed right over the Bear cubs yesterday with a final score of 20-0. Our #19 had a reception and carry that resulted in a 6 yard gain. The picture below shows him in action just before the tackle. His daddy was so proud!

He also had a few assists and two solo tackles, including this one at the end of the fourth quarter. (He is the one in white on the ground under the 10 yard line sign.)

I will try to keep snapping pictures...but it sure is hard to watch the game through the lens of a camera. I can get pretty carried away when I am watching him play!

What I Love About Sunday

...gathering around the dinner table with family

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for a visit while we were in for the weekend!

Attack of the Killer Hornets

Well, our beloved 7B 'Dawgs' fell prey to the sting of the Hornets last night (and yes, their color was green). It was their first loss of the season with the final score of 7-14.

Our #19 saw quite a bit of playing time on both sides of the ball in the second half. He had several assists while playing defense and caught an awesome 19 yard pass on the last Bulldog possession of the game. Too bad it was 4th and 23!

This is the picture I snapped just before his catch. I was too distracted to think to take another picture during the play...you know, with the yelling and cheering and all that his sisters and I were doing!

Diving off the deep end

I have been debating this decision for quite some time and finally decided to just go ahead and dive in.

We launched the family website a few months back in an effort to communicate with all our family and friends who lived so far away. Little did I know at the time that we were also on the verge of a move...not so far away, but far enough that keeping up with the friends we have made over the past 19 years will be a challenge.

I remember the time (notice it is not a plural word) years ago when I allowed peer pressure to prompt me to jump from the diving board at church camp. I couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old at the time...and was deathly afraid of water. Yet I began to climb that ladder like I did not have a care in the world. Did I tell you that I am also afraid of heights? Those last few steps took all the courage I could muster as my knees begin to quiver. And the walk to the end of the board was taken strictly by faith. Well, I jumped and the feeling was awesome...until I hit the water, lost my breath and couldn't find the surface of the pool. I don't think anyone realized that I was drowning...and I am convinced to this day that only the Lord Himself helped me find the side of that pool and climb out.

It is one of my most vivid childhood memories. I mention it today, because it comes closest to the feelings I am experiencing right now as I type these words and wonder if I will have the courage to hit the post button. There are so many talented women who blog and their gift of encouragement is phenomenal. I have to keep reminding myself that this is for me and for my family and friends. I want to be able to communicate our world to those of you who are so very dear to us without driving Albert up the walls with daily postings. Not that I am promising daily postings...but I will try to make it at least once a week.

And if worse comes to worst, I will come back here, hit delete blog and life will go on. After all, if Jesus can help me face my fears and find the side of a pool...He can certainly help me face these fears and find my way out of web-land too.