Katie and THE KIDS

2009-05-09T13:36:00.008-05:00

Sorry I'm so horrid about blogging. We've been busy. Gracie broke her wrist then we went down the list of normal childhood illnesses. Strep throat, tonsilitis, rashes,the whole nine yards.. But, here are some great pictures taken by my lil sister the budding photographer!!

2009-03-13T21:50:00.014-05:00

I really will get better at this posting thing again I promise! We've been busy lately. Gracie had more tubes put in her ears and her adenoids take out. Kaylee got first place and Mason won a trophy at their MTA spelling bees. Spring break is next week!! Wee-Hoo!! I still have to work but, yay! anyway! I'm going to post some way awesome pics Aunt Sarah took of the kiddos. I'll post as many as I can. My dial up connection is impossibly slow and I get frustrated. I guess we'll test my level of patience.

2009-02-22T11:24:00.008-06:00

We're alive!!
We are all doing fine! Just been busy! I've been a horrible blogger for the last few months! Sorry! This is for you Debi! Papa Larry took us to the car show on Saturday and we had a blast! Sarah also got some really good pics of the kids yesterday and I'm hoping to steal those from her and get them up soon!

When I took this shot of Mason w/ the Porsche a man walked by and said ," You better do real good in school kid." ha! Ain't that the truth!

Yes, Mustangs are our little red-neck obsession.

2008-09-14T19:48:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Three of My Favorite Ladies!
Debi September 14th
Leslie September 13th.
Kristie September 12th
I just wanted to make sure these gals knew I was thinking of them even though I'm a horrible friend and didn't even call.

And, yes, I borrowed some pics from your blogs. :)

2008-09-14T13:17:00.013-05:00

GO DESPERADOS!!
Mason Graham #33
Center and Middle Linebacker

Playing Center (he's the one in front of the quarterback with is bum in the air)
Look for #33 that's our Mason-Man!

Yes, we have our own cheerleaders! The girls naturally want to be cheerleaders now. Do you have any idea how expensive cheerleading is!?!? Good Grief!

We were lucky to get to play @ Cougar Stadium.(The Colony High School Stadium.) We usually play at the very expensive 5 Star sports complex The Colony built a few years ago. But, this year there has been big drama involving the seeding of the fields, and unusually hot weather during prime growing time or something like that. I don't get it all, I certainly have no talent for growing anything. Long story short the league had to scramble to find practice and game fields for everyone changing the whole season's schedule etc. Drama!

Papa Larry came to watch the game!

Kaylee wearing Papa Larry's hat.

Here's Gracie upset with me because I fussed at her about running up and down the stairs.

We won! Good Game Boys!!

Mason was excited to get the #33 which was his dad's number when he played. Mason's step brother A.C. is on his team and Mark is one of the coaches. His step-mom is the team mom. The Desperados have a really neat website for anyone who may want to check it out. http://www.tcdesperados.com/.

Yes, us Texans take our football very seriously. Sometimes too seriously. But, we a good group of supportive coaches who seem to prefer encouragement over yelling and belittling.

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OUR WEEKEND VISITOR

This is Tiger. Around 7am last Saturday morning Duke started going crazy barking and practically breaking the window in Mason's room trying to get at something. The girls went to investigate. They found a kitten in the tree out front. They carefully coaxed her down and after I made sure she was nice, proceeded to pet her. This silly cat practically jumped into Kaylee's arms. Aww.. sweet kitty. You can imagine the first thing out of their mouths,"OH MOMMY!! She's so cute can we PLEASE keep her!?!!" Followed by all the promises to take great care of him feeding and cleaning etc. Umm one problem girls. Mommy is REALLY allergic to cats. Yes, she's cute and sweet. Well, from what I can tell through my watery itchy eyes. Ok girls, I think she must belong to someone. Let's go inside, lock up Duke so he doesn't break the window, and leave her alone, she'll go home. HA! Silly cat stayed driving Duke nuts. Finally I told the girls to put the cat in the backyard so the dog couldn't see her and we would take her to the SPCA. That worked for awhile until Duke accidentally got out. I was inside enjoying a lazy Saturday morning only to be interrupted by screaming, barking, growling and hissing. Nice. I ran outside to see the girls crying hysterically and screaming for me to get the cat. Duke had the cat backed into a corner. He was growling and snapping at her , she was in full arch, hissing, and swiping her claws at him. No bueno. I yelled at Duke to stop but, as he is a dog and doesn't care much for cats, he ignored me. Crap. So, I did the only thing I could do. I shoved Duke back with my foot and grabbed the cat. The cat went nuts clawing it's was onto by back and wrapping itself around my neck. Double crap. I finally got the cat inside and locked Duke out. I immediately started sneezing, got watery itchy eyes and started to welt up everywhere this stinkin cat touched me. Cute.The girls took the cat into the garage and played baby with it while I headed for the medicine cabinet for some allergy meds. Soon, it was time to go to Mason's game. So, we locked the dog up in Mason's room and left the cat in the garage. I couldn't risk her getting into the front yard and Duke breaking a window trying to get to her. By the time we got back the SPCA (which doubles as The Colony's pound) was closed. The girls were very excited that they would get to spend the whole weekend with the cat. So we spent the rest of the weekend shuffling the animals around for potty breaks so neither would see each other. Nice. Finally on Monday the kids and I took her to the SPCA. The kids watched as they took her and put her into a cage next to the BIGGEST rabbit I have ever seen in my life. This rabbit put all the Cadbury bunnies to shame. It was the mutant albino bunny on steroids. I kid you not when I tell you it was almost as big as our dog. The girls eyes sparkled "Awww Mommy look! He's soo CUTE! Can we?" Don't even go there girls.

What we've been up to..

2008-09-03T21:41:00.016-05:00

I haven't been good about blogging lately! I'll try and do better! I didn't have a lot of time so I'll post pics to show you what we've been up to the last couple months!

Kaylee fell asleep in her closet waiting for me to come home. (She was hiding so she could jump out and surprise me.) Aww..

Happy Birthday Gracie! She turned 6 on August 10th! Mason wanted to bake a cake by himself as his gift to her. She wanted a Hannah Montana cake but, we couldn't find any of those cake topper thingers. So, clever Mason went to the toy aisle and bought some Hannah Montana lip gloss and nail polish and used that to decorate the cake!

Gracie gets a little help from her brother reading her bday cards.

Gracie and Kaylee doing the "banana split" on the swings in our from yard.

Papa Larry put these swings in the tree a couple years ago! The kids LOVE them!!

Mason in some of his football gear. Yes, he's playing tackle this year. Ugg.. He is on The Desperados team. He plays center and middle linebacker! I'll put up some pics from one of the games soon!

We FINALLY painted the girls room!! I HATE to paint so, the girls room has stayed blue for many years. Not just any blue but a dark, very hard to cover up blue. Thank goodness you can buy Kilz in colors now. We chose blackberry smoothie. We are all happy with it!

Grandma's birthday was on August 17th! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Family! We had a tiny family reunion of sorts when Aunt Lyn and Uncle Joe came to town on business. We got to spend time with Uncle Brian and Aunt Sylvia too! We had a really nice time. I wish we all lived closer to one another.

First day of school!!

My BABY started kindergarten this year! :'(

Yes, Gracie gets two pictures. Didn't you read the caption before this? MY BABY STARTED SCHOOL!! I'm having a mini mid mommy crisis about the whole thing. Don't worry I'll be fine. Well, until next year when Mason goes to junior high anyway.

My big 2nd grader.

Masons in 5th grade already! Last year in elementary school! Oh boy.

Kaylee walking her little sister (MY BABY!!) into school.

Gracie's backpack is as big as she is!! hee-hee! Too cute!

Gracie at her desk in her classroom.
What's this! No tears!?! No hugging Mommy's leg? Come on! Gimme something! Nope not a thing. Just a "see ya later mom!". Gracie has actually know her teacher. Ms Waddell, since she was a baby. Mason had her and Kaylee did too. Gracie has always loved her. Ms. Waddell said she HAD to have Gracie in her class! She wanted the whole "Graham set".

Alright guys that's all I got for now.. I'll post more soon!

2008-07-11T18:03:00.012-05:00

Hello All!! The kids came home from their dad's for a couple of weeks and are now back at their dad's for the second two week summer stay. We had a fun couple of weeks though! We saw a couple movies KungFu Panda and Speed Racer. The were both good! But, of course you can imagine after seeing KungFu Panda I heard a lot of "HIIII-YAAA!s" around the house. "Mom he hii-ya'd me!" Good Grief. I had to work on the 3rd so the girls at the office bought the most amazing cake (chocolate strawberry) and took me out to lunch. I came home to a house full of people with dinner, cake (made by the kids of course),balloons,ice cream and presents! Oh! AND Gracie found her first wiggly tooth (it was REALLY wiggly and fell out four days later). It was a great day! The 4th was a really fun day! We went to the annual July 4th parade here in The Colony. That was fun! Of course the kids favorite part is the candy they throw. Later that afternoon we went down to the lake where they were having' a big July 4th celebration. We had so much fun! I spent some birthday money and got us a family fun pack for $30 (that's big spending for me!). With these bracelets we could all do all the activities as many times as we wanted! Bull riding, surfing, rock climbing, slides, bounce houses, get you face/body painted , little wash off airbrush "tatoos" and balloon animals as many times as you wanted! Plus we were on the lake so the sunset was awesome.Oh, AND they had a Journey cover band which was fun for me! Then of course the fireworks over the lake. They were amazing!! My sweet Momma gave me a new camera for my birthday so I took A LOT of pictures!! Here's a few... Here's the bday banner Grandma and the kids made for me! Thanks for making the day so special Mom,Sarah, Dad, & kiddos!

Hang on Mason!!

Look at Kaylee all California Girl! She was way stoked dude!

Gracie like did so totally awesome. :P

Climb that rock boy!!

Go Gracie Go!!

Kaylee the dalmation.

Mason the bulldog.

Gracie and her horse.

The sun is setting! Almost time!!

Smile!

Almost...

Yay!!

And they are done! All tuckered out! Goodnight girls!

2008-06-15T21:25:00.008-05:00

The kiddos have been at there dad's for about a week and a half now.. Still have another week to go.. I never know exactly what to do with myself when they are gone. Anyway, somehow in this weird place in my computer I found these really GREAT pictures Sarah took of the kids a few years ago. They are really amazing so, I thought I would share.. Go Sarah!!

Mason's Big Day!

2008-05-31T23:02:00.004-05:00

The kids in our front yard before we left for the baptism.

All Ready!

With Elder Jackson and Elder Zobell.

All of us!

The Fam

The Baptism was wonderful! Mason chose Sister Green (who has been a great friend to Mason for many years) and Sister Martin (who also happens to be the kids music teacher @ school) to give talks. They gave the most beautiful talks! Mason really enjoyed them. I am truly grateful for all the people who have visited our home and helped make his baptism possible! Thank You!! I will write more later but, right now I am completely exhausted! Must have sleep!!

Kaylee's Play Night and Lazy Days

2008-05-31T09:34:00.012-05:00

Here are some pictures of the night Kaylee had her play @ school. Unfortunately, my camera died at the show but, these are from after the show @ home. She was a "background tree" :) hence the brown shorts and green shirt. I really was too cute. Kaylee was in the front row and, while the other kids were saying their lines she would mouth the words and mimic their actions.. it was too funny! First grade plays are the best!

Here's the kiddos in the backyard on a lazy HOT spring afternoon.Thanks for the pool Aunt Sarah!!

Camey School Musical

2008-05-29T22:26:00.008-05:00

High School Musical

Starring: Mason Graham as Jason

Mason's play was tonight! We all had soo much fun!! It was too cute! They danced and sang their little hearts out! Mason had two lines but, was in almost all the scenes and dances. He's kinda hard to see in some of the pics. Just look for jersey number 7 that's him! Congrats Mace! You did great!!

3:30 pm !!! Baptism!!!

2008-05-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

3:30pm Sat. May 31st @ The Colony Building!!!

Time change!!!

2008-05-29T11:57:00.001-05:00

Ok, now they think Mason's Baptism will be between 3:30 and 4pm!!!!... I'll find out tonight!! I'll post again when I know!!

Saturday May 31st @ 2pm!

2008-05-28T21:40:00.003-05:00

Mason's baptism is this Sat. May 31st @ 2pm here in The Colony! Everyone is welcome!!

Mason's Getting Baptized

2008-05-24T20:44:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to invite all the family and friends to Mason's baptism!! We have a date May 31st but, no set time yet.. I'll post again once I know the time!!

Busy Days

2008-05-14T22:03:00.006-05:00

Gracie @ Movies in the Park

** Rare Moment Alert!**

Mason and Kaylee snuggling watching a movie together.

We've been busy the last month and there's no end in sight until SUMMER! Kaylee was a "background tree" :) in the first grade play last night. We all had such a great time! It was too cute. But, naturally my camera went kaput right when we got there. Papa Larry got some pictures and I took some w/ my phone so, I'll try and get them up soon! She was soooo excited and had such fun!! Kaylee stays busy every night practicing her spelling words and reading her practice books to me. She has struggled a lot with reading this year. Thank goodness for her teacher, Mrs.Lawrence, who knowing that Mason is dyslexic really pushed for Kaylee to be tested this year so hopefully she can get in the program at the beginning of next school year! The State has A LOT more red tape to go through now compared to just a few years ago when Mason was tested. I go in for a meeting w/ the principal next week to discuss the results of the tests.

Mason has been busy with scouts, choir and the school musical. The choir meets after school but, they get to go to Sandy Lake Park next week and miss a WHOLE day of school! He teases that the end of the year trip is the only reason he joined the choir. He also won a small role in the school musical. They will be doing High School Musical and he will be playing Jason. It's kinda neat because most of the "starring roles" are his friends from church and scouts. During school hours the last couple of weeks they have been testing Mason for the LEAP program. Which isn't exactly an advanced placement class you would take to get early credits for it's more of a advanced creative thinking class. We won't hear back on the results from those tests until next year though. :( All of that and he's been studying with the missionaries every week so he can get baptized at the end of the month! He's very excited and wrote the date on the calendar in huge letters!

During all this poor Gracie-Goo is just along for the ride for the most part. She delights us with her singing and dancing. ALL DAY LONG. She also has a laugh that makes you stop in your tracks and laugh with her! We work with her here and there with the letter and number flash cards. She loves to write her name and her siblings names.

We have made sometime for fun! Movies in the Park came back again this spring! The city in conjunction with a local church put on a FREE movie in the park twice in the spring and twice in the fall. They set up a HUGE movie screen on the football field at 5 star park, and give out free popcorn, drinks, etc. It is soo fun! We always try to go early because we like to spread our blankets out right up front!! The movie doesn't start until the sun goes down so, all the kids are running around the field having a grand old time until the movie starts. It's just a really neat thing that kinda gathers the families in the community!
Alright, that was a lot longer of a post than I had planned and I'm sleepy! I'll post more soon!!

More Randomness

2008-04-06T10:06:00.004-05:00

Aunt Sarah watched the kids for me while Papa Larry was sick. She took them to Fry's and they found the Guitar Hero Band game! Ha ! The Graham Family Band! Mason on guitar Kaylee on the mic and Gracie on drums! Hee-hee !

This is an old pic of the kids from the zoo last summer! It was sooo HOT!!

We probably spent the most time with Byron the Lion. We were sad to hear that he passed away last week. We have seen him every year since Mason was little. We will miss his big yawns,the funny snorting noises he made while itching his back on the fence, and his huge ROARS!! He will be missed!

EASTER!!

2008-03-25T20:39:00.007-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Easter! I'll post a few more later but, on this dial up connection it takes FOREVER to load these pictures! We had a pretty good Easter. The kids were w/ their Dad part of the day and then came home that afternoon. We had the usual egg hunt w/ the plastic eggs filled with candy and any spare change I have lying around. Grandma made and brought over the whole feast including that cute lamb cake in the last picture. Only my Mom would stay up all night cooking and making a lamb cake to feed her family! She's the best! We also colored the Easter eggs that afternoon since the kids had been gone most of the week. Gracie is on this new kick where she always wants to do the dishes. She would not stop bugging me when we were coloring the eggs ,"Can't I do the dishes now?" Jeesh! Fine! Do the dishes if you must! I think I've got it made! One kid who likes to cook and one that likes to clean up after him! Hmmmm.. Now if I could just get one of them to do the laundry... Well I'm off to bed.. the kids have been spiked up on Easter candy since Sunday! They are wearing me out!!

Aunt Sarah's Birthday Party!

2008-03-23T08:53:00.008-05:00

Jesus (Sarah's fiancee), Grandma, and Aunt Sarah

Batter Up!! Go Gracie!

Auntie, Cousin Matt, and Miss Mattie

Grandma and the Kiddos

Aunt Sarah

Sarah and the Kiddos

Yesterday we finally celebrated Aunt Sarah's birthday! Her actual birthday is Febrary 28th but, this was the first weekend we could all sync up. Grandma has been working a lot of weekends and the kids have had a weird schedule between playoff games and going to their Dad's. We had a fun time! Sarah wanted to have a bbq and play some softball so we all met at a park not far from Grandma's house. We had kind of a Hawaiian theme going on. Grandma had just returned the day before from Hawaii. Ahh the glamorous life of a flight attendant! She brought us all shirts from Hawaii and puka shell necklaces! She brought Sarah a beautiful fresh flower lei. Aunt Shirley, Auntie, Matthew and Mattie came and of course Jesus was there with some of his friends. We bbq'd hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausage. She had two huge sheet cakes one chocolate and one vanilla. (Grandma has always gone above and beyond) :). Aunt Sarah, Aunt Shirley, Mattie, Mason, Kaylee, Gracie and I all played softball. It was all in all a good day! Since today is Easter I imagine there will be yet another entry before this day is through! HAPPY EASTER !! And much love to all!

Randomness

2008-03-21T19:21:00.012-05:00

Just some random pics.. The kids t-shirts that make me laugh.. Duke the dog.. Spike the bearded dragon.. Me and my little sister Sarah.. Papa Larry.. Grandma and the kids.. and the rest are me and the kids just being silly

Missin' the Kiddos

2008-03-20T21:04:00.008-05:00

I am so missing the kids this week! They are at their Dad's for spring break. It's too quiet! It's funny how the things that usually drive me nuts about the kids suddenly become much more charming with they aren't here! And **gasp**! Could it be those are the things I miss most when they are gone!?! For instance Gracie does not speak, she sings, loudly ALL DAY long. We'll be sitting at the dinner table talking about the days happenings and she will suddenly burst into song. I'll ask her a couple times to please lower her voice and she'll keep right on singing loudly lost in her own world of song. She'll just keep singing louder and louder and more dramatically until finally Mason Kaylee and I will shout "Gracie!!!!" all together. "What !?!?!" is her very annoyed response. How dare we interrupt the artist mid-song!! Or Kaylee how she is not lacking in self-esteem department. Ex: This past Christmas we went to Walmart to get Kaylee some supplies for a school project. Well Gracie and I saw some candy canes and turned on the isle to go look at them. Kaylee grabs the cart and steers it toward the supplies " No Momma me first". Teasing her I said " Why is it always all about Kaylee, Kaylee, Kaylee?". She did not miss a beat. She flashed a smile and answered,"Because I'm fabulous." I laughed so hard I almost dropped the candy canes! And Mason! What can I say about him? The boy can cook! Hand him a recipe and he is good to go! Oh and he is too funny sometimes. He has a quick wit with a hint of sarcasm. One day I was trying to replace a toilet seat and was having some trouble so, he offered to help. He goes into the bathroom and says "Hang on I have to assume the position", so he proceeds to kneel down in front off the toilet and pull his jeans down just enough so the top of his butt crack was showing.He smiled and me a said "Ok, now I can work on the plumbing". Whatta goofball! *Sigh* I gotta go clean house so it will be decent when they come home!

Snow in Texas!?!

2008-03-18T21:03:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago the Texas weathermen predicted a major snow storm. I laughed when I heard. It was almost 80 degrees for heaven sakes! Sure enough a couple days later it snowed! Not Texas snow either- REAL snow! In my 21 years :) I have never seen snow like that in Texas!! I had to share some pictures because for us Texans it was truly nothing short of miracle. Seeing the kids faces was soo worth the hour (normally 15 minutes) to get home from work!

GO BULLS!!

2008-03-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

Whatta weekend! Mason's basketball team (The Bulls) made it to state this year! So, we packed up and headed for College Station early yesterday morning. Mason went with his dad, stepmom and stepbrothers. One of his brothers,Tristan, is on Mason's team and the other, A.C., was also on a team that made it to state. My little sister kindly went with me to keep me company. We won the first two games we played and then went on to play for the title. To the boys disappointment we didn't win. But, if you ask me 2nd place in the state isn't too shabby! It ROCKS!!

GO BULLS!!!