Last night was the homecoming game. It was a blowout game - won by the Panthers. As a result each time a touchdown was made these fellas made a loop around the field. They had to have been mighty tuckered out by the end of the night! 

Before the game we joined a couple of other families for some tailgating in the parking lot. It was a relaxing way to find your spot and settle in. We had lots of food, a grassy spot for little guys to toss a football around and a swift departure due to the upfront spot we scored.

Since the majority of you are out of state perhaps this will be enlightening to you. Mums. Do they do them in your neck of the woods? Certainly I had never seen them in the olden days in Geneva. Well, let me tell you they are quite the trend here. A trend of many years I might add. Possibly forever. It is a corsage on steroids. However there is not a live petal on it, but about everything else one can dangle off a single, double or triple mum. Each one is highly personal to the recipient. Without mocking or exploiting the mum business let me just say that I am not sorry I never had the opportunity to pin 8lbs of sparkle, jingle, or flash (yes, some require batteries) to my bulletin board, let alone my person 20 years (+) ago! 

I might as well expand on whatever Texas stereotypes you might have...this is our drill team. They are the equivalent of the "poms" in my high school years. Yes, boots and hats... 

Texas football is quite the experience! The team comes out of the mighty panther at the start of the first and second half of the game. 

Taaaa-Daaaaaaaaaaaa! May I present the swim and dive float for Homecoming 2006! The Homecoming Parade of my high school years seemed so much...how should I say it...better...
Overall like much else in life times have changed. There was a theme each day, hardly a soul dressed up. Tonight was the parade, an outdoor pep rally and fireworks. Brynne and Jacob had no interest in going. Lacey opted out of the pep rally and fireworks. Tomorrow is the game and the King and Queen will be announced, but frankly I suspect that people will only be there because a football game is wrapped around the halftime coronation. Saturday is the dance. Neither girl knows a kid going. It is very strange to me...apathy abounds in the student department and those of us who have 20 or so years since our last homecoming stand around looking dumbfounded and disillusioned. 

Q. What gets Jacob out of bed lickety-split? A. Breakfast with Dad at their favorite restaurant. Gregg got Jacob up 30 minutes early today so they could head out for some special father/son time over Happy Face Pancakes and a Skillet Breakfast. It'll be a fabulous way to start the day. 

Jacob throws his hat into the political ring at school! Another perk of being in 4th grade is that you are now able to serve on the Lower School Student Council. Jacob had planned to run for VP, but changed his mind to a 4th grade class rep. "Jacob Mattson is my name, representing 4th grade is my game!" 

Sunday afternoon we were back to the pool for the club meet. This starts the season for G-CAT and Lacey was happy to see every event she entered dropped time. Lacey is entering the water in lane #3, second swimmer from the bottom.

With all of the athletics going on Brynne stayed busy. She went to the high school play, hung out with a friend at the mall, spent the night with a friend and made a Starbucks run. She had a great weekend too!

And finally...happiness is filling up my SUV for under $40! Gas is $1.99...we weren't sure we would ever see that again! 

Saturday afternoon we had the most glorious weather and by Texas standards it was a perfect fall day. Jacob played game three and had loss number three. Ouch! 

These will be the Panther records to beat this swim season! The team had a practice meet on Saturday morning for the high school swimmers. Lacey enjoyed two relays and a 500 free. She did awesome and had a blast! 

Road trip anyone? 

Jacob is taking his turn for the next two weeks as a Safety Patrol kid. He will get to school early and greet each car that comes his way while the student hops out. He was sure looking forward to this new duty! 

Jacob climbed to the top of this structure and was tracked down by THE GIRLS! I am thinking this is OK in the photo dept. since it is not a truly posed picture with girls. But they were pretty funny calling out to him to sign their book. He certainly doesn't look MISERABLE up there! 

Last night was the yearbook signing at Jacob's school. It is a fun family night with a DJ and food. I was excited to have another opportunity to try out my new camera, which I love and still have a lot to learn about. Before we left Jacob asked if I had to take pictures. YES. He requested that I not take any posed pictures with girls. OK. He asked me how long I would continue to take his photo and when the camera would just stay behind for good. I told him that HE IS MY BOY AND I LOVE TO TAKE HIS PICTURE AND PROBABLY WOULD UNTIL THE DAY HE DIED. In typical Jacob, deadpan fashion he informed me "well you are killing me with embarassment!" 

This little piggy...was covered in paper mache! The upper classman have been wonderful to the new swimmers. The big girls invited the freshman to join in on float making fun. Homecoming is 2 weeks away and they are busy with their water themed float - Sponge Bob and friend.

 

Brynne and her OI (oral interp) team from the high school particpated in a local tournament. Brynne was thrilled to take 3rd place overall in the tournament in the category of Poetry Interpretation. CHHS also walked away with the Sweepstakes trophy for earning the most points over the course of the two day tournament. 

Jacob continues blogging...as Jacob Mattson (#10) poses for a picture (in the Heisman pose) before the BIG game...against Coppell...it is a cool pose for the first game safety position...see him far right on the action picture from the game... 

The team (Coppell) gets ready to pass on the next play for a big surprise! They pass and it goes right into my hands!!!! Starting to run, ummm, the ball comes out of my hands without control. About 2 quarters later they do another pass play, they pass it to a guy for Coppell being covered by one man (actually two guys cover him but one is not doing such a good job) . Coppell tips it, Jr. Black tips it, I run across the field, slide on my knee pads and CATCH it!!!! Next, I fall on the ground (on purpse) and cover up the ball.

We ended up losing, unfortunately, by 6 to 16. But my first game was a blast!!! And the coaches told us that we all did a great job! 

OK...Jacob is on blog duty tonight...game one for Junior Black has come and gone...take it away Jake... "Thanks, Mom." Ummm...Mooooom...As the team (Jr. Black) gets pumped up before their first game against Coppell Cowboys we take the field. As I run through the banner I stick out my arms and tear through the paper - a piece stays on my hands!! 

It is official! We can check another "first" box. Today was the first day Brynne drove herself to school. It was the first day she drove both she and Lacey home from school. It was the first day she drove Lacey to the pool. Woooo-weeee this is about overload for a new driver mom.  

I share this story as Gregg prepares to do a New Orleans turn this Sunday. It is a funny coincidence... Exactly this day last year, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Gregg was asked to donate his time to fly a plane from New Orleans to Knoxville TN. At this time MSY was not open to general commercial traffic and the airport was still chaotic. We had family plans to join some friends at their lakehouse so the kids and I went solo while Gregg flew his trip. He knew very little about this trip other then it was arranged by a private citizen. When they arrived in TN a flight attendant told Gregg a passenger wanted to speak with him. It was Doris. She was one of the last holdouts in New Orleans after Katrina made her pass through their city. Finally she had been ordered to leave and onto this plane she was directed. She was heading to a city where she knew not a soul. Her sister had heeded the warning to depart days before and Doris had no idea where her sister Bernice had gone. The phones had stopped working in New Orleans and you can see that this was an adventure at best for a 70something gal. Doris had never flown before and she wanted to thank the captain in person for a good flight. She also shared her concern about locating her sister as it had been days since they had spoken. He told her he would help her when he got back to Texas. About 7AM on Labor Day our phone rang. It was Doris calling from her cot at a recreation center in Knoxville. Had we found Bernice? Somehow the duty transferred from Gregg to Elizabeth...our mission was to find Bernice. This proved to be quite a challenge as we only knew she was somewhere in Texas. As you are probably aware there were thousands and thousands of displaced folks in the great state of Texas. After many, many calls over a couple of days we were able to find the base where Bernice was staying, along with 8,000 other Katrina folks. Eventually that was narrowed down to one building and with the help of a couple of awesome volunteers we were able to link Doris and Bernice up. Eventually they were reunited and and have made their home in Houston for the past year. We have stayed in contact and although they hope to return to the city where they have lived their entire lives together they have found Texas to be a good subsitute in the meantime. Have you looked closely at the photos? Can you see who the private citizen was? It was Al Gore who was onboard along with his son and another relative who was an MD. On my end I missed a golden opportunity to ask how Tipper was...I didn't hear my cell phone ringing over the boat motor when Mr. Gore placed a call to the pilot's wives! Happy Anniversary Doris! 

We came home for an afternoon tea. With the tea (served in one of Brynne's great-grandmothers tea set) we had the most glorious fruit tarts and pink lemonade (served in another one of Brynne's great grandmother's crystal goblets). 

The girls enjoyed their afternoon of treatments. They each got to do a pedicure, massage and facial. Hopefully that will hold them for another 16 years...