Watching her Role Models

We're watching the inaugural season opener of the Women's Premier Soccer League with our very own Lonestar vs Shreveport. These women are some pretty seriously good soccer players! While the little ones lost interest pretty quickly, Graydon was glued to the game in rapt attention for the entirety of the first half. Currently 2:0 Lonestar at half time...  [update] and that's how it stayed through the second half, too. We had a great time, and Graydon is really excited to see this team play again. He was glued to the action throughout the full 90 minutes - hopefully learning a lot about positions, finding space and calling for passes!

You know you've made it when...

... your ribbons are bigger than your name badge? :)

Wiley, could you please help me carry the toy bag to the car?

Friends and Champs!

Vincent and Graydon's teams met in the final of the weekend-long soccer tourney today. It was a real nail-biter of a game, with Egypt going up 1:0 first, and then trading goals with Westlake until a Team Egypt go-ahead goal to make it 3:2 within 5 min before the end of the game. Graydon and Vincent both played hard and each represented their team well. The best part? After their trophy ceremony, the two of them ran off to... guess what? Play more soccer, together!!

Bedtime Songs and Capturing Memories

These days Portia requests the same two songs as part of her bed-time routine. First comes "Nee" (="Schnee" = "Leise rieselt der Schnee"), which is technically a Christmas song, and then she expects me to sing her the personalized version of "Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf," which I have sung to each of the kids when they were little.

The original goes as follows:

"Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf.
Der Vater hüt' die Schaf.
Die Mutter schüttelt's Bäumelein,
Dann fällt herab ein Träumelein.
Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf."

The personalized version substitutes their name for "Kindlein" and usually substitutes "Mami" or "Daddy" for the obvious parent roles. (I take some pleasure in reversing those roles, too, just for good measure.)

More to the point, though, is that Portia *always* interrupts me in the during the first line, very anxious to get her request in before it's too late. She says "Wyee-a!" which is her current version of Wiley's name. No idea where she got the "a" at the end (maybe it's because her name ends in "a", too?), but that's just what she says right now. Because what she wants to hear is:

"Schlaf, PORTIA, schlaf.
Der WILEY hüt' die Schaf.
Der GRAYDON schüttelt's Bäumelein,
Dann fällt herab ein Träumelein.
Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf."

It's just one more illustration of how important her big brothers are for her! My favorite is when they sometimes chime in from the other room, too, and we do a round-robin of personalized stanzas for each kid, each with their siblings "watching over them" as they go to sleep.

NB: It just suddenly seemed so important to capture this memory that I stopped doing what I was doing (at work, in the office!) to write this post. Guess that's another 15 minutes I can't bill. But it is so worth it!

Snow cones taste even better...

... when you can eat them in Daddy's lap!

Happy Birthday, Maggi!

We had a nice little mid-week birthday dinner with Maggi this week. She asked that we not make a big deal about her birthday, so we didn't ask the waiters to sing for her. :)

Team Egypt!

The boys are really coming together as a team, and Graydon is loving it! Thanks to Ralf for sending us the action shots from his visit! (PS: Yes, Graydon scored on that shot!)