The Cotton Bowl

Tonight LSU played A&M in the Cotton Bowl. We had a few friends over to watch the game - the Reagan's, Kendrick's, Tucker's, Whites and Silmon's. The kids had a blast playing together and luckily LSU pulled out another win. It was a fun football season! Until next year . . .

Here are a few pics of the kids from the night . . .

Mae's make-up was a hit with the girls!

sweet Tess

Mary Francis putting on some make-up

Mae and Sally put them in time-out! Not sure how the younger ones got in charge?

Cinderella and Aurora - aka Mae and Sally

Princess "Mae Mae"

everyone loaded up in the Barbie jeep!

here comes trouble!

Cameron, Tess and Mae with their suckers

Tess playing dress-up in the Hannah Kate clothes

Mae was worn out by the end of the night. These moments don't happen very often

she looks so innocent here

Hannah was worn out too!

Boys will be boys and girls will be girls

Here is are a few photos from our activities tonight at home . . .

On one side of the kitchen, Mae was in her princess dress painting her nails.

of course making a mess!

And on the other side Sanders was busy painting his little wooden car

daddy was the assistant

It is amazing to me how boys and girls minds definitely work differently! They each have their own interests. I love seeing their little brains at work!

Sanders is 5 years old!

I can't believe little Sanders is 5 years old today! Wow how time flies. It seems like just yesterday Sanders and I were heading to the hospital because my water broke. He has definitely kept us on our toes since the day he was born - especially since he was in the NICU the first couple of days of his life. But as hard headed and temperamental as he can be his enthusiasm for life and non-stop energy are what make us proud. He has such a sweet sensitive heart that I hope stays with him forever.

I wanted to make this birthday a special day so when he woke I made him his favorite "pigs in a blanket" for breakfast. For lunch, I brought him Chik-fil-a (and sauce) and cupcakes for the class and we all sang him "happy birthday". They were "car" cupcakes - his favorite! Tonight, Mimi and Bop Bop and Alexis and Rob came over to celebrate with him. Per his request, we had hamburgers, tator tots and cookie cake (my absolute favorite too)! Mimi got him a Nerf gun which he loves but we are definitely going to have to set some rules so he doesn't kill Mae. It was a fun night hanging out with everyone. I really think he had a great birthday! We will get to celebrate again in a few weeks for his birthday party!

birthday party at school

the "car" cupcakes

Mrs. Caraway made him a cute "birthday hat" that he wore all day at school

the kids loved the party blowers

the little get-together at our house

blowing out the candles

Mae had to help

everyone is excited about the cookie cake

sweet Sadie

of course Mae is in her princess dress

A look back at 2010 . . .

It has been an amazing year! As in usual Graf fashion, we sure did do it ALL!

I thought it would be neat to look back at some of our highlights from the year! We definitely had some fun!

• January - Sanders turned 4!

Sanders turned 4 and we had a fun "Fire truck" birthday party. It was supposed to at our house but temperatures dropped down to a record breaking 13 degrees that week so we quickly had to find a "plan B". Luckily the Club was available for birthday parties which turned out to be a great location! The best part was they cooked all of the food and cleaned up!

• February - Trip to the BVI

Hands down the highlight of February (and possibly the year) was our boat trip to the BVI. It was the most amazing trip I have ever been on. We went with the Kendricks, Coxes and Wilhites and had a great time together. Everything about the trip - the boat, the food, the destinations exceeded our expectations. We loved it so much we are going back this year!

• March - A trip to San Diego

We ventured out to west to San Diego to visit Emil, Sara, Mary and Phillip and all their kids! Sara's mom has a house in La Jolla where we all stayed. We walked to the beach everyday with the kids, took them to Leggo Land, Sea World etc. It was a beautiful place and the kids had a blast together.

• April - The kids first trip to New Orleans!

Sanders had an orthodontic convention in New Orleans so we decided to take the kids along with us since they had never been. There is so much for kids to do there that we knew they would be easily entertained. We took them to Cafe DuMonde for beignets, the Insectarium, the zoo and Mr B.'s for dinner. They loved it all and definitely got a taste of the New Orleans culture.

• May - Mae turned 2!

My sweet baby girl turned "2" - where does time go? We celebrated her birthday with a "bubble" themed party. It was so much fun to plan! I had worked on all the details for months and it all came together perfectly. The bubbles were definitely a hit with all of the kids.

• June - I started my blog / our trip to Charleston

I was very leary of starting a blog - especially since I wasn't sure how it worked but once I realized how I could utilize it to journal our life and highlight some of my pictures I became addicted immediately. I made 104 posts from June to December. It has been great because our families can keep up with what we are doing and I can look back over the year and see everything we've done. I can't wait to make my first "blog to book" so that I can have all of these memories for years to come!

We also made a trip to Charleston to visit Mary Catherine and our good friends from Birmingham Britt and Greer. We brought the kids with us and they had a lot of fun. We ate at some fabulous restaurants, got to enjoy a day out on the water on Britt's boat and visit this neat island with lots of sea shells. I think I had more fun searching for the shells than the kids did. We of course did a little shopping in the fabulous Charleston stores! We pretty much did it all in a few days. It was a blast!

• July - Our trip to Lake Tahoe / Sanders and I celebrate "10" years of marriage!

We went on a vacation with my family to Lake Tahoe to celebrate me and Elise's birthdays. We took all of the kids and rented a great big house. The weather could not have been better - especially since it was 100+ back in Shreveport. We ate at some great restaurants, rode the gondola up the mountain, rented a boat and went out on lake tahoe and went on a sunset cruise. It was a fun trip!

Also this month, Sanders and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! Wow how time has flown.

• August - Sanders gets glasses

This wasn't necessarily a great highlight but one that I won't forget. Sanders went to the eye doctor after we got a note home from the school exam that we should follow up with a physician. My worst fear came true when Sanders called and said that Sanders' needed glasses too. I was so upset that I was going to have 2 kids in glasses but I eventually realized that if this is the worst card we are dealt in life then we can easily handle this. I felt even better when we took Sanders to get his glasses and they looked really cute on him.

• September - Destin for Labor Day

We took the kids down to Destin for the Labor Day holiday and had a blast!!! They have gotten to a great age where they both love the beach! We got some professional pictures taken down there which turned out great. I even used a few of them for our christmas card.

• October - the month of parties!

It was a very busy month. I was helping with the Fall Carnival at First Baptist, hosting Elise's baby shower and Kathryn's engagement party, organizing our big annual Halloween party and the fish fry at Sanders' office! I was pretty crazy but looking back it was definitely all a lot of fun!

• November - the kids' first LSU game

We took Sanders and Mae to their first LSU game down in Baton Rouge. We went with the Sarah Katherine, David and Hannah so the kids had a ball together. Mae didn't actually go to the game but she had a lot of fun dressing up as a cheerleader and tailgating. She'll definitely be ready for a game next year. We only stayed until half-time but it was perfect b/c LSU had a big lead and the kids were getting hungry and restless. The highlight was Hannah and Sanders doing the "wave" for the first time.

• December - Sanders and I ran the White Rock half-marathon

Sanders and I ran the Dallas White Rock half marathon for the second year in a row. In August we reminisced back to last year and how great we felt after the 1st half marathon and realized we had to go at it again. We trained for 3 months and ended up finishing 3 minutes faster than last year!