From Picture to Reality...

 

My father-in-law is an amazing woodworker. It's always been a hobby of his... if you can't find him in the house he's probably in the garage working on a project (or he's at the golf course- the life of a retiree!). In fact, my whole Christmas tree is loaded with beautiful ornaments that he made from his scrollsaw. I had to buy a seperate Christmas tree for my kids to decorate because I love my Christmas tree with just his ornaments! I've never asked him to make me anything even though there have been many times I've wanted to. I always felt bad asking for something for myself. I tried to talk Randy into either asking him to make me something or apprenticing with his dad so he could learn how to do what his dad does! I think it's an amazing talent. Well, I finally got the courage up when I saw a picture in a magazine. I love organization and I've always wanted something at the door for the kids to be able to sit and take their shoes, coats, hats, scarfs, etc. off or on. I didn't think it looked too difficult so I asked- and he agreed! This is it's first public showing... can you tell how proud I am!!! There are times that I just stand there and stare at it. Thanks, Papa John!! I LOVE IT!! It means so much more to me because it comes from you! I know it took a lot of time and effort and I really appreciate it- I love you very much.

Fall Soccer- The Flames

 

Avery graduated from the small full fields to the medium size fields. It was a hard adjustment for the girls at first! They had less players and more field to cover so they really had to learn to spread out and use eachother so they weren't running around as much.

 

After Avery's first game we realized we were going to have to work on endurance. She and I started running together... or trying to! You could always tell the weeks when we didn't get our running in!

 

Avery continues to improve... she has a beautiful, solid shot! She's more of an offensive player and feels more comfortable up there than defending the goal. It will be nice when they actually start having positions, but I really enjoy watching her play! It's just a little more nerve-racking when she's in the goal!

 

The Flames had a great season... they play each opponent twice and I think they beat each team at least one time around. Go Flames!!

Fall Soccer- The Storm

 

Austin has finally graduated from the small blue goals to the full field white goals! That also means he is now on an all boys team. (Side note: Austin scores a goal here! Yay!!!)

 

Austin improves every year, he has gotten so much more aggressive and has really got some speed and determination to him! It also helped that most of his games were at 10:30am instead of 3pm or 4pm! He was more awake and ready to go!

 

Randy signed up to help be an assistant coach so he was pretty surprised when they handed him the roster. But he did a great job! His team was very coachable and he had them passing, spreading out and being team players... something that is very hard to do at this age.

 

It was a great season and you could see the kids improvement from the first game to the last. Go Storm!!

Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween came up so fast! Luckily we had costumes from the older kids to pick from! Ashton was a little monkey... she looked so cute! That silly girl can down a sucker in the matter of minutes. She loves suckers and will hold on to that stick until there is nothing left to lick! That was her favorite part of Halloween!

 

Addie was a fairy last year, but she got a Tinkerbell costume for her birthday and wanted to be her this year. We practiced saying "trick or treat" and "thankyou" before heading over to the trunk or treat at our church. She did very good and couldn't wait to trick or treat again on Saturday. She asked me every day from Wednesday to Saturday if it was time to trick or treat again! It couldn't come soon enough!

 

What I noticed most about myself this year was how much more laid back I was. Normally I have to get the make-up and hair and costumes just right and start hours beforehand. But this year we just went with the flow! For instance, Austin wanted to be Batman for the trunk or treat... but when Halloween rolled around he changed his mind. We actually had a little melt down (he had gotten woken up from a nap and wasn't in the best of moods) and he ended up wearing a white shirt, jeans, a pirate eye-patch, sword and an eye-liner goatee. The most amazing part was I didn't even care!

 

Avery did some compromising too. She had a soccer game on Wednesday so she showed up at the trunk or treat as a soccer player. I have to thank my mom for helping me with the kids at the trunk or treat while Randy was at the soccer game with Avery. I also have to thank my sister for letting Avery borrow this cute Belle costume! Like I said, I was mellow this year and if it were up to me she would have been a soccer player for Halloween as well! But I'm glad she wasn't because she looks so cute! They all had a blast... passing out candy and getting WAY too much candy! Happy Halloween everyone!