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busy day - in two different directions

Today Doug and I are headed in two different directions, with two different kids.

Doug and Michael are down in Bowling Green at the Goblin Asphalt Soap Box Derby race. Emily and I are off to the Miley Cyrus concert. Two big events - filled with fun.

paper mache pumpkins

Here are some pictures of the kids doing their paper mache pumpkins that they used to decorate at trunk or treat and then also decorated our camper with them. Don't know what they liked better - creating the pumpkins or watching them burn after two of them got wet. tHey still have 2 to put away for next year.

My kids are getting older - All I did for this project was to provide the supplies. They did it all on their own. Nice in some respects - as they know what to do and how to produce a great product - but also hard to see them grow up and not need help from mom.

camping

Doug and I ovwelooking the fall leaves
the kids down at the bottom the the trail

The kids and Doug in front of our camper.The kids playing in the fall leaves. There sure were lots on the ground - and on the trees. It was beautiful.

Down by the lake posing for a picture.

Emily and Michael overlooking the valley.

We went camping on Sunday after church. We headed up to Brown County. It was beautiful - peak season for the leaves. We went hiking after we set up on Sunday, cooked dinner and then enjoyed the fire by making smores. On Monday morning we got up and doug took me to the exit - so I could get picked up on the way to teacher's conference in Indy.

Doug, Emily and Michale enjoyed the park for Monday and Tuesday. They hiked, went horseback riding, rode bikes, went to the Nature Center, and just enjoyed the outdoors. They also learned a little about fire safety - both kids got burned on the fire ring while "playing" with the fire. they also wittled their hiking sticks - did well, except Emily cut her finger a little. Out door fun was great.

What a fun way to create some fall memories.

Trunk or Treat

Our Christ Care group at Trick or Treat
Emily with her friends Abbie and Summer

Michael and our Cub fan pastor

We had our first Trunk or Treat at church sponsored by our Christ Care group. We had between 30 and 40 cars, and lots and lots of kids. It was a good mix of school and church families, as well as visitors from the neighborhood. The kids came home with lots of candy - and had a good time with their friends. Emily was a hippie and Michael was Matt Holliday.

carving pumpkins

The kids and I picked out pumpkins and carved them on Saturday morning. Actually, the kids did the carving - as Michael actually picked out a gord, instead of a pumpkin, so he could not carve the one he picked out. The kids each carved one and painted one for their teachers. They had a good time - and Boo enjoyed eating the pumpkin guts. Crazy - he goes crazy for pumpkin guts, more so than treats. :) We then used the pumpkins to decorate our space at Trunk-or Treat.

conferences

Last night I had 9 productive parent-teacher conferences. I was happy with how they went. Today I have 6 more and then 4 on Friday. I have some tough ones to go. Please say an extra prayer today that they will be productive and positive. I need some words of wisdome for a few. Thanks!

pictures from last baseball game

It was a cold morning - 42 degrees when we left for Michael's game. Time to get out the coats and blankets and still shiver at the game. I am glad that it is Michael's last game - as sitting out in the cold weather is not fun. The game had some controvertial calls by the umpire - which made our team do even worse than they were doing. Luckily after a few innings the other team switched up their line-up and we scored some runs. It ended up being 14 - 19.

Go Timber Rattlers!!!

Last baseball game...

This morning Michael has his last baseball game at 10:00. It is very chilly this morning (in the high 30's). To be honest I really don't feel like sitting at a baseball game and shivering, but I will go and cheer Michael no one more time. He is wishing the season could go on a little more - as he just loves playing baseball. So -- we will go and shiver and watch him one more time. Go team!!!!

Friday night fun

Last night Emily and Doug had a daddy daughter dance at school. It was a fun time for them. They went out to dinner at Tumbleweed and then went to the dance. So - Michael and I went to dinner at Asian Buffet and then we came home and sorted through his baseball cards and watched baseball (only thing bad is it was the Dodgers vs. Yankees game... but it was baseball so he wanted to watch it). I can't believe how many baseball cards he has. We are taking all his baseball cards out of binders - since he leavned at a baseball card class that it is not good to keep them in the binder sheets. So... we now have 100's of pages that are empty and boxes that are full of cards.

It was a fun time for both kids to get some one-on-one attention.

updates

I just updated my blog from the past two weeks - scroll down. I will be better about updating it - have just gotten out of routine. Enjoy reading. We have been busy.

Weekend Fun

Gene, Noah, Holly, Andrew & Emily at Michael's baseball game.
Noah, Andrew, Gene, Michael & Holly making smores.

Gene & Doug at the zoo - taking a break.

Emily and Michael in their costumes at the zoo.

Emily, Michael, Andrew & Noah outside our house before leaving for the zoo.

This weekend we had originally planned on going camping with Gene, Holly & family - but since it was rainy all week, and was supposed to get chilly over night, we opted not to go camping. They came down here on Saturday and stayed until after lunch today. We had a full Saturday of fun.

We met at Michael's baseball game at 10:00. He did not win the game, but he made some good plays as well as some good hits. After the game we went to eat lunch at Chic Filet. The kids played on the playland for a little bit (actually Emily supervised while the three boys played). The "big boys" went to play also - they went to Golf Galaxy, which was right across the street. Then we went to the Fall Festival at school. Michael had Andrew by his side for 2 hours - following his every move. Noah, Holly & Gene went back to our place for a rest after a bit, and Andrew stayed with Michael.

We got home and relaxed a bit and then got the kids into their costumes to go Trick-Or-Treating at the zoo. Andrew used Michael's old Woody costume & Noah was Buzz Lightyear. Michael was Matt Holliday and Emily was a hippie. They enjoyed looking at all the other costumes and getting their pictures taken with people who were dressed up. Emily is getting a little old for it - and it was hard to realize that she is growning up. Noah - also did not want his picture taken with the costumed people - and he made sure we knew it.

When we got home we made dinner - our camping dinner - hamburgers, frenchfries (fried outside on our camp stove), carrots cooked on the grill, and apple sauce. We had smores & banana boats (bananas, marshmallows, chocolate wrapped in foil and cooked over the grill). The guys also did biscuits on a stick over the fire. Thus, we had our little camp out, even though we were not at Brown County.

This morning we went to church - Michael & Doug to early, since Michael sang at early; Andrew, Emily and I joined them for SUnday School; and then Holly, Gene & Noah joined us for church. We then came home for a lunch of pork (I had cooked in the crock pot), potatoes, green beans & grapes. Yummy!

Then Holly, Gene, and the boys went home to Indy. We had a great weekend! Thanks Holly, Gene and the boys for joining us in Louisville.

Michael Baseball

Michael is in the midst of our fall baseball season. His team's name is the Timber Rattlers. He has really improved as a first baseman as well as a catcher. He has also had some good hits, and done some good base running. Although their team's record is 3 & 7, Michael has had a very good season. I have been very pleased to see the progress he has made, especially at first base.

Volleyball Tournament

Last weekend our school hosted a volleyball tournament. Our girl's team ended up winning their first three games very quickly, and by quite a lot - so they were seeded number one in the final round. They ended up loosing that game, it was close, but the girls were down, as it was their final game. It was a fun season, and Emily is looking forward to next year already.

85th birthday

Working on the bus
Part of the crew in front of the bus - at Jim and Jane's house

Grandpa bowling

Uncle Victor opening some of his gifts - Julie, Sue & Phyllis watch

The beautiful Iowa sunset

Two weekends ago I was able to experience a weekend full of family bonding. My Great Uncle Victor celebrated his 85th birthday. I traveled with mom and dad to Iowa. We arrived there just in time for a dinner with all my mom's brothers and sisters, her parents, and all her cousins and their families - as well as the guest of honor - Uncle Victor. I actually got to sit right next to him. He was in good spirits and was quite the conversationalist. I enjoyed visiting with him and catching him up on my family.

On Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel and then were picked up by our driver - a "Hawkeye party bus" to go to a neighboring town to shop and see the sights. The excitement was the bus broke down at a stop sign. There we were on a gravel road, in the middle of Iowa. Of course all the guys got out to see how they could fix it - and a truck of two more guys stopped to help (luckily they had tools). After 30 - 45 minutes (I was not counting, but that is what it probably was) they got it running (but were afraid to turn it off again, in case it would not start) and we headed to an Omish store and then to a cheese factory. After seeing the sights (our trip was cut a little short, due to our break down) we headed to my mom's cousins's house for lunch (Jim and Jane's house). We all ate there and visited and then headed back to the hotel. Dad and some of the guys rested, while us ladies went to the outlet mall that was right across the street. My big find was 99 cent clothes for the kids. I got Michael two shirts (that was all they had that would fit him) and Emily 8 pair of shorts. Quite a deal! Then we went to a family bowling tournament. It was fun to have 25 people, all family members, bowling together. I bowled with Aunt Dawn, Dad, Terry (my mom's cousins' husband) and myself. Uncle Victor and Grandma enjoyed watching and cheering everyone on - while Grandpa tried his hand at bowling. After bowling we went to another cousins' house (Sue's house) for dinner and some more visiting. Then, it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

On Sunday morning we headed off to Church and then over to Julie & Terry's house (my mom's cousins) house for brunch. We had some more incredible food and good social time. I sat and talked with Grandma quite a while and heard many stories - some which I already knew, some which I did not.

Then, after lunch, we headed back home. I ended up getting home around 9:30. It was a great weekend! Thanks mom and dad for letting me tag along.

lucky ducky

Michael is one lucky duck. He is at the Cardinals Cubs game in St. Louis with Doug and his brother Craig, along with some friends of Craig's. Doug called me just shortly after their entered the ball park and said that Michael had gotten a Matt Holliday (Michael's favorite Cardinal at the moment) homerun ball during batting practice. Wow! Will let you know how the rest of the day went later. That is all I know now. The games starts at 4:00 our time - 3:00 St. Louis time - which is in just a few moments.

baseball game

Michael's 2nd baseball game was a success for Michael. He had three hits, made some good outs at 1st base as well as at home plate as pitcher. It was a good game, although they lost 6 - 10. It was fun to see him make a hot play at home - YEAH!!! You don't see too many of those in pitching machine league. He almost had two plays at first base - but he dropped the ball on the first one. That is what made the second play more excting.

volleyball pictures

I need to use my other photo editor program but this one was quicker. Don't know how to really make dark pictures look good - but now you can at least see what is happening instead of it all being dark. I need to take a photo editing class from Jamie, Jamie, or Rachel. Anyone want to teach one sometime (I guess it isn't the wanting to, it is the distance that makes it difficult).

Michael's 1st fall ball game

Michael has his first fall baseball game last night. Doug ended up coaching as their coach was out of town. Michael loved that his dad was coaching :) He had a good game. They did not win - but Doug said it was a good first game. Today they have another game at 11:30. I will be able to be at this one and will get some pictures.

more serves

Emily had another positive JV game last night. She got about 8 serves over :) She is really getting the hang of her serves. It helps that her coach this year plays volleyball and he has been helping her and giving her some advice that really works. She was intimidated in the Varsity game. Pray for her as one player makes her feel very small. That player is an older girl who is very forceful with how she says things to the younger players. I just told Emily to pray about it and to talk to coach about it if she felt comfortable doing so - as talking to the girl about it would probably make things worse. She has made so much improvement this year - and I hate for her to feel bad about her playing. So - say an extra prayer for her please.