Football marches on...

I'm going to blame football for my inability to post anything lately. Yes, football has still been ruling our lives. Perry's team once again moved on to post season play, culminating in a trip to the state championship game.


The championship game took place last night at the Edward Jones Dome (where the St. Louis Rams play). We have lots of football fans in our family, always up for watching a good high school game. This is Carson and my nephews Spencer and Cliff. The boys wanted to sit as close as possible and we literally got front row seats.

Others in our group decided not to sit so close to the action and found seats with a higher view of the field. This is my sister, her husband and her mother in law. Shawn is either not a waver or really into his nachos.

My brother, sister in law and dad sat behind us. We all raided Perry's closet for shirts. Good thing he had a lot of team t-shirts!

I have to admit, it was exciting being so close to the players in such a big stadium. These kids have worked so hard this season and this championship game was so deserved. Both teams had a 12-1 record for the season. Our team, however, was predicted to lose by 20 points. We played the other team in the championship game in '06 and lost 53-0 (B.R.U.T.A.L. game to watch).

This was an EXCITING game. I think Spencer was about to have a heart attack at many points! As soon as the other team (Blue Springs) scored, we would score right away on our next possession. The score was 7-7, then 14-14, then 21-21 until Blue Springs jumped to 24-21. Emotions were high as we waited for the predictable TD when we got the ball back. Not only did they score 1 TD, but they scored another one right away bringing the score to 35-24. The fight was on! So much for being 20 point underdogs!

The Hawk had a busy night cheering with the crowd.

There's my hubby! The team doctor (in the black suit), kept getting x-rays sent to him on his iPhone (he was on call). Is that not so cool?!? Fortunately, our team didn't have any serious injuries that required Perry and the doc to run out on the field.

And we finally reached the point where it was clear the game was ours. The kids were sooooo excited! It's the first time a team has won back to back state championships in Missouri (Perry's team won the championship last year as well).

It was a great end to the season. They have some great kids on the team and they so deserve this title.

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But, I'll be happy to have my husband home on Saturdays now that football is FINALLY over. Oh wait, we're heading smack into basketball and wrestling season. Ugh.

Ghosts and Goblins

Or something like that....

Here are the kids before heading out to Trick or Treat on Friday night (our town has a parade on Halloween so the kids trick or treat the night before.)

Elise is very protective and proud of her pumpkins. She picked out the two little ones and gave creative input on the carved design.

And I'm not entirely sure what Carson is dressed up as this year. This is actually Costume #3. Costume #1 was ditched at 8:45 the night before his school party in favor of Costume #2. Costume #2 was worn to school but ditched the moment he came home. Some friends called to invite him to join them trick or treating and that's when Costume #3 materialized. Turns out the mask got too steamy during the actual treak or treating so he basically went as a 10 year kid. At least he's still interested in trick or treating...I know we may not have too many of those left in the future.

Elise's Halloween party

Let the party begin! For the record, Elise was a wizard this year. She was more about the outfit than the character, though, as it involved a sparkly cape, sparkly hat and sparkly boa scarf.


Elise's school has this great Halloween tradition of walking through the historic, part of town past some amazing historic houses, to our district's main office (in a renovated old Victorian house). It's a great walk and the kids have fun showing off their costumes. An added benefit - they get a little tired out to offset all the sugar of Halloween! :)


Because of the insane amount of rain this year, the parade was moved inside. Wasn't quite the same, but fun nonetheless. (This is our last year in that school, none of the other schools in the district do this walk, so I was looking forward to one last time before Elise moves on....sigh.)


Elise did this during the parade. She was very intent on watching each kid. I asked her afterwards what she was doing...she was counting the number of kids in each class. OK...

Next came the class party time. Elise loved the craft and I put my camera away and chatted with the other moms.

It was a fun time. We quickly sped across town and caught the last 5 minutes of Carson's party but I didn't even time to whip out the camera to embarrass him.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This is what happens when you give 10 year olds a video camera....

Carson and his friend have these new cars they enjoy racing but they wanted to take it to a new level and make a video. I let them borrow my Flip camera and this is the result.

Please note that I'd asked them NOT to run the car through high water as I didn't want to hear any belly-aching if it didn't work afterwards (even though they are billed as being waterproof and running them through creeks seems to be one of the big selling points).

Nice to know they listen, huh?

If you want to give the boys a thrill, please give the video a rating. They are getting a kick out of seeing how many times it's been viewed and how it's been rating (that 1-star rating didn't sit well!)

Here is the direct link (for rating purposes).

Happy Birthday Spencer!!!

My nephew Spencer turns 10 today!!! Happy Birthday, Spencer!


Think word is out that he likes football?


His party was at one of those giant trampoline places.

Carson was pretty pooped afterwards!

My sister and brother-in-law who are doing a fantastic job parenting 4 amazing boys.

Pumpkins!

First, I'm a lousy blogger these days. Lousy at putting up posts and lousy at commenting on the blogs I follow. I'm reading, just not commenting much.

We had company this weekend! Perry's folks, his sister and our niece came to visit. Elise only has a handful of girl cousins (and nothing but boy cousins on my side of the family) so she was pretty excited to have Jennifer to play with all weekend!



Believe it or not, this was a sunny day for us. We've had nothing but grey skies, rain and chilly weather lately. OK, it was downright chilly when we went pumpkin picking but not raining.

I love pumpkins. Love the warty ones.

Love the brightly colored ones.

Love the colorful (and warty!) ones.

Carson was determined to get a huge pumpkin. The rule was he had to lift it by himself into the cart (and I wasn't paying over $20!).

The kids spent lots of time searching for just the perfect pumpkin.

And a better mom would have dressed her child in a cuter outfit for pumpkin picking. (In all fairness, the kids both had soccer games earlier in the day and Elise's team is pink...hence the pink shirt and pink pants. The purple sweatshirt was an afterthought so she wouldn't freeze....she really needed a MUCH warmer outfit, though!)

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And...a better mom would have taken a picture of the pumpkins that were picked out. Sigh...Perhaps that will be another post.

Games

We've discovered a great new company that makes family games. The company is called Simply Fun and if you are ever invited to a party, I strongly encourage you to attend. (One of my good friends just signed up as an consultant so if you want anything, let me know and I'll hook you up.)


This game has become one of Elise's new favorites. Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon with no friends able to come play.


This game is called Walk the Dogs and involves setting up and collecting various breeds of doggies.


And Elise takes the game very seriously.

After many rounds of Walk the Dogs, we moved onto Picky Sticks (or the porcupine game as Elise calls it).

Be warned, if you come to my house, my girlie might just rope you into a round of Walk the Dogs!

A special day for my boys.

They made the decision to be baptised yesterday. Not only did they make the decision to be baptised, they decided to do it together. I didn't even think of pulling out my camera at church, but this was taken as soon as we got home (yes, we attend a very casual church). I thought they'd go one after each other, but a 2nd pastor got into the baptismal and they went under together. What a special day for our family.

And I would have posted this yesterday but I discovered what happens when you play basketball with longish nails. You risk attempting to rip them off your fingers. This is how I spent my night...nursing my poor fingers. Did you know it hurts like the dickens? And I just about passed out when I saw my nails sticking up a 90 degree angle. I'm really hoping I don't lose the nails.
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And my engagement ring always falls towards my palm. What's up with that? It looks like I'm wearing 2 wedding bands. Really, I'm only married to one man.

It's that time of year again...

And I don't have much time to think, let alone sit down at the computer for anything other than work related. Sigh...busy busy days but every mom I talk with this time of year is feeling the same way. Here's a quick recap of what's consuming our lives right now (other than the BIGGIE of school and homework).

It's SOCCER time again! My kids play both fall and spring soccer and love it. At this point, they've been on the same time with the same kids for several years now. Elise used to hang back and only kick the ball if it came towards her. She'd run towards the ball, but only following the other kids. This year, she looks like a different kid out there! She's going after the ball, staying in the pack, kicking the ball. Several moms have commented on it as well, so it's not just my momma pride seeing these changes. She did get kicked pretty hard last week and I had to carry her off the field in tears. I wasn't sure if that would ding her confidence, but she was right in there again this week. And, for the 3rd straight year, she's on the PINK team.

Carson is playing on a co-ed team this year. For some odd reason, his team is 5-7 grade boys and 8th grade girls. Guess they didn't have enough girls sign up to have enough teams. The girls are really good and they are serving as good mentors for the boys. Carson wasn't too sure he liked having girls on his team, but it's not so bad when they help the team win. :)

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Carson is also doing a swim team this year for the first time. He hates it, except when he's in the water swimming. Sheeshh, bitter complaining before and after practice. We're struggling with "forcing" him to do another sport versus letting him decide. Swim team will go on through the winter until early spring (when soccer will start up again). He's getting to the age that he needs to be involved with something all year. He gets too lazy without the routine and discipline of a sport. So, we'll see how this works out. But, needless to say, I wasn't sure I'd live to post any pictures I might have taken at his practices. :)

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Perry's football team continues to do well. They are ranked #1 in Missouri right now with high hopes for another state championship. Exciting for the kids, but I'm already dreading the long post season.

Games

Elise loves to play games.


She'll give you this cute and innocent look while asking if you want to play a game with her. Who could resist?

Yeah, don't let that cute look fool you...she plays to win! And she has mancala figured out so much better than I do that she easily beats me. Every.single.time.


Even when she "helps" me out by telling what to move, she still always beats me.

And thens he gloats in the win. Watch out for this one! :)

Teeth

Dental Appointments

Those 2 words sum up a good chunk of last week. Carson could go weeks without brushing his teeth and have no cavities. Elise just needs to look at candy and she gets ones. Bummer.
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Last week she had to have 2 cavaties filled and 2 new molars sealed (in the hopes of keeping them cavity free). She's now had so much dental work done, including root canal and crown on a baby tooth (who knew they did that?), she doesn't even flinch. In fact, after the last appointment, I made a comment about the shot and she was surprised to learn she had gotten a shot in the mouth. The dentist does a great job with kids...so good that he gave her 2 shots in her mouth last visit and she didn't even realize it. :)
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And, sadly, as her adult teeth start coming in, it's pretty clear the dental work is going to continue in the form of braces. We'd better start saving our pennies.

Two weeks in...

Wow, I'm getting really bad about posting.

We're two weeks into school and all is going well. Both kids love their teachers.

Elise had her first "real" test last week in Social Studies and she was quite proud of the 100% she brought home. Her class is apparently a bit rowdy and having difficulty following the rules. One day last week, she announced that she'd had a horrible rotten day! It turns out the entire class lost a recess period. That was the first time EVER she'd lost a recess period and she was ticked.

Carson had a little relapse of the bus drama that followed him all last year and really trashed a friendship (both at the kid and adult levels). I'm really proud of the way he handled it this year. We made some changes to our morning and afternoon routines and thanks to the help of a wonderful neighbor, the problem seems to have been solved. Thank you to a great neighbor!!!

Carson also really likes his teacher this year. She has done some fun things and he's really motivated to do well. He's playing the trumpet this year in band. I pray I still have ear drums at the end of the school year.

The kids are both back into fall soccer and looking forward to a fun season. Carson is doing a swim team this year for the first time as well. He's not so thrilled with the 4 practices a week, but I think he'll enjoy being in the pool and meeting new friends.

Perry's football (last year's state champs!) are already 2-0. I love seeing the kids do well, but I hate the thought of the lengthy post-season play.

I hope everyone else is having a smooth "getting back into the school routine" season as well!

Family Photos

We finally got around to having some family photos taken recently. I discovered a family friend was starting her own business. If you are in the St. Louis area, I highly recommend Danyll Epps.

We lucked out with a gorgeous summer day (always risky with our hot and humid summer weather) and a beautiful setting. I stressed over what we'd all wear and almost went matchy-matchy until Danyll said to wear something that looked like it went together but stay away from matchy-matchy. Matchy-matchy was out and I put together new outfits....quickly.

This is one of my favs of Carson. Let's be honest, it's hard to get a good picture of a pre-teen boy. They are just awkward at tines. But, she took him off on his own and he really had a good time with it.

And there are about a bazillion good ones of Elise (so many it was hard to order). But I just love this one. She lost her top front tooth the very next day. I'm so glad we captured this little girl look. She looks older missing her top front teeth now.

Danyll had some fun and creative picture ideas. There are so many that capture the fun times of the day. Thanks, Danyll, for some great pictures!

More Hummingbirds

OK, so you might start to think I'm a bit obsessed myself with these hummingbirds. I'm always amazed at how many we get. I'd love to see a nest.

I love sitting on our front porch and just watching these creatures. It's my newest form of relaxation.

School is off to a good start for both kids. They both like their teachers. We go for orientation this week and will learn more about the teachers and their expectations.

The semester finally started for me and it's been crazy busy but I just love this time of year. I love the excitement of a new school year. I love the anticipation of the year to come. I love getting to know a new group of students. It's an affirmation that I'm in the right career.

First day of school

School started yesterday! Phew...I felt like I ran a half marathon just getting my kids to school the first day!
Carson is going into 5th grade and, in our district, this is his last year in elementary school. He's now in the oldest grade in his school building (3-5 grades). On the first day of school, I gave the kids the option of driving them or letting them take the bus. Elise decided to take the bus while Carson wanted me to drive him. Then he asked if I'd take him to the donut place before school. No problem. Then he asked if he could bring a friend. No problem. Then he asked if he could bring another friend. Yikes! So, after getting Elise on the bus and gathering up his friends, we headed to the donut place for a pre-school treat. I wanted to take pictures but was told in no uncertain terms that NO PICTURES WERE ALLOWED. The above picture is all I get this year.

Elise is now in 2nd grade! Her school is K-2 but she did pre-K in the same building, so this is her 4th year in the same building and she's feeling pretty comfy. I love her school and it makes me a little sad that she moves up the to the bigger kid (Carson's) school next year.

She got a little nervous the morning of school and decided she wanted me there...but she also wanted to ride the bus and did not want to go for donuts with the boys. So, I had to sprint around town and get back to her school in time for their morning opening. Her school was not built for the current enrollment and the parking S.T.I.N.K.S. So, I ended up parking about a mile away and hiking her supplies in. Phew, I was exhausted by the time school started for the day! You can tell she's pulled into her shell in the above picture.

Yeah, a little smile! She's starting to get into her groove. She's waving to a few friends and keeping a close eye on me.

And off she goes to her 2nd grade classroom. Every year, she's clung to me and gotten teary when it came to time to say good bye to the parents. Not this year, she just picked up her bag of supplies, lined up and headed out to her classroom. She's so excited about her teacher this year even though none of her BFF's are in the same class.

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I do admit to getting a bit teary eyed when I realized this was my last "first" day of school at this school.
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Here's hoping for a good school year for all the kids and teachers!