Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a bit wild this year. Doug was out of town so my dad came over to greet the visitors to our house. Price and a friend decided to stay home as well and scare those visitors. I headed out with the other four plus three others kids from the neighborhood. We cut the route a little short but everyone got enough candy to snack on.

Brynn wanted to be a cowgirl. Evan wanted to be something scary. Price just wanted a mask and then dressed in black (even his sling for his broken collarbone matched). Caleb went the simple route... a football player, and Nyah was Snow White though up until she put the costume on she was annoyed she was not going to be a mermaid. 

More Team Fire... Different Faces

Evan and Brynn both moved up to team Fire this year... the team Price has played on for the past 4 seasons... he moved up to the next level as well.

It was a great season. They finished with a good record. Evan continued to play strong and Brynn really improved this year. Both really enjoyed the season!

Fun Story for Friday

So the preschool went to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday. Nyah was excited to go so she could pick out a pumpkin. Her heart was set on a small one, just like the one her sister picked on her Girl Scout trip to the pumpkin patch over the weekend (no pictures but it was fun!). Nyah was very, very determined to have a "pumpkin" just like this one...

Just so you get a perspective, this is Brynn's small "pumpkin" (which really isn't a pumpkin at all but you can't convince Nyah of that) next to a container of lip balm and my car keys.

Unfortunately for Nyah, this patch didn't have the same weeds as the other patch, though thankfully, there were enough distractions that Nyah managed to have a great time, like a rope swing...

and some busy bee games...

some thumbsucking friends who introduced her to a habit she has never had (never would have imagined Nyah to be a follower)...

and a buddy who needed her help to find his own perfect pumpkin...

So even if her pumpkin was larger than the one she dreamed about, it is still our smallest and I think she was distracted enough from her vision to have a good time...

I, personally, thought her choice was perfect because it fit nicely in the bag and as most moms of preschoolers know, their interest in carrying their new treasure lasts just about as long as it takes to take a picture.

It was a great day!

A Price Post...

Well, I didn't get to do my update on Price when I said I would because I needed to get a few more soccer pictures and thanks to his now broken collarbone, there will be no more soccer pictures this season unless they are of him on the heels of his coach on the sidelines or looking longingly at the field wishing he could go in. After an afternoon of teasing from me for getting a "Needs Improvement" in handwriting and how maybe he can be a doctor, Price was playing football with friends at the high school game, landed the wrong way, and broke his collarbone on the left side... and he is left handed! Way to get out of writing (and do some career research while at the ER). He will be in the sling for 3-4 weeks and really, there is nothing else we can do to speed the process of healing along... the pain should go away when the bones start coming back together. But just as the picture above shows, he has been handling this all very well. He refused to miss any school and we have to pretty much force him to relax and take his medicine. And while I know he is enjoying all the extra attention and special treatment and kind words from everybody, he really wishes it never happened so he could finish out soccer season. Less than 12 hours after his ER visit he was on the sidelines of his soccer game cheering his teammates on!

I have exactly 3 pictures from this season; such a shame considering his fancy blue cleats are pretty cool and were purchased by a pretty hip mom!  Here is Price at the first soccer practice, learning how to throw the ball in. That is new this year as he moved up to the next age bracket in soccer. They also now have goalies and can be called offsides. His good friend Ryan is right next to him.

I'm secretly, okay maybe I haven't really kept it a secret, relieved he is not playing goalie. I remember how hard it was to watch when Caleb played goalie; I know it is a team sport but there is a certain level of pressure on that player compared to the others. Price has been playing midfield, mostly center. It is the perfect position for him... a little defense, a little offense, a lot of helping organize your teammates and setting up plays, which Price seems to have a natural knack for.

And here is my only game picture, sigh. At least this is the 100,000 season his team has been in green so years from now when I look back at the pictures I really will not have a clue what season I am looking at anyway! Though I should not complain about the shirts considering we were once again blessed that he was on a team with coaches and friends we love!

I will say that other than the N in handwriting, Price is doing an outstanding job in 3rd grade. At the parent conference the other night the teachers kept saying how much they enjoy having Price in class and how he is a super role model, especially for the other boys and how kind he is. I was honest and said he gets his dedication and work ethic from his dad, as well as his handwriting. I'm claiming his great throw-ins in soccer however since that was my best skill when I played!  Love you Price!

Almost Wordless Wednesday... Off to Dance Class

A Friday Funny

Earlier this week I had Brynn's parent/teacher conference. I put my purse on the table and sat across from her wonderful teacher, ready to begin. Brynn started looking through my purse and I asked her what she was doing. "I am looking for that lotion you put on your boobies." Having now been Brynn's mom for over 4 years, very little that comes out of Brynn's mouth embarrasses me. I could not imagine what she meant since I hardly use lotion at all except sunscreen, not even on my expanding belly, so I calmly said, "I don't put lotion on my boobies. What are you talking about?"  She says, "You know, the lotion you put here..." and starts pointing to her armpits. Hmmm. I'm still trying to figure out what at that moment made her think of antiperspirant (which I also do not keep in my purse), how ones gets "boobies" and "armpits" mixed up, and at what point she might develop an appropriateness filter for her chattering.

Thankfully, the rest of the conference was uneventful and she is doing very well in class, has been bumped up a reading group, does not get in trouble, and keeps her teacher, and as I have heard from quite a few parent volunteers, all other adults in the room well entertained!

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

After the decorating...

Resurfacing...

Wow, #6 isn’t here yet but clearly is affecting my blogging capabilities!  Lately, when I am not busy shuttling the kids here and there, at work, or trying to squeeze in a conversation or two with another grown-up, I have had little interest in my hobbies, including blogging (my version of scrapbooking) or taking pictures... too darn tired! I did finally pull out the camera this week (mostly at Kings Dominion with Caleb and Brynn on Sunday so they are the stars of this post... I'll do a Nyah, Evan and Price update later this week). We even enjoyed a weekend of camping with two families whose friendship we treasure and I didn't even touch my camera!  So much for my 365 blog… I did make it a bit longer this year compared to last and I already have plans to reorganize it for 2011, though I may start on my birthday in November instead of January 1.

So what have we been up to? Well we are 1/2 way to meeting our new little one… I’m 20 weeks along and since I have never made it to a due date, it is probably less than 20 weeks before he or she arrives. WE just had our 20 week ultrasound last week and everything looked good so that s probably our last glimpse until February. The 2^nd trimester has been much better than the first… over the shock, excited to see ultrasounds and feeling a growing baby in there, a little bit more energy though this pregnancy has been far more tiring than the other ones, and daily questions from Brynn which drive me crazy but at the same time are very sweet. We are not finding out the sex of the baby this time and I have enjoyed that except when it comes to picking out names… we are very undecided and it is driving me crazy that I am spending all this time coming up with a girl name and a boy name knowing I will eventually only use one!  We actually have three in mind for a boy and I think we would be happy with any of them.  As far as a girl name, well we can’t agree on anything. I left that final ultrasound last week thinking the baby is a girl; Doug thinks the baby is a boy.  This picture is my favorite from the ultrasounds… taken at 16 weeks:

I am still running though VERY slowly.  Gaining weight in the other pregnancies didn’t really bother me but I think this time it does a little, even though I know it is a necessity for the baby. But when I run I feel better and don’t stress about the scale so I plan to keep trying to run as long as I can. We (Doug and I) have a 5k next Monday and an 8K the 2^nd week in November.

Caleb turned 11 last month! We had a small family celebration and he enjoyed a day at the amusement park with a few friends! He got a new DS and some Bakugan games so he was a happy camper!

The kids have been doing GREAT in school. Their interim reports were fantastic. Price, Evan and Brynn like school but hate the bus ride. It is about an hour in the afternoon and from what it sounds like, it could be shorter if there wasn’t the need for daily fussing at noisy students. Brynn recently lost her first tooth...the day before school pictures! She was so excited! Tiniest tooth I have ever seen; seemed about half the size of the hole it left!

I have been most impressed at how Caleb has transitioned to middle school. He is doing very well and for the first time ever, drum roll please, has met his reading goal!! I am so proud of him! When I was his age I could not get enough of Nancy Drew books and he has been bitten by the Hardy Boys series. Perhaps not the most challenging to read but he is reading, LOTS! He is also playing flag football again… it is a fun way for him to be involved and the relaxed atmosphere is a blessing. He is also running cross country for the middle school though he has had shin splint issues all season… just like I did when I started running and from what I hear, just like his uncle when he ran in high school. He just went to the doctor today and his shoe inserts should be ready next week; hopefully they will help.

Brynn is taking hip-hop class this year. She decided against gymnastics because she says it hurt too much. She also is in Girl Scouts again and she loves it. She still wants to take horseback riding lessons and the other weekend she went to a party where they had horses (the previous Wordless Wednesday post) and she LOVED getting up on the horse so much I clearly need to start making arrangements for her to ride more often.Though just tonight she expressed an interest in karate. Hmm.

More later this week!