Last Weekend

It's been so long that I won't even try to catch up. Things have been crazy busy with the boys playing basketball, Brady's baseball practices, watching high school basketball games and of course, spending time with Marcela, our exhange student from Brazil :)

Last weekend our church had a special day for 3rd graders - they got their own Bibles during church on Sunday. On Saturday, we walked through the ceremony and they spent time doing activities with their Bibles and having fun with the group.

I love our minister, Ron King. His message to the kids Saturday morning was very special. I loved that he took the time to look up the meaning of each child's name and include it on the message within each Bible.
Brady's name means "wide expansion" and he explained why that was important. He had something special to mention about each kid and talked about how Brady had taught him "all about music" - which was amazing because I didn't realize he really knew the kids that well. For the next 5 weeks, the 3rd graders are having a special class to learn how to use their Bibles. I hope they enjoy it!

Brady has spent a lot of time practicing basketball with his team this season. They are almost through the season and although they have won a tournament game, they haven't won A game in league play. They are playing in the top level of the 4th grade league - they are 3rd graders. That has been a big change, since I believe they had just lost 1 game the entire 2 seasons prior playing boys their age.

It was a decision the team made (not to play the top level, but to play in 4th grade league) and I see glimpses of them getting better (you HAVE to protect the ball when everyone else is a foot taller :) but it's been hard. Not because they have lost so much, but to see the boys get down on themselves. They are so darn talented.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa Jones. It was really nice and the kiddos were able to enjoy playing tag and "discovering" everything around the farm. Their neighbors saved a doe and have been feeding her for almost 3 months. Now she acts just like a dog and is very friendly towards humans so they have her locked inside their barn until deer season ends. She wanted out so bad - she'll be glad to be free shortly! The kids (and myself) thought it was unbelieveable to be able to pet a deer and have it act SO calm.

Starting Early

My parents came up and we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the high school. It did seem a bit early for this play, but the music got us into the holiday spirit. The kids did a great job! (and Brady saw the owner of the StrikeZone - the baseball facility we recently joined - and walked all the way around to talk to him which was nice/surprising to see).

Ed said people weren't allowed to take pictures, but all I heard was video ;)

Strykers

Very proud of the team and how much they improved this season. Go Strykers!

Pumpkin faces

I love Halloween. I LOVE pumpkins. Sure wish it would have stayed 80 degrees, but it worked out well (at least for me!) for Ed to carve the pumpkins while we fixed/ate dinner tonight. The boys looked at some pictures and gave their final requests. Ed did a great job!

Not sure why Brady thought this was such a great pose with his pumpkin. . .whatever :)

Where's the Beef?

Ed's company's fall event this year was having a tent/party (they even competed in the contest on Sunday) at the American Royal BBQ - we had never been before and it was a lot of fun. The food was amazing - they took 18th in the Brisket contest.

A Little "Before and after"

As we (slowly) settle into our new house and get "our stuff" arranged, it starts to feel more like home.  For 10 years though, this was our home (before and after) and we really loved living there (except for a few major things - like our small backyard and some neighbors :).

Here is the "before" - this is what it looked like when we bought the house. Amazingly enough we saw through the navy exterior trim and teal walls with wallpaper borders! Ed started painting the navy trim white immediately and our neighbors stopped by to thank us.

Mauve carpet and teal paint (with red brick) - enough said

Ed extended the flower beds and improved the looks a ton shortly after we moved in, which I quickly filled up. This must have been the first spring - bare beds, but lots of tulips :)

And here's a couple pics of the "after" - we changed our carpet to neutral right before we moved out, which I totally understood, but it didn't quite feel like "our" house after that which I think made it a little easier to leave.

Too bad I can't find the "before" shot of the kitchen - Ed put in a new floor, we tore down the "half" wall between the kitchen and dining room and put in new appliances (except for fridge). This was Brady sorting out his cards as my mom and I were cleaning the morning we left. The comment I hear most from Brady is he misses our kitchen - strange, but true.