Sunshine and patches

I consider it a charitable act of God when we have sunny weather in the fall. It just doesn't get much better than that. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and it's made all the better when the air is crisp and the sun is shining. We lucked out and had TWO beautiful days to visit the pumpkin patch this year. The first was a quick trip to Joe's Place with Nana and the kids and then the second was with Carter and his classmates for a field trip.

Carter getting our wheel barrow.
Muscle man!

Pumpkins just her size

Cater and Nana on the tractor ride

Making her way through the hay maze

On top of the world...well the hay pyramid anyways

Carter and his good buddy Kannon

The Lollipops with Miss Michell

I was so thankful to be able to go with Carter's class to the pumpkin patch. It was a wonderful day!

A Super Soccer Season

This past Saturday wrapped up an eight week soccer season for Carter. With this being his first foray into team sports, I think it's safe to say that the season was a success. The kids had so much fun and pretty much dominated each game. There were definitely a couple of stand outs on the team, but most of the players improved and everyone scored a few goals. Carter had his best two games at the end of the season, scoring 5 and 4 goals respectively. We encouraged him to be a little more aggressive and actually go TO the ball. His MO throughout most of the season was to run up ahead of his teammates, once they had gotten the ball, and cherry pick the ball and score. It was kind of funny, really, as there was usually more defense among our own team then from our opponents. Overall it was a great season, and Carter is already asking when next year's season will begin.

First game...GO Blue Streaks!

Enjoying snack after the game - certainly one of the highlights!

Team huddle

Carter and Andrew - these two were great and really loved playing on the same team. Andrew is a fantastic little athlete and single handily beat most of our opponents!

Off he goes, look at that determination

Goal kick

SCORE! It was so fun to watch Carter score a goal. He literally beamed from ear to ear and loved to hear the cheers.

buddies

Can't you just tell he's having fun?

And the trophy - brought it for share at school and has not been without it for most of the past four days. It was a big deal, for sure.

The Blue Streaks with Coach Lori

(Caden, Eva, Evan, Andrew, Carter and Mason)

Cheers to Judes

This year's Alzheimer's Walk happened to correspond with Judy's 60th birthday, so Carrie put together a team and we all walked to support finding an end to this horrific illness. Unfortunately the weather wasn't especially nice, but I think everyone had a good time and I know my family felt honored to be walking with Carrie in honor of her mom.

A few team members kicking off the start of the walk

Having fun and getting wet!

a big *thank you* to everyone who donated to help this effort

Kyle and Carter after the walk. Carter did great and walked nearly the entire 5K route. He had fun...although one of the most tender moments came when he asked how sick Auntie Carrie's mom was. Here's how our conversation went:

C: "Does she have a really bad cold, mom?"

Me: "No honey, she's much sicker than that, as sick as a person can possibly get"

C: "oh, she must be throwing up all day then."

It was so touching to realize that all the sickness that my son has ever known is a cold or a stomach bug. In his four year old innocence, I felt so blessed that throwing up was as sick as he could imagine being. I hope it stays that way for a very long time.

GO Bears!

My dear husband is a devoted Chicago Bears fan. Even through the rough years (and there have been many), his loyalty has never wavered. I think his obsession began back in the day when Walter Payton was playing and he's stayed true ever since. So, when I happened upon these vintage NFL shirts at Old Navy, I was pumped. It was the first time in 10+ years when Kyle was actually happy about me shopping. I orginally just bought shirts for Carter and Kyle, but Kyle thought Kennedy and I should be sporting blue and orange, as well. So here we are.

Our little (slightly dorky) family all decked out in our matching Bears shirts.

The kids on game day - Go Bears!

Changes

It's been much too long since I've blogged and I'm missing it. Feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the posts I need to catch up on, as well. We've done so much in the last two months but I am committed to getting current and hope to add some more exciting posts soon.

One of the reasons that I've been a blog slacker is because I started back to work at the Red Cross. In mid September I rejoined the ranks of the working world and have been spinning in circles ever since. My hats off to all working mothers who have to juggle a dozen plates at once. It wasn't an easy transition, especially because I had to work full time for the first four weeks, but it was made more bearable by some very wonderful people who helped with the kids. Friends and family pitched in to care for Carter and Kennedy and just knowing that they were having fun and were with people who loved them made leaving the house each morning somewhat less awful.

We are all now settling into our new routine. I am working 2 or 3 night shifts a week and really don't mind the work. It's not my dream job, but it's good work that makes a difference and I know exactly what is expected of me each night. There is some comfort in that, as well.

I've never been a fan of change, but we are all adjusting and hope that this change will be the best for our family.

Current Obsession

Carter's most recent obsession has been volcanoes. He wants to know everything about them, and I often find myself having 20 minute discussions about various eruptions and volcano factoids. We even had the librarian show us a special section with a ton of volcano books - Carter was in heaven and that's all we read for at least four days! The funny part is that he's kind of freaked out by the whole "mountain's going to explode" part of volcanoes but fascinated none the less. So, over Labor Day we decided to make the trek up to Mt. St. Helens. We stopped at the visitor's center, toured a little museum and watched (Carter half watched, half buried his head in our shoulders due to fear!) a video of the 1980 explosion. I was truly something. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best and we couldn't actually see the crater - bummer! But we drove all the way to the top, took a few photos and then drove a ways down and found a great trail to hike. I can imagine the stunning views had the clouds not been socked in. It was a fun day, the kids enjoyed the adventure and Carter was pretty pumped to learn so much up close.

See those clouds behind us? That's the mountain,

and the crater was just about above the cloud line. Perfect.
View from the Visitor's Center.

We found a great (free!) trail, Hummock's Trailhead, and completed a 2.5 mile hike. The loop was perfect for kids, a little up and down, great views, ponds with beaver dams and ducks and just the right distance.

Kennedy got off easy

Here's how the hike looked at the end...Carter got a little tired and was walking very slowly, so Kyle scooped him up and gave him a lift for a few minutes. After that short rest, he was ready to go and we raced the last 1/4 of a mile.

School Days

It's hard to believe that Carter is starting another year of pre school, but it's definitely that time of the year. The days are shorter, the air is cooler and children are heading back to school. Carter had his first day last week and has seemed to enjoy it so far. He wasn't nearly as excited this year, because he was so nervous about all the changes - new classroom, new teacher and new friends. I think he's had fun and seems to come home in a good mood each afternoon. Hopefully we'll have another wonderful year, full of fun and lots of learning!

He's getting so big! August 30th, 2010

Hanging up his backpack and gearing up for the first day

Diving right in

Of course Miss K had to get into the action, as well. She packed a snack and a book into her backpack and was all set to go. I think she was a little disappointed that she wasn't heading off to school, too. Next year will be here soon enough, I'm afraid to say.