Halloween

Halloween is here again - Emily true to history had to find a red haired character.  After much deliberation she decided to be Wendy (from Wendy's fast food).  We repurposed Kate's Alice in Wonderland costume rather well I think.

We convinced Bob to use one of Emmy's old costumes but without red hair we had to get a wig to pull off the Merida costume.

Do you like Emmy's pumpkin pig?

Kate decided she wanted to make a cow costume.  She picked out the fabric and we worked on the costume together.  The glow in the dark halo was a nice touch to make her a "holy" cow.  Her real motivator for the costume was to have some warm new jammies when Halloween is over.

The after math - I love how they sit down and organize it all then put it back in their buckets to consume later.

Lily got invited to two different Halloween parties.  Brooke's party was with a bunch of girls from school.

And Hazel had friends from church.  She loved both of them.

We had our Halloween dinner the weekend before Halloween.  Sammie joined the party and Rachel helped me in the kitchen.  Andrew and Mack didn't invite friends this year but Andrew helped in the kitchen with Rachel.

The kids always love the silliness and I figure it is good to be creative once a year 🤪.

Lily Soccer

 Lily was lucky to even get a coach this year so her team got a late start.  They didn't win many games but they had a lot of fun together.  She tried her hand at goalie and stopped several goals.  Lily even scored a goal at her very last game.  It was fun to watch her learning the game.

Mack on the Field

My Macky boy's last soccer season!  So hard to beleive.  I have loved watching this kid play.  His love for soccer is truly a passion.  I'm curious to see how that passion plays out in his life moving forward.  One way or another he loves the game and loved playing it with these boys.

His skills psyched out that poor kid and left him on the group more than once.

Almost a goal.

After he scored his PK on senior night he and the boys ran over to Greg for a photo shoot.  It was hilarious.  Greg has been taking pics during the games for two years now and this was the first time they posed for pictures.  It made me smile.

Here is the whole team.  Hard to imagine watching them play next year without my Mack and the other seniors.  It's been great - sad to see it end - although I am glad to have my Tuesday and Thursday nights back ;).

Homecoming 2021

Andrew's first date was Homecoming.  He was not too sure about asking someone becuase most of his close friends weren't going but he was conviced to do it and I think he's glad he did.

We drove over to Annie's house late one night with this box.

This arrived on the door step a few nights later.

With soccer districts that Saturday for the girls and boys planning was difficult. Andrew ended up with a smaller group that did their date Friday night to work around the soccer and cross country kids with conflicts on Saturday.   He even connected with a third cousin that is super into taxidermy.  I think they forged a quick but deep friendship. The date was a lot of fun, in spite of Andrew not being able to drive his date 😜.

Andrew and I searched all over for an appropriately

 colored tie only to strike out over and over - in the end I found a $70 grey one that at least wouldn't clash.  That is more expencive that most of Natali's HOCO dresses!  Luckily, I remembered that Sabrina Bishop's wedding color was sage green.  A call to Lori got us a lovely green tie of Blake's that matched perfectly!  

On Saturday his small group combined with some others friends doing Olive Garden take out at one of the boys houses.  

He had such a great time.  I would say that his first date and first homecoming were a success.

Mack asked Luna, a foreign exchange student from Norway.  He conviced his buddies to ask some one and they made a day of it.  

Becuase of districts they didn't have time to go out to eat and opted to eat at our house.  We were a bit rushed to get back from the game and get dinner on the table but we made it work.

We forgot to take any picks but the girls decorated and dressed up to wait table.  The food turned out alright except that we didn't know Luna was a vegetarian - oops.  I hope she got enough to eat.

Last homecoming for these silly boys; they are always laughing when they are together.  Glad they could enjoy this one together.

Andrew Soccer

Andrew started every game on JV and played nearly every minute.  He was a key part of the team.

He scored two offical goals (one additional one that the ref wasn't so cleared the line).  He scored a very important header to tie one game in the last 5 minutes.  He was definitely on a high that night.  

They didn't have a great season but they played hard and Andrew loved it.

Senior Night

Well the Senior mom's made Senior Night really special.  I luckily just stood back and watched for the most part.  In fact, the 6 days before Senior Night I had been in bed with a fever.  That night was my first day without any fever.  Blessings!

Nani came into town and my parents were there - we should have got a picture of them- somehow I never think of things like that in the moment.  But it was sweet to have them there.  Especially since Andrew scored a header to tie the game and Mack was selected to shoot a PK and made it.  It was a big night for our boys.

These boys have played soccer together for a long time.  Some of them have been on Mack's team since 5th grade.  We are sure going to miss watching them all play.

One of the dad's made this for each of the boys - it was pretty fun.

Each of the boys was supposed to have a poster out on display.  I didn't plan ahead but miraculously the Costco prints showed up at the house a day before the 5 day possible window.  Seriously - blessings.  I threw this together the night before when my fever was waining.  My favorite pic is of Andrew and Mack when they were little and on the same team.  Hard to beleive those two will be separated next year.

Soccer has been such a huge part of Mack's life.  When the last district game ended it was hard to see how emotional he was.  He seemed to be in a haze for the next day or two - hard to say goodbye to this amazing part of his life.  I'm so grateful for the years I've had to watch him play on the field and to listen to him bang that ball around the house, for the hours he's spent outside working on tricks and shooting.  I love his determination, hard work, and passion.  I have watched him become the player he is and it has been a pleasure.   

18!

Can you see the 17 + 1 on the cake?  We had to get creative. I can't beleive my baby boy is 18!!!  I was down with fever for a week before his bday so Annie picked up the steak from Costco, Scott cut it for me, and Lori picked up the ice cream cake from DQ.  I am so grateful for good friends!  Greg cooked the steak and peeled all the potatoes.  Mack had an awesome bday dinner thanks to lots of helpers.  I was just feeling grateful I was well enough to walk around and be a part of the big day.

Natali turned 18 during Covid lockdown so to make it special we gave her 18 presents.  The girls wanted to do the same thing for Mack but I didn't really have 18 presents (he had ordered himself a $$ jersey, a few t-shirts and a pair of shorts).  So we wrapped 6 Mt. Dews and a bunch of cosmic brownies.  He was probably more annoyed about unwrapping 7 brownies than he was excited about getting 18 presents but it made for a good laugh.

This pose was not from his bday but from scriptures one night.  I couldn't pass up taking a pic of Mack surrounded by Lily's special squishamellows and his soccer ball.  Love that kid.

It is so crazy to think that my blond little swirly haired baby is 18 and graduating from High School soon.  I am so grateful for the calm and humor that he adds to our family.  He is a great big brother, helpful when needed, and always manages a one-liner to get us laughing.  I sure love my Macky.