In the midst of football season and one of my busiest work semesters ever, I decided that we needed to have a Halloween party :) The whole thing was inspired by a picture of a "Trick or Treat" banner in Southern Living. In a leap of logic totally not understood by my wonderful husband, I decided that if I was making a banner, then we might as well have a party! Cade has loved monsters ever since receiving "Where the Wild Things Are" for his birthday, so the theme was easy. I had a great time planning everything and I think our little monsters had fun too!
Here are a few party details:
Menu:
Grape and orange salad
Cheetos served in green ice cream cones
Mini Monster Fingers (cocktail weiners wrapped in crescent rolls)
Monster Mush (vanilla yogurt with assorted toppings)
Orange and grape juice
The kids had fun playing with squishy spaghetti in the sand table, bobbing for apples (thanks, Beth!), and sticking the face on the monster (with "minimal" peeking). But, they had the most fun chasing each other around the swingset and making a monstrous mess out of Cade's room.
Thanks, friends, for spending a great afternoon with us!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Football and Family
Last Friday night we were blessed with another great crowd at Chance's game. Oma, Opa, Great Oma, Chris, Jessi, Nana, and Papa joined Cade and me to watch the Hornets. We all had a great time! The Hornets played hard against Navasota and Chance was proud of all of his players.
On Sunday, we got together for Oma and Great Oma's birthdays. Cade sure enjoyed blowing out their candles! With the promise of cake, Cade actually agreed to sit for pictures with everybody! Such a rare treat!
Happy belated birthdays, Oma and Mom!
On Sunday, we got together for Oma and Great Oma's birthdays. Cade sure enjoyed blowing out their candles! With the promise of cake, Cade actually agreed to sit for pictures with everybody! Such a rare treat!
Happy belated birthdays, Oma and Mom!
Tires and Turtles
One of my greatest joys of parenting (and being married to a man that is the best dad in the world) is the opportunity to turn everyday events into adventures and teachable moments. Two examples:
Last week, Chance had a flat tire. Cade was totally fascinated by the whole thing and the fact that Daddy's truck drove with a different tire for one day. So, Chance let Cade help him take the spare off and put the real tire back on. We know there will be a point in his life when changing a tire is not so exciting, but at 3 1/2, Cade thought this was really great!
Congrats on a job well done, guys!
A few days ago, Chance brought home a baby turtle. One of the other science teachers got this turtle from a student and thought that Chance should bring it home. It was really a cute little thing, but I decided that a house with a cat and dog was not the best habitat for a turtle that resided in a cool whip bowl.
So, after showing the little turtle off to our neighbors, we took a nighttime trip to Research Park to let the little guy swim with the other turtles.
Where is the turtle, Daddy?
Good luck, tiny turtle!
Last week, Chance had a flat tire. Cade was totally fascinated by the whole thing and the fact that Daddy's truck drove with a different tire for one day. So, Chance let Cade help him take the spare off and put the real tire back on. We know there will be a point in his life when changing a tire is not so exciting, but at 3 1/2, Cade thought this was really great!
Congrats on a job well done, guys!
A few days ago, Chance brought home a baby turtle. One of the other science teachers got this turtle from a student and thought that Chance should bring it home. It was really a cute little thing, but I decided that a house with a cat and dog was not the best habitat for a turtle that resided in a cool whip bowl.
So, after showing the little turtle off to our neighbors, we took a nighttime trip to Research Park to let the little guy swim with the other turtles.
Where is the turtle, Daddy?
Good luck, tiny turtle!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
I am a soccer mom!
Cade started soccer this week! He and 2 friends from school are doing the Smart Start program in Bryan, which is 6 weeks of soccer drills for 3-4 year olds. We like that they start playing without any competition, and the kids like that all of the drills are parent-child. I have to admit that I was really nervous about the first practice since I have never played a ball sport a day in my life, but I am happy to say that I kept up with the preschoolers and learned a lot :) Cade had such a great time and I was so proud of him for focusing for the whole hour and responding well to coaching from someone other than Daddy. We are already looking forward to next week!
Since parents are involved in all of the playing, I didn't get to take any pictures of the actual drills. Cade worked especially hard at stopping the ball by stomping on it with his foot, and his favorite drill was practicing throwing the ball from the sideline. It was the only time they could use their hands!
After practice, the boys agreed to take a picture for Chance since he couldn't come. They even said "Go Hornets!"
Before long, chatting after soccer practice turned into some serious tackling. My little camera is giving me fits with blurry pictures, but you can get the idea of how much fun they were having. And no one got hurt!
Since parents are involved in all of the playing, I didn't get to take any pictures of the actual drills. Cade worked especially hard at stopping the ball by stomping on it with his foot, and his favorite drill was practicing throwing the ball from the sideline. It was the only time they could use their hands!
After practice, the boys agreed to take a picture for Chance since he couldn't come. They even said "Go Hornets!"
Before long, chatting after soccer practice turned into some serious tackling. My little camera is giving me fits with blurry pictures, but you can get the idea of how much fun they were having. And no one got hurt!
Football, Football, Football
Backtracking a bit... we attended 3 football games last week! Cade was so excited about all of them and his teachers at school certainly heard their fill about his football week!
Our football fever started on Thursday with Chance's cousin Matthew's game. He coaches the freshmen team at A&M Consolidated High School, so Cade and I went to watch him with Nana, Papa, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Fred. It was crazy (and a little sad) to see how much bigger Matthew's freshmen are than Chance's varsity Hornets.
Cade had a great time at the game with everybody!
Another really fun thing about this game was that Coach Patton (the usher/greeter from our church that Cade absolutely adores) is the announcer. Uncle Fred took Cade up to the pressbox to see Patton and Cade loved it!
Here's Matthew in action (coach on right shaking #65's hand). We are so proud of him! It doesn't seem like that long ago that we watched his basketball and baseball games at Consol, and now he is coaching there and about to get married!
Friday we went to Caldwell for the faceoff against Smithville. We love getting to stand on the track while the Hornets take the field.
Cade shows Paige (Coach Young's daughter) how to give a "boom"
Saturday morning we baked outside and watched Hayden's pee-wee football game. If this is in Cade's future, we have a lot to learn! The fans are pretty intense, the teams have cheerleaders, and the kids are pretty good! By the way, they are only 9 years old! Hayden is #45 and is ready for the first play of the game.
Have I mentioned that football is our LIFE? I am a happy coach's wife and wouldn't have it any other way :)
Our football fever started on Thursday with Chance's cousin Matthew's game. He coaches the freshmen team at A&M Consolidated High School, so Cade and I went to watch him with Nana, Papa, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Fred. It was crazy (and a little sad) to see how much bigger Matthew's freshmen are than Chance's varsity Hornets.
Cade had a great time at the game with everybody!
Another really fun thing about this game was that Coach Patton (the usher/greeter from our church that Cade absolutely adores) is the announcer. Uncle Fred took Cade up to the pressbox to see Patton and Cade loved it!
Here's Matthew in action (coach on right shaking #65's hand). We are so proud of him! It doesn't seem like that long ago that we watched his basketball and baseball games at Consol, and now he is coaching there and about to get married!
Friday we went to Caldwell for the faceoff against Smithville. We love getting to stand on the track while the Hornets take the field.
Cade shows Paige (Coach Young's daughter) how to give a "boom"
Saturday morning we baked outside and watched Hayden's pee-wee football game. If this is in Cade's future, we have a lot to learn! The fans are pretty intense, the teams have cheerleaders, and the kids are pretty good! By the way, they are only 9 years old! Hayden is #45 and is ready for the first play of the game.
Have I mentioned that football is our LIFE? I am a happy coach's wife and wouldn't have it any other way :)
A Few of His Favorite Things
At the game on Friday, I tried to take pictures of Cade's absolute favorite things about football games. They are:
The Big Helmet
The Big Hornet
Stealing Mama's drink
Watching Daddy take care of players
Cade seemed really interested in the actual game this week and asked tons of questions! Hopefully I answered them all right :) While Caldwell did not beat Giddings, Chance was very proud of his Hornets for playing so hard.
The Big Helmet
The Big Hornet
Stealing Mama's drink
Watching Daddy take care of players
Cade seemed really interested in the actual game this week and asked tons of questions! Hopefully I answered them all right :) While Caldwell did not beat Giddings, Chance was very proud of his Hornets for playing so hard.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Goodbye, Laurinda
Last Sunday we went to a farewell dinner for our wonderful pastor, Laurinda Kwiatkowski. She accepted a call to preach at a Methodist church in San Antonio, which is definitely our loss and their gain! Laurinda has been an amazing part of our lives since we joined our church in September 2007, and she is exceptionally patient with Cade when he is feeling "less-than-affectionate". Some of his antics have even made their way into her sermons, and he was always happy to see her when she visited him at school during the week. Laurinda established the contemporary service that we attend and created such welcoming church community that has allowed us to make some great friends. I could go on and on, but you get the idea... we really like her and are sad to see her go!
Our church gave a roast for her and it was absolutely hilarious. She and her family are good sports! We will miss all of them!
Alyssa (and baby), Stephanie, Ellen, Laurinda, Vicki, and Alyssa - quote of the night was "I feel so sorority!" Such fun!
Our church gave a roast for her and it was absolutely hilarious. She and her family are good sports! We will miss all of them!
Alyssa (and baby), Stephanie, Ellen, Laurinda, Vicki, and Alyssa - quote of the night was "I feel so sorority!" Such fun!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Dewberry Farm
Last Saturday, we met the ladies of the Johnson family at one of the cutest places I have ever been - Dewberry Farm. It has every kind of kids' entertainment we could ever want, all in the cutest setting. Combine this with the fact that it was a perfect, sunny fall day and we were with some of our most favorite people in the world, and it is guaranteed to be a great morning!
The first stop was Haybale Mountain, which Cade and Natalie conquered pretty quickly. Natalie had a great time saying "cheese" for our ever-present cameras, and Cade nicely tolerated a brief photo session.
The absolute highlight of the farm was the "jumping pillows". The picture does not show how big this thing was... imagine a bouncy pillow bigger than our living room, set into the ground for kids' pure enjoyment. Cade would have jumped for hours if there hadn't been so much to see (and if he wasn't operating on 5 hours of sleep after Chance's game the night before). It was great!
Deciding how to navigate the corn maze.
Kelsey and I were amazed at how much our kids have changed since their last visit to a pumpkin patch. They've visited pumpking patches together since they were 6 months old. I'll have to post a comparison soon!
Shockingly, I had to tell Cade not to throw the pumpkin :)
Making friends with Oreo the pig in the baby animal barnyard.
Who knew that sitting on a somewhat wobbly pig would bring out a picture smile? He was so excited about this thing!
At this station, kids pumped water to race their ducks down the lanes. Check out the looks of concentration on all the boys' faces!
Cade thought the tractor was pretty great, and especially loved the squeaky noise the steering wheel made. Ah, boys.
Fun Mama and son time... thanks for the pics, Kelsey!
Thank you so much for meeting us, Kelsey and Natalie! It was so great to have time with our wonderful friends.
The first stop was Haybale Mountain, which Cade and Natalie conquered pretty quickly. Natalie had a great time saying "cheese" for our ever-present cameras, and Cade nicely tolerated a brief photo session.
The absolute highlight of the farm was the "jumping pillows". The picture does not show how big this thing was... imagine a bouncy pillow bigger than our living room, set into the ground for kids' pure enjoyment. Cade would have jumped for hours if there hadn't been so much to see (and if he wasn't operating on 5 hours of sleep after Chance's game the night before). It was great!
Deciding how to navigate the corn maze.
Kelsey and I were amazed at how much our kids have changed since their last visit to a pumpkin patch. They've visited pumpking patches together since they were 6 months old. I'll have to post a comparison soon!
Shockingly, I had to tell Cade not to throw the pumpkin :)
Making friends with Oreo the pig in the baby animal barnyard.
Who knew that sitting on a somewhat wobbly pig would bring out a picture smile? He was so excited about this thing!
At this station, kids pumped water to race their ducks down the lanes. Check out the looks of concentration on all the boys' faces!
Cade thought the tractor was pretty great, and especially loved the squeaky noise the steering wheel made. Ah, boys.
Fun Mama and son time... thanks for the pics, Kelsey!
Thank you so much for meeting us, Kelsey and Natalie! It was so great to have time with our wonderful friends.
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