All of the Pieces...: September 2008

I am thrilled that Queen of Angels football team won AND the Colts! Both games were very close and exciting to the end!

Collin's team has a lot of heart, but the schools that they play against are very large schools. Our team has about 35 kids and then teams that we play against have 75+ players! Needless to say they were thrilled with their first victory! Everyone on the team did a fantastic job! I am hoping that the weather cooperates next Thursday or Saturday and I can take some pictures to post! On Saturday the field was so bad that even the fans came away from the game muddy! The boys loved it though!

And on to the Colts...well, I don't believe that they played their best, but a win is a win! I have a feeling that this is going to be a long year!!!

In the scrapping front, I have just posted the Week 3 Challenge over at Paper Popsicles. Melissa also has lots of new goodies over there. Check them out here!

Here are a couple of layouts for challenges over at Paper Popsicles...go check out the challenges! The first layout is of Collin WAY back when...I was digging through some old photos and came across these. Brings back memories of our old house and the swing set in the back yard. Collin loved that swing set! The second layout is of Collin's Spring school picture last year.

Hope everyone has a great week!

It has been a busy last couple of weeks for our family. Collin has been in school for about 3 weeks and he loves it. It is all about being in middle school, having a locker, changing classes, and having 1-2 hours of homework you know! Okay so he is not so fired up about the homework! Patrick and I decided for the first time this year to ban TV and video games Mondays-Thursdays so Collin would be able to focus on his school work. With 2 hours of football practice a night and the homework, he doesn't really have time for them anyways! He has adjusted well to the new demands of middle school!

I decided when school started that our family had been eating out way too much lately, so I did something I have never done...made a schedule for dinners. I don't really know why I have never done this, and I am wishing I had done it a long time ago! I can't believe how it has helped with my grocery shopping, nightly dinners, and not wasting fresh foods! I let each of the boys pick a night so they are in the mix as well. Can you believe that Patrick picked tuna casserole for his first dish...yuck-o! We used to eat this ALOT when we first got married and I have not made it for years! Both of the boys loved it so I will probably be making it again.....maybe??!??

Patrick and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary this past weekend also. I feel very honored that I have such a great husband! We have seen many different ups and downs in a short time, but that makes me confident that we will be together for the long haul! He is a great father and a wonderful husband...AND he does laundry! Now you can't beat that!

Collin's football is in full gear with their first two games this past week. He is doing so well and actually being very aggressive. It is funny when you think about it because all throughout their young childhood we are telling them to "be nice", "don't hit", "be friends with everyone"; and now from the sidelines of the field you hear moms and dads yelling "hit 'em", "knock them down", "come on, crunch someone!!!". Just something I noticed! Oh yeah, you can bet that Patrick and I are right in the midst of them all yelling out our comments as well! Too funny!

We were excited to go on a mini vacation over Labor Day weekend to Ohio. We went to this awesome zoo that you drive through and then you can feed the animals...it was AMAZING!!! The name of the zoo is African Safari Wildlife Park, check them out! I will admit that I was very nervous when a thousand pound bison was putting his head in our car because he "wanted more food!", but it was an adventure that I don't think I will forget soon! We also went to the Seneca Caverns as Collin loves rock and caves. Let me tell you this is what they call a "natural cave" and it was definitely all natural. The last cave we went in had man-made steps, hand rails, nice paths to follow....not this one! Had I known this little "natural" fact I probably would not have worn flip flops!!! There were several times that you had to twist your body while going down very steep natural steps that were not very wide! We also spent most of our time in the cave bent over at the waist because you could not stand up at all! I was a nervous wreck, Collin LOVED it! Go figure! It was a short trip, but we had a blast!

Here are some pictures from our vacation. YES, those huge animals are THAT close!!! But it was awesome!