It Doesn't Get Old...

GABE KOTTER...

RICHARD SIMMONS...

JOHN MCENROE...

BEN WALLACE...

KYLE STRATTON...

I was just trying for a HARLEM GLOBETROTTER...

Whatcha think? {NAPOLEON DYNAMITE meets THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS}

 

Is It Just Me...

...or does everyone feel the need to take a mental health day today?  This weather is pretty depressing.  How's a girl supposed to get her walk on when it is constantly raining?  The theory of walking a mile before work every morning and then another 2-3 every lunch really sounds terrific {especially when I hear myself profess it}but the reality is a bit more bleak.  I did, however, pick up a kettlebell last night {from the basement, not the store}and was totally knocked out.  Those things are killer.  But they are awesome.  It's my new focus.  I've been feeling really terrible for more than a week.  At first I thought it was allergies...or lack of sleep. {someone needs to remind me I'm a little past my partying prime} I've heard the weather can cause this.  Whatever it is, I slept for most of Saturday and still never felt better.  I really need to step it up.  I need my mojo back.  I really need to take my health more seriously.  I'm a mess.

Last week Caleb played his last 7th grade football game.  It was super fly.  The boys did a fabulous job, against Oakridge I might add, and won the game. Sigh.  I think we have a week before basketball...?

Also last week, Caleb was invited to the Youth Leadership Conference in November.  It's a 4 night, 5 day conference  held at Camp Miniwanca.  ♥  What an opportunity for him.  he's so jacked.  He'll get to do a lot of the camp stuff like rock walls and high ropes, as well as do a bunch of leadership stuff with other 7th graders.  The food there is Uhmayyyzing so I won't have to worry about him starving to death.  In the end, he'll have come up with a way to better our school in some way {along with other students} such as a fundraiser or other betterment idea.  What I don't know is if each Whitehall student does his/her own project or if they all work on one together.  Beats me.

Keith's last game was also last week.  The team started off strong in the first  half.  I really can't say what changed in the second.  At the end, the team held a really long huddle and then they all walked the entire length of the filed together, holding hands.  It was pretty neat to see.  Watching the tears streaming down faces of seniors, I was taken back 18 years.  Something about that feeling of knowing "this is it" maybe really never goes away.  I felt for those kids.  I was so struck by seeing a father and son embracing that I wanted to take a picture of it.  Keith was annoyed with me that I would do that in their moment, but I was thinking like a mom.  I knew it may or may not have been appropriate at the time {mainly because I had my zoom lens attached to the camera and I was sooo close to the people in proximity and I was in their business}  As a mom I knew that mom would want that picture.  I'm still playing around with them, but here is one...

Okay, so one pic can be taken a couple different ways...I was just having fun. {and clearly this isn't him with his dad.  I get it}

In case you didn't already know, Halloween is Sunday.  Yes, Sunday!!  Caleb is dressing up as The Mask, Andrew as an Old Man and Kyle as a Harlem Globe Trotter.  Not really sure about the last one.  Kyle wanted to be a basketball player and I agreed only if he wore a wig.  Why?  Because I like Halloween as much as the next gal but I don't see the point in dressing up as yourself or in the same costume every single year.  That thought process is not for everyone but it's the way I'm built.  So anyway, it's Tuesday.  I have 5 days.  I say I have plenty of time to get this worked out.  So far I have the ball uniform {via Keith's throwback Sacred Heart 8th grade collection...who keeps that crap??}and wig and still need tube socks, a sweat band and wrist bands.  Kyle will be wearing black pants and a black shirt underneath...is this racist in any way?  I'm realizing I'm profiling...he needs to be warm.  Thoughts?  For Caleb, I have green makeup and a hat.  Strange, the leopard print electric blue fedora doesn't quite resemble the Mask's hat but Caleb thought of it right away so...  He also needs a brown suit.  Wish me luck.  Andrew has grandpa pants from Jen {thanks, Jen} and suspenders.  I've been really dragging my feet over this one.  Andrew wants a beard.  I'm thinking side hair and bushy eyebrows.  I need a hat and glasses.  Tomorrow is the big day.  Goodwill shopping and Hob Lob. {and maybe some Teej...I want a new purse}  Cannot wait to put it all together.

Here's how old I'm apparently getting.  My baby tells me this morning that...wait, let me first preface this story with a little irony.  Caleb never liked dressing up in costumes as a little thing.  As he got older, he looked forward to coming up with, and dressing in, fun costumes.  So anyway, he says to me this morning, {yes, I referred to him as my baby}"I don't think I'm going to go trick-or-treating this year."  I asked him if he wants to help G & G pass out candy and he said yes.  He even said he may dress up to do it.  I love that he loves to dress up.  He's got a good sense of humor that way.  I'm breaking over here, though, to know that he is growing up.  My fall scrapbook is going to start changing from here on out.  Pictures of my 3 and Kristin's 3 dressed up at gram's will be replaced with the 5 trick-or-treaters and Caleb with his friends dressed up for fall school dances...

Caleb's first dance is Friday night.  he has no "date" but plans to go with some friends.  Oh, I so totally plan on chaperoning.  Don't you know it.  I've waited for these days for a long time!  It doesn't matter that I don't have a girl...I'm actually acting as his voice of reason.  If you ask Caleb what one thing I always say to him without fail, he would answer, "I will never steer you wrong."  It is my motherly duty in this case to prevent him from too much dancing.  While it's definitely a sight,  he could really hurt someone.  I say that lovingly and would never to his face.  Sadly, the rhythm gene skipped over his little soul.  Fortunately for him, he may just be too cool for dancing right now.  Saved by the bell.

Just Breathe...

I am breathing a sigh of relief.  I think i jinxed myself by saying that i am having a slow fall season.  The last two weeks have been crazy busy.  In two weeks time a group of 8 planned {and pulled off I might add} a community wide pep rally.  Yeehaaaa!  It was a total jackpot of an idea. {and a definite shout out goes to the Rake fam for brainstorming the entire premise}  Whitehall did this years back and as I understand it, it lasted two years at the last run.  We could have done so much more, but not necessarily in the time frame we had.  Surprisingly, my favorite part of the night wasn't even the presentation or the speaker. {though he was PHENOM!}  My favorite part was prior to the partaay...I was totally geeked by the incredible crowd of people buzzing around the stadium eating hot dogs and playing catch pre-show.  I couldn't help but get excited seeing it.  Hearing it.  Experiencing it.  Just knowing I was a part of it.  I am a VIKING. What a night.

That was last Wednesday night.  Last Friday night I pulled off something else, but just barely.  Our football coach thought an alumni tent would be a fabulous idea at the Homecoming game.  I agreed to assist.  The only assisting I had done was help design a logo for the tees.  But that was just the beginning of the story.  I won't bore with the semi-nightmare but the person in charge stepped down and I was the lone ranger.  I begged for advice from the master {lovely Jen Zwemer} and I was off.  The event didn't turn out how i had hoped but it turned out much better than I worried it would.  Luckily I have good friends to help get the ball rolling.  That and a little help from the graduating class of 1960 didn't hurt.  Poor people...they came down to the track because they were under the impression that there would be a big to-do over them at halftime.  Their hardship was my saving grace.  They were a bunch of fun folks who happened to fill my tent right up.☺  Heels, on the other hand, are definitely a hardship when worn standing on a track for 5 1/2 hours. {and while lifting and squatting and carrying...}  Super lucky me celebrated our win with friends afterward.  'Nothing a little food and bare feet can't fix.

Saturday I spent a girl day with my besties.  It was like Sex and the City, except no sex.  {haha}  It was a gorgeous fall afternoon and we headed to Grand Rapids for the day.  It was great to catch up. We stopped for lunch, then stopped for drinks, {coke for my headache}then stopped for drinks again {Starbucks...the headache was horrific} before taking in the beautiful scenery downtown.  It couldn't have been better.  We stopped at a couple consignment shops and an import market for, what else, drinks {wood chuck hard cider, bottles of Witches Brew and bottles of Moscato} then stopped at a gas station for drinks {pop} and headed to Texas Roadhouse.  I was starvin' Marvin and enjoyed every last bite of my steak and potato.  Yum.

Between my sinus headache, lack of sleep and barely mobile limbs {remember the heels} I was a hot mess.  I must have also been sick because I skipped out on church {but my hubs and kids went} and then skipped out on the Shoreline Clean Up.  It was great that someone organized this for our school.  Volunteers showed up for 2 hours yesterday to weed, sweep, spread mulch and whatever else to pretty up our school.  It started out as a family affair but then Keith's football meeting time got switched.  I was feeling crappy so I dropped the bigs off to represent.  I felt so guilty leaving.  My boys were okay but I just felt like I should have helped out.  When I picked the boys up, I couldn't get enough from Caleb.  He said he had so much fun and that prompted me to go into a 15 minute speech about kindness and doing for others.  I was so proud of both of them.  What a sense of pride for them to help out their community.  The best news??  The Beacon showed up to do a little write up and took a picture with the boys in it.  Super fab.  I think that sealed the deal for Andrew, being that he's a movie star in the making.  Ahh...fame.

One more Wednesday game and one more Friday game {Thursday as well, to not slight the jayvee}and we are done for the season.  It's been a tough one so I think it's about time.  Nothing in the works for late fall or winter {no coaching for me} so let the projects begin! {or resume...right, Warren??}  yes, i still need a sink.  Looking ahead, the boys' room will be painted soon and then the living room.  Yippee.  Oh, and I got Christmas money today!  Joy. Joy. Joy.

My Guys...

Just A Sneak {fall fun}...

As I mentioned, my little buddy spilled cocoa all over himself last weekend so he wasn't present for the photo op.  I'll throw one, but at the end, simply because I can not get it to load rotated...

Happy Weekend...

Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting...

First thing first.  I see Blogger has updated again since my last post.  Not a fan of all my pictures being uploaded automatically.  Now I have to pay attention to what order I choose them.  Because of this new way of doing things, instead of backtracking, I will have to start first with the oldest of our news.

We threw an impromptu party for kyle the evening of his 5th.  He made a valid point of stating he should have cake on his real birthday.

 For this reason, I made due with what I could find for the party decor.  The hit of the party, however, was the fabulous popcorn courtesy of Wesco.  Dad was a huge fan.  He couldn't get over the fact that it may have tasted even better than Montague Wesco's popcorn.  It came from North Muskegon.

 I think of all the gifts Kyle received, he enjoyed his bow the best.  He even asked, and pouted when I turned him down, to wear it to school the next day.

 Can anyone else puff their cheeks like this?  He looks like a blow fish.

A few days later Kyle had a couple of friends and his cousins over for his first ever birthday party.  It didn't go as I expected it to, but as my age is showing, I really didn't care.  I had it planned to eat right away, followed by cake and ice cream.  Then the kids would play games and open presents.  Plenty of pictures would be taken and la di da!  Instead, the kids broke into groups with one playing football outside and one playing dodgeball inside.  Dinner was served an hour into the party, but not without first smoking Sara out of my house.  {we decided to take out the microwave and, hence, the exhaust the night before}  I had set the oven to 450 and let it sit much longer than I should have. {once the Buchberger boys showed up, I could barely see them across the room...an hour later}  The kids ate and then decided to open gifts.  Once opened, I planned for a group pic but the boys showed up and everyone decided to go play so I let it happen.  I told each of them they could have their cake whenever they felt like it.  Apparently Ash thought that was the best ever because she told her mom so. Instead of pics of the kids, I got pics of my decor...

                                     

 {I cannot help but laugh every time I see this because it looks like I'm being flipped off!}

                                                       {I love these green army gummies}

Kyle's kindergarten class went on a field trip to the farmer's market last week.  It was supposed to be a learning experience for the kids.  I think the adults learned more.  The kids did seem to have a good time though.  And we scored a deal on some gourds and kettle corn.  Okay, the deal was not the kettle corn's price but the 150 calories per entire bag!  Woot!

                                           {my kid is the one lounging at the back of the line}

I promised more pics from the family wedding we attended in August.  Here a few of my faves from the photographer...

This past weekend I kept myself pretty busy.  Spent time with fabulous people.  Giving a shout out to Warren Zweigle...here's some love, Z!  Thanks again for the drinks. ☺  Listened to some Karaoke Friday night.  Shopped at Target and played Trivial Pursuit Saturday night.  Had my awful spending habits rub off on my dear Christine.  New boots, new hat...She's looking HOT so money well spent.  Too bad she needed a coat!  Met two wonderful ladies I feel like I've known forevuh!  Jillian and Christine{II}, great to finally meet you and thanks for the hookup in Chicago.  Let me tell you all, however, that stayin' out late ain't what it used to be.  Friday I came in at 2:30ish. {Saturday a.m.}  It wasn't so bad because I slept in a little Saturday morn.  However...getting in 4:30 Sunday morn was not such a good idea.  I really needed to get my butt to church.  But I didn't get there.  I was awake in time, however, thanks to lovely Christine texting me about what else?  Not making it to church, of course!! 

We also trekked up north to Ludington Saturday to check out White Pine Village.  It was much too chilly to be hanging out outside.  We stepped in for some ice cream {and hot cocoa for me} and somehow the cocoa spilled all over Kyle.  Poor buddy.  I felt so bad for him.  First of all, he was burned.  Second of all, he was covered in chocolate and was so cold. Third, since our plan was to take some fall pics, he said the sweetest most sad little thing to Keith..."but mom really likes these jeans."  What a lover.  He was worried about my feelings.  He can be sweet when he wants to be.  Needless to say, however, we didn't make it through the whole village.  Nor did we get pumkins.  Or watch apples be pressed into cider at the mill.  Or get apple cobbler at the church.  But I did find some great little antique stores which will give me a reason to head back up there soon. {wink}

Looking ahead,  the Edukators are playing at Pub One Eleven Friday night. {supporting my hubby in thought only}  We have a party to go to Saturday, as well as a tailgating party of sorts afterward.  Next week is Homecoming with lots of craziness to take care of.  Hopefully I'm able to post again beforehand.