"Can I go see the gym and wook at the fiewd? I don't wemembew what it wooks wike."

I had to stop at the high school this morning to drop off rosters and such for cheerleading. Kyle came in with me. He thinks every sport is played on a field. In his defense, all sports he come in contact with are. All except basketball.

"Yuck. Bwood. Gwoss."

As we were walking to the doors of the school, he saw something red on the cement. I told him I was sure it wasn't blood.

"Oh, den it's a chiwi."

I didn't really think it was chili and told him so.

"I said chiiiii-wiiii. Wif wet on it."

Aha. A cherry. Yes, maybe it's a cherry. A wet cherry? The verdict is still out.

I cannot believe I forgot to mention that Kyle and I had a date night a couple of weeks ago. The city had a homicide and Kyle and I had no plans after the soccer game. I told him if he was suuuuper good in my 2 stores, I would take him to the play area in the mall. We were both so hungry and I wanted to sit down someplace, but he wouldn't have it. "Great." I knew I was in for a ride. It's totally my fault because I knew better. Kyle started out a little questionable, but he wasn't bad. He helped me pick out which clothes to buy in the fitting room. He said, "That looks so nice, mom." Sold. He was so good, in fact, that I was able to stop at 5...count 'em 5!!! stores before making it to the play area. Dude. We didn't stay long. Kyle had to pee which prompted his hunger so we sat for pizza. Afterward, he, yes he, wanted to check out Dick's "fo somefing cooo fo me." What a sweetie. After leaving Dick's {and we only left because he wanted to go to Target} we stopped at the Children's Place to pick out a coat and snow pants and Younkers for 2 cute hats for me. "Which one do you like best, Kyle?" "Bof." Good enough.

Target proved to be beautiful. Kyle was getting tired so he lounged in the back of the cart {with his nasty dirty feet up in the air} while I spent almost all of my 300.00 worth of gift cards. We ran into Greg and Melissa Beda. They were out for date night too. It was nice to mosey around the entire store without a schedule. The only hurdle I had was keeping Kyle's feet under wraps. Earlier in the day, we played in a bounce house outside. Kyle proceeded to play without his shoes on, in the grass and dirt, all afternoon. His stinky little socks were gross, and he kept insisting on resting them on the top edge of the cart while he lounged, but they weren't as bad as his bare little feet. I can already see his toenails being like Keith's, {and he blames his on reconditioned cleats} and they weren't going to see the light of day!! of course, the more I struggled to keep the socks on and the feet nicely hidden in the cart, the more Kyle pushed to have his feet seen. I chose my battle. I let him think he won by putting those grubby little things in the air, but I instead chose to pull the cart from the back so I could block them from being exposed. Everyone was happy.

Ah, a nice little Kyle post. Here's to be being thankful for what you've got. Cheers. And Happy Thanksgiving.

Well, so much for posting more Halloween pics. It has been so long that I am now bored with that idea. Since then...

My lovely sister had a birthday. I say that because I am going back in my planner to remember what has happened and, in big letters on November 2nd is, "My favorite sister's birthday! ♥Love her tons!!" I didn't write that in there. I mean, um, yes I did.

The boys had their football banquet. I thought I'd dread the lengthiness of it all, but it wasn't bad at all. I think I'll miss Lil' Vikes.

The ceremony was touching. Andrew's coach repeated a quote, a motto, he uses, which was nice and then he held up the plaque above his head that the team got him. Little things like that get me every time. Caleb's coach knew he was going to have a rough time. He was saying goodbye to boys he has coached for years. {since they are moving on to junior high ball next year.} He got choked up for a moment over his speech about having the boys for 5 years so gave the floor to Keith and Keith gave a quick intro by saying he hasn't had this kid for 5 years yet, only 4...and then he called Kyle's name. It was super sweet but I totally missed the picture because Kyle sped across the floor and almost missed the high five with his dad. Sigh. At the end, the team broke down one last time. {I think I said that right...or broke it down? Like dancing?? ;)} No, not in tears...in case you were wondering. It's what they were doing in the huddle above.

Conferences happened. Nothing new. I am truly blessed to have intelligent children. I'm sure I take it for granted. Nonetheless, I am proud of the A+{plural} my dollies have received, as are they. Kyle's happened a week later. I showed up for it, but instead missed it because of scheduling. Preschool conferences were waaaay behind. And waaaay behind is an understatement. Anyway, Kyle had a good conference as well. I think we'll be lucky with him, too.

Soccer is going well. Andrew has really stepped it up this season. I think it's because he is playing on a team of 6th graders. I still really appreciate Kirsten adding him to the team. It wasn't my intention but love it nonetheless. I was worried about it, but Andrew is really holding his own. I am so proud of him. He is so excited about basketball coming up and really wants to play travel soccer in the spring. It's nice to see him so excited about sports. Love it!! I'm going to miss indoor soccer. We only have two more games left. I love watching the boys, all of them, play but I must admit that I also love the parents and cheering along with them. I love loud people. Go figure.

Cheer clinic started on the 9th. 21 girls signed up. 15 tried out. Coming out of last year's season, I was set on having only 10 girls this year. There is no room for more. I changed my mind once clinic started because I plan to try something new with the girls. In the end, it meant cutting 3 girls. It was a hard decision because it meant cutting 2 of the 3 freshman girls and that only leaves me with one next year if the others decide not to try out again. I HATE CUTTING! But I also want what's best for the squad. I hope the girls try again. Tryouts were last Tuesday and we started in on Wednesday. We needed to get paperwork and all that jazz out of the way because I only have 4 practices until our first home game. Then I have one more practice before our next 3 home games. Gadzooks!!!

Saturday we spent the evening with friends having a ball. Kirsten and I pulled off a surprise party for our friend Kris, who turned 40 last week. Poor girl...I think she thought she was forgotten. Alas, I think we made up for it. Lots {and lots} of jello and pudding shots later, Kris forgot that she didn't get to go out to dinner at the Beltline Bar. ;) I think we super duper surprised her...

Had to add the floor party pic. It isn't a party unless it's a floor party!!

Half day of school tomorrow and Wednesday for the bigs. Kyle has preschool both days. Rats. Really would have liked a day off to actually be a day off. Oh well. I'm outta here at 2pm Wednesday, no practice for me and the boys don't have church. Yip skip. Time to hang and get stuff done before Thanksgiving. Gotta get the rest of the decor up. Christmas started early for me this year so I have more time to enjoy it. Last year totally flew by with cheerleading and games. Yikes. Not happening this year. I'll be ready for it. Plus, I do have some time tomorrow, some on Wednesday, some Thursday evening and then most of the weekend. Hooray.

**Do my pics always look bad to you all? On my end, they are really blurry. Yours too? Wonder why? My camera takes waaaay better photos than this. Just wanted to throw that out there in case you are looking into an SLR and then comparing my blog pics to your point and shoots and deciding it's not worth it. Baby, it is worth it. It is.

***Oh, and PLEASE do not take that as a jab. I am certainly not in the market of offending a point-and-shooter...only stating a fact. My real live pictures are tons better than how they may {or may not} appear. ;)

Pre Holiday Goodness...

I've been a bit under the weather all week. I've done tons at the house in small spurts. I've had some good hours. I knew in advance I would be putting costumes together Wednesday evening, as well as treat stuff for preschool. Wednesday came, I felt horrible, and when I got home {no church for me} Andrew started right in on the costume thing. Ugh, child, leave me alone. I will get it all done. I always do. That night, however, I was a tad worried. It dawned on me that Kyle's party was the very next day...the day before the other parties. I gathered my supplies and put them in a pile. I love befores and afters. Here is the before...

A little jumbled mess. Love it. Oh, except for one small problem. You know, I was going to do the whole "this pic {above pile} + this pic {...? }" The glue gun was missing!!!!!! I can't do my project without my beloved glue gun. I tore through my basement. twice. And through drawers. And cupboards. And closets. Nothing. I decided to move on to my treats. I prepare for the same type of intro...the supply pic...what the? The googly eyes were missing! A little breath {or 5} later, I realized I used the gun last Halloween for both Caleb's costume and Kyle's Handy Manny hammer with the eyes. I headed to the basement one more time. Nothing. I decided to forget about the fun treat containers and instead focused on how to get the striped on Kyle's pants. I suppose in any other situation I would not have cared, but K's pants have stripes and I wanted to mimic his uniform as closely as possible. BINGO! If the gun isn't in my craft room, something else is. I found remnants of ribbon tape for scrapbooking {$$} and pieced it all together. I should have taken a pic of just the pants because the results were pheeenom! Yay for me for being so...determined. Yeah, that's it.

Sneak peek...{more preschool pics later}

Skipping ahead, after the stripes ordeal, I needed to deal with Andrew. His costume sucked. I told him this is the last year I pay for his costume while the other kids get bits and pieces. The costume came with a mask, but the kind that is only the front half. It also included a coat/vest/shirt/tie combo. By combo I mean one ugly piece of fake. No pants. I purchased a punk rock wig, face paint and green hairspray and went to work. I should have posted the before of the wig. Andrew modeled it. I think it went to his butt. I cut it, but he looked more like Garth from Wayne's World than anyone else. You can't really do a fun cut on a crappy wig. I tried my 3 barrel iron to loosen the crimp but I ended up melting the hair. Perfect. Done. We took it outside and used the entire can of hairspray. Neon green. Good enough. I also hated the one piece suit so I cut out the fake collared shirt and tie. I added a different shirt and fun tie and was rather pleased. I just needed pants and we were good to go.

I realized this morning that I never picked up pants. Whoops. Leave it to me to remember I found a pair of black fun pants at Goodwill for Andrew for church a couple of months back. WOOT!! Andrew wore his mask to school today so I wouldn't have to worry about the makeup situation at the soccer game tonight.

Caleb was easy. he changed his mind again. Mr. Potato Head was going to have a hard time fitting at a desk. Caleb loves the Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau so it was only fitting that he dress as that. It started with the face disguise and ended up with the hat and magnifying glass. I really wanted the pipe but the adult in me came out and I realized it wasn't appropriate for school. Bummer. I own a khaki trench. Bingo. We simply added Caleb's own white button down, a tie and khaki pants. Quite Caleb, if you ask me.

All 3 were crazy excited about their costumes and showing them off at school. Ooh, it's 5:07 and I gotta get outta here. Gotta get Kyle and dash to the soccer game at 6. Go Master Tag Maniacs!!

Dream A Little Dream...

It's certainly not Wednesday but there's still no need for words!!

Unofficially Official...

Tuesday night K and Caleb skipped practice so we could all take my mom and dad out for dinner. We had big plans to take them to Holland, and I really cannot remember why or how the plans fell through but they did, and we ended up at Texas Roadhouse. If you know my dad, that won't surprise you in the least. We were truly thankful Old Country Buffet had closed its doors.

My parents officially retire at the end of the month, but we were celebrating early. My dad is a crazy workhorse so I cannot imagine what he's going to do with all of his free time. My mom has been laid off for a bit so she's accustomed to the extra time and has tons of projects in mind. {run dad!!}

They have been so happy since making this decision. I am so happy for them. I am also envious. People think I have a cake job here. {and yeah, the frosting is sweet} However, I don't see a retirement in my future. Anywhere. So, as long as I don't develop diabetes, my cake job will be O.K. Until forever.

Party Fun Is Bittersweet...

Last weekend was playoff time for Andrew's team. Did I already blog this? I'm not surprised that I don't remember. Andrew's team lost, to the other Whitehall team, with an 8-0 score. It was a great game to watch with one bad call. Either way, so proud of ALL of those boys. Whitehall rocks.
Sunday was the combined team party. How lucky were we? It was held at the Young's farm and there were about a million and 2 people there. Fun, fun. Kris orchestrated this whole gift thing for the coaches Caleb's team because most of them are moving on as the team is moving up. Not to the East Side, but to the Middle School, in case you were confused. She picked up footballs for the kids to sign for each of the 5 core coaches and gift cards for all 8. Radium was there to allow parents to order action shots from the season, {love how knowing people really helps out} there was tons of food {and by tons I mean TONS left over} fun games and goody bags to boot. Last year, for the doughnut eating contest, the stuff was hung from poles and they dangled freely as the kids tried to eat the treat without it falling to the ground. A last minute oversight caused the doughnuts to be eaten from the table. No biggie. Lucky for me, all 3 boys were up against each other at the same time. Unlucky for me, some kid kept putting his big head in front of my camera every time I tried to get a picture of Andrew actually digging in. Oops. Did I just say that? Sorry to the mom of the kid with the big head. I'm sure his head wasn't big. Those darn lenses blow everything out of proportion. Yeah, that's it. The lens does that. Not me. None of the boys won. On the bright side, they aren't the pigs I thought they were. ;)

Coach Rake gave a small speech but said he wouldn't cry until the awards ceremony. I'll be there for that.

We're moving on to bigger and better things. {until Kyle can play ball in 2012} I am excited for change, selfishly speaking. I will now get weekends off during fall. Yippee Skippy. {funny how rhyming words aren't always spelled similarly} K and I can finally get back to Traverse City falls. Yuh-uh-ummy! Even with the excitement, I will miss Lil' Vikes. Not the stress or lack of support, but the fun little family I have been a part of. And I feel the pain of the person coming in after me. So much so that I have already agreed to volunteer for a few specified things next year. If I get frustrated and say NO WAY! later on, it's all down on paper. I've already committed. Please remind me of it. I will certainly miss it. Guaranteed. I enjoy helping my children and helping out with their projects. I want to be hands on all the time. Somebody warn Mr. Russell.

Kyle is telling jokes. Apparently, he gets that gene from Caleb. More specifically, he got the I'm-bad-at-telling-jokes gene from Caleb. Heaven help us all. {he got...nice English. ha}

I heart my header. It cracks me up every time I'm on here. I can honestly say I am embracing Kyle's personality. It usually makes me crazy, especially when I want him to sit still and smile, but lately the pics have been fun for me. tehe.

I heard this morning that 81 kids were absent from Ealy yesterday. Frightening. Also yesterday, Keith called to tell me that, after arriving at practice, Catholic's season is done. Apparently North Muskegon forfeited the game because their school closed down yesterday. Keith said he would have only practiced with 12 kids himself {11 on the field, right?} because of sickness. Today, Muskegon Catholic is also closed. This swine flu thing is out of control.

Soccer has officially started and football isn't even done yet. Andrew's team {1st place} has a playoff game Saturday and Caleb is playing on the all-star team for the two weeks following that. Their first soccer game is Friday. We are not yet prepared. Tried to be, but aren't. Monday evening I drove to Muskegon just to turn around because of naughty boy syndrome. Yesterday I made 3, count them 3, separate trips to Muskegon to be prepared. Foiled. Halloween shopping is mostly done. I just have to put it all together. The shoes for soccer...yikes. Our plan is this-Andrew will get a pair of low top court shoes. He'll be able to wear them on turf and then for basketball. Caleb's basketball shoes still fit him and he currently keeps them at school for phys ed so he'll get a pair to wear on the turf, but ones that'll convert to school shoes afterward. Neither are getting classic indoor soccer shoes. I'd like more bang for my buck. I found the shoes at Dick's for Andrew, but not in his size. There was a pair of sweet basketball shoes, but the toe was too soft for soccer. Caleb also found a sweet pair at Dick's, but mostly suited for school. Again, not soccer. We ran over to Dunham's as well but they had nothing. We ran out of time because Andrew needed to be picked up from practice, so we headed home. We even missed the Whitehall/Montague volleyball game, which we were really looking forward to attending. Bummer. Keith is home today so hopefully he will have some time to run to MC's and maybe even Kohl's. If nothing else, I may see what Payless has for hard toed shoes and pick something up there and get the boys the sweet shoes at Dick's. Friday is fast approaching so I gotta figure it out.

Still up this week...Midweek tonight at church, practice tomorrow night, game Friday, game Saturday football mega party on Sunday, as well as finally wrapping up the pop can fundraiser. Whew!