Happy Halloween

Snap! I forgot to take pictures! That's a first: no pictures of my boys on Beggar's Night. Colin went as a "wigger" (don't ask) and Ben went as some green faced skeleton thing. It was a beautiful autumn night. No rain, no snow, just a lovely evening! Great news! Colin tried out for and was "offered a position" on the Comp 2 team (whatever that means) for select soccer. We got the call today!!! He's so excited, and rightfully so. He' s been playing soccer since he was 4, and I think he's a pretty good player. he's actually getting better with age: more aggressive, more hustle, a good team player. They won't be sorry they "offered" him a position. We're getting a kick out of that term: usually you hear "You made the team." Nope, with select soccer you get "offered a position on the team"!! It's been a long week, as we were supposed to get a call on Sunday evening or Monday, but since we had no call as of Tuesday afternoon I called the coordinator and asked. He assured me Colin was on a team, but he didn't have him on his list of kids to call and that he should expect a call from the other guy who was making the hundreds of calls for all the teams: girls and boys, all age groups. So as of 4ish today it's official. This is all new to me. I think I may have to get a second job or mortgage the house in order to finance this, though. We're talking matching sweat suits, bags, spirit wear, traveling to tournaments... I am so used to SAY soccer which is recreational and costs $50. The kids get a t-shirt and socks. No frills, but we like it!
Happy Birthday to Mom, a whopping 69 today!!

Alan's Halloween Costume

Here are some pics from last night's Halloween party at the Eagles. He was a Blue Man Group guy.

Update on life

What a crazy week. What an end to a crazy week. Full moon out there. Can you see it? More importantly FEEL it? Anyone who is in the education (medical also) field knows how CRAZY things are during a full moon! The kids were crazy this week. It didn't help that my partner was gone T-F for a funeral. We have a really good team, and when a sub comes in it's never the same, and pretty much overwhelming for the teacher not absent (not to mention the attendants who do so much already...) I pretty much got no break at all this week, since I was going both Gail's and my work. So the week's over, and hopefully everything will be back to normal on Monday. Normal? What's normal? Halloween is on Wed, Beggar's Night in Middletown is on Tuesday, so the week is pretty much shot. So let's see, Colin has one more soccer game tomorrow. Was 3 PM, now 4:30. That's good, because he decides today that he wants to try out for Select (travel) soccer and try-outs are tomorrow at 2 PM and Sunday morning! He's currently running in the annual Run Like Hell 5K race for Cystic Fybrosis with a friend. Cool, running at night in a full moon! Many people wear costumes, but he opted for running clothes. He'll get home late, but he'll hopefully be able to recharge before tryouts, then an hour and a half game tomorrow (for recreational soccer.) Tomorrow afternoon is also the Eagles' kid party, and somehow Alan's in charge. Not doing that again, I told him, so I didn't! I'll run Colin around and he can do Ben. Then Ben has a birthday party at 4-6, then he and I will be going to a Spook-o-Ree at Cub World with some friends from scouts. And somewhere in there I need to do umpteen loads of laundry, finish up the popcorn orders for scouts, finish a baby gift, and watch the Steelers beat the Bengals on Sunday! What joy! I need a drink! Oh, and Alan has yet another cockamamie (sp?) idea to be a Blue Man for Halloween, and guess who gets to apply his blueness????? Like I have nothing better to do then smear blue grease paint all over him. Good thing, though: Steven Curtis Chapman's CD was delivered to my door on Wednesday! It's so good! I'll leave you to listen to "Dance with Cinderella," a Butterfly Kisses kind of song.

Miracle of the Moment

This is my favorite song right now. I am so anticipating the release of Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD, This Moment, which will be out on Tuesday. Already pre-ordered from the official SCC site. It'd better get here soon so I can sync it to my iPod and go to sleep listening to my love.

Camping Fun

Ben and I went camping this weekend at Hueston Woods in Oxford, OH, with Ron, Jodi, and Perry Sexton. It was supposed to be a family camp-out, but Colin was being a moody teenager and refused to go, even for just the day after his soccer game yesterday. Alan decided grudgingly that he should stay home instead of coming up himself. Colin was to stay at a friend's house, but just to be safe...

We had the best time! Hueston Woods sure knows how to put on a Halloween party! There was so much to do! The weather was perfect for fall. Friday night and Saturday morning were very chilly, but Saturday day and night were just right. Although Ben and I had a great time, I wish A and C would have been there to share it with us. Ben said it was the best camping trip ever!

There was Trick-or-Treating on Saturday night. I was "prepared" for the event with about 150 pieces of candy, much more than I have needed at home the last couple of years. I was out of candy in the first 10 minutes! No joke! Jodi and I resorted to pennies, nickels, and dimes until they were all out. There were so many cute costumes, including this darling little Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Ben and Perry had a lot of fun, too. Ben spent a lot of time on Saturday whittling...

or napping...
Here is a picture of Ben and Perry before Trick-or-Treating.
This is the last "real" camping trip of the year. November we will be camping at Cub World in the castle, and those are bunk rooms, so it's not real camping! But all in all, that will make 5 camping trips in 2007. Not bad for someone who would rather reserve a room at the Holiday Inn!

Unexpected turn of events

I tried to catch up on iTunes today. Trying to get the podcasts I missed this last week. If you read this regularly, you know that I love to listen to the Rosary Army. Greg and Jennifer announced their pregnancy a few weeks ago (right after their discussion on Natural Family Planning!) and today's podcast they announced her miscarriage. Oh, so sad! My heart breaks for them as well as for my family members and friends who have also dealt with this terrible tragedy. They have 4 boys, Sam, Walt, Ben, and Tommy. Please say a prayer for them as they go through this tough time. They podcasted about it so honestly and beautifully. If you have a chance to listen to it, go to http://www.rosaryarmy.com/ and click on the link for "Unexpected turn of events" podcast on the right hand side, or go to iTunes, search for Rosary Army, then click "get" for #181 Unexpected turn of events.

Lock-in and Popcorn Craziness

This weekend Ben and I went to the YMCA for a Lock-in for scouts. As usual the boys had a great time. There were a few more rules this year, since the near-drowning of twins at the township Y earlier this year. The boys had to take a test and wear a wrist band in order to swim. Worse thing was the line they had to stand in to wait. Ben, being very anxious to swim, got into the pool area first so he got to take his test first. Parents who wanted to hang out in the hot tub were discouraged..."Aren't you going to stay with your child at the pool?" Geez, lady, he can swim and that's why you have 3 life guards! I know it's all about safety, but it should be fun, too. So the hot tub experience only lasted about 10 minutes. The rest of the night was spent chatting with friends. That's the best time anyway. Only thing that would have made it better was a game of hearts and some Mike's hard lemonade.

It's popcorn time again. I have a living room full of popcorn, so place your orders now!

Shout out to Jodi for sharing the pics from the lock-in.