Happy Halloween!

We took Gabi trick or treating last night and she got so much candy we just don't know what to do with it all! We only took her around our one circle and her bucket was full. We came back at about 6 pm - grabbed some dinner that was in the oven (chili mac), checked out the candy she got and headed out to visit family. We stopped at Chad and Amber's first to see Presley and Addy. Unfortunately, Addy wasn't feeling well so she was in bed. Presley was a very cute Jo Jo. Afterwards, we headed over to maw maw and paw paw's house. They had already given the kids their treats but Gabi wanted to show off her costume. Last stop was over to Ben's dad's house to visit with Uncle Dave, grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pam and see Bren. He was an adorable dragon. We got our treats there and visited for a while...nice visits to say the least. Tyler went over to Marissa's house to trick or treat after wrestling practice but I guess it rained in Granger so they only hit one house. I think they just wanted to enjoy each other's company more than anything. Trenton opted for an evening at home relaxing...he has a bit of a virus...cough, sore throat. Took him to the doctor yesterday and she decided no antibiotic would work on this virus. He will have to wait it out. Lots of rest and relaxation for him. He didn't mind. Trenton had some homework anyways. All in all, a nice Halloween...not too cold, not too hot...no rain and it was nice to visit with family, even if it was quick. Thanks for the treats everyone!

Carving

Last night Tyler and Gabi carved their pumpkins (Ben and Trenton went hunting). They both opted to carve faces rather than any fancy template. I like that...shows some personality! Every one of my kids loved cleaning them out and playing in the slop more than making the face anyhow! Also, loving the beautiful sweater maw maw and paw paw got for Gabi from Justice - early Halloween present. She was proud to wear it this morning!

Halloween Party

Gabi enjoyed her overnighter with the children's department from our church. She had lots to share including the games they played. Her favorite was sticking duct tape to their bottoms to pick up candy in a relay race. They also ate walking tacos - a new favorite of hers, talked about Jesus, went on a hayride and did lots of laughing. A good time for her. She is tuckered out today though...she said they didn't get to bed till around 11:30 pm! A first for her (besides New Year's Eve)! Gabi will definitely sleep well tonight. The kids were able to get in alot of activity before the rain. Speaking of rain, it held off till the second half of the big football game last night and delayed it for about 45 minutes. The rain stopped till about 2 minutes left in the game so it wasn't bad at all...besides the score (0-28). Oh well, there is always next year.

Enjoyed a great steak dinner at Outback Steakhouse this evening (Ben, Gabi, Trenton and I) while Tyler is away to an annual Halloween party that one of his friends throws each year. They basically take up their whole cul-de-sac to party. Marissa took charge this year (Tyler gladly obliged) and got their costumes. Sorry about quality of pic...Tyler took it with his phone - what do you think?

Sticks and...leaves

This week Gabi got to "hang out" with Emma because of conferences at school...that means half days and today was a full day off! We had Gabi's conference Wednesday evening and she got all A's!!! The teacher said she is very smart and is a great student. We are enjoying the weather today...the boys went hunting this morning with Ben (each one except Tyler got a shot off...Caleb and Trenton missed, Ben hit his deer but couldn't find it afterwards - he must not have hit it that good). Anyways, back home and ready to mow the yard. Gabi is enjoying the fallen leaves and Maizy always loves the sticks to chew on!









Gabi gets to go out to Prairie Camp again for an overnight with the children's group at church this evening. It is supposed to rain but it sure is beautiful right now. We are supposed to be going to the big game tonight (Penn vs. Mishawaka) for Sectionals as well. Let's hope the weather holds out for Gabi and us both!

Autumn Sights = Changes

God has certainly been busy painting us a beautiful picture with nature lately. It seems just in the past week or so the colors have really been coming out. Last night was a beautiful harvest sunset leaving an orange glow outside - reminiscent of Fall and Halloween. Absolutely gorgeous. These are the times I take time to thank God and really start seeing some of the changes that are taking place...not only to our world outside, but here at home...

**We brought our camper home last weekend - an end to our seasonal but next year looking forward to some mobile camping

**Tyler has finished football and both boys have already started wrestling conditioning. The nice thing is they are finished by 6 pm and we get to eat dinners together again.

**Trenton's wrestling coach has already started writing colleges about Trenton to hopefully spark some interest - very excited about this, but brings to reality that next year is Trenton's senior year already! Where has the time gone!

**Gabi is getting so big! She has certainly become the chatterbox...talking on the phone with best friend, Emma, reading lots and wearing cool jewelry...enjoying being a girl. Growing too fast, I must say.

**A new fiscal year with my work...the food program. I have been so busy with material for meetings, etc - I thank God that I have had the opportunity to work at home.

Maybe that's why Thanksgiving comes so soon after the changes of Fall...I think the colors and changes really seem to spark the thankfulness in us all. It makes us stop, take a deep breath, enjoy the wonder of the outdoors and ourselves, and actually thank God for all he has given us. Happy Autumn! Welcome and embrace the changes!

Yummy Chicken Dinner

Last night I got a new recipe from the latest Kraft Foods magazine that I get. Everyone loved it! To top it off I made a yummy pumpkin bread for the Fall Season. Great dinner and it was nice to eat with everyone home and off of practice (by 5:30 pm).

"Hanging Out"

Gabi is no stranger to the saying, "hanging out" because she hears the boys talk about hanging out with their friends all the time. Well, obviously with her getting older she thinks she gets to "hang out" too. Lately, she has been using the telephone to call her best friend, Emma. They have been talking just about every evening for the past week or so for about 1/2 hour at a time or so. Needless to say, it is cute to hear their conversations, or at least hear Gabi talking to Emma. Well, now she has come to the conclusion they need to hang out. So, apparently through these discussions the girls have been having, they decided they would "hang out" over the weekend. Well, Gabi never said anything to me until Friday. I had to try and explain that she shouldn't make plans with anyone without asking mommy and daddy first. Sunday came along and the boys decided to try their luck at hunting. I had talked with Emma's mom and friend, Lina Friday and we had discussed possibly getting them together on Sunday since her hubby would be working. It worked out. We took the girls to see The Game Plan - VERY CUTE MOVIE. We really enjoyed it and even though it was only a couple of hours...it looks like Gabi and Emma got to "hang out" after all and they certainly had a good time.

Irish Game Day

We were able to witness history yesterday...the second worst defeat at home for the Irish. Sad. I must say we had a very good time until about the second half and then it just got to be boring and actually pretty pitifull. We did have some highlights up to that point...we stopped in at Jimmy Johns for lunch before dropping Gabi off to my parents (thanks mom and dad for keeping her!) and heading to the game at about 12:30. We were invited to hang out at a couple of tailgate parties...the first one being at Pinnacle Software. Their tent was cool...burgers and brats, chips, salad, cookies, doughnuts, and fruit. We talked to our friend from school, Brian, for a while and headed out to meet cousins, Mike, Shannon and their family. We got to play with Briella, visit with Mike & Shannon and family and grabbed a drink. Ben wanted to meet up with Duane (friend from work and got us the tickets for the day's game). His wife works in the athletic department at ND and she was helping out with the Monogram Dinner in the Joyce Center. Duane got us into that dinner complete with wings, pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw and brownies. Very cool to be so "important." By that time we were ready to get into our seats for the game. We only had about 20 minutes to kick off. Our tickets ended up being tickets from the 1977 championship team. Yes, these particular tickets were for a player from that team and family but they were unable to attend. So, needless to say, we found ourselves amongst some legendary football players from Notre Dame. Luckily, Ben had a program and a pen so we got some great autographs. Amongst some of the players we sat by were Ken MacAfee, Ken Dike (Irish defensive lineman and senior in 1977), and Ben sat right next to Steve Dover (halfback on the 1977 championship team). Mr. Dover had fun pointing out all the players that were there to be honored at the beginning of the game and it was interesting listening to stories he told. He even said that Joe Montana was supposed to be there but couldn't make it because his son had a football game. It was cool. All three legends that sat near us (mentioned above) signed our program . Along with the honoring of the 1977 team, a group of military skydivers landed into the stadium before the game. That was neat too...although we saw one that had to be carried off because he landed too hard and broke his leg. Anyways, regardless of the score at the end, we had a pretty good day...beautiful weather for a football game. We were tuckered out by the time we got home (after finishing off the day at Between the Buns for dinner). Here are some pictures from our day.

Undefeated Washington

Except they are not undefeated anymore! Yep, our team beat the 7-0 team with a score of 18-6! What a game! Tyler didn't do too bad...Ben and I both agree that his 35 yard catch was the "game changing play." The team seemed to really take hold of the game and go for it after that. It was an awesome play to say the least. The game was supposed to be at home and I was looking forward to that because of the "feeling" and the announcing. Unfortunately, because of the day's rain, the school didn't want to mess up the field for sectionals this Friday. Washington offered to host the game. It was very muddy but I knew Tyler and probably the rest of the team would just love it. Boys are like that ya know. They live for dirt and mud and tackling! Anyways, great game and it was exciting to see the boys could pull out the stopper for this team. Nice ending to a fun season. I want to say thank you to cousin and "coach" Mike for all his hard work and taking care of Tyler this year. It went by too fast!

Another Season of Little People

Little People, Big World started another season last night! I am absolutely loving it this time...they rented a huge motor home for a vacation to Yosemite (the place Matt proposed to Amy 20 years ago). Ben laughs because I enjoy this show but there is just something about it...I guess seeing there are other families in reality tv that is more "real." The bickering amongst the kids, the struggles in school to get good grades, the nit picking between the parents and then the love that brings them all together. It's fun to watch ... if you haven't checked it out yet...the show is on TLC Monday nights at 8 pm. There are usually two back to back new episodes. And if you do check it out...let me know what you think.

Last weekend...Fall Fest!

Our last weekend at Yogi (our seasonal) was bittersweet. Chad, Amber and kids made reservations for this weekend as well so we were able to camp our last weekend with them. The theme was Fall Fest and it sure felt that way. The setting was perfect for Fall Fest ... leaves starting to come off the trees, cool temps, not many campers and decorations sporting the Fall season. We didn't do much as far as activities this weekend...we put an "all nighter" log on the fire for Saturday and just basically sat around eating, drinking coffee, talking and enjoying each other's company. Friday night Trenton and I enjoyed bingo for the last time this season, hoping to win since not many people were there...but our luck wasn't very good. No winnings for us. Saturday morning we took the kids to see Yogi and Boo Boo for picture time. The campground offered some bean soup and cornbread during the lunch hour and we all had some of that...some had more than others...huh hmm....Chad...Trenton...huh hmm. But it was definitely good and worth the $2.30. They also offered caramel apple making so Amber and I took Gabi and Presley to make a couple. Yummy! Gabi enjoyed it. Chad and Amber brought some popcorn to make on the fire along with some delicious apple cider (with cinnamon candies) that we cooked over the open fire. It tasted good and kept us nice and warm. My parents kept Tyler overnight Friday (because of football practice Sat. morning) and brought him up Saturday afternoon during a visit with us. We enjoyed deer brats, hot dogs and chili for dinner that evening. It felt like all we did was eat and talk...but that's okay. We had a great time. S'mores and pudgy pies were the snack of choice after dark...pizza and fruit/cream cheese. I think Chad and Trenton ate the most that day and payed for it Saturday evening. Trenton was complaining of an upset stomach overnight and when we got up Sunday, Chad mentioned he was up too! Anyways, Sunday we loaded everything up - got lots done...it was very bittersweet (enjoy pics here). I think I am ready for the camping season to be over but we are leaving with so many good memories. It was a great summer and we are looking forward to some mobile camping next year...hopefully, with Chad and Amber (since they have a camper now). I leave now with camper emptied out, lots of stuff we took with us to find places for now at home, camper washed, camper cleaned out, laundry washed and drying, sleeping bags ready to be washed and the boys off hunting.....

Clay

Tyler's team won last night 24-6, which doubled our joy since Tyler had an awesome game as well. Tyler was in on a bunch of tackles including a couple solo tackles. He had an interception while playing corner. The team played some awesome defense and the offense was coming on stronger with the blocking as well. We were excited to see Tyler go in as quarterback for the fourth quarter. He threw a touchdown pass (as seen in the video below) while running a screen but sadly, it was called back because of holding. The video is funny because Tyler backpeddles and all you see is the Clay team coming full force after him as he lobs the football over their heads. Check it out below! Great game Tyler! Pictures here.

Famous?

About a week and a half ago, Trenton's wrestling buddy from out of town called him and said Trenton was in the Wrestling USA magazine! Ben thought we had a subscription to the magazine but come to find out, we don't. We just receive free ones every once in a while as a trial I guess. I called and ordered this particular magazine...the October 1, 2007 issue and sure enough, Trenton is in there - along with lots of other wrestlers from Indiana. I believe the picture was taken at Freestyle State. If you look real close you can see Dave has been made famous too!
Here is the link to get a free trial magazine.

Apple Orchard

Got to go on a field trip today with my baby, Gabi. Their second grade classes went to Kercher's Apple Orchard. The kids made special apple print t-shirts for the occasion and I must say, they looked very cute! The kids were able to pick three golden delicious apples (FYI: only 10% of their apple crop survived the cold spring spell earlier in the year), watch a movie about apples, pick out a small gourd, and enjoyed peanut butter crackers and apple cider before heading back to the school. Great weather for the event. Fun time!

Deceptively Delicious

Watched Oprah yesterday...Jessica Seinfeld was on and she shared that she was absolutely tired of fighting with her kids when it came to eating their vegetables at mealtime. When feeding her infant one day she realized that while pureeing veggies for her infant and preparing a meal for her children - they happened to be the same color and why not combine them just to sneak it in their diet. It worked...the kids didn't even know it. I think this lady's on to something! I enjoyed listening to her story and reading about some of her meals. Granted my boys are older...Tyler doesn't care for too many veggies and Gabi...well, let's just say we practically have to threaten her to get her to eat them. Trenton...he's complete opposite. We call him the garbage disposal-not too worried about him. Anyways...I may try a recipe or two sometime. I mean, hey, when you can sneak cauliflower into a cookie and not even know it...that's big.

"The Olden Days"

Gabi to me Saturday evening, sitting by the fire..."I wish I would have known daddy in the olden days."
I said, "what do you mean?"
Gabi replies, "you know, back when he had hair."

*Second time she's made reference to her poor daddy's head = )

Monster Bash!

What a beautiful weekend! Sunny and in the 80's!!! Talk about an Indian Summer! Wow...we couldn't have asked for better weather for us to go to the campground. Feeling sorry for the boys, we allowed them to each take a friend with us this weekend (Trenton brought Paul and Tyler brought Zach). Not only good for them, but good for us - as we had plans on bringing alot of our "stuff" home this weekend to start clearing out our seasonal. The more the merrier (and stronger). Ben borrowed a small u-haul type trailer to bring back most of our things. Instead of pitching a tent, the boys decided to call it their "mini" camper and sleep in it. It was very clean and Ben had lots of extra blankets inside to cover the flooring for them. Had plenty of room, if not more than the tent we had. It did, however, seem to smell of teenage boys in the mornings after they had closed up the door and kept the air trapped inside during the night. We aired it out during the day though : )

Gabi was able to finish off her ceramics...last one we had and last ceramics for the season I believe, worked out well. She painted a butterfly. The campground had trick or treating again this weekend and I was sure to bring candy this time. Gabi dressed in her old ballet leotard as a ballerina and off we went. Afterwards, was a dance...the Monster Bash. We didn't stay long...just long enough for Gabi to dance a little and watch Yogi, Cindy and Boo Boo get their groove on. Highlights of the weekend included a caterpillar and a snake. Gabi caught the caterpillar, put it in her bug catcher and found it Sunday morning starting to make a cocoon. Very cool. We brought it home. Paul and Trenton caught a garter snake...guess it made them feel like the Crocodile Hunter...needless to say, we did not bring that home. Got lots accomplished with the manpower...busy weekend. One last weekend to go...camper coming home next. Enjoy pictures here.

The Mom Song

Hilarious!

Mishawaka

12-48: Score from last night...another loss, and to our big rival and Trenton's former school...Penn High School. Tyler had a great game personally. He had three solo tackles, had a first down on a quarterback sneak and got to play free safety instead of cornerback, a position Tyler really enjoys. We got to see lots of our friends from Penn, it was fun to watch Penn's boys. Alot of them grew up with Tyler and actually played in the Rocket League with him and Ben coached some of them at Tyler's middle school just in the last couple of years. It was great to see them play and we wish the absolute best for them in the year's to come. It was also good to see our friends just down the road from us...the Hummer family. One of the nicest families you'd meet. Their son, Michael, has grown up with Tyler, played Rocket together, and wrestled together as well. Kathy took some awesome pics of Tyler and has for many years for me. She loves her camera - just like me! I appreciate her generosity when it comes to that. She's always thinking of everyone else's son. Anyways, here are some pics of last night's game...thanks again, Kathy!

Photos (Clockwise): Tyler on ground helping out on a tackle, Tyler running the ball as quarterback sneak for first down, Team talking to coach and Tyler as quarterback.

Special thanks to Bill - a forever friend of our family...we appreciate him coming to watch Tyler play. Aunt Becky also was able to come with Aunt Annie to watch the game, along with the normal Reinoehl/Brugh crowd...we appreciate your support and we are glad you got to see Tyler play this year. Only two more games left and I feel like we just started. What a difference...I honestly don't want the season to end, we are having such a great time!

Second One!

It seems Tyler is hitting the jackpot this year! Look what he got again, well, sort of...instead of a doe...a buck! A ten point buck and weighing 160 lbs! The kids got out of school early Wednesday and decided to hunt again. Seems Trenton has some catching up to do!!! : ) I think Tyler wants to get this one's head mounted...great job, Tyler! I think I may have him pick out some lotto numbers!!!

"Wonderful"

Last night while we were verifying the friends that the boys would bring camping this weekend...
Gabi - "The boys get to bring a friend?"
Me - "Yes, they get to bring someone this weekend, you will get me and daddy all to your self!"
Gabi, with hands on hips, serious look on face, eyes wide open - "So, instead of 2 brothers, I will have 4 brothers...wonderful, just wonderful" and she walks away with a disgusted look and a long sigh.

She is just getting too big for her age!

Shots

Took Trenton to get a flu shot today at the Health Department...$20. Still not sure if I will get Gabi one - it seems every year I get her one, she gets the flu anyways and the Dr. says, "there are many different strands of the flu and perhaps the strand she has, she was not vaccinated for." 'What's the point then?' is my question. Got Trenton his vaccine now so if he has any reaction, it will be before wrestling season. I figured with his illness earlier in the year I should go ahead and get it done. Can't believe October is here already! Happy Fall.