Carving Pumpkins

This year Gabi did all the cleaning out, tracing, and cutting out all by herself!  She did a great job!

And of course, we had to cut a pumpkin that sported our colleges...IU and North Central!  Go Hoosiers!  Go Cardinals!

We have our Halloween costume all ready to go...

Fall Fun

I was very excited that both the boys made it home this weekend.  Since the Notre Dame/USC game was last night they hung with their friends most of the day and to watch the game.  Trenton was, however, able to get up and go hunting with his dad this morning.  Ended up missing an 8 point buck and was heartbroken.  Considering he was shooting the bullseye on the target Saturday morning every time, I was disappointed too.  But, he set me straight and let me know it is totally different aiming for a deer.  While they were off, I had opportunity to make some chili, cornbread and some apple crisp for dessert.  My parents headed over to spend some time with the boys and eat lunch before heading to the Pumpkin Patch with Chad/Amber and family.  Mom was gracious enough to bring donuts and cider also! :)

We went to the small farm on Douglas to get our pumpkins for carving and to take a few pics.  A beautiful sunny day to do so and absolutely couldn't miss the chance of having them all together for a short time. 

Liberty

Gabi had a total of 13 points today at her game against Liberty.  The score - 36 to 10.  Another good win for her team.  I think she was most excited about the fact that her big brothers BOTH were there to cheer her on!  Along with Aunt Annie, Uncle Jay, Grandpa, Uncle Dave, Aunt Pam, Maw maw and Paw paw, Abby and Max!  An awesome crowd.  It was music to my ears to hear my boys cheering on their little sister.  So proud of them all.  For the support and love they show to each other.  I always want it to be that way.  Always. 

Now it's off to cheer on the Irish against USC - first night game in quite some time and Ben gets to go into the game!  50 yard line seats to boot!  Go Irish!

Irish Madness

It was much to our pleasant surprise that Trenton decided to come home for the weekend along with Tyler, so we have a COMPLETE family as I type.  Last night Tyler got to go with a buddy, Blair, to the first Irish Hockey game in the new arena!  It was sold out and apparently, awesome!  Ben, Trenton, Gabi, her bf Emma and I headed out to Notre Dame as well.  For Irish Madness. 

A pep rally of sorts for the men's and women's basketball teams, which I can say, are looking very good.  We are extremely excited about their seasons this year! 

We got to see Dick Vitale and got to see what this years teams are made of. 

They had a dance off, which the girls obviously won, but they also had a point guard competition, a 3 point competition and a dunking contest.

All were pretty cool.  A fun time for us all, especially for our little basketball player.  I figured she would enjoy the evening ;)  Go Irish!

Grandparent's Day

Last evening was Gabi's last "Grandparent's Day" for elementary school.  Did I just say that?  Wow.  I still can't believe she is in the 6th grade already!  She is sooooo lucky to have a maw maw and paw paw and a grandpa that LOVE her with all their beings.  Thank you so much for going and spending time with her last night.  It meant more than you'll ever know.

Fear The Bird 2011-12

Introducing the 2011-12 wrestling team for North Central College!!!!  Check out our fave - at 0:38 seconds into it :)

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EDIT

Need to edit from post below...Gabi noticed it today.  She made two baskets yesterday at her game...thus she made 4 points instead of 2 :)

Talked to Tyler today via Skype.  <3 Skpe.  He was carving pumpkins with Abby and another couple.  Was nice enough to share photos...

So far, his grades sound good.  Midterms coming up quick for him. 

Tyler was able to attend Hoosier Hysteria last night for basketball.  Said it was PACKED and already 7200 season student tickets sold!  WOW.  He sent me this photo from that shin dig...I must say with Gabi playing for the past couple of years, I have learned some and am certainly enjoying the sport of basketball much more than before.  The Hoosiers were exciting last year, they are only certain to bring much more this year!

Trenton also thinks he passed his exam to allow him admittance to the Education Department at North Central.  This is all GOOOOOOD news for them both.  Proud. 

Can I say also I am sooo glad to be over the sickness I had this past week.  Wednesday left me with a stomach virus and I am just now starting to feel normal again.  Guess it's going around.  Just happy to be able to eat foods again.  Back to the grinding board tomorrow. 

Heartbreaker

Hums lost a heartbreaker of a game today.  The team did extremely well up until the fourth quarter it seemed and was ahead 21-16.  Beiger put their star player in (a teammate from AYBT - Olivia) and she just exploded going to the basket everytime to basically force a foul for free throws.  To make the painful story short, Beiger came back winning 22-21 with 2 one and one free throws with 2 seconds to go.  UGH...tears....had to remind Gabi of their season last year.  They won every single game (including the team that beat them in the tourney).  It's the tournament where it counts.  Not to mention, it was someone's bright idea to not count individual fouls since these teams were so "aggressive."  Kind of left an edge to our opponent who basically has one player who is aggressive.  Oh well, we will get em next time, when it counts.  On a positive note, Gabi did score 2 points today.

Did I mention that Gabi had the honor of having her uncle as a ref as well!  Ben said he gave him a B average for the game...I would give him a B+ "cuz I don't believe in As ;)"  Nah, we would take Chad anyday as a ref.  Great job, Uncle Chad!

Oh and how cool is this...had Skylar Diggins retweet me this morning :)

Patrol

Look at this girl...looking so grown up and ready to perform her duties as a Safety Patrol!  I am sooo proud of Gabi.  Her feelings, her ambitions, her goals, her outlook on life.  She is SOMEBODY VERY SPECIAL and I am so glad she is mine :)

Good luck Monday - first day of Patroling this year!  I know she is excited!

Indian Summer of Sorts

I feel like this week has been our "Indian Summer" with temps in the 80s and sunny most of the time.  The colors of Autumn just really burst out this week also.  Change.  We have had alot of it lately with both the boys off to college.  Tyler made it home this weekend.  It was a quick trip and although we saw quite a bit of him like this...

we did have a good time visiting and just knowing he was home was a good thing.  Much like when either one of the boys come home, we miss them as soon as they leave.  We were able to catch Max's (Abby's little brother) game today along with another special friend of Gabi...Kaene, who played right after Max.  Lizzy and Nikki caught up with us at the game too.

For now we are loving this weather...pretty sure it won't last long but it's been so nice.  Happy Fall Ya'll!

Battell

55-11
Final score from today against Battell.  Gabi had 5 baskets for a total of 10 points.  Very proud of her!  Next week we face Beiger...probably their biggest competitor this year.  Celebratory lunch at Hacienda with maw maw and paw paw to boot!

Deer 101

Monday evening Gabi had basketball practice and Ben wanted to check out another one of his hunting spots for deer signs.  Bow season opened last weekend but we spent the whole time in Bloomington.  I was tired of doing paperwork for work all day and decided with such a beautiful day and nice temps, why not tag along and get some fresh air.  I got my "Deer 101" about signs (buck rubs and tracks) and we both figured out there was a pretty big buck to be had at this hunting area. 

I also got to see first hand, Maizy in her element.  She loves the outdoors, more specifically the woods. 

 Can I just say...this one is "frame worthy" :)

Parents Weekend at IU

So glad we were able to spend Parents Weekend at IU Bloomington this past weekend.  We made plans a few months back with my brother and his family to take Friday off and spend a long weekend there at Jellystone in Bloomington...just about 10 miles from campus.  Other than it being a little chilly, we had a great weekend.  We were able to get just about everything in that we wanted to do, but as always, could have used a couple more days :)
Unfortunately it took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there on Thursday evening.  It put us in about 10:30 pm so we basically parked and went to bed.  Day 1 was busy.  Ben and Tyler made plans to golf (half price) at IU golf course at 11 am so we all drove in to see him and Abby.  Abby took off to class, Ben and Tyler went to the golf course, while Chad, Amber, me and all the kiddos went shopping on Kirkwood and to TIS Bookstore (my fave, along with Tracks).  Even got to meet up with cousin, Ryan on our walk back to the car.  The girls wondered why a boy lived in a pink house :)

Headed back to the campground about 2 to eat a light lunch and let the kids play on the bouncy pillow and swim at the indoor pool.  Also were able to feed a few horses across the rode (Addy loved this).  We got ready for dinner...tried a new recipe (courtesy of pinterest) that I thought Tyler would love (Buffalo Chicken, Italian pasta, baked beans, chips and peanut butter covered oreos).  Tyler and Ben showed up right around this time, along with Abby.  We decided to check out the hiking trail to the waterfall but it ended up being dried up.  It was still a fun walk and we even found a box turtle and learned about some huge mushrooms.  Came back to the camper, ate dinner and sat around the fire until my parents, Ben's dad and Trenton all showed up about 9:45 pm. to eat some s'mores and join in the laughter.  It was good to have everyone together at that moment. 

We decided on heading to campus about 9:30 am to do a little shopping so everyone was geared up in IU wear for the big football game (IU vs. Penn State) at noon.  We stopped at the Sample Gates also for some photos.  Grabbed some lunch at Chipotle and caught the bus to the stadium.  Not too bad of seats, not too cold, just sorry IU didn't win.  10-16 was the final but we later found out that IU didn't have four of their starters in.  Makes you wonder what could have happened if they did!  We were actually expecting Penn State to beat IU by much more.  After catching the bus back to Kirkwood to get our vehicles we made a quick run back to the campground to let our doggies out and headed back so we could meet up with Trenton (stayed with Tyler most the weekend), Ryan and Abby for some dinner.  Gerry (Abby's dad) and his gf met up with us also to eat at Yogi's. 

Since we were unable to really walk through campus on Saturday because of the game, etc. we decided a quick walk through was necessary on Sunday morning.  We met up with Trenton, Tyler and Abby for this reason.  I love the Rose Well House so I wanted to take everyone there for photos.  Even got one of Tyler giving Abby a kiss considering the legend there.  Also checked out the Union, the beautiful paths through campus, Herman B. Wells, the Showalter Fountain and the School of Education (Chad's old stomping grounds).

A great trip for us...so glad our family was able to go.  I know Tyler had a wonderful time and was so glad to see us all.