Fall Shows

I am excited about the Fall shows coming up and that have already started! Survivor started up this past Thursday...haven't had a chance to figure out who I like the best but I think it's funny how one team is full of old people and the other is stacked with handsome young ones that are just whoopin up on the old people during challenges! I am also excited about the new season of Little People Big(ger) World coming up in October! I was saddened to hear that this past summer Mike passed away. I saw a preview tonight of the new season and it looks like it should be interesting! Watching the kids grow up is fun in itself! I have been watching Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights when I can. I love to watch their transformations and watch the trainers lay into the contestants. Lastly, lovin' lovin' lovin' the new Desperate Housewives...set 5 years later!!! I mean who didn't laugh when Gabi made her daughter try and catch up to her car just to get her to exercise!!!! I wasn't too thrilled that Susan dropped Mike for a new bf who is NOT good looking at all! So, there you have it...my top four tv shows for the fall. Now, how much I get to actually see these shows...that is yet to be determined...my life is hectic as it is!

Gazelles

Unfortunately, Gabi's team lost 1-2 against the Gazelles this morning. We had the early game (8:30am) but lots of her fans showed up to cheer her on anyways! She was so excited!!! Gabi played offense and defense for this game and did a great job getting in on the action.

Marian

We shut out the Marian Knights 24-0 on Friday night with Tyler playing again on Punt team and Kickoff team. We had a good time tailgating before the game and especially with it being homecoming week.

Tyler really shined when we played the JV team on Saturday morning. He played starting cornerback and halfback. He had many tackles, probably 10 yards altogether for the game, two fumble recoverys from the Knights and one interception! He ended playing quarterback and free safety and helped shut out the JV team 42-0! Great job, Tyler and the rest of the Cavemen!

Check out the video of Tyler playing quarterback below!

Homecoming Parade

Nothing says hometown spirit than a parade! The football players, homecoming court, cheerleaders, the band and a few other teams all rode in a parade in Mishawaka today celebrating homecoming tomorrow night! It all started with a pep rally in the school and off we went. I say "we" because Gabi and I actually rode on the "Touchdown Club's" float. How cool to see businesses with their windows painted cheering on their hometown high school. It was neat to see people sitting on their porches or the curb or standing outside their business to cheer on the Cavemen! There was even an older gentleman dressed as a caveman waving a club as we rode by! It definitely shows alot of pride for our kids. Lovin' it! Go Cavemen!!!!!

Homecoming Week-Bonfire!

This week is homecoming week for Mishawaka. Each day of the week is a theme and today's theme was famous duo or group day. Trenton went as this group today and Tyler went as this duo with Drew. This evening was the bonfire...I guess it was only the second year they have had it because it was rained out the other two. Tonight was a perfect night. It was at Merrifield Park and the fire was in the middle of the baseball diamond. The band, cheerleaders and football players walked from the school. When they arrived the student council president spoke, Coach Curtis spoke, the Senior leaders on the football team spoke and the Seniors were introduced. The band played and the cheerleaders did their thing to get the crowd all rowdy. Hot dogs were passed out and the fire was lit. Very cool to be part of a tradition in a small town...looking forward to this week's game...hopefully I will get over this cold I seem to be getting. Tomorrow is the Homecoming Parade through Mishawaka. 40 floats have been signed up. Should be fun. Go Cavemen!

Adams - JV

Tyler had an AWESOME AWESOME game tonight against Adams JV team. He played jack of all trades tonight...starting as cornerback he was in a bunch of tackles and also made a great solo tackle (seen below in the second pic)!He also recovered a fumble from Adams!As halfback Tyler took a quick snap during a fake punt and got the first down! He also made some key blockings!Tyler also played some free safety toward the end of the game. Cavemen won 24-8.....5-0 baby!
Special thanks to my parents, Ben's dad, David, Pam and Bren, Aunt Marge, Shannon and Briella, Abby, Aunt Annie and Aunt Becky for coming to cheer on our boy! We love you all!!!!

Grasshoppers

Last week we didn't have a soccer game to report on because we didn't play...well, Gabi didn't play. We had such a downpour and the coach was out of town so we hadn't heard whether the game was still on or not. We opted to not go stand out in the non stop pouring rain and have Gabi play in it. So, this week was lots better! In fact, we were actually sweating while watching the game! She played against the Grasshoppers and Gabi played defense and Goalie this week again. Ben had to fill in as Assistant Coach because our Coach was out of town again so Trenton took over the videography for me for a while, until he told me after the first period that the disk was full. I had to take the camera and turn the miniDV over and would you believe during the short amount of time, Gabi scored a goal!!! Yes, she was on defense and yes, she scored a goal! HAHA! Her eyes lit up, she looked right over to her cheering section, hands in the air, jumping up and down, yelling "yes!" It was an awesome moment and I missed it on tape. I was so mad at myself but I had tears in my eyes knowing she was so excited! A moment to remember! That one goal made up for the fact that our team lost 2-5 this week. Looking forward to next week's game and watching Gabi play some offense!

Adams - Varsity

Another win for the Cavemen last night against Adams with an ending score of 33-15! Tyler played on special teams the entire game...kick off team, kick off return team and punt team. The Cavemen didn't seem to be playing quite as well as I have seen in the past so hopefully they get it together and come out strong next week. Tyler will have the JV game on Monday against Adams...looking forward to that.

UPDATE ON TRENTON-Trenton stayed home last night to rest and is feeling okay with pain meds. Looks a bit swollen in his jaw but otherwise he is feeling pretty good. Thanks for the prayers!

Wisdom Teeth

Trenton had three (two on the bottom, one on the top) of his wisdom teeth removed today. All three were impacted...two were pretty easy while the last one was sideways (front facing his tongue if that makes sense) which made it somewhat more difficult and probably will be more painful in the recovery process. We made it home though and he has already had 5 scoops of ice cream, some leftover macaroni and cheese and a tub of cottage cheese. Needless to say, he was starving. Gave him his first Vicadin so he should be drifting off soon. Pray for a quick and easy recovery for him. TGIF!

Still At It

For those of you wondering....yes, I am STILL running three times a week for thirty minutes. It was hard for me this past Monday to get out of my nice warm cozy bed after three loooonnnngggg days of rainy weather and when I get in this mode it's nice to do a little research here and there for incentive. Found this on running vs. walking. Came to the conclusion it really doesn't matter if you run or walk but what matters is the distance. So, who has time to walk 2 1/2 miles?...not me. So I jog or run it. And 2 1/2 miles has been my average in 30 minutes. Some mornings are really tough...some aren't. Regardless, reading through the info I have to agree with alot of it. I have come this far for this long...I can't give it up now and regress. Just like I wouldn't want to stuff my face with all kinds of junk foods because I would basically be wasting my time and energy. So, I will continue to run ... not only for my health but for a good stress reliever. I have to say, I really enjoyed watching The Biggest Loser Families last night and watching Jillian yell at the contestants that they "will NOT get off the treadmill unless they pass out, puke, or die!" And they couldn't touch the sides either! WOW. Sick, I know...but I got a kick out of it, probably because I could feel their pain. Point is...you gotta start somewhere and it's rough...real rough starting out. But once you start and have made progress you can't go back. You just don't want to.

Tailgate Foods

Made these to go along with our other tailgate foods this past weekend...they were a big hit with the kids ; )

Riley - JV

The Cavemen come away with another victory 44-6. We knew the game was going to be good when we saw he was Captain for the team for this game! Tyler got to play many positions during the game...he started out as cornerback and of course, special teams - kickoff return, kickoff team and punt team. He also rotated in as halfback on offense. During the second half, Tyler got to play quarterback. He had an excellent game - getting in on a bunch of tackles, including some solo tackles. Tyler also scored a two point conversion and played quarterback when the team scored their last touchdown of the game. We love love love games like this one!!! The team is 4-0! Great job, Tyler! Pictures of the game here.

Tyler's Party

We had Tyler's family birthday party last night minus a few family members who were out of town or not feeling well. Had a good time talking and having some yummy cake and ice cream. It was a nice change of pace from watching the rain pour down! Still can't believe Tyler is 16 years old already.

Fightin' Irish!

Weather...not so good right now, unless you are a duck. BUT, it cleared up long enough to do a little tailgating before the Irish took on the Wolverines. Had a good time eatin' burgers and dogs, smack talking the Michigan fans, and playing some corn hole! Dave, Ben, Trenton and Tyler went in to watch the game while Gabi and I headed home to get ready for a birthday party she was invited to. Lucky for us, the rain held out till we got home to watch the Irish win!!!!

Riley - Varsity

Tyler played some Varsity last night against Riley. Basically kickoff team, kick return team and punt team. Tyler got to get in as halfback in the last few minutes of the game. It was a wet evening but the Cavemen secured another victory...28-6. Great job, Tyler!

Saturday

Can you tell where we'll be on Saturday?????!!?? Just hoping the weather cooperates : /

Go Irish!

Best Game Yet!

Against St. Joe's JV team. Tyler's best game thus far!!! He was in on a bunch of tackles, caught an interception, blocked a pass, ran the ball for a total of 16 or so yards, AND blocked for a bunch of runs!! All in the pouring down rain!!! And he loved it!!!! The Cavemen came away with a win 30-20 and lots of very muddy uniforms and bodies....LOL

Surprise!...or not.

We tried to surprise Tyler yesterday with a sweet 16 party. "Tried" is the key word though. He is quite the sneaky boy (Ben says he gets that from me-go figure) and decided to look through my cell phone's text messages a while back when it was in the planning stages. Regardless, the kids had a good time. We rented out Outpost because Tyler has taken a liking to sand volleyball lately. We got the whole place - I think a total of maybe 8-10 courts, Satellite radio and a cool deck complete with lots of tables and chairs to have food and drinks for breaks. We invited about 45 people and I would say just over half came. Some showed up for a little while and had to leave for work, while others came late from work so there were quite a few in and out. The others were either sick or had somewhere else to be, which was okay. We had burgers and hot dogs, chips, doritos, cupcakes, waters and soda. We tried out several different tournaments - twosomes and threesomes and everyone was chomping at the bit to have Ben (the biggest kid) on their team. I'll tell you...when it comes to volleyball, he fits right in with the kids (hahaha). Tyler had a great time - surprised or not. Happy 16th Tyler!!!! At this point...he just wants his license ; ) Pictures here from his party.

First Soccer Game

Gabi played the Shooting Stars this morning...first soccer game and she did awesome! She actually played against Ben's cousin's (Joe) team and played against her cousin, Allison. The score ended up being tied (not even sure if they actually keep score) 1-1. Good enough. Gabi had some awesome kicks playing defense and she played goalie once (but didn't even have to play the position for the quarter). Had lots of family come to cheer her on...in fact, she said to me afterwards at lunch, "it was so awesome having so many people cheer for ME." That girl is so used to watching everyone cheer on those brothers of hers that she just isn't used to the attention. We were proud of our baby girl today! Thanks to everyone who showed up to watch her and cheer her on...my parents, Ben's dad, Dave, Pam and Bren, A Annie, A Becky, Trenton, Tyler, Abby and Elizabeth. Thanks for making that cheering section!

St. Joe Varsity

The Cavemen lost their first game of the season to St. Joe 10-22 last night. Tyler made kickoff team and punt team so he got to get in the game quite often last night. Tyler played his position well during the entire game and had some good blocks. Very proud! St. Joe proved to be a very tough team and I have a feeling they will advance pretty far. We have their JV team on Monday so we are looking forward to that.