Leaves

Took a little time out last night to rake up some leaves...and rake up was about all that happened because a certain little someone enjoyed the piles way to much!!!

Election Day

I got my coffee!!! Did YOU?????

Treat For Us!

Bought a new car yesterday. So happy to get our of lease (Yukon) a few months earlier. Originally looking at a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox but left with this (2007 Kia Rondo). More room, better gas mileage, better warranty, newer and overall a better price in the long run. Walked away with a good deal I think - will post pictures soon...after we get the windows tinted (deal made). But we are certainly happy with it - the price was right as far as payments and we are out of that lease! Shew!! So happy about that. Considering we may have to do some road trips in the next 5 years, this was a good choice for us.

Sad Loss

Ben, Trenton and I headed to the big game of rivals...Penn vs. Mishawaka for the second round of sectionals. The Cavemen started off with a big mistake of having a punt blocked and in return allowing the Kingsmen to score a touchdown. We ended up coming back and making up for that mistake by making a touchdown soon after. We were all excited with the score being 7-7 with a couple minutes to half (Trenton and his buddies who dressed up for Halloween actually got to run the Mishawaka flag down the field-see pic below). The first half of the game was not good for us after we had like 9 penalties (5 being false starts) and the Kingsmen having 0. That's right, 0. Needless to say, the Cavemen fans were not happy. The Kingsmen scored another touchdown right before halftime leaving the score 7-14. The Cavemen came out tired during the second half and just couldn't seem to move the ball on offense. We did half way decent as far as defense because the Kingsmen were only allowed a field goal for the remainder of the game. The final score 7-17. Tyler did well and was in on a tackle or two, considering he was only on special teams, kick off return, kick off, and punt team. It was such a heartbreaker for these kids and I have truly NEVER seen the emotion I saw last night. The seniors were just devastated and the tears flowed. Their hearts are truly into this game of football and that is what I love about Mishawaka football. They give it their all - hearts and talents. They really do. Anyways, a very heart wrenching loss, but I know Tyler is looking forward to some time off (a week) to recoup and rest. Tyler did a great job this year and we certainly think he is going to make a strong asset to the team in his remaining years and we are greatly looking forward to that!

Trick or Treating

This year was a little "off" for us as we usually try to see all our family for trick or treating, but Tyler had a football game...a big one nonetheless. It was the second round of sectionals that started at 7 pm so we figured we could trick or treat for a little while anyways, and then head out. Gabi had decided to be Sharpay a long while back and we picked up her costume weeks ago. Needless to say, it has been tried on time after time after time ; ) We had a little bit of time trying to decide if she should wear a shirt underneath the dress but the weather worked with us perfectly so she didn't have to. It worked out great that Gabi's friend, Emma, invited her to come trick or treat with her in their neighborhood (the one we are trying soooo desperately to get into) and then Lina so graciously offered to keep Gabi while we went to the football game. Since it was Lina's birthday also, she had her family over to go trick or treating and we did just that for about an hour. And, just like our neighborhood, that one hour gives plenty of candy...Gabi was excited to stay and hang out with her friend while Ben, Trenton and I headed out to the game. It was a crazy night but we pulled it off...successfully. Thanks, Lina, for your help in keeping Gabi so she didn't have to be bored on Halloween and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Grandparent's Day

Last night was "Grandparent's Day" at Gabi's school. Last year only maw maw and paw paw were able to come because it was during the day. Not only was it held early evening this time, but because Grandpa is retired this year, he got to come too! It was a special time for her to have all her grandparents with her to show and tell! Below are pics of them visiting her school and the last one is of Gabi and her teacher, Mrs. Sparrow.

Successful Pet

I just have to say...isn't this little hamster adorable!!! We clean her cage on Fridays and she loves to get yummy treats with her new food! We tried a guinea pig before and I was very hesitant to try anything remotely similar since the guinea pig died so quickly after we got it...but this hamster has really worked out well. Low maintenance, kid friendly and just all around cute! I don't think she has bitten Gabi once! (knock on wood, I know) I remember having hamsters when I was a kid and they were just fun to have. I am glad we had the opportunity to get Bubbles for Gabi!

Shrunken Heads

I had to post this because my kids really took a liking to this...well, Gabi thought it was cute, the rest of 'em just liked to eat them. Shrunken heads - idea from Martha Stewart! Made this to go with our donuts on Saturday night while watching the Notre Dame game.

Carving Time

That time of year again....after a yummy bowl of chili with all the fixins' - cheese, crackers and sour cream and while enjoying a warm cup of cider....we carved!

Pumpkin Patch

Finally made it to get pumpkins. Isn't where I wanted to go originally, but we ran out of time and it was cold. We even got Trenton and Tyler to come along - even if they did wear masks to make it fun (haha). We each got a pumpkin and we are looking forward to carving this week! I sure hope it warms up before Halloween though! Looking forward to a fire in the fireplace tonight with some warm apple cider and donuts while watching the ND game! Go Irish!

Girls Night Out

...or "GNO" according to Hannah Montana, last night! The new movie "High School Musical 3" - awesome! Lovin' it! Guess it just brings back the days of "Grease." After the movie, Lina, Emma, Gabi and I stopped in at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then me and the girls headed home. Gabi was so excited to have Emma stay overnight. An overnight filled with lots of giggles, singing the HSM songs, spygear, and prank calls (sorry, Lina ;) haha). As usual, Gabi cannot wait to do it again!

Sectional Round 1

Against Riley! Cavemen win 35-14 and even though I missed out on the game, Ben kept me very informed. Tyler had a tackle (and they announced his name) on kickoff team and also had a fumble recovery. He did a great job helping the team make their win. Check out WSBT's segment here and look for #22! Cousin Ryan texted Tyler last night to let him know he was on the news. Very cool! Next up...Sectional Round 2 - against Penn.

Roughest Step

Gabi's first and hardest step in the process of getting braces was today. She had one baby tooth removed by Dr. Campbell. Gabi was soooo worried about it all week and I promised her I would go in the room with her and stay the whole time. She did wonderful! No flinching, no crying, no whining from the time they called her name to the time we left the office! What a tough girl!!!! Because Gabi did so good we made a stop at Culver's on the way home to get a chocolate shake! YUMMY! She even told me on the way home that she bets the tooth fairy will give her a bonus for doing so well! I had to agree {wink}!!!! Step 1 completed! And look at this tooth (with the roots) - Gabi said, "maybe I am a vampire! - hee hee!"

3 More Days...

till this! Can I just say that "one" little girl is soooooo excited!

Maizy and her wood pile

This dog is hilarious...she loves to drag wood off the wood pile around the yard and try to get people to chase her with them. It's funny to watch her antagonize all the kids in the yard with her sticks!
Fall is upon us and I am loving the beautiful colors. Just not looking forward to what's after it....but, we'll take one day at a time and enjoy each one as they come! Happy Fall!

22

...was a popular number tonight as the Cavemen defeated Washington's JV team 22-0. And with Tyler being number 22, we just figured it was fate being the last JV game of the season. On top of that...he was captain of the team as well! Tyler got in on a bunch of tackles, made a handful of solo tackles and caught an interception while playing cornerback for the team. Tyler also had probably 25 yards as running back. A great game for him. We were a little sad because we never got to see him score this year (that happened last JV game while we were away at Loras College in Iowa) but we are definitely looking forward to the future. Not sure if Tyler will be dressing for Sectionals that begin this Friday but I am sure we will find out really soon. Great game tonight, Tyler!!!! We are very proud of our number 22!

Soccer Awards

Can you tell how excited Gabi is about her BIG TROPHY she got from Positive Faith Soccer today!? Thanks to everyone who came out and supported her this season - she really had a good time playing. She tells me quite frequently she is gonna play next year! We are so excited that she is able to start showing off some of her skills now that she is older.

Washington

Well, the Cavemen suffered yet another loss last night against Washington (7-13). We had heard good things about their quarterback recently and come to find out, they were all correct. A good quarterback indeed. I felt like the Cavemen just didn't perform up to speed last night and it was just lagging the whole game. We couldn't run the ball and we didn't throw the ball enough in my opinion. We had a couple of opportunities to take over the game, especially with three minutes left and we threw an interception. It was disappointing, but maybe this will be a turning point to get ready for sectionals next week. We have Riley on Friday. Tyler's last JV game is Monday against Washington. I have not heard anything about their JV team so it should be interesting.

Trine Visit

Since Trenton didn't have to attend school today (underclassmen taking PSAT) we made a visit to Trine University in Angola. We met with the wrestling coach (Callahan) and found out there were many local wrestlers attending Trine. We then made our way over to the Admissions department where we painfully learned of the cost. Pretty much the same as Loras, with Trine being a small, private school with about 1300 students this year enrolled. Trine is also a DIII school so we weren't going to get any assistance for sports but the competition is awesome. Again, Trenton was told he would probably get 20 or so matches his first year. Not bad for it being a smaller school. We took a tour of the campus and was pleasantly surprised that Trine offers Secondary Education major and Science major completed in four years. Many schools cannot do both in four years. This is what Trenton would like to look at so this school would be good for his career/study choice. We also found out that Trine is known for Golf Management courses...this is also something Trenton may be interested in since he has been working at the Golf Course for a couple of years now. We have heard there is money in that career. With Trine being right next door to a golf course, this works out well. We also learned that some of the wrestlers stay in a frat house (with only wrestlers) and if you choose not to live there...they hang out there alot. Hopefully, good clean fun....we couldn't believe it when the coach said they use thumbprints to let you in your room!!! We made our way through campus and got to eat lunch. We were impressed with the dining hall. Lots and lots of choices and of course, all you can eat. Italian, Chinese, American, you name it...they had it....and the food was good! Trenton had a burger with cheese and bacon with fries. We were kind of hurried along so Trenton was disappointed that he couldn't get dessert. We made it up to the dorms where we were VERY impressed. Everyone on campus lives in the dorms...or should I say, apartments! These were nice....fully furnished without a full kitchen. Brand new with two rooms with walk in closets (two persons to a room), living area, dining area, and a bathroom. The insides of the dorms were either a rec room or a study area with a fireplace. SUPER NICE! We were blown away by these. And to mention they are building more new dorms...with balconies. Wow. Anyways, finished off our visit with a trip to the wrestling area. The team has to roll out the mats for practice but hope to change that when their new football complex is built in the next couple of years. Hopefully, wrestling will have its own area. We got to eat some of the wrestlers and Trenton knew a few of them as well, so that was cool. Kids didn't seem to be as close as the wrestlers at Loras but were friendly. Some were more quiet than others. The coach seems nice. I like his philosophy on life...if it takes you a while to decipher between what is right and wrong in a situation it must mean it's wrong. He had to quit rolling around on the mats with the kids this past year because of arthritis in his neck but he seems to have his stuff together as far as wrestling. Only met him on this visit and hear good things about the assistant coaches. The head coach invited Trenton down for an overnight with the wrestlers...that could change perpectives as well. Anyways, good visit...and I am pooped. Here are pictures from our day.

Flag Football

Although we didn't catch Tyler's game this past weekend, we did make it in time to watch him play some flag football at the same church Gabi plays soccer. His team actually came in 5th. It was more fun than anything with alot of laughs. Ben, Gabi, Elizabeth and Abby actually got in on a little game of their own! Check out pics here.

Loras Duhawks

Just arrived home from our visit with Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. It was a great trip...not sure if it was just because it was our first visit or because it was truly a great experience. We really liked the college. The Wrestling coach was very cool...in fact, the team of coaches put me in the mind of the coaches we have now at the high school level. The wrestlers too...they seemed to form a brotherhood, much like what Trenton has now, and we all liked that. We started off arriving a bit early but we were able to see the wrestlers just getting out of practice and we got to meet the coaches and some of the wrestlers. We walked around campus for a bit before our actual sign in at 10:30 am. We then went in with the coaches and admissions counselors and talked about the college and the application process. The school is small...only 1700 kids...that's the size of Trenton's high school now! The class size is on the average of 17 kids. We liked that. We also liked the fact that it is a wireless school and the kids are given a laptop every two years to use. Very cool. We got to go on a tour from there...to see the new football field, where the classrooms are (7 building all together), the library (which has an area that is the highest place in Dubuque so the scenery from there is awesome!), the wrestling room and gymnasium/track, the new weight room and new sports arena that is top of the line, the dorm rooms (4 person rooms but only allowed 2 so there is plenty of room), the bookstore, etc. We were also able to eat lunch in the cafeteria and talk amongst the wrestlers. We also were given the opportunity to stay for the football game against Buena Vista so we did - until just after halftime. Trenton went to stay with a few of the wrestlers in their apartment (the coach assigned him to a few of them) and Ben & I headed to the hotel. We were exhausted. Information overload, lots of walking and the fact that we got up at 4:30 am was overwhelming at that point. We talked and liked all the above mentioned and also the fact that, even though this is a DIII school, they are one of the top DIII schools as far as competition and even competes at some DI levels! We also thought it was cool that Dan Gable's daughter attends there and plays soccer. I guess he actually visits the school often and is a great friend of the head coach. The only negatives were, of course, cost (with it being a smaller out of state school, and the 5 hour drive (although it is a beautiful scenic drive from Chicago). We would love to stay involved with Trenton's wrestling when we can and it would be hard on occasions with it being so far. But, overall, it was a great visit and we were thankful for the opportunity to go. We do have to keep in mind that this is the first one, so we will see how things go in the future. Here are pics from our visit and more information on Dubuque.

Grasshoppers Game 2

We also missed Gabi's last soccer game but Uncle Dave and maw maw were able to watch her. She filled us in on the game...took another loss 0-3. She said she played defense, offense and goalie for the game! She also said she got close to scoring but wasn't able to...we were sad to miss her game also but we look forward to going to her award ceremony next weekend. A big thank you to Uncle Dave, Dad R and my parents for still supporting our kids while we were away. It meant alot to them!

SB Clay

We watched the game Friday night against Clay and Tyler had an AWESOME varsity game. He was in on TWO solo tackles on Kickoff Return team. It was outstanding!!!! The Cavemen won their game against Clay 9-6. Unfortunately, we missed Tyler's JV game in which he played running back and corner the entire game. We missed him scoring during this game too!!! Yes, he scored a touchdown and caught the ball for 2 point extra afterwards. My dad said it was GREAT! Tyler also had an interception on the 2 yard line as Clay was about to get a td! I am sad that we missed it!!! I am sure it was a day to remember!!! The Cavemen pulled out another win 20-3!

College Visit

Starting our college visit days....here...to Loras College. Going tomorrow with Trenton while Tyler and Gabi both have games. Although we won't be there watching them, we will be rooting them on from afar. A big thank you to my parents for helping out with Tyler and Gabi!!!! I just can't believe our college visits have started....unreal.

Halloween 2008?

Educate Yourself

on the two presidential candidates!

Fall Weekend

Can you tell where we went on Saturday evening while the boys were away....??? The food, the decorations, the fall air just made it all the more worth while. It was a beautiful day to go ; )

Second One!

Getting his license, that is!!!! Oh boy!! Tyler passed his test with flying colors and is ecstatic!!! Congrats, Son!!!!

Another heartbreaker

14-27....JV game score against Penn. It was such a heartbreaker considering Mishawaka scored to make the score 14-13 with 3 minutes left in the game! Yes, in the game! We were actually winning. Our defense couldn't hold 'em and Penn came back and scored to make the score 14-21 with less than a minute left in the game...ugh...sigh...and then they picked off a pass and scored again during the last play of the game...sigh...it was definitely heart wrenching watching our guys come out of the locker room with tears streaming down their faces. I could see how upset they all were. I guess we'll just have to stick with what we always say after a loss to Penn...maybe next year. The good thing is we are getting closer and closer to that win. It will happen sooner than later...I know it. Pictures here...thanks Kathy!

Michigan

A big thanks to Uncle Dave for taking Tyler to the Michigan vs. Illinois game. Although Michigan lost I think the two boys had a great time! Here is a picture Dave shared...

Wheel

Gabi...yelling out to us in the middle of the night last week...

"Mommy! Can you turn the wheel down?!"

Needless to say...we got this for our little Bubbles! She is such an active little hamster at night...Quiet and peaceful nights ever since!

Shooting Stars 2nd Time Around

Unfortunately our team lost again this week but Gabi got to play forward and defense this game. She was certainly a busy player this week! Good job Gabi!!!

Disappointing Loss...

...To say the least from last night. We had so much confidence in our team...so much spirit. Our team played so well but just couldn't get it done. 0-17 was the final score of the Penn Vs. Mishawaka game. The greatest rivalry in this area. Tyler played only on the special teams as usual...kickoff and punt teams but his heart was in every play right along with with teammates out on the field. It was our quarterback's first game since he had been hurt (in the first game of the season) and the passing game was just not on. His throws were great...we just couldn't catch the football when it would count. Anyways, still looking forward to the JV game against Penn this Monday night. They are both 6-0 so it should be very interesting. I really think Mishawaka will have a great team to go up against Penn next year also...this game should confirm it. Thanks to a special friend, Kathy, for taking the time to come out and take some pics for us during the game!!! ; )
Tyler is off to the Michigan Vs. Illinois game today with Uncle Dave (birthday present to Tyler) and Trenton is off with grandpa, Aunt Annie and company to the Nascar race in Talladega. We will be off to Gabi's soccer game and then an afternoon with the three of us...what shall we do?????

Mishawaka Vs. Penn

GO CAVEMEN!

Mohawk

This boy is ready for the big game tomorrow night!!!

Can't leave out Most Haunted

Can't miss this one either...! It's been hard to catch because of football on Friday nights but football will be over soon. So excited about this!