Last weekend of soccer

So, Garrett's fall season is now complete. He played in his final tournament for the fall season this weekend. His team played 2 games on Saturday and 2 more on Sunday and finished undefeated in their division outscoring the other teams 12-2. Did I mention it was COLD outside (like in the 40's all weekend with high winds). Here are some pictures from this weekend.



We are so proud of how both kids did this fall. They will both be playing basketball this winter and then have some off-season training for soccer after the first of the year. So just when we think we might start getting some down time, something else is just around the corner.

I am excited, however, to get back into the gym and start working out again on a regular basis. I have 2 months until our Florida tournament and want to make sure I'm 100%.

Another exciting note...we have the kids' baptisms scheduled for Sunday, November 9th. I know the kids are really excited and have had some pretty indepth discussions with their grandpa about the process.

Grandma is planning to join mom and dad when they come at Christmas time. It will be so great to have all of us together around the holidays. I'm really looking forward to it.

Well, that's it for now. I've got to get back to watching the Indianapolis Colts-Tennessee Titans game. GO COLTS!!!

Great food ideas

See the link to left about crockpotting (thanks to my cousin Stephanie for sending me the info)? For those of you looking for some new recipes that are all focused on using the crockpot, click on that link. There are some new recipes I've never tried before but look great. And I must highly recommend the crockpot pumpkin spice latte. It is FABULOUS! What a great treat to have on a cold night (and yes, it is getting cold here).

If anyone else runs across some great cooking blogs, I love looking at those so please share.
Happy cooking!

Soccer....soccer..and more soccer

This weekend was full of soccer activities. On Saturday, Maryna started a 2-day tournament. She played at 10:45 and 2:30 on Saturday (tied first game 1-1, won second game 5-2). Then after that game we traveled to watch my former girls soccer team play in sectional finals.


Sunday morning, Garrett and I went to church while Brad and Maryna headed back to the soccer field for another10:45 game. They lost this game which kept them out of the finals at 2:30 (somewhat of a blessing in disguise as Maryna had not felt well all weekend). Brad and I then had an outdoor game at 5:30, I had 2 indoor games (6:40 and 8:05) and Brad had 1 indoor game (8:55).


























Needless to say, we are all pretty wiped out this morning. The kids are on fall break starting on Wednesday and I am taking some much needed time off work to just relax and hang out with the kids. This coming weekend, the chaos starts all over as Garrett has his last tournament of the season. His game schedule is 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday.

The good and the bad

Ok, so it's the time of year where leaves begin to change (and in Indiana, boy do they change), there's a light crisp in the air, football season is just going strong and soccer season is ending. I am so conflicted about how I feel when it comes to the fall season.

The good:
The colors (visit http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/leafcam/index.asp to see the changing leaves in Indiana), the smells (like good food - the stick to your ribs kind), football, Thanksgiving (my 2nd favorite holiday only to Christmas)

The bad:
Winter is just around the corner which means snow, ice and lots of heavy layering. The sun seems to disappear and so does the green grass.

So, you see my conflict. I love the true sense of fall but dread what fall brings...winter. I must say, though, usually Indiana starts getting cold around the end of September. Believe it or not, the high today (and for the past several days) is supposed to be 85!!! Woo hoo!!! I love it! I did see the extended forecast and fall is just around the corner. We will go from a high of 85 today to a high of 58 on Saturday (or maybe the meterologist had a dislexic moment and just flip-flopped the numbers...doubt it).

As I mentioned earlier, one of my favorite things about fall is the AWESOME food. The smells of breads, stews, roasts, etc are so exciting. Those on low-carb diets are probably cringing right now. I know many of you are great cooks and would love for you to share some of your favorite recipes. I'm always looking for new options. I too will try to post some of my favorites.

Happy cooking and eating :)

Children

There are many times as a parent when all you can do is thank Him for your children and their innocence. Yesterday morning at church we were observing communion. As the plate passed with the "bread," Garrett leaned over to me and said "Mom, why can't I have one?" I told him we would talk about it after church. So, on our way home after church we had the discussion about communion and baptism. Garrett said, "Wow, I was wondering about that and didn't know what I needed to do to be baptized." So, long story short, Brad is going to talk with his dad about having both kids baptized. It was such an amazing conversation and I truly appreciate the innocence of our children. As I was talking with Karen (my mother-in-law) last evening, she indicated how excited she was but also realized that Dennis (my father-in-law) will have a very difficult time getting through this. I don't know yet what Sunday this will take place but will keep you updated. Please continue to pray for our kids as they go through this exciting time in their lives and pray that Brad and I can be good examples for our kids and be there to answer all their questions.

Habitat Build

So, in my first post I forgot to mention something cool that my office did. As a group project (and our whole organization participated), we did a Habitat for Humanity build on 2 homes. It was such an amazing experience and I was so touched when the houses were completed and I got to attend the ceremony for the handing over of the keys. If you have an opportunity to participate in one of these builds, I highly recommend doing so.

Comments for a cause

If you have not received a message yet from my cousin (Stefunk), please click on the link to the left "a day in the life of a crazed mom." She and several friends are raising money to help fight leukemia in honor of a little boy named Mitch. For every post made on one of her friend's sites, she (Steph's friend) will donate $1. They are trying to raise a total of $144K to help fight this horrible disease. Please take time between now and Saturday to raise $1. It's the least you can do and it only takes a minute.