Fall Soccer

Claire played in a new soccer league this year and we LOVED it.  (1) The season lasted 6 weeks.  (2) College soccer players run the practices so she was actually learning soccer skills. (3) Everybody practices and plays games at the same time so when David plays next year, only one practice night and one game day per week.  The only "con" of this league was that it was co-ed.  But that didn't seem to bother Claire!

Meme keeping David entertained during one of the games.

I only took pictures at a couple of games, but at the last game, Claire was super-aggressive and scored 5 goals for the day.  Her soccer skills have definitely improved and she is still a super-fast runner.

Her buddy Sophie.  Her dad was Claire's coach.

Claire's #1 fan.

Our motley crew on the sidelines.

Team photo.  The last game fell the week before fall break so several team members were out.  And we probably should not have posed the kids facing the sun.  Sophie (in the center) was clearly not a fan! 

Pickin' Pumpkins

Before we get too removed from fall, I wanted to document our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  Our favorite little patch from last year was quite a bit more crowded this year!  We still got to hit our fave things though.

I'm really not sure you can call this a hayride since there was NO HAY!  We took a little spin around the farm in the cage wagon and the kids had a fun time.

Sweet baby Luke.  He was a trooper as usual.

The corn popper is always a big hit.  However, right before we got on to jump (after waiting in line about 30 minutes), David had a complete come-apart and didn't want to jump.  He was not loving it at first.

But then he decided it was really fun and had a blast. 

Claire jumping high.

The hay maze.  I can't believe David went in.  He lost Claire and came back out the entrance.

Here is Claire at the end.

Say cheese!

The kids couldn't wait to ride the cow train.  It was a big hit last year. 

Three little piggies at the farm.

My sweet baby boy ... loving the corn maze.

Time to pick our pumpkins.  Each kid got a free mini-pumpkin to take home.

So much fun climbing the tractor tire mountain.

The big memory that David & Claire had from last year was the pig races.  David clearly remembered that the pigs raced for Oreo cookies.  So funny!

One last picture of my little pumpkins before heading home.  So much fun!!

DIY: Kitchen Message Center

Another Pinterest project completed.  My inspiration ...

Source: makeandtakes.com via Susan on Pinterest

BEFORE: My kitchen wall with plain, boring bulletin board to hold the kids' art.

Bulletin board removed.  Wall taped for dear hubby to hang 6 12x12 frames.  (Sadly, my kitchen wall looked like this for about 3 weeks before we got the pictures hung.)

12x12 cork boards went in 3 of the frames. 

The other 3 frames hold a menu board (from my original inspiration), a shopping list board and a family photo with scripture.  All of the "photos" were created on Photoshop Elements 7.0 and printed at Costco for $2.99/print.

AFTER: here is the message center in use.  I love it!  I attached the dry erase marker above the "menu plan" board with a velcro dot.  I also used a velcro dot on the bottom center of each frame to hold the frame in place.  Otherwise, I might drive myself crazy trying to keep these frames all lined up.


To summarize:

Supplies needed:
6 - 12x12 frames with glass.  (These were $5/each at Hobby Lobby on sale.)
3 - 12x12 cork board.  (Approximately $5 for 4 at Hobby Lobby.)
3 - 12x12 prints or pieces of scrapbook paper (this step can totally be done without Photoshop)
velcro dots
dry erase marker

Total cost = $45 (does not include marker and velcro dots that I already had but that cost is minimal)

1st Sleepover = Success!

Claire had her first sleepover friend a few Friday nights ago.  It was our niece Evie.  I felt pretty confident that it would go well ... and it did. 

Will picked Evie up on his way home from work and brought her to our house.  We made Smores cookies and I even let these two girls crack the eggs.  Can you tell they were excited about the eggs?

We ate dinner at our favorite chicken finger place and then the girls came home and watched a Barbie movie.  I thought we had decided on watching "Tangled" but Evie saw the Barbie movie and wanted to watch that instead since she had not seen it before.  The funniest line of the night was when Evie was starting to get a little scared at one part of the movie, and I heard Claire say something like "you're the one who picked this movie."  Oh girls!  There was lots of popcorn, milk and smores cookies with the movie.

After the movie, it was time for a mani/pedi.  I painted 20 fingernails and 20 toenails 40 different colors.  (Not really, but every nail was a different color on each hand/foot.)


Evie slept on Claire's trundle bed in Claire & David's room.  The kids had fun jumping on the trundle.

Time for bed!  Finally!  Mommy was pooped!

We were worried we might have a middle of the night drive home, but once we got everyone to sleep, we didn't hear a peep out of them until 8AM the next morning.


After a breakfast of Claire's favorite chocolate chip pancakes, we headed out to take Evie home.

Overall, I think the first sleepover went really well.  I'll have to rest up for the next one!

Menu Plan Monday: November 14

Here is our menu plan for the week:

Breakfast treat: Chocolate chip pancakes (I use this recipe and add 1/2c. chocolate chips), pumpkin pancakes

Monday: Creamy baked flautas, mexicorn, chips & queso

Tuesday: Grilled pork chops, green beans, chipotle sweet potatoes

Wednesday: Ham & cheese quiche, blueberry muffins, salad

Thursday:  Spaghetti casserole, salad, french bread

Friday: Eat out with a coupon

Saturday: Eat at wedding

Sunday: leftovers

Oh, and on another food related note ... drop everything you are doing and go make these now (the salted chocolate-caramel ones).  They are divine!

Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.

My Boys!

In case you haven't noticed, I love matching outfits!  This is the first season I haven't purchased a matching set for all 3 kids.  I bought one matching set for the boys, so I tried to snap a few pictures of the two little monsters after church when the finally wore them. 

Easier said than done ...








On a side note, Will is not a fan of these outfits because: (1) they match, (2) Luke's outfit is smocked and (3) they scream Rocky Top.  Ha!  I will say that I intentionally waited until after the annual UT/Bama game for the boys to wear these.  Glad that Bama won that game or it might have been money down the drain!