Timmy's 2014 Sports - Fall - A Ball and Soccer

In the fall Timmy, and Tim, graduated to A Ball which is coach pitched instead of hitting off the tee.  It was a big change for everyone!  The kids really got the hang of fielding during this season!  The games even started moving a little faster with outs ending some innings instead of the 4 run cap.  The batting improved a lot too; it was a very developmental season!

Sooo many pitches for coach, this is (part) of one at bat!

Timmy also played soccer in the fall, which he had only been playing indoor winter soccer for the past few years.  One day Nate was supposed to come over to play, but it depended on whether his big brother James had soccer or not, depending on rain.  When I told Timmy that, he looked confused for a moment, then said, "Do you mean he plays soccer outside? I want to do that!"  So, we signed him up for soccer as well!  I was a little worried it would be too much for Timmy, especially on Saturday with morning soccer followed by Baseball.  Timmy was fine, but it wore us, and Tyler, out!

Lining back up for kick off after his first goal of the season!

Every.single.game.  Timmy took it a little personally, but the poor kid must have been growing!

Timmy is a very defensive soccer player.  He is far more concerned with not being scored on then with being the one to score any goals.  Even when assigned to playing Forward...  Unfortunately his coach, while I'm sure a very nice person, and obviously a volunteer, was not much of an actual coach, which made it frustrating to watch.  (Like when, during the 3rd game of the season, our team still didn't know how kick offs work...)  But Timmy had a lot of fun, which is the most important part!  And if he plays soccer again, we know of a couple different coaches to request now!

Always into the celebration!

5 for Friday Halloween Activities Wrap Up!

1.  We had some other Halloween activities sprinkled in the last few weeks as well!  With football season underway we're getting to see more of Jenny, Brett, Brayden and Bryce.  The kids have been having fun on the new swing in Grandad's front yard.  We also went to a neighborhood picnic and Tyler and Brayden got matching face paint pumpkins.

2.  More fall related then Halloween, but Timmy participated in the school's annual Walk for the Homeless this year.  He had heard about it on the morning announcements and asked if he could do it, and then specifically asked if Daddy could do it with him.  I'm very proud of him for asking to be a part of this.  I was there on official yearbook duty too.  Tim and Tyler did the first lap with Timmy, but Timmy was ready to run after that.  Everyone got to hang out with Foxy afterwards and then we had a little time on the playground.

3.  The Saturday before Halloween we had a busy day!  Timmy had soccer practice at 9 followed by his baseball game at noon, so to fill the time in-between we went to a nearby pumpkin patch with a haunted bus, hay bale slide, and moon bounces.  At baseball, Timmy's fans filled the bleachers with Grammy, Grandad, Susan, Riggins, Jenny, Brett, Brayden, Bryce, and Joe all coming to watch the game!  Uncle Joe came home with us to visit for a little and saw us off on our next adventure, going to a Haunted House!  Tyler was just SO into Halloween this year, he was watching Scooby Doo's, Goosebumps, and every Halloween special of our regular shows that he could find.  I knew he'd love the Haunted House.  For the price, we went through it a little faster then I would have liked, but I declined an invitation to go back with neighborhood friends during the evening, not child-friendly, times!

4.  On Halloween morning Timmy's class had Halloween based activities (Read: Not a Party) and I went in to help.  Bingo was definitely the highlight for Timmy, he got crazy excited when he was one away, but someone else got bingo first!  After bingo they rotated through several game stations.  The kids all had fun and I enjoyed getting to work with all of them in groups of four, I got to put more faces with names and see a little of their personalities.  I brought in Kettle Corn for the kids to have afterwards and they devoured it!  Timmy was excited, telling everyone that his Dad and Grandad made it.

5.  Thanks to a few years worth of hand-me-down's, Tyler had quite the Halloween shirt collection this year!  They didn't all fit perfectly, but as I mentioned, he was all about Halloween.  He also had two different costumes, which he alternated between each time we got to dress up.  (There was also a costumed birthday party for Tyler's buddy Dylan on the 1st, which Tyler was Wolverine for again, but by that time even I was pictured out!)  Tyler wore his Halloween shirts every couple of days all month, but I made sure that he wore them seven days straight for the week leading up to Halloween.  Timmy complained that he only had one Halloween shirt, so I guess my big boy isn't too cool for this kind of thing yet.  Luckily he had his Batman sweatshirt for Halloween too.  And I will do better for the Christmas season!

Pumpkin Carving

Elena picked up huge pumpkins for her Grandson's and magically found a time that we were free and Jenny and her family were available to get together and carve them!  The kids were all excited to carve the pumpkins.  Timmy and Brayden both helped empty theirs out.  Tyler, on the other hand, didn't even touch the outside of his pumpkin!

We had a few books with patterns to choose from and Tim printed a few super hero symbols off of the internet.  Brayden chose a ghost, Timmy chose the Batman symbol, and Bryce was happy with the bat that Jenny picked out.  When Tim asked Tyler what he wanted, Tyler replied, "Uhm, a Minion."  Tim had to go back to the internet for that one!  The boys alternated being interested in the pumpkins and running around the back yard.  Timmy did about half of his own carving; Brayden supervised everyone.  Tyler did approve of his Minion when it was finished.

All of the pumpkins turned out well and we had a little photo shoot out front with everyone.  Grandad even stopped by to drop something off in the middle of it, so he got a picture with his grandson's too.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween fell on a Friday before a long weekend this year which meant that the kids had a two hour early dismissal.  This made for even more time to have fun at Reed's annual Halloween Party before dinner at Grandad and Susan's and trick-or-treating time!

Reed's party was a lot of fun.  I love seeing all the kids dressed up and they get to just run wild.  I think a highlight this year was chasing the hired werewolf around (it's a teenager that Stephanie pays to jump out of the storage shed and scare the kids / keep an eye on the kids in the backyard so the parents don't have to) He definitely earned his money this year!  Even Tyler was after him, I don't think Tyler has any idea he is so much smaller then all of the other kids who were in on the game!

There was also a fortune teller, who let the kids pick between fortune fish and the magic 8 ball to ask a question of before sending them on their way with a fortune cookie!  The question of the night was, "Will I get lots of candy tonight?"  

The kids had a blast and we got to relax with some of the other parents.

Tyler found a safe use for his hammer!

And struck an awesome Thor pose!  I taught him to run around saying,  "I am the son of Odin!"

From there we went to Grandad and Susan's for a delicious dinner and to wait for the cousins to show up and for it to get dark enough to trick or treat.  Susan had dressed up this year as well and freaked a few kids out!

I said that Susan looked like the bad guy that all of the superheroes should be fighting, so Timmy changes his pose

They had so much fun trick or treating!  Timmy and Brayden were sprinting from house to house, they will really get a good haul when they don't have to wait for their parents and younger brothers!  Tyler did a really good job keeping up, making it to every house in time to collect candy with the big boys.  If a neighbor opened the door before Tyler got there he'd either yell, "Wait! Wait!" or he'd go ahead and yell, "Trick or Treat!!!" before getting to the door so they'd see him coming!  Bryce went to the first few doors and then happily got pushed around in his car eating some of the loot!

Trick or Treating at the Miller's

Happy 1st Halloween Baby Graham!!!