Hockey

Derek decided to play street hockey this year instead of basketball. This is his first year playing hockey and he barely knows how to skate, so it should be interesting. This year the league added a roof to the rink and overlayed the concrete floor with a soft and slick skate surface. It's a really nice facility.

This past Saturday the league put the players through a series of evaluations in order determine teams. Some of the kids could really fly and handle the puck, but there were a number of kids like Derek who were just starting out - even a couple girls.

Derek had been using his regular street roller blades which didn't help because the wheels were too hard and slick to properly grip the new skate surface. We got him some real street hockey skates a couple days ago and he was very excited to try them out at his first practice last night. Unfortunately, practice had to be cancelled because of the rain so he skated around in the garage instead. I guess, even with the roof, the slick skate surface is very susceptible to moisture.

Basketball

Basketball season is under way. Adam had his first game last Friday. Derek had originally signed up, but decided to play street hockey instead. This year we switched to a new league at a church much closer. We have been wanting to play in this league for a few seasons, but the signup is always so early (just as Fall soccer is getting under way) and the league fills up within hours so we've always missed it. This year we made a point of trying to get in. Helen got to the signup just in time. Some people had been waiting in line for hours, but she hit it just right and walked right in.

Last year Adam was the top scorer on his team, but this year he has moved up to a new age group and the competition in this league is better so things are not coming as easily. He says he likes where he used to play better.

Immigration Day

Derek and neighbor Becca

Derek, along with the rest of the 5th grade, has been studying immigration. Yesterday I went to Derek's school and read an immigration story to his class and today the 5th graders are staging a mock immigration.

The school lobby is set up to be Ellis Island with immigration officials, judges, etc. The students were assigned a persona which included name, occupation, country, age, etc. Derek's persona is Mario Osborn. He is 43 years old, a potato farmer, and came over in steerage class from Germany. He has a scalp infection and his suitcase contains a few trinkets he hopes to use to favorably influence immigration officials.

Helen was rushing out the door in the morning when she told me quickly that Derek wanted a mustache for Immigration Day. She showed me the mascara and eye liner and gave me some quick instructions. I nodded to confirm that I had it under control.

I came back from my morning run as Derek was getting ready to head to the bus stop. I quickly worked to apply his mustache. I had two containers to choose from and I was proud that I was able to discern the mascara from the eye liner. However, the mascara applicator did not seem to be working. I quickly remembered that Helen said something about maybe needing to sharpen it. So I sharpened it and tried again. Still nothing would come out and Derek's upper lip was getting raw. I gave up, put down the mascara, and told Derek I didn't know what was wrong. Derek picked up the mascara, looked at it, and pulled a cap off the other end. It turns out there are 2 ends to a mascara container (who knew?) and I was working with the eraser end, which won't apply the mascara - even if you sharpen it.

Camellia's, etc

First bloom

Side of the house

The front of the house gets more shade so the camellias in the front are just starting to bloom

It's been almost a year since we put in the new landscaping. We had to wait until the hardscaping was done and by then it was early December - too late and it didn't help that it turned really cold right away. We were worried the plants would not survive. We lost a bunch of dwarf gardenias, but everything else has done fine. We waited through the spring and summer to see if the gardenias would miraculously rise from the ashes, but they did not. I made some effort to locate more dwarf gardenias, but in the end I just went to Home Depot and got some non-dwarf gardenias. They seem to be doing well.

We have enjoyed blooms on the magnolia for several months and just recently the camellias started blooming. We're ecstatic that the improvements we made have turned out as well as they did. Everything looks especially good right now with the fiery red dogwood leaves, the deep purple loropetalum and purple pixies, and the blooming camellias.

We had an incredibly beautiful weekend with high blue skies and a nip in the air to make it feel like fall. There's something about this time of year with all the fall colors, the cool temperatures, and the angle of the sun in the sky that make it special.

We had a couple more makeup soccer games this weekend. Today and Wednesday are our last games - hooray! It's the season that would never end. Adam has already started basketball practice and Derek is looking forward to starting street hockey practice in the next couple of weeks - as soon as they get the county inspectors to approve the new rink.

Halloween

Derek and his friend Gavin getting ready

Derek, Gavin, and Adam make their way to the parade start

Derek and Becca stand farther and farther apart for their picture each year

Helen works the drink stand while my Mom looks on

Our niece Brooke

...and big sister Lindsay

Party after the parade before the kids head out for trick-or-treating

Jason, Christian, Adam, and Connor

The kids going through their haul after all the trick-or-treating is done

Father and son all googley-eyed after a long night

It was so nice that Halloween was on Saturday this year. It's usually such a traffic nightmare when it's during the week. I learned early on to take the day off or leave work right after lunch.

Derek invited his friend, Gavin, to spend the night. Both our boys were bouncing off the walls with anticipation all day. It seems Gavin was doing the same at his house. We got a call in the early afternoon from Gavin asking how early he could come over. I said anytime and his mother was at our house within minutes. She said that Gavin was going crazy.

Our neighborhood has an annual Halloween parade complete with fire truck and pizza party. The rain put somewhat of a damper on festivities, but the show went on. The kids were worried all day that the parade would be canceled.

We invite our extended family each year and everyone has a good time. This year our three year old niece, Lindsay, was really looking forward to it. She went to a lot more houses this year and even got to trick-or-treat with Adam.

Last year Adam was so intent on getting lots of candy that he ran off and left all the friends he was supposed to be going around with. We found him trick-or-treating alone and scolded him. So what happens this year? He does the same thing. I walked around the neighborhood frantically looking for him. It was dark and there were many strange cars coming and going. I finally found him and after scolding him he made the same response he always does when we scold him, "oh". I keep telling Helen that it's not a matter of if he will get himself into big trouble, it's a matter of when and to what degree.

The kids had a great time. They spread their candy out on the floor and compared who got the most. The girls were so cute swapping candy with the older boys. Even little Brooke was into it. She may not have known exactly what was going on, but she loved the big piles of candy in all the different colors, shapes, and sizes. She liked taking pieces of candy from the piles and distributing them around the room.

Pumpkin Carving

Adam and Derek finally get to carve their pumpkins

Mom, I need some help

Kelley sent us some pictures from Alaska of the pumpkins she and Paul carved

Kelley woke up to find that her neighbor had put out this pumpkin facing the pumpkins Kelley and Paul had put out the night before

Adam and Derek's pumpkins

Pumpkin Picking

The boys couldn't wait to pick out their pumpkins this year. They kept asking when we were going to the church nearby that has the pumpkins. We bought our pumpkins too early one year and the pumpkins were rotten by Halloween, so we held the boys off for a while before finally giving in.

Lulu Hunter

From time to time we get moles in our yard. They don't really bother me too much. I figure it's free aeration for the lawn. However, they do bother Lulu our dachsund and Grayson our cat. Grayson has caught a few moles in his day, but he's getting older and doesn't seem as motivated as he used to be. Lulu, on the other hand, has been tormented by the mole. She would head out to the backyard whenever she could to track the mole. She would get on the trail and start digging, which did bother me. The mole's trails weren't visible, but Lulu's holes were. Finally, after months of tracking, she caught the mole a couple weeks ago.

I wasn't home at the time. Helen was getting ready to head out with the boys when she noticed Lulu was hovering around her while she was getting ready to leave. She finally looked down and saw that Lulu had come inside and was carrying the mole. Lulu was so proud. It took a while for Helen to coax Lulu to let go of her bounty.