HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope you all are having a fun Halloween! Jim and Misha took Billy, Brooke, and Max out. Abbie and I have candy duty. I will add more photo's later! Be safe and have a fun night!

Carving Fun!

We had fun carving pumpkins with the kid's tonight. They are excited for tomorrow night. Brooke is going to be a cheerleader and Billy is going to be Tom Brady. I will add more pictures tomorrow!

I LOVE FALL!

FINALLY! It is Fall here! This is my very favorite time of year! After the heat of the Summer, it is refreshing to be out in the crisp cool air.

I am having fun playing around with the camera, and the photo editing software. So lucky the kid's like to model for me. I took these yesterday.

Billy played his last game of the season this morning. I am so proud of him. He played each game with such determination.

We are enjoying a short Fall break from school. The kid's had an open house on Thursday night, and we go back on Tuesday. It is so amazing what they have learned in such a short time!

Enjoy the weekend!

Pumpkin Patch

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It was a good weekend here. We made it through the severe weather on Friday night. We spent half the night in the basement due to the alarms going off for a good hour straight. When the alarms finally went off, we made our way up to bed.

Saturday Billy had a soccer game, and he played a great game. He scored three goals-yes 3. On the way to the game he said, "Mom I feel confident that I'm going to get a goal today." He has become such a great young man, but of course will always be my little man!

Brooke is doing great, we spent a good part of the day reading books. She started reading several weeks ago and now she wants to read everything! She also enjoys spelling words, we played Jr. Boggle about six times. She is having a blast at school, and loves learning new things.

Hope you all have a great week. Oh! including these pictures.

The photo to the far left is from our trip to the pumpkin patch last year. Look how much they have grown in just one year!

Gallrein Farms

We went to Gallrein Farms on Sunday for the second year in a row! We had a blast! We fed the animals, took the horse drawn hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, Brooke rode the pony, and we went through the corn maze. The kids each got a big pumpkin and lots of little pumpkins.

I love this time of year. Enjoy the pictures!

The power of scripture?

Last Saturday morning, Billy and I were riding to his soccer game around 8:15 and Billy was practicing his "memory verse" -

"So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith."

and I asked him if he knew what "confidence" meant. We spoke about confidence and faith for a while, then Billy said, "Dad, I'm confident I'm going to score a goal today!"

Now, Billy, try as he might, had yet to score a goal in his 3 years of playing soccer. To be fair, many of the kids haven't. But this year especially, Billy has been playing with the heart of a lion, running as fast as his little legs will take him...and he's the fastest one out there. He drips sweat at the end of each game - he tries so hard.

So the game begins, a balmy Kentucky sky burning off the morning fog as 14 eager 6- and 7-year olds race up and down the field, half flourescent green, half royal blue. 1st quarter ends, Billy on defense. 2nd quarter, Billy's picked to be goalie. Nothing goes through.

He's looking confident. The score's 1-1.

Halftime ends and it's Billy's turn on offense. He and his best buddy Dakota give each other that look they always give - they've played together 3 years now. Veterans. They nod to each other and the 3rd quarter starts.

Down the field they go, Billy on the left, he turns in towards the goal. 8 kids at once battle for the ball. One emerges from the pack, just for a moment. And Billy shoots, and he scores!

I high-fived everyone around me, most who knew the "story". Billy's whole team high-fived him. His coach screamed from the sideline. "Way to go Billy!" You've never seen a kid so happy.

And then and amazing thing happened - he scored again! This time making the audience almost gasp when Billy kicked it in from mid-field! The momentum fully on the Green side now, Dakota scored 2 more for a hatrick. Billy, inspired now, kicked in one more in the 4th quarter to get his own hatrick.

3 goals. Final score: 7-1.

Billy's team is undefeated. This week we're getting it on video :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today we want to wish Mom and Grammy a Happy Birthday! We hope you have a very special day, we wish we could be with you to celebrate! Sending lots of hugs and kisses! Love, Jim, Jenny, Billy and Brooke

Bluegrass Balloon Glow

Saturday afternoon we headed to Bowman Field to attend the balloon glow. This is the last event of the Kentucky Bluegrass Balloon Festival. At sunset all the balloons gather on a huge field and light up the sky with beautiful colors and designs. It was truly amazing to walk through a field lit by 40 or so giant, glowing hot air balloons. Billy liked the Harley-Davidson balloon, and Brooke liked one that looked like a stained glass window. The kids also enjoyed jumping on the bouncers, and we had lots of good food! The night ended with a fireworks show. The balloon festival is one of the top ten in the United States, and all the proceeds go to charity. HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!