spirit week

this week was spirit week at school

this meant we had crazy hats



crazy hair

and just plain silliness
all . week . long

just in case you hadn't noticed ...
drew is LOVING being a 5th grader

now's your chance ladies

drew has informed us
that he is one of the 5th grade chic magnets



not sure how long he'll be on the market ...
but last night he told me that he took a personality test
and he is an E and a P

he likes to talk
and
he is good at persuading people to do what he wants

consider yourself warned

little brothers club

these 4 boys



do a great job of keeping busy during their older brothers' football games

tonight's highlight ??
sweet talking the concessions lady into giving them free popcorn
before closing her stand ;)

cheers to the weekend

is there any better way to kick off the weekend than
a bunch of friends
some glow sticks
and
an 8 pm mountain dew??



** it's worth noting that there are 4 kids that cannot be seen in the picture ...
but that most definitely contributed to the noise fun;)

self confidence

as i was laying in bed this morning
the door opened and all 3 boys came walking in
and i could instantly smell them.
i said
'oooo ... you put cologne on?!'

ben and alex:
'we did'

alex:
'the girls are going to LOVE me'

drew:
'i actually didn't.
i'm so good looking, i don't need cologne'

: : :

and there you have it.
no self esteem issues here ;)

a quarterback's diet

as we were driving home from football
i looked at ben and he was chewing on something
so naturally i was curious

me:
ben ... whatcha chewin on?

ben:
(very matter of factly)
a booger

me:
ARE YOU SERIOUS??? THAT'S NASTY!!

ben:
well ... i'm a quarterback
and quarterbacks need to eat healthy things



oh ben ...
i love you
but can you please stick to healthy green foods
that DON'T grow inside your body?!

hello dolly

drew (while i was laying in bed next to him) :

mom, it sure would be nice if we could clone you.
then one of you could get your work done
one of you could lay with ben and alex while they go to sleep
and
then YOU could just sleep with me.
i think that'd be perfect.

me too, drew.
me too.

my bad

today brought alex's 2nd soccer game



it was MUCH more exciting to watch than last game.
it could be that they had NINE goals -
but whatever it was -
their team had A LOT more energy

 

alex didn't get a goal ...
BUT
i'm thinking that next time
if i put his shoes on the right feet ...

he'll have a better shot.

oops ;)

a 70 celebration

on friday night
we took a quick trip to wisconsin
to help celebrate someone very special to us ...
LARRY

this year he turns 70

and what better way to celebrate than to get a bunch of crazy people together

of course my kids fit in perfectly ...

throw in an extra special surprise planner ...

just a little food ;) ...

lots of special people ...

and it made for a very special
and very fun
friday night.

we had to rush back saturday morning for football ...
BUT
the boys love every minute they get with aiden

and we were SO glad that we got to help celebrate
so it was worth the quick trip.

happy 70th birthday, larry

you are SO special to us
we love you
and
are so thankful you are in our lives!!

the star of the day

oh my!

our 2011 LIONS




and ...
our 2011 TIGERS

if only alex were on the BEARS ;)

fired up

ben had his 2nd game tonight

thankfully ...
this game was free of ridiculous-ness

ben got to play his friend michael
and
they both played a great game.



in the end -
our team came out with the win
YEAH TIGERS!!

on a side note ...
alex stole my blanket
and ended up sleeping through the entire game



good thing for the 4 jackets that stacey had stored in his car ;)
maybe just for tonight
i'll take back any jabs i may or may not have made at his hoarding tendencies

fall has officially blown in this week
brrrrr.

thirty * three

happy birthday stacey!!



we love you!!

i remember ...

10 years ago today ...

i had a 9 month old baby

we had just woken up and i was sitting in front of the tv watching good morning america.

stacey was in the bathroom getting ready

WHEN ...

all of the sudden they cut from their story and seemed confused ...

i can almost hear diane sawyers voice as she talked -

was it a plane? a rocket?

SOMETHING had just flown in to one of the world trade center buildings.

and THEN ...

as we were watching the fire in the first tower

and trying to figure out how they were going to rescue those people

we watched a 2nd plane hit the OTHER world trade center

what was going on???

stacey had to leave for work

but i don't think i moved an inch.

we talked on and off as he drove to work -

as he drove the entire sky filled with airplanes

lining up to land at MSP because the airspace was being shutdown

THEN ...

the unthinkable happened

the first tower collapsed

at that time, the thought of a building like that collapsing because of fire

seemed to be the impossible -i just sat in shock for a second

and then quickly called stacey

and he decided to turn around and come home

i remember the second tower collapsing

i remember watching coverage for the entire day

and

i remember setting the vcr to record all day long

i remember thinking about how our lives would never be the same.

i remember that immediately there were flags EVERYWHERE

these guys stood for MANY days following 9/11 on an overpass by our house

i remember that

i instantly had a deeper appreciation for those who put their lives on the line for me -

police, firemen, military

than EVER before -

and that hasn't changed.

i know that i am SO blessed to live in the country that i do.

9/11 was tragic.

it changed us.

and now ...

it is so sad even talking with my kids about it.

it makes me sad thinking about how this has affected their world.

BUT

i hope that by remembering 9/11

and all of the emotions that surround it

we can teach our kids to see how blessed they are as well.

fall kick off 1pm edition

our final game of the day was ben's game

it ended up being a CRAZY game

i always have said i am not really a football mom
and i will NEVER be one of 'those' moms.
well ...
i have apparently turned the corner.

this coach that we played was unreal.
he was coaching his kids to do a crab defense
there are pictures below but i will describe slightly first
essentially, on defense AND offense their entire line is on their knees
now ...
they don't just start on their knees
they start on their knees, wait for the whistle to blow, and then crawl full speed
and they never get up!!
it is un-freaking real!
i have never seen anything like it!!
it made me so nervous for a number of reasons
crushed fingers, a helmet to knee, getting kicked in the face ... to name a few of the obvious

it was ridiculous

naturally ...
our parents were not happy.
our coach was not happy.
many people were yelling many things
unfortunately ...
that included me
and if i could take it back i would ;)
i went a little ghetto for a short minute
before quickly regaining SOME composure
and deciding to channel my energy through taking pictures of the ridiculousness
** as a fun side note - i actually even increased my shutter speed because i was so worked up my hands were shaking and i was afraid everything would be blurry! ;)

in the end ...
our boys quickly learned to deal with this type of game
and ROCKED it!!

ben had a nice run of his own

and even though one of the goals
of their crabbing nonsense
was to grab ben's ankles and trip him,
ben quickly caught on
and had some great hand-offs

2 of which lead to touchdown runs by his friend aaron





our boys adapted SO well
they continued playing football the RIGHT way
kept a good attitude

and in the end
won the game by 2 touchdowns!!

ben ...
you had an AMAZING game
you were SO fun to watch
and
as frustrated as i got
i am SO thankful you kept your cool
and helped your team get the win

tigers ...
YOU ROCK!!!