Champions

Logan's football team played in a tourney in Cedar Rapids last weekend and Mike and I tagged along.
We are no dummies and have been on these type of weekends before, when Stacy was playing softball, so we opt to stay at the Mainstay Suites NEXT DOOR to the kids hotel. Plus I had points for 2 nights free.
Smart move on our part. The kids took over the place starting on Friday.
Logan chilling by the hot tub.

We had the 9:30 game on Saturday morning and the weather was chilly and sunny - perfect for some football. There were 12 teams in our age bracket and only 4 move on to Sunday. Boys win 68 - 0 and I feel horrible for the other team. They really didn't have a chance.

Saturday's afternoon game was a little closer 14-36, but we win. Logan played his best game of the year (so far). He was all over the place on defense, running down plays, getting sacks, and he then caught a pass for the go ahead touchdown.
Proud Parents - Grandparents - and Uncle.

I usually don't like to take pictures at an angle,  but  I had to take this picture a little crooked, because the sign above their heads had a dog pooping with a slash through it.

I borrowed Stacy's car paint and painted our car.

We get the word that the boys were seeded #3 for Sundays game - all 4 teams were undefeated, but both teams above them gave up less runs.

Sunday morning we wake up to drizzle and cold. The Broncos only had one game in this weather all year. They don't seem to notice. They had their game faces on.
Taking the sidelines chanting B.A.T - B.A.T - B.A.T.
I had to ask one of the coach's wife - B.A.T = Big, Ass, Trophy!

It drizzled for the first half and then the sun came out and so did our team. Logan's buddy, JP, does most of the offense (that little guy can flat out run), but coach runs the same pass play to Logan and the team goes ahead to stay.

The sun comes out for the championship game and the boys are facing their toughest game all season. The Trojans (local team with lots of fans) have only given up 3 touchdowns all season and none in this tourney.
Broncos don't care - Coach Jerry has this team ready.

JP scores a touchdown in the second quarter. We score first. That poor kid has been kicked around all weekend and has to leave the game with a headache. He came back in the second half. The defense steps up and causes 5 turnovers - oh yeah, (I may sound like a proud grandma here), LOGAN causes 3 of them. The other teams is stunned and we win 16-0 and take home that BAT.
Logan with his medal.

Landscapers

Why do older people think that throwing down weed control paper and rocks is landscaping?

When Mike and I moved into Shady the house was surrounded by rocks - under evergreens (which has since been pulled out), and completely surrounding the house 3 feet out. Granted they were landscape rocks and very pretty but Come-on.
I finally got the house surrounded with pretty perennials with a few annuals thrown in.

Bryan and Mary bought their house from an older lady and guess what? Landscaped with paper and rocks. So Mike and I headed into they city to remedy the situation .

Removing the rocks. Bryan and Mary now have about 38 buckets full of rocks along side their garage.

Rocks and rotten weed paper removed. We left the lights, because we were told to. I planted low flowering plants so they can get some light into their basement. I also left a spot for a climbing plant around the corner.

Me planting the bulbs. 102 tulips and daffodils scattered in a row. I don't usually plant them this way - I like to bunch them, but I wanted to leave some space for Mary to plant flowering annuals next spring. And you know what if she doesn't like it this way we dig them and change it for next year. I also told her if there is any plant she doesn't want we can removed them and change them up too - But I refuse to put down rocks!

2 Pictures

We had a busy week last week. I took NO pictures, but I did manage to sneak a few in.

During the week.
Steve was visiting from New York. I got to make some dinners, we ate out, and the house was filled with show tunes. Steve is a singer and is singing all the time - I love to hear him sing. How he stays in tune is a mystery though, because Steve is deaf in one ear - which means TV turned REALLY loud. I must admit though I like the TV turned way low.
Watching TV with Steve can be very entertaining. See he works at a rehearsal studio and meets celebrities. He refers to people by their real names. For Instances, on Grey's Anatomy we know her as Callie Torrez - Steve calls her Sara Ramirez. He's friends with her on facebook.Huh? He has lunch with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who is rehearsing his one man show at Steve's studio. So many tales to tell and I love to hear them all.

Weekend
Saturday was Logan's championship football game. I purposely did not take my camera. I seriously have plenty of pictures of him playing football. I just wanted to sit in the stands and watch.
I only wished I had it one time - after the game and the boys all had their medals, they lined up along the field in front of us, took off their helmet and raised them in the air and shouted "Thank You". I had a HUGE lump in my throat. It was so touching.

After the game Mike and I headed down to St. Louis for a shower for Roger. Mary's college roommates threw her a "Meet Roger" shower on Sunday. I really wanted to take pictures, but this time I left the camera in the car with Mike and he was off watching the Bears at some bar around the corner.
I did have one that Bryan took.
Meet Mr Bear. I just couldn't resists buying him. He matched the bear quilt I made. We got some funny looks with him traveling in our back seat.

I really wanted to get a picture of Steve and Mike. They don't get to see each that often. I didn't, but I do have one of them from Oct. 91'

Sorry Steve! At least it's not on facebook.

Things

I love the color of the trees in the fall. And to watch the leaves fall in the backyard, despite the yard work.

It's better to watch football when it's in the fifties than the eighties. Go Broncos!

Like wise for sleeping. Open them windows. I promise to turn the heat on sometime soon. :)

Loving a book by a new author (maybe Mike has told me about him, but I don't remember) and finding out that he has a bunch more. Author = Jeffrey Deaver. Thanks, Linda.

Having company that will eat things I like. I baked a load of pumpkin bread and apple muffins for Steve's visit. Steve likes them - Mike not so much.

Getting surprise picture texts from Roger. OK - Mary sends them, but Roger is the subject. 

Forwarding said texts.

Pumkin beer. I can't believe I didn't know about this. Thanks to Craig.  I found some - I drank some - and I like it!

Reading the blogs of Mothers with kids.

Crock pot cooking.

Sewing. I am getting better and better at it. I now have to tackle my quilting skills with my quilt rack. So far it's been a disaster. Practice makes perfect though - Right? Anybody want a test quilt?

For the people who have seen my Microwave and my iron.
My moto has always been:
Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without.

Time Flies...
You Know you've been out of work for awhile when the pens you stole from the office run out of ink.

Just 23 days

Thats' how long my friend Peggy got to be a Grandmother.
That's how long her daughter, Amanda, and her fiance Peter, got to be with their twins.
That's is the time that Faith and Hope had here with their family.

The twins dies on Thursday Sept. 29th.
God Bless Them!!
Her is an article that was in the paper.

Perfect Fall Day with NO School

I took Dylan and Kaylyn to get some pumpkins. Logan stayed back in Genoa with a football friend. Dylan wanted the big ones - "if you can lift it, you can have it". He found a smaller and cheaper one.

Kaylyn of course couldn't find the right one. The hay racks full of pumpkins were too tall for her to see them.

So with a boost She found the perfect one in the middle of the pile.

Brian was there to help me tie my corn stalks on top of the car instead of loading them into the back. Yay - a clean car. I got some yummy squash too.

When we got home the kids wanted to  play in the leaves in the back yard.
Dylan won for catching the most fallin leaves. Wow, is that a workout - I caught nothing, Nada. I could not keep up with one falling leave.

They each raked a pile to play in.

Dylan ran and Oh Yeah MISSED his stack. Way too much fun.

Then I told them how Grandma and Aunt Sharen used to spend their time "playing" in the leaves.
 I got out the magnifying glass and taught them how to burn the leaves using the sun. Dylan was a natural and even Kaylyn with a little patience got one to burn.

Really Close

A new Babies R us store just open around the corner in South Elgin. Like 5 minutes away - Really Close! It is right next door to my LA Fitness so after my workout (workout = 45 minutes on a bike) I thought I would visit and see what they had. It's also a Toys R us.
The toys for the big grandkids were reasonably priced but OMG the clothes for the babies was $$$.

I was disappointed so I decided to walk over to the Super Target on the other side of LA and see what I could find. Really I just wanted to see if they had any more DD pumpkin coffee on sale.

I found the cutest sleeper for Roger with GRANDPA on it. You can always find Mommy, Daddy, Auntie, and Grandma, but this was the first time I found one with Grandpa. Of course, I bought it and of course, Roger loved it. Mike thought it was pretty awesome too.

This is supposed to be a VIDEO of Roger kickin' and a talkin' in his Grandpa sleeper, but I couldn't get the clip from my camera to my blog. UGH!!! - Maybe I should call Sam, the techie 2 yr old, - she probably knows more than me.

Am I a Hoarder?

Or just a smart seasonal shopper.

It's no secret that I love everything pumpkin.
So at this time of the year when pumpkin is in season is it wrong of me to have a whole shelve in my kitchen dedicated to all things pumpkin flavored so I can enjoy that great pumpkin goodness throughout the Year???

I THINK NOT!!!

I am still waiting to try pumpkin salsa and I did take a pass on the pumpkin martini.