Davy's First Dirt Bike Race!!!

Well, I usually brag about my children - but this post I will brag about my hubby!!! He participated in his first dirt bike race today in Columbus, Ohio!! We drove up to Columbus yesterday and spent the night at Dan's house. They have two boys...the same age as our's, so the boys loved playing with Daniel and Jackson. I enjoyed getting to know Betsy too!! We all went to dinner last night...then we all went to the race track to watch the guys race. The boys had a BALL!!! I was glad they were able to see their Daddy in action...they have never really "watched" him ride his dirt bike. Bad thing is....they want one now!!

I was sooo proud of him. He did great!!! I was a nervous wreck at first, but after the first 2-3 laps --- I calmed down a good bit!!! A friend of his (Dan VanWormer) from Columbus asked him to be in this 2-Man Hare Scramble several weeks ago. Davy usually just rides trail rides, so this was a BIG step for him!! Both Dan and Davy did great!! They are both worn out, but I think deep down...they are really proud of how they did. We are waiting to hear how they did...we didn't stay around to find out their time!!
Here are some pictures from the race!!

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Halloween 2008

My children had the pleasure of having SEVERAL times to wear their costumes and trick-or-treat this year for Halloween!! They had trunk-or-treat at church, Historic Lebanon trick-or-treating, Barrett's school, Barrett's Adventure Camp, and finally trick-or-treating around the Carden's neighborhood!! We have candy RUNNING OUT OUR EARS!!!! The candy will have to become missing pretty soon....I am worse than the kids (eating it). Here are some pictures of the various trick-or-treating events!!






Barrett and Davy had a special "Daddy-Son" Night on Tuesday night. They had a "Pumpkin Carving with Dad" at his pre-school. Davy and Barrett had a ball!!! This was the first time that Barrett had a "Special Night" with just Davy!! He thinks he is just SO BIG...I just can't believe that my baby will be 4 YEARS OLD in just a couple of days....my time flies!! Here are some pictures from their special night...Davy took these - I wasn't invited to attend!!

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Barrett's Halloween Party was on the Thursday before Halloween. I was one of the mothers who helped with the party....we had a ball!!! I will have to say...those teachers just blow my mind (with all the things they have taught those children in just 2 months). We had 3 different stations going at once (1.making treat bags, 2. pin the nose on the "Jack-o-lantern, and 3. Halloween book reading). After they finished all 3 stations...they had a costume parade and then went trick-or-treating around the school. My child's teeth are going to FALL OUT from all the candy!!!
Here are some cute pictures from his party!!

I have LOTS of catching up to do.....going to try and get everyone caught up!!!

My oh my - where has my time gone?...Oh wait - I do know....my THESIS!!!! I am happy to report that my Thesis for my Ed.S. was submitted around 12-midnight on Friday night (well the rough draft, but to me it is easy street from here on out!!!). Anyway, I haven't had time to blog, edit pictures, watch my t.v. shows, or sleep. Any extra time has been devoted to working on my paper. Well, now that I am finished...I am going to try and catch up on some things. We have a had a very busy last several days. From trips to festivals...we have had a blast!! I am taking the easy way out and just put pictures on a slide show...I don't have time to really go into great detail...I will have to do better about letting myself get this far behind!!

The first slide show is from when we went to Loretta Lynn's Ranch for Davy to ride dirt bikes. Our friends...Van, Holly, Morgan, and baby Tripp met us at my parent's river house from North Carolina...we had a ball!! My parents came up for a quick visit too!!!

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That following Monday...Carson was out of school, so I promised them that if they were good while I worked a little on my paper... I would take them to Build-a-bear workshop in the mall. Well, they were perfect that day...so we jumped in the car and headed to the mall to do build-a-bear! They had a ball! Here are some pictures from that!!

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Carson had an eventful end of the week...on Thursday, we went on a field trip to Governor Bebb's Preserve...and then on Friday, we had a fun Fall Harvest Party (we would have called it a Halloween Party, but not at his school). We had a blast at the field trip...it was very COLD (in the upper 40s or so)...but our tour guide was wonderful!! They got to see several old houses, school, store, etc. ...and they also got to make homemade candles! On Friday, we had a Harvest Party for the kids...they made treat bags, little wooden pumpkins, and played Pin the nose on the scarecrow..along with fun party food!! The kids seemed to have a ball.....check out the pictures of his fun filled two days!!

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Saturday was a FUN FAMILY DAY!!! We met up with Robyn and Ty Parrish that morning to pick out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch...then we went to Lebanon to trick-or-treat at various stores in their historic downtown area (it is soooo nice over there). After we came home for a little while...we went to Corwin Nixon Park (in Mason) for a little Harvest Festival (everything there was FREE!!!). The boys' friends (Mason & Maddie) met us there too!! We (adults) enjoyed great conversations...while the kids had a blast playing!!! These pictures show our fun day!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Whheewww....that only took a couple of hours to do!!! I really need to do better than this! Well, I have to go get the kiddos dressed for truck-or-treat after church tonight, so I will be sure to blog tonight with new Halloween pictures!!!

Barrett's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch...

Barrett's Pre-school class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was sooo nice, and the kids had a great time. Barrett enjoyed playing with his little buddies, and I enjoyed getting to know the moms a little better too. The kids were covered in dirt by the time we left...and very tired. Carson has his field trip next week...I am loving the fact that I can go to all these things, and not have to worry about taking off from work!! I probably should be working on my paper, but that can wait....my kids can't.

Here are some pictures from his big day at the pumpkin patch!!

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Barrett's First Soccer Practice...

The time has finally come for our sweet little boy to be able to play an "organized" sport. A friend told us about this place (an indoor soccer club in Mason) that has teams for Barrett's age group. I probably would not have done this right now, but bless his heart - he has watched Carson at baseball and soccer games for the past 3 years...and he has been right there practicing with them for the past year or so!!! It was his turn to get to play the "real game"...as he called it!!


So, on Monday I went up to Wall2Wall to get the paper work for his little class/team. Barrett was with me...and you should have seen this child's face --- he was SO EXCITED!! He overheard the coach telling me to get him shin guards and cleats, and that is all he talked about until we finally went to Dick's Sporting Goods.


When we walked in Dick's Sporting Goods - he (very proudly) walked back to the soccer area and told the lady that he was playing soccer and he needed all "his gear". We all started laughing....he just looked sooo serious!! We got the ball, shin guards, cleats, and socks - and he was so proud of them!! I had originally planned on using Carson's old stuff, but then I decided that it wouldn't be fair for Barrett to have to use "hand-me-downs" for such a special time...his 1st time to play soccer. We had gone through all of this with Carson his 1st time..and I just felt like Barrett deserved the same!! We came home after that to get ready for his nap, BUT before he would even think of taking a nap...he had to put all of his new stuff on to tryout. I really wish you could have seen this sweet little child!! You would have thought we gave him a million dollars...he was just sooo proud!!! I finally got him to lay down for naptime.....and this is how he slept!!



Well today (Tuesday) was his first practice, so he could not think of anything else but that!! He also had his field trip to the Pumpkin Patch...so he had a very busy day!!! He wanted to wear all his soccer stuff to the pumpkin patch, but I talked him out of that!!! His practice is from 5-6 ever Tuesday at an indoor arena...which will be nice this winter. His practice went sooo well...and he LOVED IT!! He thought he was sooo big, and was so excited that we were all there to cheer him on for his first "game" (not really, but he kept calling it a game, so we just played along). He also got a shirt (he calls this his jersey), so that made the experience even better!!
Here are some pictures from his practice!!






These videos are from some drills they had to do...sorry for the voices in the background.
In this video...they are suppose to be kicking the ball...trying to keep it in control - well you will see how Barrett did!!!

In the second drill - they are dropping the ball - then kicking it high...not real sure about this, but he was tooo funny!

My Husband....the things he finds to do with his time....

Davy will be meeting up with some friends in TN to ride dirt bikes at Loretta Lynn's Ranch. A group of guys get together every year to ride. They usually stay at my parent's river house to cut down on the drive time. Well...Davy was beginning to get a little stressed out about getting his bike "ready" for the ride -- I didn't know you had to get a dirt bike ready to ride in the dirt and mud!! Anyway, Saturday Davy decided that he would work on his bike while Beverly and I had the kids. I walked outside only to find this....


Well, before I thought - I made the statement..."You might be a Red-Neck if you...." and I was corrected by Barrett real quick. He told me that we do not call people"Red-Necks" and that was not very nice at all (read previous post to understand Barrett's Red Neck story).

Proud Davy with his bike!!!

A Visit from the Grimes Family...

Our 1st "friends" company from TN was the Grimes family. They were on Fall Break this week, so Friday they came up for the weekend!!! They went to church and school with us back in Jackson...and I taught with Beverly. They got here about 6:30 on Friday night, and the boys were SOOOOO EXCITED to see them!! Caleb and Carson were together all the time when we lived in Jackson, so it has been really hard on Carson to not be with Caleb since the move. The kids played and played Friday night. The boys all piled in our bed to sleep that night. I think they finally went to sleep around mid-night that night. Only to get up at 7:00AM the next morning!!!

The Gang on Friday night...playing Play Station!!!


Best Buds...Carson and Caleb!!



Beverly and I had decided that we would get up on Saturday and show them around the area...we didn't want to waste the time while they were here. Well.....that didn't happen!! We didn't leave to go "sight-seeing" until maybe 12:30ish!! We just lost track of time...between letting the kids enjoy hanging out together and Bev. and I catching up on stuff - we just lost track of time.

We took the Grimes around the area and then to Keehner Park for the Pumpkin Festival. It was like a Harvest Festival with all kinds of blow-up things,a petting zoo, pony rides, crafts, food, carnival type games, and a haunted (kid friendly) trail). The kids had a blast!!! We stayed there for a couple of hours...then took them to the KFC (Kids for Christ...Carson's church group) cook-out. After Beverly and I dropped the kids off with Davy - we left and went to Cheese Cake Factory for dinner and then to Starbucks for coffee...we had a great time too!!!

Here is a slide show from the Keehner Park Festival...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Grimes family headed out early Sunday morning to make that fun drive back to TN...after church...we had to hit the ball field for Carson's ballgame!! He was 3 for 3 today...we were very proud of him!!!