A Baby & a Birthday

At the beginning of November the kids and I took a road trip to Indiana. We went for several reasons…my mom's birthday, the birth of a nephew, to see grandparents, to see my college roommate and to meet her newest addition. It was a jam packed 4 days, but as you will notice in the pictures we had a blast.

We left home on a Saturday. Our 1st stop was Daddy's football game near Columbus, OH. After the game we traveled to Indianapolis to visit my college roommate. Here are the big kids playing together.

And here we are with our little ones

After dinner we continued our trek to Evansville, IN where my brother and his family lives. Thankfully the 9 hour drive went really well!

The drive may have gone well, but this is about how I felt the next morning…I did not want to get up. Poor guy!

We spent lots of time with cousin Morgan playing and watching movies in our pj's

Kolter received lots of grandparent attention

We also celebrated several birthdays including my Mom's/Nana's, mine, and my niece Morgan's.

This is the beautiful cake my SIL Sharin made for us. It was so pretty and she was the one having a baby the next day!

We celebrated Morgan's 3rd bday

Nana blowing out all 54 candles and opening her gifts.

Nora "helping" Nana open her gifts

Kolter enjoyed the wrapping paper

We had to get outside a bit

Cousins on a tire swing

Nana entertaining the little one

Learning how to play basketball with a little assistance

Nora trying to understand the concept…she was happier on Papa's shoulders

And we can't forget the best part…little Ryker's birth!

Daddy and son

Nora being a princess and getting some pampering from Tache…Nora was insistent on sparkly pink nail polish.

After all the fun we made our way back home. The kids did great! We made the 8 hour drive home with only 1 stop and that was for lunch. There was very little crying and that was a huge blessing! But as you can tell everyone was a little tired.

Games 8-11

And for the final recap of the football season…

Game 8: this is going back a while, but I do remember it was a beautiful fall day. We had football friends in from out-of-state so we had lots of fun activities. The game itself was not so fun. The Pioneers lost to Lake Erie with a score of 34-55.

Game 9: This week the Malone Pioneers took on Urbana. It was an away game, but it just happened to be on our route to Indiana so we went to the game. It was bitterly cold and windy. We bundled up and the kids stayed warm by literally running up and down the front aisle of the bleachers. At half-time Nora had to potty so we warmed up in the gym. Then I made the decision to leave. Kolter wasn't handling the cold temperatures very well and it was kind of miserable trying to keep 4 people warm by myself. So we jumped back in the van and headed to Indy a little early. The Pioneers succumbed to Urbana 16-35.

Playing in the gym, trying to feel our fingers again

Game 10: This game marked the final home game. It was chilly and Kolter had a cold so I made the executive decision to hang out in the press box. It was the 1st time we had been in the press box all year, which means the weather was pretty great all season. The kids had fun playing in the tight space ;) however Malone lost to Findlay with a score of 0-38.

Game 11: The final game was away, several hours away in Michigan so we did not travel. Malone took on Northwood. It was a cold, snowy game that didn't end well. The final score was 17-41.

The day after the final game we had the football banquet. Which wrapped up the season. It was a tough season filled with challenges, but there were also many blessings that helped the team and players persevere. Now it's on to recruiting!

Fallin'

Leaves

 

 

While Kolter couldn't play in the leaves he can still look cute :)

Fun Run {1st Race}

Still working on catching up…during homecoming weekend Malone conducts a 5k and a kids fun run.

This was Sawyer and Nora's 1st race. It was a cold morning and we didn't know the distance of the fun run so we were a little unprepared but they still had tons of fun.

our runners before the race

practicing their start

Ready, set, go…Sawyer was fast out of the blocks

They ran around the track once. Sawyer started out quickly, but after about 200 he had slowed down. I took this picture on the back side of the track. I was cheering Sawyer on and he said "Mommy, I'm trying but it's so cold!" :) But he persevered and finished strong. Poor Nora hurt her foot the night before so I wasn't sure she would even run, but she got caught up in the excitement. She had to take a few breaks but she too finished strong!

And the best part…the candy after the race!

the whole gang of runners

And just to prove how neurotic and unhealthy my relationship with running is…I was nervous for my kids the night before and the morning of the race. It was a FUN RUN and yet I was nervous for them…oy I may be a basket case if my kids are ever runners…please be soccer players :)