Corn maze and a birthday

Another week has flown by! We remain healthy and vigilant - but we are fatigued with 2020. I am sure that we are not alone in that respect! Brenner has taken an interest in watching the evening news and some of the debates. It is interesting hearing what his classmates are talking about. We remind him that it is an individual's responsibility to be informed and not merely a recorder for something you may have heard or read. Please keep loving your neighbors in these trying times!

Spirit week at Nola's school. Can you say crazy hair day?!

Some pretty fall colors outside of my "office".

It turned cold Friday but each kiddo grabbed a friend and we headed to the corn maze once the rain ended.

Brenner breaking rule #1: Stay on the trail. Sigh. It was so muddy! But not crowded which was perfect.

All smiles with a few shivers!

The giant jumping pillow was a hit. And I workout. Yes - I got on it at one point.

Shooting some hoops!

Running on the hay bales.

The maze theme was Chiefs as Superbowl champs. There were 8 signs to find....we only found one!!!! We decided that there weren't really 8 because we would have found more lol!

Nola helping me make Dad's carrot cake while he was working at the cabin.

Thanks Aunt Theresa and Uncle Chuck for the new Hey Dude shoes. Brenner looks so grown up in this picture!

The last soccer games for Nola. They didn't win a game but had a ball together (she was so glad to be back with these girls!). And COVID didn't strike the team during the season - woohoo!

We didn't have a "4" candle so Brenner improvised!

Happy 47 Matt!

Where did those fall colors go?! The snow/rain/sleet came on Monday. Brrrrr!
 

End of football

Another week has seemed to fly by! Matt had training outside of Chicago at the beginning of the week so I had to do the solo parent thing (just like Matt always did pre-COVID!). We survived without him but were sure glad when he returned! We are all healthy and mostly sane - taking in the fall colors and crisp air! Brenner had quite the look coming out from football practice!

 Please take me on a walk!!!!!

The boys standing for national anthem at their last football game of the season on Saturday morning.

Brenner's cheering section on the chilly morning!

 The boys were blowing out the other team so Brenner got a lot of playing time! His kicks were quite good and he made a few tackles as well. Good season, Brenner!

 Saturday afternoon was spent working on the leaves. So. Many. Leaves. And some big ones to boot!

 Nola prepping for the game - 48 degrees and windy - brrrr!

 The boys warming up with some hot chocolate!

She had some headband issues!

 The girls played well despite not winning. Nola worked hard defensively and also had a beautiful goal! One more weekend and this season will be in the books!

It's fall!

We are doing well watching the beautiful colors emerge on the trees.The reds, yellows, and oranges have really come to life this past week. Kids are still in school and healthy. Matt had some close-ish contacts so got tested for Covid. Negative - woohoo! I continue to work from home but took a 4 day weekend - I needed a break (who doesn't these days?!).

One of the maples in our yard.

My Wal-Mart pickup was like Christmas morning. I finally was able to get lysol spray!!!!! Yes - this deserves the exclamation marks because I haven't found any in months. The new can is on the left. We were pondering the size compared to the old version and decided the spray paint factories must be adjusting to the pandemic!

Brenner kicking at the away game. He did a great job - we were very proud of him. Thanks to Grandma Val for making the trek down!

Nola's soccer practice was cancelled because of sickness but we had already made it to the park. Her old coach let her help "coach" the U8/9s. It was pretty hilarious to watch.

This kids loves to draw. Check out some of the new creations! She was missing dad as he went on a work training trip for a few days.

I am pretty sure that Brenner and Mr. Tickles have a love/hate relationship.

They did play well together in the leaves. Both had a ball and Nola enjoyed raking them up!

Very stoic.

Brenner's smile - the best we get from our near teen! Handsome guy regardless.

I was able to meet up with my college roommate/longtime sweetie for a walk on Saturday. It was so much fun catching up!

Nola's soccer team had two games on Sunday - it was hot on the turf with the air temp at 84 degrees. Her team is playing up because of bracket size and the other kids were a bit taller!

I chuckled as the girls built their wall to block the goal kick - they looked very timid! They did block it!

Another tall girl....but Nola was holding her own!

Nola took several great shots - but none connected. This shot went a bit wide. I was so proud of her!

Yet another tall girl! Nola played very well defensively and kept up the speed in both games. She earned skipping basketball practice and Sonic for dinner as a reward (kind of a reward for mom as well lol!).
 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T and go Ravens

Another week has flown by! We are hearing about more and more illness around us so we are staying as vigilant as we can. We have some coughs and headaches here in the house....no fevers but I am being a hawk on not sharing any cups, washing clothes, disposable napkins, etc.

 Nola was selected as student showing Respect. The awards ceremony was streamed via Zoom and Facebook. So it was like you were sort of there! Nola dropped her certificate which is why she is bent down! Way to go, sweetie!

 Award winners won certificates for doughnuts. Nola had to get hers that afternoon! Chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate icing. No plain Jane glazed for her!

 Skip forward a few days (so you don't think I continually feed her junk!), we drove to Arrow Rock after school while waiting for Brenner to finish football practice. The weather was gorgeous and the leaves were just starting to turn. We hit a couple of local shops and then the bakery for some cookies. She did share....the broken ones lol!

 Danielle and Kevin came buy to give Nola her "real" birthday gift (although I think she has enjoyed the Hershey kisses). A silver horseshoe with her name imprinted from Israel (which is why it took so long to arrive). She was very excited about this beautiful gift. Thank you, Danielle and Kevin!!!!

Matt went to the cabin over the weekend to work on electricity - which the cabin now has - woohoo! Saturday for us included soccer practice for Brenner and horse barn cleaning for Nola. In the afternoon, we took a walk. It was cloudy and cool. Brenner walked Baylee while on the scooter - for just a little bit!

 My asters are blooming!

 What I walk in to see sometimes!

 Found this picture on the camera that Nola took. What an eye!

 Here is another - love that she captured the sunlight on the sign.

 Sunday weather was much better than last week! Brenner was nailed in the head by another player during warm up so sat out half a game until his head stopped rattling (trainer said he wasn't concussed).

I guess he isn't too shy about showing skin! Next few photos are from throughout the game. They lost but played well together (ahd three U15 girl guest players as his team still has two under quarantine). I love watching him play!

 These two - friends since first grade and the only soccer players in their grade. Drystan had just passed to Brenner for a goal and they were doing the celebratory walk back to midfield!

 They didn't win many games this season - but it was fun to watch them improve and mature together. Hopefully, we will get another game scheduled (and have enough players to play!).