Trick or Treat!

Halloween is here! Trick or Treat is over for the night. I took Kaci and Kole with me out through the neighborhood. Kali went to her friend Alyssa's to trick or treat and spend the night. Max went with Danielle to a fall festival at her church. He missed out on trick or treat. A tradition in our home. Oh well, he loves hanging out with Danielle. :-)



Kali in her witch outfit






























Kaci is popcorn





Kole is a storm trooper


All three of my trick or treaters

















And here they are again!





















School pictures follow!

And there you have it! No new pics of Max yet.

Update on Homecoming pictures. WalMart lost them!!!!! I couldn't believe it! They are checking with others that were with them to get copies of pictures from Homecoming. I told them if they didn't, they would have to dress up and Danielle would have to do her hair again so I could get a picture.

Update on grades.... Kali continues to do well, Kole graduated from Speech Therapy and is equal to or advanced of his peers! Kaci is doing very well in school. Max is worrying me. He doesn't seem to get it that papers are due the next day, not whenever he decides to turn them in.. I told him if he didn't work on bringing up the grades he will not pass and then he will not graduate. He looked like he really wasn't listening. We shall see. He is close to losing phone and computer privileges and losing his time with Danielle on phone and after school. I hate to be this way, but he needs to do good in school to graduate and go to college. I am sure his mom and dad would like him to do well. It appears that Danielle has become more than "just a friend", more like a "girlfriend". For weeks he has acted like we do not know, but 2 hours a night on the phone with her after school, is proof enough.

Disappointment sets in

Well, again, there are no pictures from homecoming. I just don't think she gets it. It's not just me that wants to see, but I want to post so Max's family can see. I missed the big send off so I couldn't get my own pictures. I left my camera here so the girls could take a picture for me, and still no one did it.

I tried to get a picture of Kali and Max at the piano, but Kali had to put her hand up to block the view, then the camera batteries go dead. I think it is time for a new camera.

When Max was dropped off tonight, he had Danielle's cell phone also. I told her I was holding it hostage... ha ha ha

I could have sworn that she said she had pictures on a cd. Which would have worked, I would have just copied over a few onto the computer and gave them back.

O.k. enough wah wah wah... What did I expect from high school kids... hmmmm a little bit of humoring the old lady....

Pictures with more to come later

Here are some pictures that I have been able to take from both my camera and my phone. I should have homecoming pictures today. At least that is what Max and Danielle say. We shall see. I have bugged them since October 12. I think they finally get it. I and Max's family want to see pictures! I kidded them that there were pictures on the CD that they did not want the parents to see. Max smiled, so I think I figured that one correctly.

Kole received his participation trophy last night for football. I think we are finally done for the season now.
Other pics include: Max in part of his concert clothes on our way to orchestra and other stuff.
Kaci and her friend Jacie. Kole in his batman costume that grandma gave him so he could have a cape instead of using a blanket as a cape. All three kids with the Lincoln family statue. Kali in her halloween getup for a party(taken with phone, does not take good pictures at night in lit rooms). I will hopefully be getting a new camera that the batteries will hold a charge longer than 3 hours. ha ha

Getting our training for high school!

Wow, the stuff has already started for graduation! We are already ordering cap, gown and announcements! Next will be senior pictures and the class ring! Then top it off with orchestra requirements for dress and pictures etc. Goodness there is a lot of stuff! We went shopping for the black suit coat, black dress socks and black bowtime that Max will need for Orchestra concerts. Then I made him purchase a heavier coat. He is already cold. The lows here will be in the mid 20's farenheit next week and only up into the mid 50's with a lot of wind. Tonight Max went with several friends "Terror on the Sqaure". A tradition in our area. It is a staged haunted house where the person who puts it all together used to do special effects for movies. Maybe he still does.... I don't remember for sure. But Kali has assured us it is "Really sweet!" Which I guess means that it is very acceptable for a little scare.

Max is also going to nag his friend who he took to homecoming for pictures again. ha ha h a
We are sure to nag at her every other day or so...
Hopefully she will get the hint soon and share. LOL

Busy busy busy

Well, it seems there is not much time to post on the blog these days. All the kids are busy which makes me busy! I would love to share pics from homecoming, but I am still nagging Max and Danielle for them. They could have prevented the whole nagging thing if they would have just posed nicely for Kali or Kaci to take a couple of pictures for me.
Max is very excited that the IHSA will allow him to play sports at the high school this year. Max has been doing pretty well in school 1 A, and the rest half an half Cs and Bs. Not too bad. I think he can bring the C's up if he wants to badly enough. He continues his violin lessons weekly with Kamen Petkov and we were able to attend a chamber music concert this past weekend in Springfield to hear Yosef Radionov and Zornita Radionova. They are from Bulgaria and Yosef plays violin and Zornita accompanies on piano. It was very relaxing and entertaining. Afterwards we hurried home to get Max fed and ready for basketball training. He trains twice a week on Sunday and Thursday. The coach understood he could not train on Monday's due to orchestra practice.

Kali ended the first term with all A's and 1 B. I will know how Kaci and Kole are doing on Friday when her report card comes home.

The big 9th birthday party for Kaci is this weekend. I will post more after the party!

Kole's football team came in 3rd!

After an all day playoffs between 6 teams, the final results were in! From the title you can see that Kole's team was third. The other Athens team was 2nd. Here are some pics. I will have more next week.

Here they are with their medals.

Concentrating on the game

Getting ready to play

Kole and his medal

After a muddy practice some time ago.

Homecoming weekend

This weekend is homecoming weekend. All week the high school kids have been doing all different types of things for spirit week. Having a fear factor breakfast, opposite day, green and white day etc.... Last night was the homecoming game. We scored the first touchdown, but then had an agonizing loss of 8 to 23. :-(

Today Kali is off to march in MacMurry College Homecoming parade in Jacksonville. Kole has his football playoffs. And Max will be heading out with his date, Danielle to the Homecoming dance etc. I will have pics to post later.

Other things this weekend is a benefit for a local farmer who I have known for many years. Andy. He is such a good guy. He was a great kid, but has grown into a really wonderful man and father, and husband. He dislocated his hip and broke the socket in a freak dirt bike accident a few weeks ago. He is already out harvesting his crop. He just isn't putting in 16 hour days like he would have before.

Max has been going to training twice a week for basketball. He also has orchestra one night a week and violin lessons another night during the week. Kole's football twice a week changes to piano once a week the same day as Kaci's piano lessons. Kali is practicing to audition for a play at school "Little Orphan Annie" and she has been practicing for Speech competition.
Needless to say we are extremely busy all the time. Unless we plan an over night trip which I think we will be doing more often.

Pics coming later tonight!

Pics swiped from Max and updates

Kole with Alaura and Lily the puppy




Max is doing really well with us. He is just as ornery as the rest of my crew. It can make from some loud car rides and sometimes some hurt feelings, but they all survive. He is doing better in school and seems to have picked himself up a girlfriend for the school year. I am still trying to get used to that. ha ha



He has many friends and is training for basketball season twice a week along with his other stuff, like orchestra and violin lessons. He is ready for homecoming and I will have a couple pics of that next weekend.

Kole and cousin Beau



















O.k. this was at the parade last week ha ha















This is a squirrel Max chased down to get a pic

Fun time in the QC

We left for the QC on Saturday morning and arrived in time to unload and pick up Yuri, Max's friend from his school in Brazil. Then off to Bettendorf, IA for a bit of fun at the party.
Mima from Montenegro came by with her host mom Pam for a few moments. We found out that Sondra and Mima go to the same High School.

We had a really fun time and were able to catch up with family and friends at a cookout and birthday party. There must have been at lest 60 people that came and went. A lot of fun. At one point we had 6 puppies and dogs on leashes. We were saying that Patty's birthday party had gone to the dogs. ha ha ha

A really bad pic of Yuri and Max















Phil with Kaci. Kole in the front

Kole with Boyd, Yuri, Max and Kali in back

Sondra and Trey after I had an hour baby fix! yeah! Trey is now 3 months old weighs 14 pounds and is 2.5 ft long.

Patty at her party with a friend looking on

I took Yuri,Max, Kali and Kaci shopping at the mall after the party. While we were there, Kali's friend Taylor from school popped up behind her. Taylor's aunt was so embarrassed! She was sure Taylor knew no one there. LOL

Then Max and Yuri ran into Helena and Mima. It was a really fun time!