The tree is up!

We built the tree




















We woke to our first snow!





























The tree is decorated!

The kids posed for pics!

Traditional Xmas Tree day and changes

Today is the traditional day for us to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it. It seems strange that Kali would be away at a friend's house instead of here with us. Another sign that she is growing up so fast. Max is at a basketball game. Kole is watching Star Wars and Kaci is playing trionimoes.

I guess soon we will try to drag the box in with the tree in it. Maybe we could get it put together tonight and then decorate tomorrow. hmmm not sure when tomorrow. Max has violin lessons and then he wants to go shopping. His comment "What is the hurry there is plenty of time before Christmas." No reason to be in a hurry just it is traditional in our family.

Oh, well, here is to new traditions.

I will try to get some pictures and post tomorrow.

Thanksgiving and a surprise proposal!!!

Oh my gosh I can hardly contain my excitement! This was the best Thanksgiving in a long time! Before we began to eat, My little brother Pat looked at his girlfriend Patty and said "I am not much for getting down on one knee, but Would you marry me?" SHE SAID YES!!! I never thought I would see the day that my little brother would find the perfect person for him. I will have a new sister and a new nephew, Tyler! They are setting a date for either of the first two weekends in November of next year. Kali is going to be a junior bridesmaid, Kaci the flower girl and Kole is going to be the ring bearer and Tyler is going to walk with Patty's dad to give her away and be a junior groomsman and both Philip and Sondra will be in the wedding too! We all just love Patty and Tyler. They will be so good together!




Now on to Thanksgiving. We traveled to my mom's house on two different days. I and the three K kids went up on Wednesday after school and Max and Boyd came up Thanksgiving morning. Boyd wasn't feeling well and Max was at practice until 4:45. I really wanted to get a jump on traffic and be past a particular spot known for deer before it was too dark. All in all it was a very good ride there. On Thanskgiving we had two 12 pound smoked turkeys, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravey, vegetables with cheese sauce, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, creamed corn casserole, relish tray, rolls and cranberry sauce. We also had spraking grape juice, pumpkin pie, peach pie, apple pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and chocolate pudding pie. Whew!


Mom and I did most of the cooking and Patty and Sondra cleaned up while I played with baby Trey! He is such a little chunk. 20.5 pounds and he won't be 5 months old until Dec 1.


He is such a cutey and a good baby too. We had 15 people present at the meal. My bunch of 6, Mom, Pat, Patty, Tyler, Philip, Sondra, Trey, Blain, and Brittany. After everyone had cleared out, Philip, Max and Tyler played with the younger kids for a while. Then later, Pat and Patty came back for dessert and Philp's friends Garrett and Buhda showed up and all seven kids aged 18 and down went upstairs and horsed around for several hours. Reiko and Sweetpea had a rough time keeping track of all the coming and going and who was to be there and not... LOL

It was quite the zoo! I am sure mom is now very happy that we are gone so she can have some peace and quiet.

Things I am thankful for

I was thinking during some quiet time. I know, you are thinking, you have quiet time???
Anyway, I was thinking about the many things I am thankful for. There are so many things that come up that make us think about how hard things are and if only it were different.
I thought I would share the things that I am thankful for.

First, my family. I am so thankful for children who love me and challenge me to keep my mind and body from getting too lazy. I am thankful for a husband who in his own way drives me up the wall one minute, but then can make the difference in getting something done or not. My mom who is always there for me even when she is having troubling thoughts of her own. My brothers who drop a call from time to time when they are not so busy with life. For the rest of our extended family just for being who they are.

I am thankful for our exchange student. Max. He gives us a view into the life of a high school boy and the glimpse into another culture and language.

I am thankful for our continued friendship with Vivian and her family.

I am thankful for the roof over our heads. It may not be perfect, but it works. I am thankful for the material things we have been able to purchase to make our lives more comfortable. I am thankful for the job that helps us to live the lifestyle we are.

I am thankful for the vehicle I have is still pulling through now that it is paid off. I am thankful for so many things that are intangible as well. My friends, and the friendships that we have. I am also thankful for the few minutes of peace that I can accomplish each day, usually after I am in bed.. ha ha ha

This week we travel to my mom's for a huge Thanksgiving day feast and I will be thinking about all I am thankful for and I hope you will be too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Basketball and a sneak peek

It was meet the Warrior night tonight at Athens HS. Max is on the far right with most of his team.
















Max is in the black in the forefront















Max shooting a free throw















Another free throw shot















On Sunday we had our Potraits taken by a very good local photographer for family pics and Christmas cards. Below is a sneak peek at our Christmas cards this year.
We are very pleased. You can visit her site at www.denneyphotography.com or her blog at www.denneyphotography.blogspot.com









The back













The front

First really cold day and a 5K walk/run

The other morning we woke up to 12 degrees farenheit. There was frost everywhere and when we would get moisture build up on the front window, it froze. This is the first really cold day we have had so far this year. We even saw some snow flurries.

These are the temperature, the frost and the frozen moisture on the front door.

Then today Kali and I went on a JingleBell Walkathon for Arthritis. Kali ran the first 2.5K of the 5K and left me in the dust! We had decided to walk, but then when they said go, the runner in her took off. I ran the first city block length with her and when the stroller passed me, I knew I was done running! ha ha ha Then I walked. I was walking along and I knew I was almost to the turn around and I saw Kali coming back, so I turned around and walked back with her. O.k. I am such a loser.... NOT! I found out that I really only lacked going 1/2 mile. We finished with a time of 52 minutes and 48 seconds. Of course it was only in the low thirties and cloudy!

We met up with our team but we all went our seperate ways.

These are pics of us before we left and of Kali while we waited for the start and of a very small portion of the 600+ participants.

We had double layers on the bottom and triple layers on the top with scarf, hat and hood. By the end we were really warm!

Then we went for a hot chocolate, and latte on our way to get some lunch.

Sleep walking and bad dreams

Kole has started making it a habit to talk in his sleep, or should I say yell out in his sleep. It is usually "No! NO! Stop! Stop!!!! Dad!!! Jack!!! No stop!"
Then he gets up and starts doing motions in his sleep. Last night he was actually turning lights on and off and wet himself while standing up and didn't even know he was doing it. This is almost always around 10:00 pm. He goes to bed between 8 and 8:45 pm. Depending on how busy we are.

I am thinking starting this weekend, 30 minutes before bedtime, no TV, no watching Boyd play video games or anything like that. You can tell he doesn't sleep well. His eyes are swollen in the morning and he just isn't quite him. He has always done a little sleep walking, but he can usually be sent to the bathroom or back to bed and he is fine. It used to be nly once a month or so, now it is almost every other day. Something is going on inside him that he is not getting out.

5K walk/run

KAli and I are participating in a 5K walk/run for ARthritis. We are participating in a team for the Jingle Bell Run/walk for Arthritis. This is taking place on Nov 22.
If you would like to sponsor either of us go to:

http://www.jinglebellspringfield.com/

And look for Shannon Bringolf
or Kali Bringolf

We are with the Gold's Gym team.

Thanks for any donations!

Sunday morning

This morning started with me going to Weight Watchers and Max attending church with Danielle and her mother.... It must be love! LOL It started with a friendly little go to a teen group, now it is going to church. Next it will be family Sunday dinners! LOL Oh nevermind, he was already over at a family get together once. Did I mention that Danielle brought him a get well gift!? She did. A TY beanie baby squirrel. You could tell he really liked it and she was so proud that she found a squirrel.

Now that I am about done with lunch, it is time to continue with the house defunking! also known as cleaning. I need to be done by 2 to take Max to violin lessons and then off to get portraits at 4.

Then home to cook dinner and make sure all is ready for Monday. I am still doing laundry too. What a pain! Two days of laundry every week, plus I do a load on Wednesday when I am home for the evening.

Back to work. I need to crack the whip on myself to get it all done and get showered and ready for the picutures.

Max is better! and other ramblings

Today Max has no fever and just a little sore throat still. So hopefully next week all will be well again. I made him stay home and warm and drink lots of fluids and take some ibuprofen and vitamins and drink lots of juice. Boyd even got him to eat tomato soup!

Now we will cross our fingers that the rest of us don't get it.

Today I took Kole to get more pants and Kali went along. When we arrived home she received a call from a friend to go and see High School Musical 3. Of course I let her go. We are waiting to see what time she will arrive.

We are also waiting to see if Kamen can get us musician passes to the concert tonight. Kind of short notice, but we will see. If so, then we are out of here to goto the concert.

Kaci went with many other 3rd graders to the Shriner's Circus today. She had a blast going with friends. The Van Meter Lodge members acted as the chaperones.
One of her friends is spending the night tonight. They are having a blast! They now have black fingernails.

Tomorrow we are having family portraits done for the first time in probably 4 years! A local lady is going to do it for us. Should be fun! I told her we wanted to do fun shots where it wasn't real formal. It will be a blast! Stay tuned for the outcome!

Flu season has arrived

It appears that Max is our first victim of the flu. Fever, sore throat, chills, stuffy head, and cough. I made him stay home from basketball practice and school today. He will be staying in bed, drinking alot of fluids, taking a vitamin, and keeping wrapped up and warm. I will be calling to check on him occasionally to see how he is doing. Hopefully he can beat it by the end of the day tomorrow. I noticed he was starting to cough a couple days ago. Last night he looked really bad. Pale with dark circles under his eyes and weak. Burning the candle at both ends does not set well with his immune system. I may have to make him drink more juices to boost his immune system. I have been able to get him to eat some vegetables, but almost no fruit. He will drink the juices so that will help.

All three of my other kids had the flu shot to make it not so bad if they get the flu. I get my flu shot on Monday.

I hope I stay well until then.

Drum roll please.................

TA DA!!! Homecoming pictures at long last!

Max and Danielle




































Group pic,
Max, Danielle, Valerie and Valerie's date

The Agony of Defeat!

Well, football season is now officially over for Athens. We lost to Meridian in our second round of playoff games. Meridian was 10 and 0. No losses this past season. All I can say is we made a good showing. The loss was 22 to 45. Not too bad. Could have been worse. I still think our team had a fantastic season. Who would have thought that after only 3 years we would make it to the playoffs. So, here's to next year!

Athens History is being made and more news

Tomorrow is our varsity football teams second game in the playoffs! This is only our 3rd year with a football team and we made it to the playoffs! Last week on Halloween night we beat Pleasant Plains 22 - 10 in our first playoff game. Tomorrow is our second game! Let's cross our fingers that we win this one too! Everyone in town seems very excited that the team is doing so well! Can you just imagine how we will be doing when our little kindergarteners starting now will do in 10 years!?

Now on to more sports news! Max has been practicing with the basketball team for over a month now, twice a week. Monday starts the real practices in preparations for games starting the week of Thanksgiving. There are a few collisions in the schedule, such as an Away game on Dec. 6 when Max also has a concert to participate in. A first game on a Monday night when there is Orchestra practice.... We will see how well he does with these conflicts and what he chooses to do. Time to update my calendar with the basketball schedule!

Kali competes tonight in a speech competition. She is doing a Duet Improv with one of her Best buds, Alyssa. And then she is doing a solo story telling.
I was enlisted to sell T-shirts from 4 - 6. Could be fun.

The kids are doing well in school. I had parent teacher conferences for Kaci, Kali, and Max.
Kaci has just blown me away! She is so smart and tries so hard. She has some hidden talents in there. Kali, is how can I say it... a very very good student. straight A's!
Max is having some difficulties, but not many. Most I think are communication issues. Like when is a paper due. What knowledge from the subject will be needed to take a test in the different classes. His teachers like him and have seen him loosen up a bit more. He is good at sharing comparisons about Brazil to America.

Kole does not have parent teacher conferences until later in the school year.

Max started a Flicker.com with pictures. Descriptions are in Portugeuse for his family. Most of the pictures speak for themselves.

Enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxwipe

One picture in

O.k. we have one picture from when Max attended Courtneypalooza back before Homecoming.

In the picture is Natalie Richardson and Erica (not sure of her last name) with Max in the middle. It looks like he was having a lot of fun!

Now we are just waiting on Homecoming pictures.

Here is a picture of Danielle the "girlfriend".