Christmas Recap

I have to agree with the kids, it never really felt like Christmas this year.  I don't know if it is our unseasonably warm weather, or that the schools got out late for break this year.  Whatever it was, it just never really felt like Christmas.

However, even though it didn't feel like Christmas we still had a great time.  The season usually starts with the Church Christmas play and Maureen did an outstanding job with the kids this year.

 

Jason played both a Shepard and a solider this year.  He even had speaking parts this year.  He did wonderful and said his lines perfectly.  We had a potluck after, it is always a great way to start the Christmas season.



 

I was reminded this year, of why I don't like making and decorating sugar cookies.  Jason took the task very seriously.  Gotta love the kool aid stain on his face and the frosting all over his shirt.  I love this kids face.



Don't let the picture below fool you.   Look how serious she is, I should have stopped her right there.



See how she is standing and pouring the decorations in her hand.  See all the lovely cookies in front of
her.  She decided the fastest way to decorate the most cookies was to stand there and toss the sugar over the top of the cookies.  Some made it on the cookies and some didn't.  She was very pleased with herself and kept laughing as I made her vacuum the floor.



Here is a sample of her finished cookies.  I should have known when I asked her if she wanted to help and she got that smile of hers and said, "suuuuuure."



This year Jason did the Church Children's Christmas Choir again.  Here he is on the retirement home tour.  He is in the back with the green stocking hat on.



Again, but at a different home.
 


Back at the Church Hall for pizza.  He has serious hat hair.



Here are the kids on Christmas Eve.  Jason is getting ready for his solo.  Which he did perfectly and we were so proud of him.



Christmas morning was crazy and I didn't take a lot of pictures.  The kids were happy with their presents.  But Cheddar was extremely happy with his angry birds chew toy.  It lasted about 2 hours.



Poor thing, this is all that was left.



The kids got a PS3 and here is Megan helping Dad hooking it up to the TV.




Besides cooking, here is how I spent my day.  Helping Jason put together his Harry Potter Lego set.  It took us ALL day.




And the back side of it.



This picture is for my Mom.  Megan has the thickest hair and she is not crazy about using a hair dyer.  So after a shower she would walk around the house with wet, drippy hair.  My Mom sent her one of these so she can wrap up her wet hair.  Megan loves it, and it works great.

No pictures of Anthony here, because he got a brand new xbox game and was in his room trying it out.



Even though it didn't feel like Christmas it still was a wonderful day spent with my wonderful family.  This year really reminded us how fast the kids are growing up. It won't be long before our little family Christmas traditions will be changing.  I will keep these memories forever.

I hope every one's Christmas was as great as ours.

Cold Cold Morning

Another installment of what I like and dislike about this small town.

I love that I can get up early and head off for a walk.  I like walking as the sun is coming up, very pretty.  I love that when I walked out my front door and headed down the street I saw a bunch of deer.  They were so pretty walking down the street.

What I don't like about this town:  The sidewalks were really icy this morning.  The dog really wanted to say hello to the deer and pulled me down with him.  I went down on my knee and I am pretty sore today.  Hopefully, I will heal quickly.  Not a good time of year to not be moving around very well.

On another note.  Anthony is off to a wrestling tournament today.  He pulled his shoulder in practice yesterday.  This is an old injury from 2 years ago.  I really think he should have taken this weekend off to heal for next weekend. He, however, believes different.  His response to me was, "I have wrestled with broken fingers before, I will be fine."  I hope so.  He won't even tape it up.  Wrestlers don't tape things.

I will keep you posted on how things play out.  I will hopefully have pictures, but not sure how much I will be on the mats with my knee hurting.  Oh well, have a great day.  Remember Christmas is only 9 days away.

Happy December 14th

I don't really have anything at all to say today.   I just wanted to say that I posted.  HE HE

Wrestling Season Has Begun

Yep....it is here.  This weekend was the big tournament our small town host's.  Anthony didn't make it to the finals but he did really well.  His knee and shoulder held out great, but he is having issues with his elbow.   This is a very intense sport, and injury's like this are all part of it.

Right now he weight's 153 and is wrestling in the 160 class.  Wednesday night they had him move up into the 170.  As you can imagine that match didn't go well for him.  The school has a new policy regarding weight cutting.  According to his weight and body index he is not allowed to drop down in weight until after Christmas.  So he has been slowly down his weight until he can wrestle in the 152 class.  He weighed 158 during football, so the weight loss hasn't been to drastic.  He has just made some minor cuts in what he is eating.  He still does his favorite lunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken with Hayden.  Both of these kids could stand some weight gain.

He is very bummed that he will still be in the 160 class for a Washington tournament next week.  He has really been looking forward to this one.  It is a really tough tournament.  This weekend is a smaller tournament not to far out of town.  We like it because it is smaller and close to home.  Anthony usually places in this one.

Here are a couple of pictures from this last weekend.

Good Morning

I got up early to make sure the kids were off to school and I was going to sit down and write my Christmas letter.  I kept telling myself that I had lots of time. Pictures weren't here yet, then just waiting on Jason's picture.  Well, they are all here along with the Christmas cards and I still have not typed my letter.  I am half tempted just to sign the cards and send them out.

This Christmas is a little different for us.  We are really organized and could be completely done with our shopping this weekend.  Notice I said "could be".  We also have wrestling tournaments all weekend, Christmas choir practice and play practice.  Plus, Steve and I need to finalize one big gift for the kids.  I can't mention it here because the girl has been known to check my blog to see what her gifts are.

We are pretty sure the big gift is a go, but we just need to get it.  Then I can finish up the rest of the shopping.  All the stuff we are sending back to California has been purchased and wrapped, just waiting for that stupid Christmas letter.  Ok, that's it.......Getting offline to work on this thing. 

After I check facebook.   :)

A Month and 3 Days

That is how long it has been since my last post.  I think that might be the longest yet.  What in the world have I been up to?

Lots!!!!  As I discribed in my previous post, I decided to take the leap into starting my own business.  I am still in the very beginning stages and learning new things every day.  I have done a couple of family shoots, kids and a even a senior.  I still need to get one done for Anthony.  I have one that will be fine for handing out to people but not for his year book.

Sunday, we headed out to get a picture for our Christmas cards and one of Jason.  Since he is being home schooled we don't do school pictures.  It was sunny here in town but not where we did the shoot.  I had been there the day before and it was cold but not this cold.  Just overnight the river had frozen over.  We had to hurry because the kids were turning red.  Poor Megan didn't feel good but she was a good sport about it.  You can tell she doesn't feel good in this picture.


I managed to get this one and one other. The other one is going in our cards.

Here is the one I got of Jason.
 You can see his face is turning red from the cold.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better

Where Have I Been????

Where have I been lately?  Well.....finishing up the last of soccer and football.  Which the boys are playing in a town 6 hours from here this Friday night.  And the Lady Tigers soccer team finished undefeated. 

I have also been doing this.



and this



and this.  This one needs a hair cut.



I have always loved taking pictures.  I remember someone passing an old camera down to me and I would walk around pretending to take people's pictures.  I was probably around 10 at the time.  So Steve and I have talked and talked about me starting my own business.  Last week I asked a friend of mine if I could use her kids as my practice subjects.  She said of course and Alisha gladly was my first victim.  She cracked me up.  She was very patient and did what I asked her to do.

Hayden (Anthony's best friend) told his Mom that I was the only one who was going to be doing his senior pictures.  I was so completely nervous. It's one thing to practice on someone but it's completely different when the pictures are for real.  I loved the way they turned out and working with is Mom and sister was a blast.  I will be doing their Christmas pictures as soon as it stops raining.  They have an amazing property and it was a great time taking the pics.

I am still very much in the learning stage but I am loving the practice.

The Sunday After

Megan finished her last away game this weekend.  Her last game will be on Tuesday.  While it's time for soccer to be done, we are sad to see it end.  What a great season.



I wasn't able to go to the game this weekend (these pics are from last week).  I asked "did you win?"  Her answer, "Duhhhhh, 5-0."  She scored 2 goals out of the 5.

 
I have said it before, I love watching this kid play.

On to Anthony.  This Friday nights game was his last home game and yes I did get teared up when I thought about it. Since he isn't playing in college, these last few games will end 12 years of football.  Holy Cow, and 16 years of playing some kind of organized sport.

 
Friday night started at 4:30pm with the homecoming parade.



I like that this year they did the parade during the day. Much easier to take pictures.  The little creep wouldn't smile for me.



Then it was off to pick Megan up from practice then home so she could get ready to go to the game. I miss the days of her just changing and being ready in 5 minutes. Now it takes at least an hour. We dropped of Jason at Kids Night Out. The best thing ever. The college girls basketball team puts it on and the Jason has a blast. It was great because Jason hung out there and we didn't have to worry about him at all.

On top of homecoming, Friday nights game was senior night. They call the senior football players out on the field and they escort their parents. The boys give us a flower and we give them a gift. Our gift to him was a collage I put together of pictures from the last 12 years of football. I plan on doing a much bigger one after wrestling season is over of his high school sports.



While the boys are walking us onto the field the announcer tells the crowd the boy and parents names, his favorite football memory (beating Roosevelt last year), plans after high school (college) and the most insperational person in his life (his father).  This all typically happens during halftime but this year they had to do it before the game.  My dear friends (I love you guys) got there early, grabbed my camera and headed to the field.  Poor things, I never showed them how to use my camera.  "A" doesn't mean auto.  Steve ran off the field helped them set it up and they did the best they could.  I never showed Steve how to use my camera either.  Poor Jason (not my son) put my lens cap in my bag and it somehow fell out.  My Jason loves (but not allowed to) crawl under the bleachers.  After the game he was thrilled to be able to climb down there and found it.

Thank you Jodi, Jessie and Jason.  You guys have made this season so much fun.  Next weekend will be a blast.  Even though I won't have a kid playing next year I plan on hitting all the home games to cheer on Micheal and the band.  And keeping an eye on my daughter.

We also made banners for our sons.  They lined the walk way.






It was a great game and a great way to end our home games.



Anthony edited the picture above.



He made some great plays.



At the end of the game, the boys line up in front of the crowd and do a small cheer while doing jumping jacks. After they lost their first home game and they lined up (first time they had done this) we joked that it looked like a public exacution. Now that they won, it looks very cool.





The final score was 42-21, a great game.

HomeComing Weekend

It's homecoming weekend here.  So there is lots going on.  Just a quick picture of Megan, take a guess at which one she is.  I was playing around the other night with my photo editing program, she liked it and asked me to do one of her.  So here it is Meg.


 
I will post more this weekend.  Have a great day.

Homecoming

Anthony's girlfriend goes to a different school, so this is her homecoming.  Anthony and Megan's homecoming will be in a couple of weeks.



Aren't they cute.

 

Happy Friday

It's football Friday again.  I love these nights.  Tonight however, I will be home listening to the game on the radio.  Another thing I love about small towns, high school football on the radio.  It's not that I don't want to go.  This will be the only game I miss this year.  The game is in a town over 3 hours away.  I am not making that trip in one night.  We would have to be back for Megans soccer game tomorrow morning. 

Since it's been a week since my last post, I didn't tell you about last weeks games.  Let's start with Megan, she scored a goal and they won the game 11 -1.  I think, I stopped keeping track.  I chatted with some friends and didn't take a lot of pictures.  As I explained to my wonderful daughter, I have over 500 pics from summer and already a couple of hundred from this season so far.  I have you covered.

I had been struggling a little bit with getting good, clear, action shots at night of the football games.  I practiced at last Friday nights game and I think I fixed the issue.  The really good shots won't be posted here.  The best shots of the night where of Anthony running with his guy, Anthony reaching to tackle him and then sliding down and the guy making a touch down. 

Other then that play, Anthony had a good night.  However, they lost.  In Anthonys words the score was, "a lot to a little."  His coach was kicked out of the game in the first half and has to sit out this weekend.  The boys could really use a win this weekend to get back on track.  After tonight they have next weekend off, then on to league play.

The next few days here will be interesting.  We are waiting for news of a strike.  The rail road and union have been in contract negotiations for over two years. The strike vote ends this weekend, so in the next few days we will hear whats happening.  It's been crazy here trying to help Steve get ready. 

The last couple of days have brought back many memories of being a kid.  I have memories of my Dad being on strike as a firefighter. I also remember walking to some store and seeing the picketers.  My Dad stopped and talked to the guys and then we turned around and left.  All he said was we don't cross the picket lines.  My Mom would drive, what seemed like forever, to get to a grocery store that employees where not on strike.

Remember the song from the early 80's "Look for the Union Label?"  I have been singing it for the last week.  I had to go online to find the words because I could only remember the first line.  I have also been quoting Norma Rae as well.  Steve really really wishes I would just stop. 

We have friends on both sides of this and I really hope all of this ends quickly and peacefully. 

This Weekends Game

It did not go well for the Tigers this weekend.  However, it did go very well for #80, my son.  It didn't get tiring hearing "runner brought down by #80 Anthony Baldwin."  Or seeing #80 out there roughing up the the other teams receivers.



 

They lost the game 49 - 0.  Again, this team is one from Idaho and not a league game.  Every team in our league lost to this team by about the same point spread.  So we are thinking that the league games should be really good.



 

For some reason I had some struggles with my camera.  Need to figure that out this week before next weekends game.

Have a great Sunday.

High School Soccer

Megan's first soccer  game as a Lady Tiger. These two make a great team.  Gabby #14 scored 3 goals and Megan 1.  They won their first game 4-1.  This year Megan is playing both forward and keeper.

A missed goal gets a reaction from the side lines.  Megan is #8 and she is wearing a ribbon in her hair.  Oh my, she never does that.  What has this world come to.

The next practice Tiger (her coach) decided the keepers needed some diving on the ball practice.  I guess the field was muddy.  It took 3 washings to get this stuff clean.

   

It worked.  The first picture is a little blurry of her, but you get the idea. 

 

   
   

 This last picture is of Gabby congratulating Megan on her goal.  Megan took 6 shoots before scoring this one.  Her old coach came up to her and said, "I knew you wouldn't leave that field until you got your goal."  No pictures of her scoring.  As I explained to both her and Anthony, (I missed taking a picture of a killer tackle that Anthony made) I get so excited and start cheer that I forget about the pictures. 



 

They too are not playing any league games yet.  These teams they are playing right now are from towns a lot closer to us.  However, these two teams are serious rival teams.  They are both really good and make for very good games.  The Lady Tigers won  both the first on 4-1 and second 5-1.  I can't wait to see these girls playing on the varsity team.  Watch out!!!!