Happy Thanksgiving!

 The boys, mom and I headed north for Thanksgiving this year. The Stiles family hosted us in South Dakota and there were no blizzards, so we were able to make the trek this year! 

I hardly took any pictures and I think that's because we were all just enjoying being together. We visited, ate, played cards, ate, chased cats, ate, watched football and ate some more! Diane and Asa are incredible hosts and they thought of everything. Diane even made me a birthday cake and my whole family had to sing to me! Sorry, youngest child just gets special treatment no matter how old they get. LOL 

I was happy all the cousins got to spend some time together. We were only missing Canyon, hopefully we will have everyone at Christmas. 

I can't end this post without letting you know I bet my brother on three football games on Thanksgiving. The stakes were high, it was a dollar a game. I WON all three games. Take that Asa! 

Alex expanded his taste palette this year to include
mashed potatoes. His Thanksgiving plate is filling up! 

Daryl at least has something green! 

Cousin picture!

On the way back we had to stop at Falls Park in Sioux Falls.

This is our favorite stop to stretch our legs
the boys get to climb rocks and this time
they were breaking the ice! South Dakota is a tad
colder than Kansas right now! 

4-H Achievement Night and Soccer

Daryl had a big November and I'm still trying to get it all documented. He had three weeks of Middle School Soccer and started varsity. He hasn't played soccer since he was five but there wasn't many experienced players on the team. They did have fun and improved immensely! They didn't win a game, but sometimes you are on an undefeated team (football) and sometimes you are on a defeated team. The boys showed really good sportsmanship every game and still left the pitch smiling and joking around with each other. 

On the 13th Daryl helped lead the Achievement Night program since he was an Events Council Officer last year in 4-H. The event celebrates all that the youth and volunteers have accomplished in 4-H and it really motivated him to do more this year. He is the president of the Shunga Valley 4-H Club and for the first year he is also part of the 4-H Exchange group. They will be hosting a club from Texas this summer and next Summer he will go visit their state. 

I'm glad that he has found things that interest him in 4-H and he is starting to see that he can be a leader and plan things for the club on his own. 

It's not all rainbows, he has his struggles but he is figuring it out. For example, if you normally talk to him by phone, he might have that back on Tuesday after school, or he will have it after Thanksgiving break. Depends on what happens in school this week. 😁

I had a new seat at Achievement Night, the program
was great! I enjoyed being the AV lady! 

Taking pictures of Soccer is really hard! 

I Ran a Race

 I am so behind in posting! But that's ok, I'll catch up! 

My hip  has been feeling pretty good so I was happy to sign up for the 10K distance of Gobbler Grind on Nov. 7th. My Cousin Kayleigh and our other friend Casie did it too! Kayleigh made up shirts and we were team "World's Okayest Runners." It was appropriate. LOL The run was through Cooperate Woods in Kansas City and the weather was perfect!

I've done a 10K before but it was years ago so I don't know what my PR is but I'm pretty sure it was under an hour. I was very happy with my time of 1:00:48, if I had pushed I might have gotten under an hour, but I also might have reinjured my hip. I just enjoyed my race! 

I don't always race with other people, in fact I normally don't but this year all my races have been with friends and I loved it! So who is running TopCity Half with me on April 23rd? You know you wanna!!! 

The Okayest Runners Team!

Casie Finish Line!

My Finish Photo

Kayleigh beat all of us!

Come on girls!!! Let's do a half!!

Happy Halloween!

 I know, I know, I'm  late with the Halloween post. But this week was a busy one for work as I prepared for a meeting last night. It went very well, I might actually be getting the hang of this director thing! 

Ok, the boys had three days of Halloween with school celebrations Friday, a haunted treasure hunt Saturday and trick or treating Sunday. I was so tuckered by the time they went to Kelly's at 5pm, I didn't even turn on my porch light. **Gasp** I worked at the office for about an hour, went home and ate a late dinner, then went to bed! On the positive, I was very rested for Monday and have been kicking this week's butt! 

Here are our Halloween pictures, October Goal Update to come next! 

Designed and Carved by Alex!

Daryl wanted a creepy hand, nailed it!

Daryl went as Bevis!

Alex was Black Panther! I wish I had a better picture
he picked his costume in September and LOVED IT! 

Done with Football (for now)

 On Wednesday night Alex and I bundled up to watch Daryl's football team compete in the City League Championship. It was cooler than I expected, so I was thankful we live close enough to the field to do an emergency run for hats, gloves and more blankets! There were three games that night with the championship last, so we didn't start until 8pm. It made for a late school night, but it was worth it! 

The first half was pretty close, but the second half the Ravens pulled away. The final score was 34-6 and with that Daryl's first season of football was complete! Since Daryl was JV all year we didn't even think he would suit up for this game. But the day before he got the good news that he would be in uniform on the sideline. Then in the last minute of the game Daryl got to go in for a couple of plays. 

All the players got medals and the school got to take home the city league trophy for the year. Daryl told one of his coaches he was going to do push ups all year so he could be varsity next year, the coach said if he works hard in the off season, he should make varsity. From one Youth Development Professional to another, Thank You Coach! You let Daryl know that his future is in his own hands. 

I think Basketball is next, let's see how that goes! 

Run Alex, Run!

 Last Saturday was the annual fun run at Alex's grade school. I was afraid it would get rained out but the weather was actually perfect. 

Last time we did this two years ago it was just a mile, this year the kids could choose to run the lap twice and do two miles. I was so surprised when Alex lined up with the two mile kids! Halfway through he was questioning his decision but he finished strong.

Maybe I will get one runner? Too soon to tell. Bravo to the school, in addition to the run the Topeka High band performed and they had drinks and snacks. Such a fun morning!