Trick Or Treat

 Halloween is here again!  Allison was the cutest inmate I have ever seen...

...and Taylor was the most beautiful superhero.

For the first time, Taylor ditched us to trick or treat with her friends in another neighborhood.  Although it was hard not having her with us, she had a great time with her buddies from school.

 Leslie and I took Gigi, Reanna and Allison around their neighborhood.  It has become tradition and the streets around their house never disappoint.  The girls kept track of all of the compliments Reanna's creative Rubik's Cube costume received and there were lots of neighbors out with fire pits in the driveway and cool decorations.

They even collected some full-size candy bars and had a great time sorting and trading once we got back to the house.  There will be no shortage of candy at our house!

Kohl's Cares

Madison's Grandma, Gracie, is the sweetest lady and we have gotten to know her on the soccer field sideline.  She is also a supervisor at Kohl's and gave Taylor and a few friends the opportunity to earn their CJSF volunteer hours working a few nights this month.
Kohl's partnered with the Assistance League and gave local families who are struggling a chance to get some new school clothes and backpacks for their kids.  The girls helped at the register by taking off the security tags and bagging items, as well as reorganizing the shelves and cleaning up at the end of each event.
Both Gracie and the Assistance League volunteers praised the girls for their hard work and hope they will continue volunteering with them.  And who knows...maybe it can even lead to Taylor's first real job!

All Dressed Up!

I am not a big fan of dressing up for Halloween, but we were invited to a fun party with old soccer friends and made the most of our date night.  Hank did such a good job on the girls' KISS costumes a few years ago so I decided to get more use out of them!  I couldn't convince Matt to be a band member too, but he looked pretty good in his Army get up and even painted his face!

 Hank even made the silver parts of the costume out a windshield car shade!  I was tough to recognize at the party and had a fun time with it.  However, getting the paint off of my face and the black out of my hair was NO FUN!!

Hawks Pink Socks Campaign

 All month long, Hawks teams have been wearing pink socks and pink coach shirts to celebrate October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The club did a fundraiser to benefit a local charity called Michelle's Place.

 The girls had fun with the change and we helped support a great cause!

SDSU Women's Soccer

 Last month, I contacted the SDSU Women's soccer coach to see if they would allow our teams to participate in a home game.  Coach contacted me right away with a fun night planned for the girls.

Allison, Jenna, Taylor and Reanna

Between the 2 teams, we had 20 of our girls ready to help. The game was at the SDSU Sports Deck vs. New Mexico.

 The GU11 Crew

 The GU13 Crew

 It was Senior Night since this was the last regular season game for the 7 graduating seniors.

 Jessica, Bailey, May and Taylor

 Then the girls took the field to be part of the high five line.

 During the game, the girls spread out around the field to be ball girls. Allison and Reanna paired up.

 Taylor, Lauren and Jenna saw lots of action on the opposite side of the field as the Aztecs won 1-0!

Rachel Boaz, the SDSU starting keeper, is a Hawks Alumni and Allison was so excited to meet her.  The team provided shirts and posters for all of the girls and did an autograph signing for them after the game.

All of our girls with Rachel.  It was a fun opportunity to see higher level soccer, see what hard work and dedication can lead to and was just a cool team bonding night!  Congrats to SDSU for finishing 17-1-1 this season and winning the Mountain West!

Poor Max

Max has had a cyst growing on her neck for about a year.  The vet has told us to have it removed for months now, but we have been debating because of her age (almost 15).  Eventually, the cyst has been growing much faster and we were worried it might eventually start leaking, so I scheduled the surgery.
The vet was shocked to see how strong she is for almost 15, her blood panel game back nearly perfect and she did great during surgery.  When we finally picked her up after her long day at the vet, she looked so pathetic with her cone and very weak legs as she was coming out of anesthesia.
It was a LONG first night home!  She cried and whined until 2:00am.  Matt and I took turns laying with her until she finally calmed down and has done great since.  We go back to the vet next Friday to have the stitches removed and she will be good to go...probably living until 17!

Barnes Visit

Uncle Brian and Kathy were celebrating their 10th Anniversary with a trip all over California with the kids.  They started up in the Bay Area with my family, did Napa, Monterey, Hearst Castle and Disneyland before making their way to San Diego.

Once in SD, they took the kids to Sea World and Legoland and then headed up to our house for a few days.  On Friday night, we just ate a late dinner and the Keri and Lucas couldn't wait to try out our pool!

 Saturday, Matt and I were out the door early for Taylor's soccer game and then we all met up for Allison's later one.  Late afternoon, we toured Wilson Creek Winery while Brian and Kathy did some wine tasting there.

 The kids have fun playing bocce ball, staring at the crawdads in the creek and hanging on the monkey bars.

We finished with dinner at La Cocina and really enjoyed hearing all of the family history stories and family updates that Brian had to share.  We loved looking at pictures from the 1920's until now that he had on his phone and hope we will see them again this summer for a family wedding in Iowa.

Creativity at its Best

Allison and Reanna have spent hours and hours over the last few weekends working on "a bedroom" for Allison's American Girl dolls. These two love to be creative and work so well together so Leslie and I have done our best to get them together.  They watched You Tube videos showing room tours that other kids have done and then have let their imaginations run wild.  I can't believe the stuff they have created using our recycling bin!

Kanani and Makenna share this trundle bed under Allison's desk, so she added mini posters to the wall next to the bed.

 Here is their closet, along with their schedule for the day and little love notes from Mom (A.K.A. Allison).

 They used a cardboard box to make a dresser/bookshelf and paper to create storage bins for Chargers, Hair Bows and Dress Up clothes.  They even used construction paper and a toothpick to make an earring holder.

 Allison found an almond tin in the recycling box, covered it in construction paper and made a nightstand.  She printed a clock picture off of the computer, made a mug out of paper and I love, love, love the iPod charger made out of cardboard and string!

Finally, they created a desk for the girls.  They made a MAC screen and keyboard off of computer printouts, notepads and a clipboard.  Even the pets have food and water from the lids of Slurpees!
I'm sure this is just the beginning.  They have watched videos on how to make a kitchen stove and lots of other essentials.  The possibilities are endless and I'm just thrilled to not be spending hundreds of dollars buying the stuff on the AG website!!  Keep the creativity flowing girls...

Big Feed Corn Maze

 Although not very fall-like (96 degrees), we had a free Sunday and needed to make the most of it by doing something fall-like before Halloween arrives.  The Big Feed Corn Maze is so close to us, but we have never done it before.

 It was hot, but I did get the girls to agree to one picture in the Pumpkin Patch, only because it was shaded!

 The map was a little tough to follow so Leslie and I just followed the girls.  We hit a few dead ends and had to back track two or three times.

The website said it could take an hour to two hours to complete, but we were done in 31 minutes.  Normally I would have been upset to be done so soon, but we all had one thing on our mind...Slurpees!

Minute to Win It

      Leslie, as crazy as she is, hosted a Halloween-themed Minute to Win It party for the GU11 girls. They filled their bellies with pizza and lots of sugary Halloween treats before heading out to the garage.  Divided into 3 teams, they attempted several games from the Minute to Win It show.  Allison loved Mad Dog. Tic Tac containers are glued on either side of a ruler and then the ruler is placed in your mouth and you must shake your head until all of the Tic Tacs are gone.
      Although they were quite the loud group, they sure had a great time bonding off of the field!

Birthday Week of FUN

 I woke up on Monday to an awesome donut cake, candy galore and a gift bag full of gifts!  Pretty impressive for Matt to put together after working all night and getting home at 5:30 in the morning.

 I had a very nice lunch with Charlie, Mary and Leslie during the day, received tons of calls and Facebook birthday wishes and was spoiled rotten at soccer practice!  I think I have enough candy to last the rest of the year!

 On Wednesday, I had a delicious breakfast with Leslie, Wendy and Julie down at Mama Kat's in San Marcos (forgot to get a photo) and then had the perfect end to my birthday week with a kayaking date with my love in La Jolla today.

 We decided to rent a double kayak and head out without a guide this time since we have been here before.  Although getting out past the waves and coming back in through the waves was a little rough and wet, the 2-hour ride was calm and beautiful.  We went through the kelp beds, along the sea cliffs and to see the sea lions.  It was nice going at our own pace and just enjoying the peace and quiet.  Matt got me the perfect gift and it was the perfect end to a fabulous birthday week!