Goodbye Firecrackers

We said goodbye to the Firecrackers at our Team Party at Chick-Fil-A. We were sad that our last game got rained out on Saturday, but the team finished 4-4-1...not bad after a very slow start. The girls ate nuggets while chatting,
and had fun signing each other's jerseys. Allison and Reanna have loved playing together this season and hope they get to continue on together in All-Stars and then hopefully Hawks in the Spring!

Matt and I really enjoyed working with this group of girls and are sad to see the season come to an end. They were all very sweet and focused on the field and really had a love for learning the game.
We will, however, enjoy a few free T/Th nights before All-Stars gets underway...

ASB Hits LA!

Taylor was up at 5:45 and at school by 6:45 today for an ASB field trip to LA.

Summer and Taylor

Unfortunately, they hit rush hour traffic and it took 3 hours 10 minutes to get to LA. Their first stop was the Museum of Tolerance. The kids learned all about the Holocaust, probably even more than they were expecting. They watched videos, walked into a gas chamber and each student was given a card as they entered the museum representing a child of the Holocaust. As they exited, they learned whether or not they had been killed. Taylor said it was incredibly interesting, but so, so sad!
Then the group was off for a college tour at UCLA.
The kids had time to tour the campus,
visit the gift shop
and spend some time discussing their college future.
Taylor texted us throughout the day and had a great time with her friends. It was truly a wonderful learning opportunity, but 7 1/2 hours on the bus was a little more than most could take. She walked away with so much information, but is now a little panicked that she was one of the only kids that didn't know where she wants to go to college or what she wants to major in (according to her). There is plenty of time for that, but I'm sure this trip will get her thinking...I guess that was the whole idea!

Spooktacular Night

Allison came home from school and was in costume within minutes! She was excited to go to Lorien's neighborhood for a little bit before heading over to the Lebitski's for our 3rd straight year.

My construction worker and go-go dancer

Once it was dark enough, the girls got their bags together and were ready to hit the streets. I loved Reanna's flapper costume and Lorien's witch. It actually looked like all 3 color coordinated!

Taylor and Lauren are growing up way too fast and actually ditched us this year to go up ahead with their friends. They texted along the way and had a great time while Leslie and I walked with the little girls and the dads watched the Charger game and passed out candy.

After lots of walking, very tired feet and very heavy bags, we returned to the house to sort and trade (probably the best part of the night). They each got several full size candy bars and plenty of candy to last a while. Allison couldn't stop talking about the guy who gave them the rest of his candy just so he could go inside and turn off his light!
A fun and successful night for all...

Costume Party

After a few weeks of confusion, 2 different invitations and lots of apprehension, we decided to let Taylor go to her first boy/girl Halloween party. She has made several new friends this year, but many are from a different elementary school and we don't know their parents so it has us a little uneasy! Taylor was just so excited to see what everyone was going to be and we decided to trust her judgement and let her go.
She debated between going as a construction worker and a cave girl and obviously thought the cave girl would work best.
Summer came over a little bit before for pictures and to ride with us. This adorable costume was from one of her dance performances.
We stopped by Jaden's for more pictures before I took all of the girls to the party.
The car ride conversation was so cute as they wondered what the boys would wear and who would be there. I'm just trying to stay up until 11:30 so I can hear all about it when she gets home. Really...11:30?

Hawks Halloween

Tonight was the 2nd Annual Hawk's Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Decorating Party at the Bodemer's. I couldn't stay because of our AllStar meeting, but the girls had fun decorating pumpkins with craft supplies and covering their apples in all things DELICIOUS! My sweet daughter brought her apple home for me since she can't eat it with her braces. It was covered in caramel and chocolate chips, but I ate the whole thing before taking a picture!

TTES JOG-A-THON

Mrs. Atkinson's Mustangs were pumped up for this year's Jog-A-Thon, hoping to raise lots of money for our school. It was so nice to have Great Oak High School's ROTC program there to cheer on our kids and be good role models.Allison and her new friend, Faith were excited to run together in their matching outfits.
The class had a few minutes to get stretched before...
running through the class banner.
Allison started off super fast and was sweating within minutes. After lots of water breaks and
walking a few laps with friends, she completed 29 laps in the designated time. Now we will get busy counting all of the money raised to see if we reached our goal of $20,000. If so, the school will get to continue all of our wonderful programs and Mr. McTasney will have to dye his hair pink for an entire week!!!

KC AWARD WINNER

This morning, Allison earned the Kindness and Compassion Award at Friday Flag Salute. Unfortunately I didn't get notification from her teacher, so I wasn't there to see it, but Allison called me from the classroom to tell me all about it.

This year, TTES is really focusing on Kindness and Compassion through Rachel's Challenge. Rachel Davis was the first victim of the Columbine shooting and her family started this program to promote kindness, leadership and compassion throughout our schools and entire community.

Congratulations Allison!!

Cheering with the Pack

Allison and her buddies couldn't wait to sign up for another year of "Cheering with the Pack". The Varsity cheerleaders put on a 2 day clinic for the elementary school and then the kids and cheerleaders perform at halftime for the Friday night game.

Karis, Adriana, Lorien, Allison and Kaylee

They had spent four hours learning a cheer, a dance and some stunts and were so excited to perform.
Before the game, two girls were paired up with a JV cheerleader to sit with during the first half of the game. Great Oak was playing a league game against Murrieta Mesa.
Taylor was happy to have Madison to hang out with.
Allison was buddied with Annalisa.
Lorien had fun with her buddy, Darina.
At halftime, the girls took the field and did a great job! They did the "Go, Go, Go" cheer, the "I Love You Like a Love Song" dance and some fun lifts.
Allison was a base and Lorien was a flyer.
Once again, the girls had a blast and Great Oak got the win. I'm not sure Allison has a future in cheerleading, but she she enjoys this event!

Promoted to SERGEANT

After months of testing and numerous weeks of waiting for the phone to ring, the Sheriff called Matt this morning to congratulate him on his promotion to Sergeant!! He is still waiting for personnel to call about his transfer location, but today was cause for celebration!! 90 deputies applied for the positions and 6 of them received calls today to promote. His phone rang off the hook throughout the day will co-workers/friends sending their congrats and he received some very nice emails and words from his current supervisors. He came home to a bouquet of balloons and apple pie.

Allison and Lorien made him this very cute sign to put on the front door.
And I am thrilled to see the facial hair gone!! Congratulations Matthew...WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

Turning 37

Gone are the days of getting excited for birthdays to arrive, but thanks to wonderful family and friends, I felt showered with love this weekend as I celebrated turning 37. The fun began with lunch at La Cocina on Friday with Leslie, Mary and Wendy. Saturday morning, the girls brought me donuts and juice while Matt was teaching:) When we got to the soccer field, Jenna presented me with this fun hat to wear during our game!

The team also spoiled me with very sweet cards, gifts and candy and played great in our 5-0 victory over SDFA. They sang to me and we all ate yummy rice krispies treats made by Mary.

After Allison's game, Leslie and Hank were kind enough to watch the girls so Matt and I could go to dinner at Lazy Dog Cafe. We were thrilled to have Charlie and Mary join us and really loved the bag of treats Charlie brought along! I think I will re-gift the Potted Meat when his birthday comes around in December:)

This morning, Matt and I went on a nice walk down to Starbucks and were surprised when Kim (Mrs. Atkinson) arrived at the house with these beautiful and tasty cupcakes.

When I opened my gifts from the family (a new SDSU soccer shirt and new soccer visors), there was also a card with a gift coupon for a new MAC computer!! We have needed to replace our 8 year old PC for far too long and we finally bit the bullet! Today, we purchased our first MAC and I can't wait to get started!

And finally, after 20 years together, Matt got the right birthday cake...the Mint Chip Log from Baskin Robbins!! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend and forgot all about turning 37. That is, until I go to the gym tomorrow and my knee and hip start to hurt!!!