School Pictures

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving. We sure enjoyed our 6 days off and thankfully the boys got right up this morning & had no trouble getting back into their regular routine.

I scanned their school pictures so you could see them. I agree with Maggie & wish the would smile more, but at least it's not some dopey look on their faces.

I also included a picture that I came across this weekend. it's of Jerry - circa 1977. Aidan thinks it's him.

Halloween Happenings

I know, I know Halloween has been over a week ago, but I finally got a couple of minutes to post the photos.

Austin's pumpkin is the bat & Aidan's pumpkin is the skull.

At Austin's request, we tried our hand at roasting pumpkin seeds and they were pretty good!

Aidan was a vampire for Halloween, his parade at school was really sweet. I love to see all the kids dressed up & strutting to the music of the Senior High Band!

Some Halloween Fun

Aidan & I finished the pirate ship that Shamma brought for him the week after they were here, but I am only getting around to putting pictures on now.

The Ebersole family also made a Spooky Gingerbread House this evening. I thought it came out pretty cool. The boys seemed to have a good time designing it & putting the candy on. They even were cordial to each other while they worked on it together.

We may carve pumpkins tomorrow seeing that Aunt Tricia thinks they need to do that. I hate gutting the pumpkin, but maybe I can get the boys to do that.

Also, here is Aidan's artwork for the Display My Art fundraiser that Brecknock is doing. His fish is very colorful & I can not decide which items I want to get!

FOOTBALL PICTURES

Aidan by himself. He had the dopiest smile. We tried to make him laugh so he wouldn't have such a cheesecake look on his face.

Aidan's team picture with almost all the players & the coaches.

Austin by himself, trying not to smile so he looks tough.

Austin's team picture with his coaches.

I think they look pretty handsome.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2007

Can you hear it? The sound of excitement? The sound of nervous laughter? Well, if you can, it isn't coming from my house.

Today was the first day of school around here & I guess to boys, it's just another day. They could care less. The only thing I hear is silence. Even though the two of them spent the majority of the summer fighting with one another, I would prefer that as opposed to being alone.

I start work after Labor Day, so it's just a few days this week that I have to endure being by myself.

By the way, can you see the excitement on their faces?

I didn't think so.

BUSY-BUSY-BUSY

Well, we have been quite the busy beavers around here lately.

Last week, the boys started everyday football practice from 5:30 to 7:30. Thank goodness they both love it & don't complain about having to go everyday when it's so hot.

The boys are both very good at football & it is fun to watch them practice. Austin always plays with his heart & it is amazing to watch the "one man wrecking machine" take on kids twice as big as him & bring them to the ground. Aidan is the Tazmanian Devil. He tackles with wreckless abandon & runs "mad fast" - scoring just about every time he has the ball.

Austin was assigned to the Maroon team tonight at their first scrimmage & they play on Saturdays. We will probably find out tomorrow which team Aidan will play on, but chances are he will play on the Sunday Varsity team. Hopefully they will let him play on the Saturday team so we won't have football all weekend long.

Friday we went to the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. We all love the drags & since they moved them to August, it works out much better for us.

The boys & I went back early Friday afternoon & then came home for a little rest & then went back for night qualifying. We were not disappointed!


Austin got Gary Scelzi's autograph which thrilled him. He told Gary that he picked him every week in fantasy NHRA & wished him good luck in his retirement next year. Gary said that there were weeks that he wouldn't have picked himself, but this weekend he would pick him.








Austin also got Larry Dixon's signature. He is another favorite of Austin's. I have new found respect for Larry. We were standing down by the finish line when Larry finished his qualifying run. Austin said "Mom, look it's Larry." I told him to say "Hi Larry!" and he did. Larry turned to Austin (who was wearing a Dixon t-shirt) and said "Hi! - Nice shirt!" When we were up in the pits later on, he remembered Austin from the end of the track. I thought that was pretty cool considering the thousands of people he sees each day.
Aidan got Tony Schumacher's autograph on his Tony Schumacher shirt which made him happy. I love Tony! He is always so nice to the kids!

The boys also got Robert Hight's autograph. I think they did that more for Jerry than they did for themselves. Robert is John Force's son-in-law & also drives for him.

On Saturday morning, Tricia, Maggie & Charlie arrived for our tattoo weekend. The Myers' girls went to Mike's Tattoo & Body piercing to get inked.

We had decided that we wanted to get the Chinese symbol for sisters. I would get two younger sister symbols, Tricia would get one older sister symbol & one younger sister symbol & Maggie would get two older sister symbols.

Well, my sisters decided that they didn't want just the symbols, they wanted a little extra. Tricia got a gladiolis flower which represents strength of character & Maggie got three lilac blossoms which stands for beauty, which all of us are absolutely stunning! I opted for just the symbols, in each of their favorite colors: Tricia's in green, Maggie's in blue. I am loving the location I chose (after consulting with the tattoo artist about the least painful spot) & the actual tattoo itself. Now every time I look at it, I think of the two people in this world who mean the world to me & I couldn't imagine a day without. I am so glad that they were able to come down & that we could do this together.

And not to leave out my little chunky monkey nephew. He also got inked on his arm, (even if it was just temporary).

And I just thought this was so sweet. Aidan fell asleep between our screen door & our front door with Ruger. What a good dog & a super sweet boy I have.

WHAT'S NEW AT THE ZOO

Well this week has proved to me that even though nothing special was planned, you can still have a fun time!

This week the boys both had doctor's appointments for their physicals for football/school.

We had to start going to a new doctor because the previous doctor could not schedule us until the end of October. That would not work for us.

Austin's appointment went off without a hitch. He is 4'9" tall & weighs 70 1/2 pounds. The doctor said he is a little underweight, but he looks good. He also has 20-15 vision which means it is better than 20-20. I thought that was terrific!

Aidan's appointment was going really well. He weighs 54 pounds (didn't ask how tall he was) & I wasn't with him when they tested his vision. However when it came to the portion of the physical where they checked him for a hernia, I thought I was going to tinkle in my pants.

Now keep in mind, Aidan has no idea what a hernia is & had no idea what the doctor was going to do. I seriously thought Aidan was going to punch the doctor in the face. He growled at him & stood there tapping his foot. He was not happy about this at all.

He told me later that the next time the doctor tried this, he was going to punch him in the hernia. Won't the doctor be surprised!

Tuesday & Wednesday night were spent at football mini camp. It was so stinkin' hot & I am so proud of them for not complaining & doing what their coaches told them to do.

They had lots of water breaks where they drank copious amounts of H20 & despite the heat, were really glad to be starting another football season.

Next week they start everyday football practice with helmets & pads. Hopefully it won't be so hot. For their sake & mine!