Costume Parade

The Costume Parade at C's school was today. My little Messi even got to break in his brand new indoor soccer shoes for the occasion. His friend was behind him dressed up as a blueberry. Funny. Only one more year of this! Poor H got to have math WKCE testing today. At least tomorrow is Pajama Day.

Happy Halloween

Boo! Most of our Halloween festivities have already taken place, so it will be a pretty low key day around here. Turns out that's a good thing -- it's pouring rain here today. Yuck. One thing I'm really looking forward to though, is seeing my little Messi in his Halloween parade at school later today.

Yellow

The lighting was so yummy as C was waiting for the bus this morning, A little fog, a little sunshine and some amazing yellow leaves. Those trees are right outside our bedroom windows, and when you open the blinds, it looks like the sun is pouring in ... even when it's not. It's amazing.

Trick-or-Treating

I probably will never get used to trick-or-treating during the day and not on Halloween. But today was the most fun we've had here yet. It was an absolutely beautiful Fall day. H ditched us and went out with his friend. But our friend Eric and his kids joined us, as we all tried to keep up with C. (C was dressed up as Messi, and H was Ronaldo.) As the kids continued to take over the neighborhood, we stopped by our friends house for a little bit, then ended up at our back yard neighbors for dinner. It was so much fun.

Pumpkins

We got around to carving our pumpkins today. It was done in two parts. The morning was spent scooping out the guts. Then we had to leave for Kenosha -- it was H's last soccer game of the season. The pulled off a win, which was pretty awesome. On our way back home, we stopped at Tenuta's for some Italian goods, then at the Croatian Park to watch C's coach (our friend, John) and a couple other friends of ours play their soccer game. It was the Wisconsin Open Cup final between the Bavarian Majors team and Croatian Eagles. Bavarians were down when we left at halftime. Bummer. Once we got home in the early evening, pumpkins were finished. C's on the left, H's on the right.

Haunted Homecoming

Last night our friends threw a Haunted Homecoming party. This is our third year going to this two-family backyard party, and it's always such a blast. We aren't big Halloween dresser-uppers, and the first year we showed up without costume. We learned our lesson, and have made sure we were decked out the last couple years. One of the suggested spirit days was Pajama Day -- we were all over it. (Except for C who went as Zombie Messi.) PJs and a little scary makeup. We were ready to go. We didn't even get it into the back yard before the kids were off and running around with their friends. The candy leaf pile was a big hit, as always. So were the monster donuts that we brought. Such a fun night.

In the Pink

Today H's team played their weekly soccer game. After having bit of a lead for most of the game, they ended up losing it in the second half. What a bummer. They wore their pink today too, and look pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Saturday Soccer

Today were the last games of C's Fall soccer season. They won both, with C scoring five goals between both games and killing it in goal. The team wore pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I think they looked extremely handsome. After their second game, a few of us went over to Milwaukee Sport Club to watch their coach play. He plays for the Bavarians Major team -- they won 3-2. Can't believe the season is over! It was a fun one.

Boy and His Dog

And now, so an image of Brian in his hospital gown isn't the last thing posted for the weekend, here's a cute picture of a boy and his dog. :)

Operation

Today was the day of Brian's big operation, and I'm happy to report, he's doing great. Everything went well as expected, and he's relieved to have it over with. We spent most of the day at the hospital. Brian's mom came and kept us company the entire time too, which was awesome.  I don't doubt he'll be in a lot of pain this weekend (for the next few weeks, actually). But he already feels sturdier with two pins and a plate helping to heal his clavicle.

Home

So yeah... I haven't posted a summary of Brian's Pablove Across America ride yet. We've been a little bit busy around here. I received a phone call in the early afternoon on Friday from Brian, and automatically knew something was wrong. Sure enough, he was calling from the Santa Barbara ER after going down ... hard. Things could have been much worse, and the good news is, he only suffered some bruising and a broken clavicle. After debating and figuring out how he was going to make it home, he ended up on his scheduled flights which turned out to be not so bad (so he says). I think pain pills helped. We were just happy to get him home and be able to take care of him here. The last two mornings have been spent at various doctors here. And while most clavicle breaks heal themselves, he needs to have surgery because of how it is overlapping. It is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Can you even believe it? We are just so happy he's ok. Wow. stayclassy.org/bpettit13

Apple (and Gourd) Picking

I was relying on my in-house weatherman H to lead us to apple picking at the right time. Alas, we got there, and it started pouring. It didn't stop us though. We ended up with a giant bag of apple of all different kinds. The boys favorite were the 20 Ounce Pippins. They are huge -- I cannot wait to make some applesauce. On our way out, we spotted the gourds. I know they are pretty useless, but the three of us a pretty obsessed with gourds, so we decided to truge through the muddy fields and pick a bag. Another amazing deal Barthel's has going on, is you can get a carload of pumpkins for $28. We didn't take advantage of that, but how fun. I guess they had a good crop! The apples were amazing too. I hope we get back again this season.

Hide Out

Lately, C can most often be found in a little hide out he's made in the basement. He watches movies, has his flashlight (just in case) and even ear plugs. Which may be why he never answers me when I call for him. Oh, he's also been wearing this Angry Bird hat whenever he's in his PJs. Adore.

Open House

Tonight was the open house at C's school. We visited his classroom of course -- which I absolutely love by the way. It's just so warm and inviting, and his teachers are just amazing. I think I've mentioned it but maybe not -- he's in a multi-age classroom with 3rd and 4th graders. Since he's in 3rd, he'll be in this classroom again next year. We didn't sign him up for it at first. I just was afraid he'd get lost. But towards the end of the school year, I realized we may have made a huge mistake. Fortunately, he did get in and I think it's working out great. We also visited the music and art rooms and PE -- his favorite. H came along too, and got to say hello to some of his old teachers. Fun night.

Pablove Across America

Brian's over half way done with his Pablove Across America ride. He's having a great time, and getting his butt kicked. The coolest thing though, is that he got to dedicate the ride yesterday to our 9-year old backyard neighbor who is currently undergoing maintenance treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She's amazing. Actually, her entire family is amazing! Brian was honored to be able to ride for her and take part in this dedication.

   

Brian's been maintaining a blog at bpettit.com that you can read to get more details on the miles, climbs and stuff like that. You can also follow him on instagram (@bpettit13), or use http://tagboard.com #paa2013 and see what the group is up to. So many people have been extremely generous in helping with his efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you! His fundraising page, however, is a bit misleading, and he actually has not hit his goal yet. Please support his fundraising efforts so together we can help Pablove help kids with cancer. stayclassy.org/bpettit13  

Fall Days

I'm in heaven with this beautiful days we've been having. Took the Storm dog down to the lake for a walk today and we both loved it. I might have worn him out a bit though -- poor guy slept and snored the rest of the day.

The Weekend

What a super great fall weekend. It was based around soccer again, which was ok by me. Especially since Saturday was in Racine, and Sunday was in Oconomowoc. On our way to Saturday's games, we dropped Brian off at the airport. He left for the Pablove Across America ride (stayclassy.com/bpettit13). I cannot believe the day has finally come. It started a little rocky, with cancelled flights causing a little bit of a delay for him to get there, but it's sure to be an epic week. After we dropped him off, we continued on to Racine for C's games. He had two, and Grandma even got to see the first one. Unfortunately, they lost that one. But they came back in the afternoon dominating the second game. Sunday, H had a game in Oconomowoc, so we decided to make day of it. It turned out to be a beautiful day. They lost 1-2 to a team they beat just last week, which was a bummer. But Nina, Papa and even their cousin got to watch H play, which he loved. The afternoon was spent hanging around, and fishing one last time this season before having dinner and heading home. Sad that it is over.