Tyler's Visit

 I had a special treat in mid-October-- a weekend visit from my longtime childhood friend, Tyler. She and I did a couple things together in Houston and also took an overnight trip to Waco, TX. It was a fabulous girls' weekend and a wonderful time to catch up.

After picking Tyler up from the airport, we spent a few hours touring NASA, always an impressive place!

The next day, we drove to Waco and stopped first at Magnolia Market at the Silos. Tyler has always been a fan of the show Fixer-Upper and knows a lot about Chip and Joanna Gaines. I, on the other hand, haven't followed the show very much, so I read The Magnolia Story, the Gaines' autobiography, a few weeks before our trip. Between the two of us, Tyler and I were able to share a lot of stories about Chip and Joanna Gaines as we toured the Silos.

Each of us picked out some food from the area's many food trucks and lunched outside on this beautifully sunny day.

We even stood in a long line at the Silos Baking Company and splurged on some famous Joanna Gaines' desserts. I'm not usually much of a cupcake fan, but the ones from here were delicious!!

After browsing through most of the shops at Magnolia Market, we walked a few blocks to the Dr. Pepper museum. We paid for a self-guided tour and enjoyed a free soda at the end.

Then, we stopped by the Waco Suspension Bridge and walked for a bit alongside the Brazos River.

We ended the day by touring Spice Village, a collection of over 60 boutiques all under one roof.  It felt like we were visiting a huge craft fair. What a unique place!

The next day we drove a bit out of town to Homestead Heritage, an Amish-like community that focuses on farming and crafting. We stopped in each of the artisan buildings (like woodworking, pottery-making, weaving, basket-making, and blacksmithing) and browsed their many shops.

Before heading back home, we drove through Waco again and had a late lunch at Magnolia Table. Our wait for a table was very long (over an hour and a half), but it was worth it. We both enjoyed seeing the Gaines' unique designs inside the building and thought the food was delicious!

We returned home on a Saturday evening, so Tyler was able to attend church with us on Sunday morning. Following church, we had a quick lunch at home, and then our whole family drove out to Dewberry Farms to attend their pumpkin patch. This was the first time we had been to this particular pumpkin patch, and we all agreed that it wasn't our favorite seasonal site. The farm had a ton of fun-sounding activities, but the lines everywhere were crazy long, so we didn't have the opportunity to do even half of the activities. The day was terribly hot, too, so that didn't help our moods as we were waiting in long lines. Nevertheless, the kids enjoyed the few activities they were able to do.

Before Tyler left town on Monday, Adley and I took her to one more tourist site--the Houston Botanic Gardens. Tyler is a master gardener with a special interest in growing flowers, so this was a perfect spot to take her. Adley and I enjoyed seeing the botanic gardens for our first time as well. We even found a small water-play area for Adley.

The landscaping throughout the gardens was just amazing! Such a beautiful place.

What a joy it was to spend this time with Tyler! It was a fun opportunity to visit some new places, and a perfect chance for some relaxing girl time. I'm so thankful for this dear friend!

Halloween Playdate

 Early in October, Adley and I hosted a Halloween party for our playgroup--one of my very favorite playgroup events of the year! It was so cute seeing the kids all dressed up and a great way to make extra use of the kids' costumes, too. We started the playdate with a read-aloud story about pumpkins.

Then, we watched a youtube video of the Five Little Pumpkins song. The kids sang along and did actions as the pumpkins rolled away.

After that, it was craft time. The kids needed a bit of momma help for this one, but their pool noodle monsters were worth the extra effort. Each monster was unique. They all came out so cute!

Another friend had prepared our snack for the morning-- cheese cut out like pumpkins (wow!), crackers, and applesauce.

The kids really seemed to enjoy the "ghost hunt" we did next. Two of the moms hid small construction paper ghosts all around our front yard. Each ghost had a number or symbol on it. After the kids found a ghost, they had to run back to this poster and match the ghost with its corresponding outline. They all had to work together to fill the poster.

Our last activity was a trick-or-treat sharing event. Each child took turns inside the house, ready to hand out treats to their friends. We had the remaining kids outside knock on the door and say "trick or treat" in order to receive their goodies. The kids seemed to have just as much fun handing out the treats as they did receiving them!

Our playgroup almost doubled in size since last month! We love these new (and old) friends and had a wonderful Halloween celebration together.

 

JV Soccer

 At the start of the school year, our family was abruptly thrown into the world of school sports. Our school didn't have enough 5th-8th graders to round out both the Varsity and JV teams, so they invited 4th graders to play on JV. Cody and Jaden were thrilled about the opportunity to play for their school and, most especially, with their friends.

The JV team ended up being entirely comprised of 4th graders, at least half of whom had never played soccer before! As they would be facing other JV teams filled with 5th and 6th graders, we weren't quite sure how Salem's team would do. The coach, Dave Boldt, was a patient and encouraging leader for the kids. Over the course of the season, the team did quite well for being such a young group. They won about half of their games and fought determinedly at every one.

CODY

Cody really seemed to develop a passion for soccer this year. Perhaps it was the idea of playing for his school that excited him, as one day he commented, "It makes me a little nervous playing for Salem. If we lose, it's kinda like letting the whole school down!" He definitely was proud to play for Salem and thoroughly enjoyed both practices and games with his peers. Cody was such a tough competitor, too. He scored between 2-4 goals at every game and often played a quarter or two as goalie. He was confident and fast on the field and didn't often let the ball get by him. It was so fun watching him play as a Salem Saint!

Jason captured a couple of Cody's goals on video this year!

Playing goalie wasn't easy in the large JV-size goal and with 5th-6th grade players kicking his way, but Cody learned a lot about when to charge players and how to position himself in the goalie box. He stopped lots of goals this season! He liked being able to drop-kick the ball in this league, too (something that hasn't yet been allowed in the Klein Soccer League).

JADEN

Jaden was an amazing player for the Saints this year as well. He defended his team's goal well and knew how to dribble the ball far down the field on breakaway plays. He was always alert to pass the ball to open teammates and was unselfish with the ball. Jaden typically scored a goal or two each game and had lots of great assists. One of his most shining moments was at a weekend tournament game. Jaden got the ball away from an opponent but somehow lost his shoe in the process. Running in only one cleat didn't seem to bother him, as Jaden continued all the way down the field and even ended up scoring! Talk about some tenacious soccer playing! We were so proud of our #9 JV soccer player!

These boys, and the whole team in fact, were such a joy to watch! Despite being much younger and often much shorter than their competitors, the team encouraged each other and fought hard at every game. The games they lost were often very close. If they all stick with soccer next year, they will definitely be a reckoning force on the field!

Perhaps it is their growing maturity as soccer players or due to the fact that their teammates were their friends, but whatever the reason, we saw our boys pass the soccer ball to teammates more this season than ever before. It was fun watching the team try to play a little more strategically together. Here's a video of Cody making a great pass to Jaden that almost turned into a goal.

Successful plays or not, we love watching our boys on the field together!

Playing JV soccer also meant being involved in a weekend tournament. Salem's team played in two games and, with the help of some 5th and 6th graders coming down from varsity for the weekend, ended up with a 1st place trophy! Even though only 3 teams were involved in the tournament, it was exciting to sweep the tourney! Go Saints!

Playing on this team meant a very busy start to 4th grade for Cody and Jaden, but they never regretted their decision to play. They loved the experience and can't wait for another Salem season next year!