Christmas 2014

First Concert

We went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra this past weekend in Hershey.  Eric has always wanted to see them and so I'm really glad we went.  It's funny, but I never realized or thought about it before this but we have never been to a concert in the seventeen years we've been together.  It was also Brady's first concert.  I think we should go more often because we sure had a fun evening.  TSO played for 2 1/2 hours and put on a fantastic concert and their light show was amazing.

Brady recorded a few videos for me.  Here are a couple of them!

Apple Cider Donuts

When we went through the corn maze, I had the best apple cider donuts.

They were so good that I went out and bought a donut pan so that I could make them myself!

I have a huge box of little white bags that I've had forever.   I used my craft scissors across the top.  They were perfect for holding the donuts.

I used this recipe for APPLE CIDER DONUTS.

They were so good!  Not quite the same as I had at the corn maze...but definitely a close second!

 I think I had four warm donuts throughout the six hours I spent in the kitchen.  I also tried several chocolate cake donut recipes...but I will keep searching because I didn't like the consistency of any of those that I tried.  

Making donuts is fun!  I look forward to experimenting some more!  However, next time I will

try and limit myself to just one!

Apple Picking and A Corn Maze

Going to the orchard seems to have become a fall tradition for us.  It's one of those things we never really plan for and then we stumble upon a free Saturday morning.  You never know when your kids will want to stop doing a certain thing that you always look forward to doing with them.  And then, they remind you that they are waiting to go and you jump in the car as fast as you can before they change their mind! :)  

I have a lot more pictures but for some reason they are not wanting to upload...no time to waste so I'm moving on...

We also tried our first corn maze this fall.  Cherry Crest Farm is about 15 minutes from our house and everyone raves about it....but we had never been there before.  Definitely a neat place to go.  Everything from animals, pumpkins, games and food.  Oh, and the corn maze that was featured in USA Today as one of the top 10 corn mazes this year.  The maze is 5 acres with over 2.5 miles of paths.  There were three different levels/paths to choose from....Brady wanted to do the most challenging course (Eric and I did not!).  It took us two hours to find all of our clues and get out of there before it started to get dark.  I followed behind they guys eating my tub of kettle corn and letting them do all the work!

Tracy Austin

Brady was one of five players in our area invited to meet and work with Tracy Austin last Friday afternoon.  If you're a tennis fan, you will of course know who she is.  If you're not, she is a former world #1 player and the youngest person to ever win the U.S. Open.  She is also the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame.   She is now a tennis commentator and has her own show on the tennis channel where she coaches.  

Brady was so lucky to get this opportunity.  You can imagine how excited he was and you can see from the photo above that he soaked in every bit of advice that she gave to him. 

Tracy was amazing, and nice and so knowledgeable.  She worked intensely with the group for an hour and a half.  I know Brady will remember this forever.

As we were saying goodbye, Ms. Austin said, "I will look for your name in the lights Brady!"  

Very sweet.

This and That

Brady turned 11 1/2 a couple weeks ago.  We almost missed the big day...thankfully 

Eric remembered and I was able to pick up a brownie at Panera's after dinner with a friend.  I think it was close to 10pm when I got home...better late than never I guess!  Brady seemed somewhat embarrassed that we were making a fuss.  Oh well....at least he knows he's loved. :)

Brady went to a big Barn Bash at our church Friday night with hundreds of 5th and 6th graders.

He was the lucky winner of this ridiculously large inflatable swan.  He thinks it's perfect for t.v. watching.  I think we now need a swimming pool. :)

School pictures were this week.  It's the first time in 7 years that I didn't buy them.  We usually give  5 x 7's to the grandparents and then the rest of the pictures never see the light of day.  I did buy a class picture.  I feel somewhat guilty about not getting them....although the school pictures of Brady have never been spectacular.  I quick snapped this one on picture day before we left for school.  I'm no photographer but....this smile is more natural than any school picture we've ever purchased.

Speaking of photographers....we had our first family photo session (ever) scheduled one day last month in the park.  I just needed one good family picture for something we're working on.  I was pretty excited about it since we've never had one taken before.  I wanted something fun....not formal.

Anyway....we waited and waited at the park and the photographer never showed up.  As we were leaving a lady walked over and asked us if we wanted her to quick take a picture.  Her kindness (and my frustration) made me a little teary.  She said she had seen how long we were waiting and figured we had been stood up.  Yep, we were.  I never contacted the photographer and she never contacted us.  Weird.  And disappointing.

Even though this picture is blurry and exactly what I didn't want...it still makes me smile.

I am blessed.  Hopefully soon we can try this again...with a different photographer.

Brady's 5k

Brady ran his first 5k this morning with his friend Luke.  

Eric and I were not there to see him run. :(

Luke's dad and his sister also ran, so they had arranged to pick Brady up on the way.

I could have followed them to the race...but it was one of those times where I decided I would give my boy some space and wait at home patiently to hear the details.

Brady ran three evenings this week to "get ready/train" for the race.  Oh to be young and in shape like that!  I remember when I ran a 5k I had to train for months...and even then, I barely made it to the finish line!

I took this picture when he got home....he was all smiles.

Brady said he ran at Luke's pace and then decided to run ahead....and then he turned around before he got to the finish line and ran back to meet Luke and finish with him.  

And now, he keeps asking me if I will run a race with him.  Unlike him, I will need more time to "get ready" for this race.  Maybe I will try and be ready this spring.

Wish me luck....because running is not my thing!  However, I'm not sure how much longer my son will want me to run a 5k with him.....so I better make this happen.  

Congrats on your first 5k Brady!

We are super proud of you!

~Mom & Dad

First Day Of School

I'm so excited that our school district decided to move 6th grade from the middle school into the elementary school this year like many other schools in our county.  I get to have him with me one more year before he goes to the middle school!  Brady on the other hand is not as excited.  He said, "in all the history of this school...they wait until my grade to make this big change!" He was ready to move on.  I'm hoping that our principal mixes it up a bit and gives the 6th graders some extra responsibility in the building to keep it different for them.

Brady was excited and ready to go back to school.  There are two 6th grade teachers and he will go back and forth between the two with science, math, communication arts and social studies.  He will also have music, gym, art, library and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

It's crazy to me that I have a 6th grader.   It seems it was just last year that we were registering him for kindergarten.  He was this little boy in this big scary school.  And now, he is this confident and kind young man that continues to make us proud with the way he conducts himself, the choices he makes and the way he treats others.  Here's to a great school year!

It's Been A Year

Has it really been a year since I last blogged?  I'm not even sure I remember how to publish a post!

Lately, I have been feeling guilty about not documenting our memories.  My husband and dad often ask me when I'm going to start blogging again.  My dad lives eight hours away and I think he feels more connected to us when he can read a little something every now and then.

There are a few reasons that I haven't kept up on here.  I sometimes just feel too busy and too tired to sit down at the computer at the end of the day.  I also worry some about what people really think and I wonder who is reading.  Isn't that silly?!  I'm sure I don't need to worry anymore about that last one!

However, I do miss being able to look back over the years and remember exactly what was going on during that time because I had taken the time to blog about it.  The days are flying by and I like using this space as a journal.  I've said it many times before that writing doesn't come easily to me.  I think I'm just going to put less pressure on myself, blog when I can, and use this space for preserving things I want to remember.  We'll see  how it goes.


                               

Brady was at a friend's birthday party all afternoon and came home just quick enough this evening to change his clothes and he was off to the first home football game of the year.  Without us.  I wanted to get a picture of him before he left but it all happened so fast I didn't get a chance.  I took this picture last week of Brady and our neighbor's dog...I guess it'll do!