Gobble, Gobble, Gone

We had a delicious and industrious Thanksgiving holiday at the Ball Team house. There was a turkey:

There were games:

There was work:

There was the reward of getting a big chore done:

Lighting the leaves and roasting marshmallows!!!! There also was pie. No pictures survive of the pies. Once cut, a pie will not last more than ten minutes at our house. It was good, though!

We kept to ourselves this holiday, but, heard from our friends and family. We have so much for which to be thankful. Amen.

THANKSGIVING '09

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! In the spirit of "an attitude of gratitude", our family made a word cloud of some of the things we are thankful for!

flying kites bicycles dancing our family
ice cream playing sports the internet
sisters and brother Childrens Hospital
sleepovers napping Daddy's job
music days off of school birthdays
testimonies our dogs being healthy
talents washing machine & dishwasher
macaroni and cheese eternal families
the beach freshly baked rolls football season
children laughing warm blankets imagination
changing seasons car trips an A on a test
the dome and trampoline honey on bread
movies texting eating out allergy medication
friends, friends and friends ...

Soccer Season '09

Soccer season is finally over. I say finally because I mean, F---I---N---A---L---L---Y. We had a few weeks of rain, rain, rain. This made for soggy fields and cancelled games. When we did practice or hold a game, we were muddy and wet. But, hey, what 's a little mud?

Rachel's team was undefeated and she played goalie about 90% of the time. She likes her spot in the back with well defined responsibilities. And she did well. Samantha's team won just more than half of their games. Her team is a more competitive level of team; they travel to other towns. She played forward and back, and she loves it. Meanwhile, she's not sure if she wants to play again. She misses gymnastics.

They are both so athletic. I am thankful that they are healthy and strong and have a desire to keep it that way.

Bulldog Rachel '09 :::: Predator Samantha '09

eleven years old :::: ten years old

Random Bits for the Grandfolks::::

Samantha is Jay Michael's favorite playmate - everyday stuff becomes something to "play". So sweet.


Rachel loves to climb trees. (My favorite toy when I was a kid was a set of four big trees on our neighbor's land. Great climbing trees.)


More climbing -- Yes, this is Jay Michael. He climbed up there, but yelled - OMA - for me to get him back down. Charlotte takes responsibility for the ladder position.....


Speaking of Charlotte - she gave me a love note. In case you can't read it, it says - I love my Mom and Dad. Then a picture of Dad, Charlotte and Mom in a heart surrounded by more hearts. So sweet.


This is Josephine showing off her treats. She has taken to collecting all coins she finds around the house. She had "collected" about $1.25. While we were at the store, she announced that she wanted to spend her money and she had it with her. She bought three Starburst - family favorite - since they were three for a dollar. Bargain. AND, she shared with everyone. So sweet, too.


How to eat cereal, by Jay Michael - first, you pick out all the marshmallows...

Just a day at our house.

Night-time Post....

James' car has been on the fritz. Well, it's currently dead, actually. He's trying to figure out what the problem is, but, in the meantime, we're punting - sharing the van. Sometimes he can get rides to work, sometimes he takes the van. And sometimes we take him to work, so we can have the van. That was the case last week and we all headed out to the big city of Little Rock at almost 10 pm to get him after work. Big night out for the little kids! So, we took some pictures of the Capitol and the Children's Hospital, all lit up at night.

Another night this week we were burning leaves and made a marshmallow roast out of it.

Even Cody (the dog) got in on the fun!

Marker Meltdown

How to celebrate Friday the Thirteenth:

First, place your basket of markers on the stove burner way in the back, so the little fingers cannot reach them (without a stool). Second, turn on the oven to make lunch. Third, use tongs and oven mitts to remove your markers from the bottom of the basket.

Voila, marker meltdown! UGH!

before ::: after

(click on the picture for a better view of the carnage)

On the up side, I did keep my kids out of the markers. And I only melted about five of 'em.

Jay Michael and the Slide

So we don't have a video camera, but, Jay was having so much fun on the slide today that I just had to capture it somehow. Slide.com for a slide.Jay I think he would be there still. Sliding. November 09

Halloween Collage 2009

Vampire Class

I had a great afternoon the other day - I got to be in the first grade again. I was one of the Mom's helping with Charlotte's class Halloween party. We had plenty of treats, games and vampire teeth all around. Six is such a fun age!
Charlotte is standing - second from the right (bright green shirt). Green fangs! To her right is Kamden (grey shirt), her friend from church and now school, too! His family just moved into our school boundaries, and they are in the same class!! Yeah!!

Thankful

An attitude of gratitude!!!

Let's make a word cloud of some of the things our family is thankful for!

flying kites bicycles dancing our family

ice cream playing sports the internet

sisters and brother Childrens Hospital

sleepovers napping Daddy's job

music days off of school birthdays

testimonies our dogs being healthy

talents washing machine & dishwasher

macaroni and cheese eternal families

the beach freshly baked rolls football season

children laughing warm blankets imagination

changing seasons car trips an A on a test

the dome and trampoline honey on bread

movies texting going out to eat allergy medication

friends, friends and friends

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

What are you thankful for?