More Fall Soccer + Sunset

 Yup, more soccer pics!  I just think these kids are so stinkin' cute, so I can't help but post.  :-)

As the season's progressed, Ramsey's been hustling more and getting into the thick of things.  

This post also gives me a chance to post THIS unfiltered sunset picture of our view on the lake.  Magnificent!

Fall Soccer

 Fall soccer is definitely interesting.  I had forgotten how odd the weather can be.  On double header days, we are wearing winter jackets, gloves, and donning blankets.  Then, the afternoon games, we are in short sleeves and perhaps shorts!

Anyhoo.... just posting a few random pics of Ramsey's Fall soccer games here.   

They have goalies this year, so Ramsey was able to play this position multiple times.  He liked being able to switch it up and play that position periodically.

He has only had one practice this year, which is a bit challenging, as this is the year the kids need to start learning the "big boy rules" of the game.  But, with coaches being volunteer parents, you roll with it - everyone is busy!

Ramsey loves it though and has so much fun!

Harvest Walk and Afternoon Fun

It's not often we get to the downtown area.  But, on Saturday, the museum had their first annual Harvest Walk, full of fun things for kids and overall, a great afternoon for families.  Ramsey and I decided to take the trek into town for the event.

Prior to the Harvest Walk, we stopped in at the Farmer's Market on Main (bought a few zucchini!) and took Ramsey's picture in front of the new mural at Malchow Plaza, painted by local artists.  

If you look closely, you'll see that the mural (old mason jars with colored marbles, recessed into a shelf) was painted on a large piece of wood, then adhered to the brick wall.  The brick is on the mural and blends in nearly seamlessly into the wall.   And, the marbles are each painted beautifully, with small scenes of our town's history; the train station, Storybookland, the old Capitol Theatre, etc).

Then, we went to the Harvest Stroll at the museum, where they had blocked off the streets for the event.

They had all kinds of fun and old-fashioned themed games for everyone.  Ramsey started out at the "Flick the Seed" game.

Then, to the bag toss game.

They had an antique rope maker there too, so he made his own rope out of twine. 

Then, the duck pond.

And the "Pioneer Games", with tops and old-fashioned wooden toys from generations gone by.

Ramsey stayed at this station for quite a while, playing with all of the toys.  

One of the volunteers said it was "fun for hours" for children 100 years ago.  I joked back that they'd play for hours because some of the toys were impossible to master!  Like this one, where you try to get the wooden ball into the small wooden bowl.  Every time my ball went into the bowl, it would immediately pop back out again!  Hours of frustration!  Er... "fun"!

We bought some raffle tickets (hey, maybe we'll win the goody basket!).  Then, headed off to the pumpkin decorating booths.   There were gold-leafing booths, booths to paint pumpkins, ones to add on funny construction paper faces.  But, Ramsey wanted to use Sharpies to draw a design onto his.

He was quite intent for a good amount of time, drawing squiggly "pumpkin vines" on his tiny orange and green squash.

Then, he added his name to a little tag and tied it onto the stem of the pumpkin.

In the background, they had musicians playing fiddles, a base, guitars, banjos, and ukuleles.

We needed refreshments after that, so we walked to a little coffee shop down the block and had a snack.

Because the day was nowhere near over, we decided to stop at Wylie Park to climb on some of the playsets.

We moved to a different playset after a while.   Ramsey met a lot of new kids at this playset and had a ton of fun!  He called it "The Ninja Tower".

Now, I need to tell you a little story here.  Driving, on the way to the park, I saw Ramsey in the back seat praying. I asked him what he was praying for.  He said he prayed that Raelyn and Ashton would be at the park to play with.  (These are two little girls who are some of his best friends and live down the road from us.)  After we arrived and Ramsey was playing, I saw a new group of people come to the area.  Then, I heard the names "Ashton" and "Raelyn" being called, so I looked around, wondering what was up.    

Well... God answered Ramsey's prayers for Ashton and Raelyn to be there.  But... these were two different siblings altogether, who were there with their grandparents playing.  Coincidence?   Or... a fun little nod from The Almighty?  Hmm... makes ya wonder!  ;-)

School Spirit/Homecoming Week

 Ramsey missed the dress-up days for Homecoming Week last year.  Well... he probably was fine for the "pajama day" one (ha!).

This year, the dress-up days weren't super diversified and had a main theme; sports.

Monday:  Comfoy Cozy "Kick-Off Day" - wear PJs or lounge wear (Ramsey chose Darth Vader PJs)

Tuesday: "Touchdown Tuesday" - Sports & Activity wear  (dug out a Viking T-shirt)

Wednesday: "Referee Wednesday" - black and white day

(Will defer to post with Eric and Ramsey playing catch)

Thursday: "Special Teams Day" - wear favorite jersey  (shocker - more Vikings!)

Friday: Golden Eagle Blue & Gold Day

Hmm... guess I missed the morning picture here.  Whoops.

Sports-Obsessed Kid

 Until this year... and this month... Ramsey hadn't been overly interested in playing sports.  Yes, he liked batting a ball around occasionally and playing soccer.  But, at home, he didn't seem too captivated or intrigued to play.   Now... he begs to play ball every... single...day!

His first obsession was playing football.

Aren't my guys cute?!?!?

And, that's evolved into baseball now too.   He's still learning and trying to become more coordinated. 

I've been teaching him how to play Two Square too.  He also wants to play basketball, but we don't have a hoop (yet).   I also figure maybe it's time we go bowling too?!?  Bowling is fun even though I seriously STINK at it!.   It could be a lesson in humility perhaps.  *wink* 

Just Reading to His Puppy

Since football started, I like to [try to] take naps on Sunday afternoons.  After all, long and busy weeks, having to get up EARLY every day, plus soccer, weekend events, home projects, church, and Sunday School all take a lot out of a person - we need to recharge the ol' batteries!

And, usually, my naps are cut short by my two favorite little guys; one blonde, one grey.  I had to take a few pictures I thought were precious; Ramsey reading to Jango and Jango seeming to very much enjoy it.

Take joy in the little things.  ;-)

Happy Birthday Nanas!

 We were so happy to get to spend time with the two September Birthday Girls, Nana Vicki and Nana Karen (plus Bumpa of course!!!).

We had a morning soccer game which Nana Vicki and Bumpa came to see.

We picked up Nana Karen and went home to have lunch... and pig out on a coconut cake I made on Friday afternoon (with pineapple jam between the layers).  I made Ramsey special vanilla cupcakes (he's not a fan of pineapple... or coconut).

Spending time plus lots of hugs with nanas and bumpas are the best!

Project: Shoreline Clean-Up

 To say that our shoreline needs to be cleaned up is a bit of an understatement.  Since we moved to this home, we've wanted to remove all (or 99%) of the trees from the southern-most part of the shoreline (about 75' of sucker trees, bushes, weeds, and crazy whatever-the-heck else nature allowed to grow there).    The north side of the lot is clear of brush and has rip rap rocks to keep the shoreline in check and safe from erosion.  The south side... well... needs WORK.

Since the water levels are VERY low this year, we actually have a beach and access to the trees and other unkempt green and woody living organisms.  And, after receiving a rather hefty quote from a few tree trimmers, we decided we could do this project ourselves (*groan*).   What were "we" thinking?!?! ha!

I didn't start taking pictures right away.  The picture below is AFTER we actually spent two days cutting out trees.

Eric cuts the tangled mess out and chucks it to where I can reach it.  Then, I haul it up the hill.  Ramsey has been a really good helper too (I was shocked really).  

Then, we cut the brush/wood up even further or rip off the branches and start burning.  It's all a very tedious process and we don't cut down more than we can burn in one day.  We do keep some of the nicer-sized branches for future campfires.

Jango loves it, as he access to a plethora of sticks to gnaw on.  He doesn't get to be outside during the tree chopping process - he had a tree nearly fall on him early on, so that was the end of THAT!

Not all of the chainsaw practices are safe.  Eric freely admits this!  Hopefully we don't have an upcoming post about missing [body] limbs!  Seriously, no pun intended!

Here's a view from the shoreline.  It's seriously an insane mess and looks much crazier from the shore than it does from the house.  It's a bit overwhelming, but slow and steady wins the race, so we're playing by The Hare's rules.

This is during Day 3.  Eric cuts down at the shoreline, and I lug it up.  It's like hiking and a burning glute workout all in one, dragging branches up what is literally a 12 ft CLIFF.

And up up up to the burn pit we go again.  I wish my FitBit would calculate the INCLUDE with the number of steps!

After Day 4, this is the view.  You can notice just a little bit of a gap between the bigger Willow and [whatever it is] tree and the next bunch of wild trees. We need to cut just past the very far right edge of this picture, which is the line of demarcation between our property and our neighbors (they also need to chop trees from their shoreline).

Shockingly, a high percentage of the trees on the shoreline have extremely long thornes - usually around 1" or 1.5" long.  Gloves are a MUST.  Even then, they leave scratches and scrapes on arms and legs.

During this process, Eric taught me how to use the chainsaw.  I've always been deathly afraid of them and feared I would impale or disembowel myself (disturbing, I know!).   On Day 3 and 4, I cut up branches near the fire pit, prior to burning.  I will continue to leave the actually cutting DOWN of trees to Eric!  He is the expert!

We still have a very long ways to go for this process.  When the lake has frozen over, we will utilize the ice to drop the trees onto, as they will need to fall Eastbound vs onto the cliff/shoreline.   It will be an interesting Fall and Winter for us.  It may take us a bit of time, but we'll get through it.   Then, maybe next year, I will be posting pictures of a nicely manicured and landscaped shoreline.  :-)  

Afterwards, our view will be much better!