Standiford Family

Yesterday Mattey and Kade were playing together.  They were playing dress up and pretend.  They are very imaginative kids.  Kade came upstairs and showed us what he was wearing.  Moo.

This costume is for a child around 6-9 months.  Mattey wore it for her first Halloween.  It’s also been worn by Eliza and just recently by my niece Evie.  This shows that kids don’t grow much in the middle.  They are all arms and legs.

I had to add the photo showing Mattey wearing the costume.

Okay, it’s not really the first snow but it was the first time the kids went out to play.  Yesterday we got some snow and Mickey was home so that equals playing in the snow.  What a good dad.  Here’s a few pictures of the fun.

P.S.  I was in the house staying cozy warm and knitting.  (Pictures to come in about a week along with more of my creations.)

Yes, I’m behind again.  Two Saturdays ago the girls had their last soccer game.  They both played hard, well one of them did, but both had a good game. We also had wonderful weather for the last day thanks to a little Indian summer.

Meg’s game was first.  She played goalie a lot.  The coach even took out his own daughter to put Meg in.  She’s good.  The last game is when the players get their medals and patches.  The coach forgot.  Supposedly they are in the mail.  Here’s a few good shots of Meg’s game and a team photo.  She is really into it.  Just look at her face.  Reminds me of someone else when they used to play.

Mat’s game was right after Meg’s and on the next field.  We loved it when it worked out like that.  Mattey wasn’t as motivated as in other games.  She played but was more willing to sit and cheer.  Mat got to play goalie.  That’s when she’s wearing the big gloves.  Mattey did get her medal and patch.  She was happy about that.

Tonight was the annual Trunk-Or-Treat at church.  Mickey and the kids dressed up and went.  Here are a few of the heroes and villains from Gotham City.  (Masks are not allowed so we did the best we could.)

On Friday the girls didn’t have school so we stopped by the library and got some books.  One of the books Meg got was a Halloween joke book.  Both girls thought the jokes were so funny.  They were very cheesy with a little humor on the side.  Kade heard them telling jokes and had to get in on the fun.  Here’s his joke:

Why did the chicken go to Wal*Mart?

To buy some clothes.

This was followed by lots of laughter, from the joke teller and his audience.  He has a good sense of humor so I’m sure this won’t be the last joke we hear from him.  It will be fun to watch how his humor grows.  The joke has already had some changes.  The chicken is now buying girl clothes.  I don’t know why that’s more funny because Kade then explains that the chicken is a girl.

Mattey’s little funny from the other day was an expression she said.  We were at the table snacking or something (I wish I would have written it down right after it happened) and I did or said something.  Then Mattey exclaims “Oh, Mother Nature!”  I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that expression and I hope Mother Nature doesn’t mind Mattey taking her name in vain.  Mickey and I thought it was very funny and had a good laugh.  Mat got mad because she thought we were laughing at her.  She hasn’t learned the difference yet.  Next time I’ll be sure to write it down right away so everyone can enjoy the humor.

Mattey was given an assignment by her teacher to collect a few leaves amonst other things and make a book.  It’s due next Monday so I thought we had better start on it.  We decided to walk around ND’s campus this afternoon so she could have a good selection of leaves.  I must say the campus is one of the more beautiful spots in the city.  We picked a great day to go.  It was in the 70’s and sunny.  The leaves are starting to change.  The air smelled fresh.  Mat got her leaves along with a few pinecones and buckeyes.

I took the camera and got a few pictures that show off the beginning of fall, and a few icons of ND.

I got this picture of the kids.  Kade’s a little fuzzy but he looked the best in it.  I’ve got to teach him to freeze.

Our Saturday was really busy.  We had two soccer games, almost at the same time.  Mat’s started first.  She played aggressively but didn’t score.  One day I hope she gets a goal.  It would make her so happy.  Meg’s game started about 20 minutes later.  I missed most of hers because I was watching Mat’s.  Meg got injured (fell on her knee) so she was on the sidelines for a while.  She went back in in the third quarter.  From Mat’s game I could see her running and kicking a lot but she didn’t score either.  She did play goalie the fourth quarter and again stopped everything coming her way.  I think that’s her best position.  She did say she needs to work on having a powerful kick but she throws it out of the goalie box so well we told her she didn’t need to worry about it too much.

We came home and most of us ate lunch.  I grabbed a snack and finally started painting the shutters I had Mickey take down about two weeks ago.  The weather has been too cold to paint so I waited for a nice day.  I got it yesterday.  It was almost 80 and the sun was HOT after enduring some days in the 50’s.  While I painted Mickey weatherized some wood on the deck off the kitchen.

He hung them up while I made dinner later.  (I wish I would have taken a before and after.  They were so faded they were almost pink.)

Since Mickey knew I had a lot to do yesterday he took the kids to see Wall-E.  That was a nice break for me.  Thanks, Babe.  I finished working on my lesson and gave the shutters a second coat.  Then I cleaned up and went to JoAnn for their Columbus Day sale.  Now this is a holiday that’s not really celebrated except by stores.  You’ve got to love it when they give out 50% off coupons.  I used 3 yesterday!

We then had dinner.  Not exactly the way I had wanted since our grill ran out of gas.  I had to bake the chicken instead.  It didn’t taste as good.  Then we, mostly Mickey, got the kids to bed and I worked out.  Then he came down and did what he had been waiting to do all day.  Play the Batman Lego game.  He’s finished the Star Wars Lego game so this is his new obsession.

Every Saturday for a while we will be having soccer games.  We won’t be putting pictures up every week but I want to do some details of the games.  Here are the pictures from last week.  We had back to back games on back to back fields.  We couldn’t ask for anything better.  The girls played very well.  It was also very warm, unlike this week.

First was Megan’s game.  She scored a goal and was all over the field.  She also played goalie again.  She had to share shoes with a girl on her team because the teenage ref wouldn’t let her play in softball cleets.  I guess there is an extra toe piece that could hurt someone.  We’ve never had anyone say anything before.  Mickey got a picture of Meg’s goal.

Next was Mattey’s game.  We just had to turn around and move our chairs a few feet to the next field.  Mattey was a little grouchy that morning and it helped her be a little more agressive on the field.  She was after the ball most of the time she was on the field.  Mat did have an attempt at a goal but it was unsuccessful.  She played goalie too.  She likes to wear the gloves.

This week there are no pictures.  Meg’s game was at 11:00 on the far south side of town while Mat’s game was at 12:30 on the very north side of town.  We had to divide and conquer on this chilly day.

Mickey went with Meg.  She didn’t get a goal today but she did block all 6-7 attempts the other team made while playing goalie one quarter.  Way to go Meg.

Mattey wasn’t grouchy today so she wasn’t very agressive.  Actually her entire team was too polite.  While playing goalie she was too busy cheering/coaching that the ball slipped past her.  Oops.  Her team did score a goal which helps keep morale up.  We had snack today.  I think Mattey was excited about passing that out she couldn’t get her head in the game.  There’s always next week.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Okay, the summer is “officially” over since today is Labor Day. (I started this last night.  After spending two hours fighting with the slow internet and iPhoto not working right I gave up and now I’m trying again.)  I thought I better get writing about some of our activities from the summer before I forget them all.  You all know about our vacation already so I won’t bore you with that again.  Soon after we were home Mickey and I celebrated our 15th anniversary, can you believe it?  Here we are at the National Zoo.  I think it’s a good picture of both of us.  Thanks for taking it John.

I think Mickey finished this project before we left for Virginia but I just got around to taking pictures.  I had to move all my bulbs from the yard where the septic was redone.  Mickey was great and made me a flower bed to plant all the bulbs I kept.  I also planted some strawberry plants I moved for safe keeping.  It has filled in and looks great.

Megan finished up another season of softball.  She played second base a lot, some at catcher, and also pitched an inning.  She is an awesome little player.  She’s also really good at keeping the girls involved while they’re in the dugout.  You can always hear her singing and chanting more than anyone else.  Maybe it’s just the loud voice.  Here’s a few more softball pics.

We had a really big rain on June 6th.  (I’m so glad the digital photos get automatically dated.)  Mickey took Kade out to jump/run in the puddles and the girls tagged along.  Here’s some pictures from that.  Kade was soaked when he came in.  And of course he thought it was funny to splash his sisters.

I think strawberry picking is going to become an annual event for us.  This is our second year going.  There were a lot of weeds in Grandpa’s Orchard this year and the berries were on the small side but they were delicious.  I don’t think Kade actually picked any.  If so he ate it.

I froze a lot of them and will turn them into jam.  Mmmm…it’s our favorite.

At the end of June we spent a day at Great America.  The girls were so excited to go, and I guess Kade was too.  We went with Mike, Betty, Amanda, Michelle, Abby, and Emma.  I think everyone had a good time.  (I’ve learned I’m not going back.  It’s just not my kind of place.  I’d rather stay home and enjoy the peace.)  Megan and Kade loved the roller coasters.  Mattey and I found the tamer rides.  There was a water ride that was fun but since we got soaked no one wanted to go on it again with me.  Amanda did some American Idol Kareokee and the girls were her back up dancers.  Later Megan and Mattey got brave and sang a song.  They were great!  I’ll have to get Mickey to put the video on.  I’ll bug him so hopefully it will get done sometime this year.  Here’s a link to the rest of the pictures.

I’ve done some sewing this summer.  I made Mattey a little dress and a beaded purse.  (You can’t really see the beads, they blend in.)

I also made myself a Vera Bradley knock off.  I started with some Moda fabric.  And worked out a pattern.  And came up with this.  I really like it.  Look at all the pockets!  I love knowing where everything is.

We had a family date and went bowling at Chippewa Bowling Alley.  I was a little nervous since I hurt my back 5 years ago at a bowling alley.  I survived and everyone had a really good time.  Kade was hilarious to watch.  Megan has a wicked spin.  Mattey somehow ended up getting a lot of strikes.  We weren’t sure how she did it.  Mickey tries to make a dent in the lane by throwing the ball so hard.  I cautiously and slowly walked to the line and gently rolled the ball.  Our scores are somewhere but I don’t have time to look for them now.  But here are some pictures of the family having a good time.  The rest are here.  (Please note that Kade and Mickey’s date are in this album also, that’s why they have two different outfits on.)

We thought we’d try cherry picking this year.  We went with Michelle and her girls.  Mickey was at work.  It’s not really his thing anyway.  All the kids had a bucket and we had about 70 pounds of cherries in 30-45 minutes!  We had to tell the kids to stop picking.  Once again Kade didn’t really pick except to eat.  He was a mess!

So that was June.  We were busier than I thought.  In July we celebrated the 4th at Jan and Doc’s house.  John provided us with a fabulous firework show.  The next week the kids started their annual tennis lessons at Leeper Park.  Kade even got to play this year.  He was very excited about that.  It’s great being 3.  It was great being me too because I got to sit by myself and knit.  Meg has an advantage in tennis, she’s ambidextrous.  If she wanted she could hit a powerful forehand with either hand.  I would love for her to practice this but she’s kind of taken to only using her right hand, just like she does for all sports.  Mattey was a little apprehensive but I think she enjoyed herself.

We couldn’t stop with strawberries and cherries we picked blueberries (twice) and peaches.  We picked blueberries at the Blueberry Ranch.

We went once as a family for FHE and once with my sister-in-law, Mary, and her kids, Crissy, Jr., and Sabe.  (I forgot the camera for this outing.  And Megan had the camera for the peaches so not many pictures got taken.)  They also went with all of us to pick peaches.  Sabe is waiting for apple season.  We got the peaches (and also the cherries) from Treemendous Fruits.

We had so many peaches.  We picked 78 pounds!  They were yummy.  A lot of us were allergic to the fuzz so we were rather itchy on the way home.  Next time we’ll wear long sleeves and gloves.  As I posted earlier I made a lot of jam with the peaches.  I also made cobbler twice, peach muffins, and a peach pie smoothie.

Mickey and I also planted a tree in July.  We found a crab apple for half off at Home Depot.  Here’s Mickey planting it.  I’ll take a picture of the tree in the Spring when it flowers, if it survives the winter.

This year the girls signed up for 4H.  Megan signed up for Photography and Wildlife.  Mattey signed up for Sewing.  The time kind of got away from us and Megan only got her photography project done.  Mattey didn’t get her project started mostly because I was the one that had to teach her.  Yikes.  When I was in 4H I had classes and meetings but Meg had almost nothing.  I won’t dwell on the negative.  Megan got a blue ribbon for her project.  Mattey will still be in mini 4H next year so she can do the same project.  We can start on it anytime.  It will be a good way to use up some down time in the winter.

That ends July.  In August Mickey started a few projects.  One is finishing the new bathroom downstairs and the other is building a deck on the side of the garage, since we don’t have a back yard.  It has turned out really nice.  It’s in the shade by 4-5 pm and when there’s a breeze you can really feel it there.  Now that it’s done it’s my turn to add a flower bed around it and make it a little cozier.  We are planning a railing or something for next year.  We bought some solar lights to put around it too.

Since this post has taken me hours and hours to do I’ll write about the bathroom later and I have to take a few more pictures.  I’ll just say it’s sassy green and working.  I’m thankful to have a handy husband.

I’ll conclude with my birthday.  I must be sick if I’m doing this.  Anyway, I had a nice day with Mickey and Kade and later the girls.  We went to Chili’s for lunch and Mickey surprised me with not going back to work for the rest of the day.  We ran to Meijer for a few things.  It’s nice shopping with someone other than a child, except he wanted to look at the legos and things too.  I made a triple layer cake with chocolate and white with raspberry filling.  It was a little unlevel but very tasty.  We just had some deli sandwiches for dinner so we could dig into the cake.  Mickey and the kids totally spoiled me with presents.  I got a thick exercise mat, 27 Dresses, the Fellowship soundtrack, a complete collection of Jane Austen, new ear buds, and the Eragon books.  That takes almost everything off my wishlist.  I’ll have to work hard to come up with stuff for Christmas.  I also got some cards, money, and gift cards from other family members.  Thanks.

Now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Sorry if you spent an hour reading this.  Hopefully I can get back to posting things when they happen.  Like today our driveway is getting fixed.  I’m so terrible I’m not even taking pictures of it.  Oh well.

I know it’s only August 12th, and I’m way behind in telling about our summer, but today was the first day of school for the girls.  Last night for FHE we went over some rules and packed the girls’ backpacks.  Mat was a little nervous and Mickey gave her a blessing.  I was worried they wouldn’t want to get up this morning because they had just started sleeping in the last few weeks.  Kade was the first one up at 6:30.  Since he came in to sleep with me and didn’t go back to sleep neither did I.  I got up and Meg was right behind me.  Mat didn’t have a problem either.  That’s a bit of a shock since she’s NOT a morning person.  They got dressed and ate breakfast and then they were ready to go.  It was only about ten after seven and the bus wasn’t coming for another 30 minutes.  I had some time to take some photos of the girls.  They both got a professional haircut yesterday.  (It looks much better than what I do.)  They look so cute.

Kade enjoyed his time today without getting picked on or having to whine about what movie he wanted to watch.  Here he is playing legos.  He did this most of the day, sometimes with a movie on.

I got to enjoy a quiet day.  I exercised and was in the shower by 9!  I also got a lot of work done around the house.  That will be a post for tomorrow.

The girls made it through the first day just fine.  They both like their teachers, neither one got the one they wanted but both teachers have pets in their classrooms so that’s a bonus.  Thursday we get to meet the teachers and see the classrooms.  That will be fun.  Here’s to a good school year.