Muddy Soccer

 Our last soccer game of the season was wetter than the Halloween game, but luckily not as windy. It was ten times muddier though than any other game. It was an away game and that league had had to move the game to new area because their regular fields were not playable. Well, this new "field" was really just a grassy area that was never meant to have soccer played on it. It was COVERED in mole hills. Add buckets of rain to that and you can imagine how yucky the playing conditions were. Nevertheless, by the time the game was over we were freezing from the rain and very muddy! I took the above picture when we finally got inside the car (we had to  strip Leila's soccer gear off her in the back of the CRV while Chris blasted the heat. Luckily, we had one dry, fleece blanket left for her to cuddle under while we drove home. 

We got home, showered and jumped back in the car for a friend's birthday party at the skate rink. Leila was so much better than the last time she tried roller skating. She is much better at ice skating!

Charlie Brown

We spent our Veteran's Day at the movie theaters seeing the new Charlie Brown movie. It was very sweet! There is just something about Charlie Brown that is so endearing. 

Another Fall Weekend

Mom and Jim came for a visit in November. We watched a little Wildcat football, cleaned up the sofa sleeper bedding, taught Leila how to use the leaf blower and did some laundry. 

Chris was more than happy to hand over one of the yard jobs to an eager daughter!

 Rudy thinks he is helping!

Portland Halloween Weekend

 Sunday after Halloween, the fun continued in Portland! We met some friends, Stephanie and her daughter Savanah at the AG Store. Portland has a seasonal store that is due to close in the spring, but we are all hoping it sticks around! The girls both really wanted the "Feel Better" kit that comes with crutches an casts. 

 Before we left for home, we stopped by Jon and Amanda's again. We couldn't leave Portland without more snuggles and playtime with Bennett! These two cousins love each other so much! 

Trick or Treat!

 We introduced Leila to the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter last spring and she has been in love with it ever since! For Halloween, she really wanted to be Hermoine Granger...and honestly, Leila embodies so many of Hermoine's qualities. It was the perfect costume! I fully intended to have to make the cape, but low and behold, this summer in Ashland we saw a Gryffindor robe in the front window of a shop. Another reason why Ashland is awesome! The vest, skirt, shirt and shoes were easy to come by and we already had most of those pieces, so truthfully it was the easiest of costumes. 

After Leila's wet, wet soccer game (see previous post) we headed to Portland to spend Halloween there. The drive was so wet, but we made it to Auntie Amanda's house before it was dark. We had originally planned on taking the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, but there were streams of water pouring down the streets so we changed our minds rather quickly. Mom and Jim came over to the house also and Amanda found us the best back-up plan, the Kennedy School! The Kennedy School was passing out candy and it was inside! The building is an old school building turned into a restaurant and hotel. The decor reminded us of Hogwarts a bit. 

It is hard to tell in this picture, but Judy matched Leila 100 percent! Grammy found the costume for Judy and gave it to Leila in August for her birthday. Too cute!

Bennett was the cutest little mechanic! Obviously, he is too young to care about the candy, but we all had so much fun showing him off to other trick-or-treaters!

Rain, fall leaves, umbrella, candy bucket and a witch's robe....perfect Halloween!

Amanda took a couple more pictures of the kiddos back the house. 

Stormy Soccer Game

We had a couple of soccer games this season on nasty, stormy Saturdays! One of the wettest and coldest was our game on Halloween! There was lightning earlier that morning, but it had stopped well before our game started. Then the winds kicked up! We had our pop-up canopy set up over the team bench, but after 15 minutes of trying to anchor it down, coach the girls, watch the sub time, and cheer the team on, we had to take it down. We had four or five parents and grandparents attempting to hold the canopy down, but it still was not safe. So we took the canopy down and then our parents went to work trying to shelter the team with their umbrellas. What a huge group effort! Talk about an authentic PNW fall soccer day! The girls, bless their hearts, gave it 100 percent despite the rain and walked away with a victory! 

Pumpkins for the Porch

As per tradition in our family, we "carved" our pumpkins on the kitchen floor while watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Our little green pumpkin was from our very own garden! We all agreed that it needed to be the witch!

Several posts before this one, I shared how BIG the pumpkins were at the patch this year. Just look at this princess pumpkin and the one below that Chris and Leila were "carving". And these were some of the smaller ones!

 Our porch is ready for Halloween! We also grew the little pumpkin (the superhero) in our own garden.