Bell Ringers

Annee and Hayden spent part of Monday doing some bell ringing for the Salvation Army.  Fortunately, their spot was in the mall so staying warm was easy.  Annee was lucky enough to put in a double shift.

Christmas Break

Christmas break has arrived.  Hayden and the Magic enter Christmas break with a 2-2 record.  They beat the Celtics 53-39 on Saturday.  Hayden was one of four players in double figures.  On Friday, Hayden's and Annee's classes performed as part of Briarwood's Christmas Celebration.  Hayden continued to show off his wide range of musical talents playing a tone chime.  Annee's class sang a song about Hanukkah. 

Heather and her teaching partners sporting their Christmas pajamas.

Hayden's class jamming on the tone chimes.

Annee's class singing about Hanakkuh.

My girls!

Annee, Ella, and Allyra.

Hayden, Patrick, and Payton.

Hayden & I went to the Titans-Cardinals game last Sunday.  Moved down to lower deck seats on the 50 yard line for the second half.

Hayden behind the Cardinals' sideline.  Spent the final few minutes of the game in the 2nd row.  Most Titans fans didn't seem to enjoy the cold.

Annee & Maggie after their Ugly Christmas Sweater party.

Christmas Performance & Basketball Update

Annee & Hayden participated in their final Christmas performance at church last Wednesday.  They both did a good job.  Annee had two solos and Hayden seemed to sing along with several songs.  We split in basketball this weekend.  Hayden's team (Magic) squandered an 8 point 4th quarter lead and lost 41-38.  He ended up 15 points.  Annee and the Hoosiers rolled to a 31-2 victory over the Wildcats.  Annee finished with 13 points.  Hayden has two more games this week, while Annee is off until after Christmas.

Annee and the Briarwood Choir singing at a local assisted living facility.

Magic Rebound with Win Over Bulls

Hayden and the Magic bounced back from their season opening loss with a 46-22 win over the Bulls.  Hayden had 19 points.  As you can see below, the Magic aren't particularly tall, but the Bulls were even shorter.  The Magic return to the court on Saturday morning with a tough one against the Suns.

Basketball Begins

Basketball season has begun.  Annee's Hoosiers fared better than Hayden's Magic.  Hayden lost on Saturday 43-20 to the Rockets.  It was pretty ugly from the start.  The Rockets are long and lean and pressured the Magic into way too many turnovers.  We really struggled when Hayden was on the bench.  He sat the first quarter and we found ourselves down 15-2.  The Hoosiers won easily last night.  At one point, we were up 38-2.  We will have a tougher match up Saturday and we will be without our starting point guard.  Annee had her second swim meet on Sunday.  It went pretty well.  She cut time in all of her events.  Unfortunately, her next meet isn't until the end of January.  Hayden & Annee have their Christmas performance at church tomorrow night.  Will be their last one.  Will try to get some pictures posted later.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  Our Thanksgiving was pretty similar to the past two.  After waking up we made our way to church to help pack Thanksgiving meals for delivery.  Our church, along with a neighboring one, delivers about 500-600 meals every Thanksgiving.  We then joined the Kash family (and two other couples) for dinner.  The Chlarsons made their way to Bowling Green today to help celebrate Iowa's victory over the Huskers.  We also managed to get a bit of shopping in.  On Wednesday, we celebrated our 14th anniversary by going to the Louisville-WKU womens basketball game.  It probably wasn't the most romantic way to spend an anniversary but it was a pretty good game.  

Annee serving stuffing while Hayden plays with the mashed potatoes.

A&H cutting pie.

Pre-game photo.

Kevin looking good after Annee gave him a bit of a makeover.

Between Seasons

Finally getting around to a post- Toy Bowl update.  Pre- and Post- Toy Bowl festivities went better than the game did.  Game day started with a team breakfast at the Montana Grille and a caravan to the game.  The game itself didn't go particularly well but it was still a very good season.  Have included a couple of pictures from the day.  Although we have been done with games for a few weeks, we have been busy with basketball practices, swimming, and BRAVO volleyball tryouts.  A&H have also sang and rang the bells at church.  We are sure that Annee sings, but Hayden might just occasionally move his lips.  They have begun practice for the church Christmas performance.  Hayden and I also made it down for the Vanderbilt-UK football game.  We are looking forward to going back next year.  

Ravens Return to Toy Bowl; Annee Has First Swim Meet of Season

The Ravens have earned a return trip to the Toy Bowl after corralling the Cowboys 40-14 on Tuesday evening.  The Ravens scored all 40 points in the first half.  The Ravens will have a rematch against the Bengals in the Toy Bowl.  The first matchup between the two teams went to two overtimes before the Bengals prevailed.  Annee was busy on Saturday with All-State Choir.  On Sunday, she participated in her first swim meet of the season.  She did quite well with 3 personal bests.  She narrowly missed a PR in her fourth event.  Annee and Hayden also managed to start basketball practice on Monday.  Games will start in December.

Annee taking off in the 100 backstroke.

 Hayden getting ready for the kickoff.  He now plays all special teams, 2 quarters on defense, and 4 quarters on offense.

Hayden getting final instructions from Coach Price.

 
 Members of the All-State Choir from Briarwood

Annee with Allyra and Maggie.  Allyra and Maggie will be on Annee's basketball team this winter.

Some Pictures

We made it through a soggy and windy Halloween last night.  The break from rain was long enough to make it down Pumpkin Alley.  Hayden starts his football playoff tomorrow.  Annee has All-State Choir this weekend and a swim meet on Sunday.  Basketball practice starts Monday.  Below are a few recent pictures.

Hayden nearing the end of his last race of the year.

Hayden and his cross country buddies at Fazoli's.

 

 Homecoming Frivolity

 Warren County Youth Football players welcoming the Toppers back to field after halftime.

Hayden and Payton singing some karaoke at Fall Festival.

Annee and the Briarwood All-State Choir crew.

Annee and friends on Halloween.  Four of the five girls will play on the Hoosiers this winter.

The Dominoes

Catching Up

Just some quick catching up.  I will try to add some pictures later.  Hayden and the Ravens have wrapped up the regular season.  The Chargers defeated them relatively soundly last Wednesday, but the Ravens rebounded with a 24-0 win over the Falcons on Saturday to finish the regular season 8-2.  We will be a 2 seed for the playoffs and face the Falcons again this Saturday.  Hayden also ran his last cross country race of the season on Tuesday.  It was another 3k.  He did a pretty good job this year.  We did not see many offensive lineman running cross country.  Basketball is next.  Hayden was drafted by the same coach he has had the past three seasons.  Annee will also have the same coach that she has had the past six seasons.  Practices should start next week with games starting in December.  Annee also has all state choir this weekend and has a swim meet on Sunday.

Ravens Win Another Close One; Drakes Creek has VB Banquet

The Ravens ran their record to 5-1 (7-1 overall) in games decided by 8 points or less on Tuesday night.  Once again the boys overcame a halftime deficit to rally in the second half and post a 16-8 victory.  Two more regular season games remain.  The game Wednesday against the Chargers should be another tough one before a relatively easy game versus the Falcons before playoffs begin.  On Saturday, Annee and Heather had their volleyball banquet. Annee received the All Around Player Award.  She is going to try to play some travel volleyball for BRAVO again this Spring.          

Annee & Hayden sang in church on Sunday.  It was Hayden's first time singing in a while. Annee also was and acolyte and I ushered so we were pretty well represented.

SKY Conference Cross Country Meet

On Tuesday Hayden competed in the SKY Conference Cross Country Meet.  It was the third time that Hayden had run this particular course and he ran it about 7 seconds slower than the last meet there.  He finished about 63rd out of 102 elementary runners.  He was listed a couple of spots higher than that but he likely passed a couple of runners in the chute after crossing the finishing line.  The Greenwood Elementary Boys team finished 2nd out of 8 schools competing.  It looks like Hayden will probably be able to compete in one more meet this season before focusing exclusively on helping the Ravens defend their Toy Bowl title.

 Hayden & Jacob before the race.

Hayden and Ryan mid-race. Hayden and Ryan played together on Triple Threat last year.

Ravens Escape Upset Bid

The Ravens bounced back from a sluggish start to post a 16-14 win against the Cowboys Monday.  The Cowboys jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead but the Ravens bounced back with 2 touchdowns in the 2nd half to run their record to 6-1.  Hayden picked up his fourth personal foul in five games but did make a couple of nice tackles in his quarter on defense.  The Ravens return to action on Saturday against the Chargers.

Fall Break

We spent most of fall break in Bowling Green with an overnight in Nashville.  Actually, it was fall break for everyone except me.  Highlights in Bowling Green included a trip to Lost River Cave where we took the underground boat tour and an afternoon at Jackson's Orchard.  In Nashville, we hit the Loveless Cafe, the Nashville Zoo, Layla's Bluegrass Inn, Laser Tag, and jumping at Sky High.  We also managed to get a little bit of shopping in too.

At Lost River Cave - it used to have a nightclub in the 1930s.

My favorite stop in Nashville - Layla's Bluegrass Inn

Guess who scored a major victory playing laser tag.

Hayden in the foam pit at Sky High.

A&H with Patrick waiting for our tour at Lost River Cave.

Fun at Jackson's Orchard.

Waiting for our table at the famous Loveless Cafe.

Annee & Hayden with their feathered friends at the Nashville Zoo.

More fun at Sky High.  They spent a lot of time playing dodgeball.

Pumpkin carving time on Friday!