Bowling Bash

Aidan, from Jayke's soccer team, had a bowling birthday party.  Once the kids were done the adults cranked up the juke box and took a turn.  Think I will have a bowling party for Jayke this year.  No better place to turn a bunch of wild boys loose!

Back at It! Fall Soccer

Just another spectator on the soccer sideline

More soccer than ever this year.  It keeps us running at least 5 days a week with practice Tuesday through Thursday and games at least Saturday or Sunday.

Jayke is on the U10 academy team this season.  Each year they mix up the kids in his age group and form two separate teams as equally matched as possible.  They all practice together and most of the time travel together.  He has been playing with some of these kids for several years now and made some really good friends, including a boy whose mom I went to high school with.  

I had this blanket made for him with the team shield.  After seeing it many of the parents ordered them as well.  Yea...I'm a trend setter.

FIRE!!

One of the neighbors in Mason's neighborhood decided to catch their deck on fire today and the boys were on the scene to check it out!  Everything is a photo op for me!

Little Fisherman

He's turning into quite the little fisherman this summer.  Goes out all by himself and usually does pretty well!

He caught this HUGE bass but needed a little help with it.  It looks almost as big as he is!

Another Soccer Tournament...More Great Times!

One of Jayke's best friends, Jonathan.  They finally got to play on the same team.  They have ridden the bus to school together since kindergarten and were super excited when they found out they finally got to play together this season!

For this tournament we had a club wide picnic in between games.  AJ came and joined us since we were so close to her house and got to see Jayke play a couple of games.  She even brought Kyle out the second day.  I need to remind her next time to bring chairs so they will enjoy it more.  So glad Jayke's family likes to come watch him play and cheer him on!

What is Gabi doing behind him?

Still best of friends, Jayke and Mason.  I absolutely LOVE this picture and really wish I knew what Mason was saying that is cracking him up so.

Jayke, Chase, and Chase's brother Jake.  Jayke and Chase have played together on the same team since the beginning.  I like that when all the other kids are so much bigger, Jayke has someone else on his team about his size.  

The Boy and Me

4th Grade! Something is Amiss...

Jayke started 4th grade today!  He was ready to go back and quickly got himself ready this morning.  The bus came early so I missed getting a picture before he left.  I asked Mom to take this one when he got home and promptly posted it to Facebook.  Later it was pointed out to me by mom that something wasn't quite right in the picture.  If you look closely, in his haste to catch the bus, he put on two different shoes and wore them all day!  Good thing they are so similar, he said no one said anything to him so maybe no one noticed.  Didn't bother him, as you can see, he is all smiles!

The Senior Citizens

Simon and Laynie are still with us...15 years old this summer!

I've Been Having Fun Too!

Those are Tequila Pickle Backs on that tray!  A shot of tequila with a chaser of pickle juice...sound disgusting?  It's not.  Loved it!

Above we are at the Red Dog to hear my friend, Mandi's husband's band play.  Pictured are Johna, Mandi, Sean, robin, and me.

We celebrated Kim's 41st birthday with a dinner at Amazing Joe's.  The guys were all there too, including NEW BOYFRIEND, Jeff.  (More on Jeff later)

Melanie, Angi, Me, Kim, Robin, and Mandi obviously find something extremely funny...I have no idea what but Ryan was taking the picture so I'm sure it was something he said.

Besides hanging out at Bob's pool, playing euchre and cornhole, I also went to two concerts with AJ.  Maroon Five and New Kids on The Block.  Yes, NKOTB and they were great! 

Maroon Five probably would have been a great concert had we not had lawn seats, (a first for both of us) and had a large group of very drunk and disrespectful people behind us.  AJ was quite funny experiencing the lawn with it's rowdiness, distance from the stage, and oneness with nature.  She managed to get a mosquito bite before we even made it inside the venue and was totally lost without the comfort of entering through the VIP entrance.  We made it through the evening and even got to enjoy parts of it.  I'm glad I experienced the lawn...once...it probably won't happen again any time soon though.

For our second concert it was a completely different story.  She got us VIP seats in a suite at Banker's Life Fieldhouse to see NKOTB...her fave!  I was skeptical but I must tell you, they put on a FANTASTIC show!  AJ was much more in her element in the suite with food and a stocked bar for us to enjoy.  I admit, the suite was more my speed too.  We had a great time with NKOTB, 98 Degrees, and Boyz to Men.  A big THANK YOU to AJ for thinking of me when looking for a date!

Busy Summer...Catch Up...

The Boy has been busy this summer... learning new things...

Taking in sporting events...

Providing dinner...

Exploring his world...

And taking it easy....

He got invited to spend the night with a friend and was getting his things ready.  After gathering his stuff he asked me, "Is this too much to take to a sleep over?  I don't want to look like I'm moving in!"

It's been a great summer so far with much more to come!!

All For Me!

He said he wanted A LOT of crab...

Work Crew

The Mid-West office crew celebrating the 4th in appropriate dress and some of us with head-dress as well.  Flashing tiaras for the customer service girls.

I've Got An All Star!!

Every season the soccer club hands out an All Star Award for one or two players on each team which the coaches vote on.  This season, I'm proud to say, that Jaykeb was selected by his coach, Casey!  He was one of two players from his team who was chosen.  The award was handed out at the club's 1st annual picnic which was held at the Ball State soccer field.

The picnic was a combination of both the rec and travel players and they had a really good turn out.  Hopefully they will be able to continue this in seasons to come.

The All Star selection criteria:

-Sportsmanship- player played fairly and according to the rules.  Respected their own coaches and opposition coach.  Respected their teammates and opposition players

-attendance, attitude, and effort in training sessions

-attendance, attitude, effort, and performance in matches

Below is Jayke and Elijah with their coach, Casey.  The other U9 academy team also had two recipients of the All Star Award (James and Luke) and are pictured with their coach, Davis.  Also in the picture is Chris, the "Coaches' Coach".  This is the first award that he "won" and wasn't just given as a participant so it was kinda a big deal for us!

Below are the rest of the award winners this season and their coaches.

Just Some Shots of The Boy

Happy GRANDPA'S Day!!

Jayke with P'pa....and 

Jayke with Opa...wishing them both Happy Father's Day!!