Defensive Player of the Game

Wow! What a game. The other team was given a penalty kick just out from our goal because one of our players was off-sides. Just as the other team kicked the penalty kick, Connor charged the ball and took one for the team. He jumped as he charged the ball and it hit him in the side, preventing the other team from scoring. He slowed for a moment, but then he was back in the game full speed!

When Coach David sent out the email recapping the game, Connor was named defensive player of the game! Here are Coach David's words ... "Defensive player of the game this week was Connor. Connor ran and jumped in front of a free kick to save a goal in the first half and didn't flinch. If you look in the dictionary under "no fear" there will be a picture of Connor taking one for the team."

Way to go Connor! We are proud of our little defensive soccer player.

Oh, Lordy ... I'm Really 40!

Saturday, September 20th was my 40th Birthday. The morning was quiet and uneventful. Then, my mom arrived, and she and I went to Hollywood Spa & Nails for a manicure and pedicure. We had a nice, relaxing time talking as we were filed, trimmed, buffed, and polished. Next, we headed for Connor's soccer game. His team did great, and won 5-2. After the game, my mom and I headed for the outlet mall to browse a few shops. We tried on several outfits at MaxStudios and I purchased a new purple top and black heels after my mom told me that I was not going to be able to go home to change before we headed to church. Because it was rather hot and neither of us had any make-up on hand, we made a quick stop in the cosmetic company for some blush, eye shadow, and purfume before we headed to church. I changed into the purple top and heels at a stop light, and by the time we arrived at church, I felt refreshed.

After church, we stopped by the house to pick-up my dad and Blake's parents before heading to Josephine's for my family birthday dinner. As we drove up, I saw that everyone had already arrived, but I hoped to have a few minutes to run inside to fresh up. As I entered the house, I was greated by several friends and family members yelling, "Surprise!" It was great! There were 40's hanging from the staircase and the ceiling of the kitchen, a large "Over the Hill ... the Party Continues" banner above the doorway, red and yellow roses, tulips, food, birthday cake, pictures of me from various years of my life, gifts, and lots of smiling friends and family.

It was a fabulous evening! Thank you to everyone who helped make my 40th birthday one that I will not soon forget. Thank you to my mom for spending the day with me and keeping me "occupied" while the surprise was prepared, to my dad and other friends who helped setup the food and drinks, to the many friends and family who joined me to celebrate, and to Blake, Megan and Connor for all of your planning, decorating, and love! It truly was a fabulous evening and one that I will always remember.

Clothe-A-Child

Clothe-A-Child is a local charitable program that provides $100 clothing vouchers to underpriviledged children so that they may purchase school clothes. The program is sponsored by area churches and Kohl's Department store. Our church has participated in the program for several years now. Although Blake and I have always participated, until this year, there has not been an opportunity for our children to participate.

This year, our PT Kids program (K-5th) sponsored a Bike Rally to raise money for Clothe-A-Child. The K-5 kids were to obtain donations from friends and family and then to participate in the Bike Rally and submit their donations. Connor was excited about participating in the program. Blake told him that he would buy him a new bike if he raised enough money to sponsor one child. Well, Connor raised enough money to sponsor two children! So, Blake purchased him a new bike, and he rode it in the rally on Friday night.

Overall, the PTCC children raised enough money to sponsor 68 area children, and on October 11th and 18th, Blake and I will help a couple of area families spend their clothing vouchers at Kohl's. Thank you to everyone who supported Connor with a donation. I know that the children you helped sponsor will be blessed.

Megan Got Braces

Megan had her upper braces put on today, and she was not very happy about it. She told me several times during the process that she did not like me and that we were making her get braces just because we wanted to torture her. Although we have told her multiple times that she will LOVE the results when the braces are off, she is not believing us.

So, as you can image, she was extremely "dramatic" when they put the braces on. This meant, it took longer than they anticipated, and there were several Kleenexes used to dry tears. But, the braces are on, and she is still alive. Imagine that!

Braces are so much easier now than they were when I had them. They put the brackets only around the back molars. When I had braces, I had brackets on every molar. They created a mold of her teeth a few weeks ago, so today, they had all of the brackets for the other teeth aligned perfectly on the tooth mold. They cleaned her teeth, applied glue, and stuck ALL of the brackets on her teeth at one time! We had to wait two minutes, they removed the mold, and ... instant braces. After that, they put on a wire, added some color bands, which Megan was able to choose, and she was ready to go. Again, not happy ... but ready to go. Megan chose hot pink and glittery silver bands for her first round, but she soon realized that the glittery silver doesn't show up too well again the silver brackets. So, this may be the last time for silver.

She goes back in 7 weeks for the next visit, so please pray that the drama of the braces has subsided greatly before our next visit. Yes, she is smiling in one of the photos, but this was the 3rd or 4th photo that I took. I told her that if she did not smile, I was posting one of the bad photos, so ... I got a smile.