Ending a Season/Beginning a Season, Crafting and Christmas!!

Well, we've ended Cross Country season -- both boys did well and now we've moved on to Basketball season.  Jonathan had his first game yesterday (Monday) against Sacred Heart.  Jonathan scored a few points (including the first point of the game), but Sacred Heart is a hard team to beat ....

I spent some time Monday working on some cards -- it felt good.  I haven't done any paper crafting in a while, and I've missed it.  Here some of my creations!

 Lastly ... Christmas.  I spent some time updating our Amazon wish lists this evening.  Here are the links that should allow you to get to them.  They are all set to "Don't Spoil My Surprise" so if you buy something you can mark it as purchased ... I believe that will alert others that the item has already been purchased, but we won't be able to see that on our end.  (Sorry, Chris' is kind of sparse.  I'll try to think of some more things to put on there ...)

Kati:  http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/15YJGXVLIA513
Chris:  http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/I2YAIWNG6092
David: http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/37UXM9DA12GLP
Jonathan:  http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/14SKH4AEOTT51

Enjoy these last few nice minutes of fall ... sounds like yucky weather is headed our way later in the day Wednesday.

~Kati

Winter Sports Schedule

Here's the winter sports schedule -- David will be on the JV team.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B95XL12tV6ukT0JCWW9jWXQxRTA

~Kati

Charleston, SC -- Jonathan's Basketball Schedule

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Charleston, SC.  It was a fun trip -- first time I'd been on an airplane in 25 years or so, so I was a little nervous about all that, but now that I've navigated an airport with someone who travels often I think I could to do it on my own.

Charleston is truly a beautiful city, and thankfully, we had a little time while there to do some exploring.  To see pictures of my trip, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111671352983167570025/CharlestonSouthCarolina?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJK1h6zz2bPWZw&feat=directlink

After getting back from Charleston, we then went camping for the last time this season.  It was nice to get away.  Unfortunately it rained almost all day Saturday.  I think we had missed the great color by about a week, but I still think Hartwick Pines is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

The boys finished off their Cross Country season -- both had a great season.  David ran at Regionals this past Friday (10/30).  He came in 24th with a time of 18:20.  He didn't make it to states, but still had a fantastic season.  They were hoping to make it as a team, but missed that opportunity by 2 points!  Unfortunately, no pictures to share of either of their last two meets .... I forgot the camera battery the first time, and the SD card the second.  I really need to get it together, LOL.

Well, I started this blog post over a week ago, but just couldn't seem to find the time to finish it, so here it is.  We have a couple of weeks "off" from sporting events.  Jonathan has started basketball practice.  His games start week after next.  Here's his schedule!  Games are mostly at 4:30, but a couple are at different times.

Hope everyone has a great week. 

~Kati

Trying to Craft and Other News

Finding time to craft seems harder and harder all the time ... I want to work on things, but it seems I spend a lot of time cleaning and picking up, etc ... typical mom stuff.  AND, my craft area seems to attract a lot of junk that isn't mine, so by the time I clear it off, I sometimes no longer have the motivation to actually do any crafting.  But I did manage to make myself avoid housework a bit this week and get a few things done.  Mainly I finished piecing the quilt top on my "camper quilt".  (Huge thanks to my mom who is patiently teaching me and helping me through the process).  The hope is that this quilt will be used as a "throw blanket" in our camper.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned it out. I know it's not perfect, but it was my first go at doing a quilt, so I feel like for a beginner ... it's not half bad!!  Next step, deciding if I want to pay someone to quilt it, or attempt to quilt it myself.

I was also able to get a couple of squares for another quilt I'm picking away at put together.  I really like the top one ... I just think it's a cool design (the fact that it only has one corner to match up is very nice as well, LOL).

 Another great week on the Cross Country course.  David PR'd again, shaving another 3 seconds off his time.  He's really working hard to break the 18 minute mark.  If he can shave a few more seconds off, he has a good chance of qualifying for the state meet at Regionals on October 30.  Jonathan also ran at the meet yesterday and did well.  He ran his 1.5 mile race in 13:29, this was a PR for him as well.

David had chairing in band this week and got 1st chair (YAY!!).  Both boys are doing pretty well in school, all A's and B's with one C+ each, which they will be working to improve this coming week!! Chris has been busy doing homework for his two college classes and aside from doing some crafting I've been trying to make sure everything is in order before my big trip.  I will be leaving for Charleston, SC Sunday for a conference.  I'm excited, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm a little nervous about flying.  It's been a LONG time (25+ years?) since I've been on an airplane.

Coming in for a strong finish!

Have a great week everyone ... maybe I'll be able to share some pictures of historic Charleston in a couple of days!

~Kati

David PR's -- TWICE

What a great week this kid had ... he pr'd at the meet on Wednesday with a time of 18:29 and then he did it again today at the Portage meet with a time of 18:13.  The Portage Invitational is a HUGE race with kids from all over the state.  I'd venture a guess it's almost as big as the state meet.  Very well run event and plenty of opportunities to see the runners throughout the course!

Near the beginning of the race.
Kinda surprised I was able to pick him out!

Teammate John nipping at David's heels!

The finish line is in sight!!

This week was also homecoming!

The band did the usual parade and even got to do a halftime show this year.  I did videotape the halftime show and will try to get it edited and posted online soon, but quite frankly I'm whipped.  It's been a long day, so this girl is headed in to veg in front of the tv and call it a night!

~Kati

Runner of the Week!!

Coach Kauffman chooses a team member (sometimes 2) to be recognized as "Runner of the Week".  David was co-runner-of-the-week this week, along with teammate Kimmy Buskirk (bottom left).  Coach as also been doing a "by the numbers" thing this year, and David was featured as one of the "by the numbers" posts this week (right).

New Content, New Name

You'll notice some changes to the blog .... 

I actually have had two blogs for a couple of years.  I had the DCG News/JAG's Journal which of course was the spin-off of the boys' newsletter I did when they were younger, but I also had another blog called Kati's Book Blog ... I know, not very original.  I kept track of reading challenges there as well as posted some of my crafting creations.  I decided to make things easier for myself and merge the two blogs.

Merging the two blogs made me feel like it wasn't just about the boys anymore and so I decided it was time for a new name.  I'm not the most creative person in the world, but I was trying to come up with something catchy, yet relevant to our family, so I've come up with "Red House Ramblings".  I hope everyone will enjoy reading about what's going on with us here in the red house!

Some tips ... if you enjoy reading the blog, but don't care about certain things I post, you can always filter the posts by using the "Labels" links on the right hand side.  I will try to use the following labels on each post to make it easier for those who only want to read certain posts:  Crafting Creations, Reading Challenges, Boys/Family, Reviews (book reviews).

Still working on making sure the email subscription thing works, so if you're out there reading and you've subscribed but it doesn't seem to be sending you the email, please let me know (katrinagormley ATgmail.com)

~Kati