5 for 5!!

Saturday was HOT!!

But this kid still ran a great race and so did the rest of the team.  David came in 9th place, and the team took first place overall!  Way to go Mustangs!!

We were supposed to go camping in Central Lake (where the meet was), but decided at the last minute to not go, which was disappointing ... but since we didn't go camping I was able to get a little more crafting in this weekend than I probably would have.  I finished the last of the squares I needed to sew together for my Cubbyhole Quilt. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to start laying it out and sewing it all together!
 

 It's Homecoming week in Mustang Territory ... the boys have a 1/2 day of school today (Tuesday) and another 1/2 day tomorrow ... seems weird, but that's the way the schedule rolls.  Friday will be a busy day with the parade, and ball game, etc.  David was voted onto the Homecoming Court and has his tux all ordered ... I will be sure to share pictures of him all dressed up later this week.

Hope everyone has a great week.

More later,
~Kati

Senior Year off to a GREAT Start!!

Well, as always, I have been slacking and haven't done a good job of keeping everyone up-to-date on what is happening with those of us here at the Red House.

Summer went by too fast ... it felt like it lasted a whole of 15 minutes.  We did get some camping in.  We were able to visit Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant, Hartwick Pines State Park, Interlochen State Park (picture to the right was taken at Sleeping Bear Dunes), we went with the Cross Country team (team camp picture below .... great group of kids to hang around with!) again this year to the Dutch Treat Campground in Zeeland, we camped in Benzie for David's first cross country meet and will be camping again this coming weekend in Central Lake for another of David's cross country meets.  This weekend coming up will probably be our last trip for this year.











David had his senior pictures taken ... here's one I snapped on my phone.  We're still waiting to see the final product and pick out what we want to buy ...
 
We've closed the pool and are slowly getting the yard ready for winter.  I'm NOT ready for winter yet ... and David has been working on his senior project ... he's redoing the porch on the front of the house.  He made it a little bigger than it was previously. The plan is that someday we will have a professional come in and finish it off into a 3 season room so we can sit and enjoy the summer breezes without getting eaten alive by bugs.  I've picked out this railing for it -- we wanted something that didn't require stain and wouldn't be too expensive, since we anticipate it will be temporary.






The boys' school year has started off well.  David has medaled at each of his races so far this year -- hopefully he can keep up this streak.  The team as a whole is doing very well and they are hoping they can continue with the way they are running.  Their goal -- States!!

David was nominated to the Homecoming Court last week, so we've been busy making "Vote for David" posters and getting ready for Homecoming.

All the seniors medaled at the Central Montcalm meet!

Jonathan seems to have transitioned into high school quite seamlessly ... he and his classmates will be using our barn tonight to decorate their Homecoming banner (they don't do floats anymore, each class decorates a banner for the competition).

Busy, busy, busy as always, but we try to have some fun along the way.  Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying this bit of Indian Summer we seem to be having.

~Kati

What a Great Game

Monday night's game was very exciting.  The boys came out strong, scored first and never let Sacred Heart get ahead.  A win everyone was pumped about, as SHA is one of our leading rivals, and we have rarely beat them!  Here is the write up that was in the announcement the next day.


The varsity boys basketball team was back in action Monday night against rival Sacred Heart. The Mustangs used a total team effort to get their first win of the season. The teams were even at 16 at the end of one quarter of play.  The Mustangs shot out of the gate in the 2nd quarter and outscored the Irish 25-6.  The Irish fought back in the second half but the Mustangs would not allow them to narrow the gap any closer than 6 points, with a final score the Mustangs 64, Irish 58.  The Stampede was led by Connor Riley scoring 24 points, pulling in 7 rebounds, and finding his teammates for 7 assists as well.  Jordan Balhorn scored 12 points, going 4 for 4 from the free throw line in crunch time.  David Gormley added 13 points and 6 rebounds, along with 3 blocks.  Cody Christensen added 10 points and 6 boards along with some great plays on defense, including a charge in the 4th quarter to stifle an Irish run.  The motor of the mustangs, Wyatt Sackett added 12 rebounds and tough defensive play as well.  The Mustangs showed great energy as a team for all 4 quarters.

Go Mustangs!!

Mustang of the Month

Every month the coaches at Montabella nominate2 kids who are doing great things to be recognized as the "Mustang of the Month".  So proud to say David was nominated in December, his picture will be posted on the office window with the following write-up for the month of January.

Congratulations to our December Mustangs of the Month:  David Gormley and Carson Dalrymple!   David Gormley is in the 11th grade.  He was nominated by Coach Simon for Varsity Basketball.  David averages 14 points-per-game and 3 rebounds-per-game. His coach said "David started the season off with two games scoring nearly 20 points, while averaging 14 through the month of December.  He also earned the honor of being the 3rd captain during week one of the season, which is earned on a week-to-week basis, based on work ethic, teamwork, and performance in practice and games."      Carson Dalrymple is also in the 11th grade.  He was nominated by Coach Balhorn for wrestling. Carson has a record of 14&2 in December and leads the team with 17 take-downs. His coach said "Carson has been a great leader and done a great job encouraging others to perform at a higher level." Congratulations again David and Carson!

Way to go David .... so proud of you kiddo! Keep up the hard work on and off the court!

I Need More Hours in My Day!!!!!

So, seriously, I need more hours in my day.  I have so many things that need to be done and then add to that the things I WANT to do .... well, you know how it goes.  Since there aren't unlimited hours I end up planning on doing things or thinking I'll do them, then they don't happen.  :-(  One of those things .... keeping my blog posts up-to-date.  So, here goes, let's see if I can catch you all up on what's been happening at the Red House since I last posted (OK, now I'm truly embarrassed ... July 19th was my last post.  *sigh*).

So, since mid-July was my last post ...
Chris and David ran the Warrior Dash, along with Craig, Marybeth, Jenna, Chad, Cory and Chase.  They had fun ... and got really dirty.

Chris and I helped with Cross Country Camp again this year.  It was a fun time and although we had quite the rain storm the first night and a lot of the kids' stuff got wet, we managed to get things dried out and the rest of the weekend went well.
David's had a pretty good Cross Country season so far ...  
He was injured in early September which affected his times and actually kept him out of at least one race, but he seems to be bouncing back and had a season record at last week's meet at Portage.  His PR was from last year at the Mustang Invite which is this Friday .... hopefully he will PR again!!

We enjoyed camping this past weekend in Kalamazoo ... the weather was FABULOUS!  It's nice when we can camp the weekend of that Portage meet.  It's much nicer to get up at 5 or 5:30 rather than 3:30 or 4, LOL.

Lastly, a little shout out to Chris .... he got the "results" back from his teacher evaluation for last year and he ranked as "Highly Effective".  Way to go Chris!!
Well, that's all for now .... more from the Red House soon!!
~Kati

Lions and tigers and .... Penguins!!

Hello all!

David & Jonathan 2016

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything.  The last month or so has been rather calm around the Red House (something I for one am extremely thankful for!).  We've been doing some swimming and lots of running, walking and bike riding.  We've been using the Fred Meijer Heartland trail quite a bit this summer -- sure wish it was closer to our house so we didn't have to drive to get to it, but at least it's not a long drive.  I've biked over 70 miles since June 17 -- my friend Julie and I did 17 miles one day riding from Edmore to Stanton and back!!

David & Jonathan -- 2006

Today we took a little trip to the Detroit Zoo.  It's been quite a while since we've been there .... as best as I can figure, the last time we were there was 2006.    The boys have changed just a little bit, LOL

The zoo is still much the same, though of course the new Penguin exhibit was open.  It's a pretty neat building ... I kind of wish you could go in whenever you wanted and not just right off the bat.

It's been nice to have more down time, I've been able to sew quite a few blocks for my current quilt project, I have 120 blocks done ... I need 165, so I'm almost there.  Another week or two and I should be able to start putting the blocks together!

I've also been working on my cross stitch ... still quite a ways to go, but I'm definitely making progress.  This is the first "full coverage" piece I've ever done (meaning there are no spaces where there aren't stitches) ... that's a lot of fabric to cover!!

Well, we hope you all are enjoying this beautiful weather we've been having -- the weather man says it's going to get really hot over the next few days .... stay cool!  Talk to you soon!

~Kati

Got your License?? Next Lesson, Basic Car Repair!!

David is enjoying having his "own" set of wheels, but is also learning that having a car, means you have to maintain a car.  So far he's had to help (more watching than helping I think) dad replace the windshield wipers, and here, he's looking on as dad replaces the battery.  Yes ... the battery is in the floor in the back seat -- STRANGE!!  

I was super thankful it decided to quit when the car was at home, and guess I can't really complain.  I'd never replaced the battery in that car, so I think I got my money's worth out of the original battery!

There are two more imminent repairs ... he has a headlight (hi-beam) that needs to be replaced ... hopefully they will tackle that this coming weekend, and then a new set of tires.  Hopefully he's taking all this to heart and realizing that having a vehicle is truly a perk -- and not a cheap perk!!

HMMMMM .... seems I started writing this post (like over a month ago), but never posted it.  He still doesn't have that headlight changed nor does he have new tires yet, but hopefully this week or next we'll get to the tire store.

~Kati