Dillon's soccer and banquet

This kid is awesome!  He didn't get many opportunities to do much other than play goal keeper because he was, by far, the best on the team.  He really wanted to try his hand at forward and he worked really hard to do it.  He got to play it a couple of times and showed huge improvements each time.  He is very naturally a defensive player but he was determined to figure out how to be offensive too.  That being said, I absolutely LOVE watching this kid play goalie.  He has a certain stance, he puts his legs shoulder width, bends his knees and hunches in with his arms curled, almost like a muscle pose, and he gets this look of determination.  He bounces around in the goal box cheering his team on, often kicking as if he's right there with his team and he blocks.  We had a really hard time getting Dillon to understand just how much he does for his team as keeper.  So we counted.  In one game he made over 15 blocks, 2 got past him.  The coach and the parents are always amazed, he manages to make blocks that boggle our minds.  If you get this kid set up with a couple of good defenders and you're set.  He really wants to score a goal, which I completely understand.  We're trying to get him to understand that making one goal is less important than blocking MANY goals.  Most of the games were really CJ and Dillon.  Dillon blocked goals, CJ made goals.  The other players were there and participated... a few made a couple of goals during the season... but in my mind CJ and Dillon were the deciding factors.   

With Coach Austin

Go Cheetahs!

I have some videos of his blocks.  Daddy was usually reffing and I didn't think to video, so this is just in one game.  I'm really sad because the shortest video is one of his good blocks, the kid was pretty far away so I had stopped recording and started again quickly when I realized where the ball was going.  You can see his throws a couple of times too.  It always took the other team by surprise when the ball would go sailing past the half way mark.

Here's the best one.  He had several like it thought the season.

These obviously aren't Dillon but this is how Carson spent a lot of Dillon's games.  He was pretty much always with Ty.  A lot of the times he was off running around but I got a kick out of it when they'd squeeze in together.

Kayda's braces are off!!!

Kayda's braces were estimated to take 16 to 18 months to fix her overbite.  18 months came and went, 2 years came and went.  Kayda kept getting more and more discouraged.  To try to help her we made a pact, when we found out they were going to come off we would keep it a secret and surprise everyone.  

Her October appointment came and they had me schedule the appointment for the moulds for the retainer, two weeks later they would come off.  Kayda was watching a movie and didn't hear.  I was nervous that they would change the plan, so I didn't tell her.  Two days before the retainer appointment she was having a REALLY hard day; so I told her that she was on the last step.  

Fortunately for her they didn't change plans and they had a new 3D scanner!  She didn't have to do the nasty tasting moulds!

After the moulds were taken she told me every night how many days were left until they came off.  I removed the appointment from the calendar so Daddy wouldn't get suspicious.  Her appointment was in the morning so we dropped off the boys and headed up.  

2 years and 4 months later, they're off!

Look at that grin!  She was practically vibrating!

She stayed home for the rest of the day so her family could be the first ones to see her new look!  Dillon and Carson took a while.  She giggled for a while until they figured it out.  When Daddy got home she grinned and stared at him until he noticed! 

She has to wear top and bottom retainers, day and night, for a few months.  She had a fun lisp for a few days while she adjusted to the retainers.

That night we had corn on the cob!  She also got to munch on the candy she's been saving (Starbursts and Skittles).  The next day she got to eat an apple without cutting it!  She was so excited!

Halloween and prep

 This years Halloween was a little more hectic than usual.  Most everything was done the last weekend.  We found a place that does $1 pumpkins so all the kids got two this year.  They were really excited to have two designs.  Kayda and Dillon did all theirs, the only thing I did was draw the outline on one of Dillon's.  Carson still needs help with certain parts of the carving.  The boys aren't especially disgusted with the "guts" anymore.  Kayda still takes great pride in her enjoyment of those guts.

 We went to Maris farms again, third year in a row.  We had to go after school one day in order to make it so Daddy wasn't able to come.  We did everything but the corn maze because I was alone with them and only Kayda wanted to do it.  They still had a great time, it's definitely the best pumpkin patch in our area.

 They absolutely love this thing.  Really all their doing is crawling through a big box but they get a kick out of it.  Kayda's getting tall enough now that it's a little trickier than it used to be.

 Dillon laid down for Carson to bury him, next thing he knew there were two random kids pouring cupfuls on him.  The little girl kept getting it on his face but he had no problem with it, just took it in stride.