FALL SPORTS

Okay, I am wishing things were about to slow down in life. But who am I kidding. Here come the holidays!!! And we have two birthdays coming up. September has been as crazy as May was. It's the sports! I love watching my kids play sports. I never miss a game. But it is always nice to have our Saturday's back. Cole played his 2nd year of tackle football(#92). He loves it... he was made for football! Cody's favorite sport is soccer. He loves defense! He's always more worried that they are going to score a goal. They both did really well this season and improved their skills. Football is a huge time commitment. Cole had practice 3 days a week for 2 hours each. I was really sick of driving him to practice(10min). At least I only had to drive one way. The nice thing about living in Harvest Hills is there is always a neighbor kid on the same team. Besides the boys playing sports, Tom was in a weekly softball league. He was the pitcher. They did really well and ended up taking 4th place this year. Tom loved every minute of it! Fall and Summer are my two favorite seasons, but I secretly love Winter. My reason for it, is that I love the kids being in the house early and things can settle down sooner. I love weekends when we don't have to be anywhere and can cuddle up and watch movies and play games. Don't get me wrong, I love being active and having the kids be outside. But after the Summer we had, I think I'm ready for Winter. I hate the cold! I guess what I'm saying is that I love living in a place with four seasons. Imagine that! Here are some pics of the sports...

Here is a slide show of summer water activities...

EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTED!!!

Today I went with my parents and 4 siblings down to Fairview to visit my brother who is in a drug addiction rehabilitation center. After years of drug addiction, my brother finally got to the point where he wanted help and decided to check himself into this rehab. We were all thrilled that he finally wanted professional help. He called and invited each one of us to this "family group therapy" day. It is always enjoyable being with the family you grew up with. (Nothing against spouses and kids, but it's nice). Anyway, we were walking into the unknown and I was very nervous and anxious. It was good to see my brother doing well. When we got there we sat in a class for a couple of hours and learned about addictions, relapse, etc. It was very informative. We had lunch and then had group therapy. Talk about scary. I only know what I've seen in the Movies. Anyway, there were four addicts and their families in our group. Of course we were the largest group. (I am the oldest of 7 kids and only 1 sister wasn't there.) We each took a turn telling what emotion we were feeling at the moment. Then each family group took turns having group therapy in a middle circle that we formed. There was a therapist involved in the discussion. We each let my brother know how we felt about him and his addiction and his wrong doings. He then appologized to each of us for different things and situations. Of course there were three big boxes of tissue in the circle with us. It was a very good experience! That may sound crazy, but it was for the situation. I am very glad I was able to go and I wish the best for my brother. But, needless to say I am very exhausted! Both physically and mentally. We were there for 6 hours and travel time was about 3 hours. I should be in bed instead of writing this blog...