The Bits: September 19th Through September 30th

The rest of September's Bits:

For his Eagle Scout project, Zac is helping to create, build and set-up some of the obstacles for the city-sponsored 'Don't Be a Zombie' fun run.  Runners will have zombie encounters as they run through 12 different obstacles over the 3K course.  It's a great activity meant to bring emergency preparedness awareness to the folks of Colorado Springs.  We have certainly encountered fire and flood disasters in our city, and it's good to be prepared for whatever may come.  We just hope it's not the Zombie Apocalypse!  We are excited for the event...and for Zac to have this huge project done!

Go Rams!  Zac's team with the W at the D20 Stadium.  It was so great for the boys to play on the nice turf field.

Other happenings at the day's soccer games.

Beautiful wind-swept clouds.

Josh and Zac went with Adam to the last Switchbacks game before the post-season began.  Zac with his team, Josh on a father-son date (that included other fathers and sons from Josh's soccer team).  The team lost, but had such a great record that they moved on to the USL playoffs anyway.  These games are always so fun, and even more so when they are winning and drawing the big crowds!

My boys are so good about treating their mama with kindness.  Even when I am the sheriff and their job is to kill the sheriff, they just. can't. DO IT!

Gentle light.

Tommy and Luke are always so excited about race night, wearing big smiles while they run!  One night, Ben volunteered to be the "rabbit" for the half mile and mile-and-a-half race.  That meant he had to stay in the lead to show the runners behind him the correct path of the course.  Not so hard for the half-mile, but he was hauling to stay in front on the 1.5!  He did an awesome job!

Because they make Tommy run super fast.

Luke's Ninja Warrior hands.

Zac is having a great JV season at the high school.  He is playing well, gets loads of time on the field, and really enjoys the team.

Luke earned his Cub Scout Bobcat Rank badge.  The first badge of many to come! 

Although he finished his Arrow of Light and received his badge back in May, Josh was finally given his Arrow of Light plaque at our most recent Pack Meeting.  It was his last meeting as a Cub Scout before next month when he crosses over to Boy Scouts!  Way to go, Joshie!

I'm pretty sure Ben spends more time in the air than on his feet when he is running.  He flies!  He took 1st place for 7th grade boys at the Quail Lake race, finishing third overall, behind only two eighth graders.  And Grandma and Grandpa arrived into town just in time to see him do it!

"Get off my lawn, you whippersnappers!"  Zac all dressed up for RHS Homecoming Spirit Week "Preschool vs. Nursing Home" day.

This kid is having an amazing year!  I am so proud of all the progress he is making in appropriate expression of his frustration and doing what he needs to do, even if it's not his favorite thing.  He is such a strong, smart, kind boy with so much goodness to share, and his change in attitude helps the rest of the world see all the best of him.

I am so glad I made the cut for possible entrants to Luke and Tommy's room.  "Monkeys only, and cows, and moms too."

The new iOS for my phone had an automatic photo file titled "Sefies."  I love it!  So many great memories with some of my favorite people in all those photos that I've held on to since my first iPhone in 2012.

Our September weather was so sunny and hot, the only thing that felt fallish after the season changed was my table decor, which made me so happy to look at every time I walked past it.

I have the lucky opportunity to volunteer in Tommy's class every Friday.  It is so fun to work with my Tom and his kindy buddies!

Zac and his pals at the RHS football game, a 41-0 crushing by the Rams.

Eagle Scout Project Day!  We are SO proud of this boy!  And so relieved it's over.  More photos of the project to come when he completes the process and has his Eagle Scout Court of Honor....

Cheering on our favorite keeper!

Tommy is getting more comfortable with the ball each game and is so excited to play.

Ben's Copa '03 Boys' team played their hearts out in a tough State Cup Championship game.  They were playing a team that they've faced a few times already this season.  They had lost every game, but they cut the lead down each time and it felt like it was time for their win.  The boys were amazing in the State Cup Final!  They played the best game we've seen them play.  Ben answered the other team's first-half goal, when he scored his team's only goal right after the start of the second half.  We were cheering so loud!  Unfortunately, the other team came back to win, scoring a second goal in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of the second half.  It was heartbreaking and frustrating for the boys.  They should feel proud and hold their heads high.  They played as a team, solid and skilled.  And second in State isn't something to be too upset about!

The weekly waiting-for-Dad post-church tree dangle.

Super moon, harvest moon, blood moon, fully eclipsed moon, beautiful moon!  What a wonderful night for viewing the night sky seeing this amazing celestial event.

Our school offers so many great after-school programs!  Tommy is participating in beginning gymnastics and Brick-By-Brick Lego club.  Luke is enjoying Cup Stacking.  Josh chose to do Fitness Fun and Rubik's Cube club.  So much fun with great teachers who are giving more of their time to our kids, and the best part...they get to just stay at school so there's no driving!

The boys were really excited to have Grandma and Grandpa there to see them run their last Landsharks race of the season!  Tommy had been looking forward to getting a medal all season long, and the night had finally arrived.  They both had a lot of fun running this year and did their best.  Luke set the goal to run the entire race at all three meets: no matter the pace, just keep running, and he did it!  We are so proud of both of our little Landsharks! 

Tommy with the hilarious Terminator blade hands; Luke smiling all the while, enjoying the run even when I'm not watching (these photos were taken my my neighbor on another part of the course).

If Adam were in this picture, it would be captioned: "Ruby's favorite things."

Monster Eyeballs galore for the upcoming "Monster Mash" Book Fair!  I'm really enjoying my flexible PTO involvement this year, and this is one of my favorite events.

Benny took first place for 7th grade boys at the Front Range Cross Country Middle School Championships, finishing his 1.5 miles in 9:27!  Wow, he's fast!  It's been such a great season for him and he was so happy to finish it off strong.  We are really proud of our runner boy and have enjoyed watching him run fly.  We have him enrolled as an individual entrant for the State XC Middle School Championship race in a couple of weeks, just to see how he does.