The Boys Say Goodbye to Soccer

All too soon the boys' soccer season had come to an end.
Xander's team!

Unfortunately there were some game conflicts at the end and I didn't get to see Xander play in his last two games. David, ever the nix-the-camera guy, didn't get any final game pictures for me but did manage to snap this shot of Xander and one of his buddies, Spencer; they played against each other in the final game of the season.

Noah's team!

Noah's team goofing off for the camera!

Love Noah's pose.

The coach's pep talk before one of the games. Unfortunately Noah's coach was not one of my favorites; I really struggled with him throughout the season, as did the rest of the parents on the team. I think his coach lent a bit to Noah's lack of enthusiasm for the sport this year.

Some final pictures of the season.

Going against a friend from church.

The games were somewhat painful to watch, especially since we didn't win a game all season nor did we score more than 3 goals in all of our combined. According to Noah this soccer season was his last. We'll see; he changes his mind frequently.

After the final game the boys had a little pizza party on the bleachers...in the rain. Yay!

They didn't seem to mind the cold or rain! Although the coach wasn't fun the boys still enjoyed being together. What a bunch of goofballs!

Noah and his trophy!

Noah Loves Scouts!

Noah absolutely loves going to his scout activities each week and it's no wonder when he has such fun things to do! One week the boys worked on their whittling badge. There were lots of rules to go along with this activity!

They boys used wooden knives and practiced on bars of soap. Hmmmm, Noah might not realize the soap is for whittling, not eating.

He finally grasped the concept and got right to work!

His soap work of art!

His cool whittling certificate.

The boys all did a great job carving.

Another night the boys put on a carnival. Noah's game was throwing darts at the balloons and hopefully popping them to get the little prize inside.

Despite the darts all breaking and the balloons being extremely hard to pop, the scouts seemed to enjoy Noah's game the most.

Noah branched out for a few minutes to try the other games...

but mostly stuck around supervising the dart throwing and gaining a few prizes for himself.

And then there was the Dodge ball pack meeting in November. The boys all loved this one!

Getting ready for a big throw!

And waiting it out once he got hit.

The younger scouts were nice enough to let the 11 year old scouts join them so even Xander got a chance to be in on the action.

At least he's not looking to get his brother out!

Getting some advice from his friend Owen...or maybe Owen has just found a really good hiding spot!

Xander is happy to dish out advice when he's on the sideline...

and ready to peg someone when he's back in.

Awards and recognition...

and some tasty refreshments to finish up the evening.

Halloween 2016

Halloween Night 2016!

The "dead"  Pierce children.

Savannah and Celine were zombies...

Noah was the cutest skeleton around,...

and Xander was a spooky ghost with extra long fingers.

Xander has never been a huge fan of trick or treating so he and David set out to just do our immediate neighborhood. When Xander got home he told me it was the best Halloween ever because he got to go trick or treating with his dad, just the two of them.

I had covered the passing out the candy job but Xander took over for me when he got home. I think it's his favorite thing to do on Halloween!

The other three, well..."If tomorrow was a promise, how would you trick or treat for today? You got to trick or treat with effort! Because you want that candy and they ain't trying to give it to you. You need to go out there and ring on that doorbell; you need to get that candy, and if they don't give it to you, you need to smack them in the mouth!"

"And at the end of the day, you gonna eat that candy and you're gonna say, "Momma, guess what? I trick or treat with effort!"

Savannah and Noah definitely took "Ray Lewis's" trick or treat pep talk to heart!

They sure trick or treated WITH EFFORT!

Carving Pumpkins

A few days before Halloween it was time to get down to some pumpkin carving! The kids designed their Jack O' Lanterns themselves.

Pulling out the guts is never a favorite with my kids.

But they got the gross job done!

Since the Master Carver was out of town, the boys decided to try the carving themselves.

Not too shabby!

I monitored this little guy pretty closely.

That's one great Jack O' Lantern, Noah! We loved the carrot nose and the knight's hat.

After carving pumpkins the boys and I made some Halloween chocolates.

Noah loved his skeletons.

Yummy!