Halloween 2009

We had great fun despite the dreary rain this Halloween. These are the ghouls that joined us to celebrate.


Heather came as a pregnant stay-at-home mom.


Miss Avery had already gotten out of her Ariel costume by this point.


Mimi as a hillbilly


Jana


Yvonne, Russell, and Mimi


Sophie Grace was a rather determined apple bobber.


Chris and Darth Vader, aka-Hayden


Arnie the Eagle made a brief appearance.


This is my third grade team for Family Fun Night. We were The Berenstain Bears from The Spooky Old Tree.


Reagan went as a molecular biologist and Sophie Grace as Madonna circa 1985.


Needless to say, she TOTALLY got into the whole make-up thing. Oh dear!


This is a shot of the little party that our dog Lily threw herself a few days prior to Halloween. I came home to find that she'd discovered where I put the candy. Thankfully, poison control said that 4 oz. wasn't a toxic amount of chocolate. Can you tell her favorite kind of candy bar? She was bouncing off the wall for hours!


Hayden couldn't get enough of Ms. Lily.


Sophie's first attempt at apple bobbing.


Reagan was SO excited about being able to do this. Who knew a bucket full of water and apples could bring so much joy to children!


What a cutie!


Lily was a very well behaved dog with all our company. She couldn't help but be. She would barely move in this costume.


Reagan and Helena trick-or-treating before the party.


Madonna was too cool to take the coat I insisted she wear. Thankfully, Allie had one worthy of the costume.


Avery as Ariel


Helena, Sophie Grace, Reagan, Allie, and Avery


Reagan and her best bud, Helena





We even had a surprise visit from Hef and one of his bunnies. These are our wonderful Polish neighbors, Beata and Weitold.

Fall Soccer

Despite the rainy fall, Reagan's team has been able to fit in several games this season. We lost our star forward to academy ball, so we've not fared quite as well as past seasons, but many players have stepped up and the girls have enjoyed several wins. Reagan continues to work hard and show improvement in all areas. It's always a delight to watch her play.

Macon Gym Meet

Sophie Grace had her absolute best meet ever on October 25th. She was incredibly focused and in control. She got second place on floor, fourth place on bars, and sixth place All Around. She was only three tenths of a point away from making the state meet in December. She has one more chance this Friday, and she's looking better than ever!

Cartersville Meet

A couple weekends ago, Sophie Grace had her first meet of the season. She's repeating level four, so she's had a year of strength training and polishing her routines from last fall. She and two other girls from her team from last fall stayed back and joined a new group of girls coming up to level four. We're very proud of Sophie as her coach has made a point to brag on her for stepping up as a "team captain" encouraging the new girls and helping the new team gel together well. She only has three meets this fall, and the bar has been raised to make it to the state competition in December. She has to have an all around score of 34 to move on. She had a 31.975 at this meet. Hopefully, the jitters are out, and she can knock it out next weekend.

Sophie with her buddy Shanna. They've been on a team together now for four years.


Sophie took third place on the bars! Highest place so far for her.




The dreaded beam dismount... Sophie's working to overcome a mental block on this skill. She goes off to the wrong side. ARGH! So hard for me to watch. Her coaches tell me that it will come when it comes. A gymnast's body is strong, but sometimes the mind is stronger.




This is another cutie that has been on the team with Sophie for a couple years.




Coach Megan with some of the girls.


Coach Megan had Sophie lead the team in open warm ups. It's been very encouraging to see her growth of character through this great sport.

The Fair Comes to Town

Last Thursday the girls and I joined friends for dinner and the county fair. The girls had a blast. I've taken them before, but it's been so long they didn't even remember it. You would think I had sprung for a surprise trip to Disney they were so excited. Ten tickets apiece and a monstrous amount of cotton candy provided enough fun for a month!

Sophie gets friendly with a heifer.


Take a look at this sheep. It looked like it had a spiral perm.


Reagan with the miniature horses


Sophie and Gracie visit with the goats. I hope she wasn't trying to share her cotton candy.


There were some of the coolest chickens ever!





Hayden, Gracie, Sophie, and Ethan


This ride went in an oval, but at the ends it would sling the kids around. I LOVE the look on the girls' faces here.


Grace and Sophie- I just had a flash forward eight years from now!


Grace, Heather, me, Nina and Mandy


Reagan rode this ride with Cassidy, and Sophie rode it with Ms. Charlotte. Looking at it now, I can't believe I let my kids on it. Holy cow! They were on the thing for about 8 minutes.


Look at Sophie's face. She doesn't look so sure about it.


Sophie and Ms. Charlotte


Reagan in the Fun House


Gracie, Reagan, and Sophie on the monster slide


What fun!


This rocks!

First Day of School

The first day of school this year brought BIG changes in the Brinkley household. Romeo started his new position at Arlington as high school principal. After much prayer and deliberation, we decided to send Reagan to ACS a year earlier than planned. Sophie Grace is a big third grader at my school, and I'm back in the classroom teaching again after spending last year as a mentor teacher. We're excited for all the adventures this school year will hold for all of us.