u-9 soccer championships

the super stars were in the championship playoff game against the queen cobras last night. a long soccer season was coming to an end. kaleigh's team was undefeated for the season going into the playoffs. they remained undefeated after the first 2 playoff games. last night they won to become u-9 girls champions earning their first place division trophy. woohoo superstars!!

before the game, both teams, along with their coaches and the referees, walked hand in hand across the field towards the parents to get introduced to the fans and get a little pep talk.

the winning team after the game with their trophies and big smiles

smile kaleigh!

kaleigh with her coaches

at the victory party--plenty of pizza, laughs and friends

stockton thunder goes pink

november 6th and 7th the stockton thunder went pink for breast cancer awareness. we took the kids with some friends and had great seats near the ice...rows 2 and 3! it was a sold out game which hopefully means a lot of money raised for the cause. the game went into overtime, sudden death and ended in a shoot out with the thunder losing by one. connor and kaleigh were so into the game, dancing and cheering when the thunder scored.

the fans wore pink as well as the players

connor cheering with his pink thunder sign

kaleigh deep in conversation with her friend. ha!

(she wanted me to delete that but i just couldn't)

the pink lights above

hard to tell but the ice was even pink!

school beautification day

last saturday morning was time well spent cleaning up the planter boxes at school. students and their families came to pull weeds and plant flowers in the main quad and in front of the school. the kids had a terrific time digging in the dirt and planting the flowers. it was no nice to see their excitement from all their hard work. coming to school on monday was a great surprise for those that weren't able to help out; they got to see a beautiful new quad area made possible from their peers. :)

before we started working

after we finished. doesn't it make you happy?!

connor liked digging in the dirt. he made some new friends that day.

kaleigh and val sure worked hard and had fun doing it.

connor watering some flowers. he's been too

cute asking, "mom, how are the flowers doing?"

sculpture garden

val and i spent a day in downtown minneapolis. target's headquarters are located there. it was so weird to see so many people walking around with their target i.d. badges on. i couldn't get over the fact that these people were all wearing jeans! i kept thinking "wow, target must be a relaxed company to work for." after walking around downtown, we went to the sculpture garden. it's an outdoor park with lots of art (your opinion) throughout.

mall of america

since val's conference was in minnesota, we were able to see one of minnesota's biggest tourist attractions...the mall of america. val wasn't too impressed, "it's just another mall." yes, but this mall has an amusement park inside! we did lots of walking around the mall, me more so than val since i entertained myself while he was at his conference. we went to the mall when we first flew in on thursday and no one was there. by saturday it was crazy! you would have thought it was christmastime with all the people inside. way too crowded for me but that didn't stop me from hanging out. :) the whole time i was at the mall i kept thinking i'd see robin sparkles (how i met your mother) ha! and i couldn't get her song out of my head!!! "let's all go to the mall...today!"

nickelodeon is responsible for the big amusement park in the middle of the mall

archiver's is a scrapbook store that i had to experience. i'm so glad i did. it was wonderful in there! spent a few hours and enough money there. i wish we had one in california.

twins/yankees playoffs

when we were in minnesota val wanted to see what the chances of getting tickets to the playoffs were for sunday. turned out it was no problem. tickets were $12 and the seats were pretty good. we became twins fans for the night. ha! unfortunately, it didn't help. the yankees won the game and moved on into the playoffs to the play the angels. val and i had a great time! this was the last baseball game to be played in the metrodome since the twins' new stadium is near completion. we'll have to come back to see a game in the new outdoor stadium. :)

before the game

the crowd outside waiting to get in

the grounds crew digging up home plate to take to the new stadium

after the game we watched the fans linger and grounds crew take the bases away

a new school year

another year of school started...five weeks ago!! it's been keeping me so busy. not only am i teaching but i am also the co-president of our school's pto with nikki this year. our stress level has been "taken up a few notches" to say the least. i am waiting for the moment when i can actually breathe a sigh relief of not having to be constantly on the go. ha! that'll be awhile. :)

kaleigh was so excited to start third grade and be in mrs. edelbacher's class. she's now on the other side of the school, which means i hardly get to see her. yes, that makes me a little sad. but she loves third grade and tells me that every day. i had to laugh when she said to me, "mom, thanks for giving me to mrs. edelbacher." if it makes you this happy, then "your welcome, kaleigh!"

kaleigh on the first day of third grade