Bowling!

Shawn has been affectionately called the 'bowling electrician' by some friends, and this year I finally joined him in bowling! We bowl at Westgate Lanes on Wednesday evenings on a mixed league. It's so much fun!! Our team is ~awesome~ and we all get along great. One member is out because he had to have knee surgery (speedy recovery, Jim!!) so there are just four of us on the team right now ... it's us & Dave and Lisa Gomes.

I was not sure how effective I'd be on the team, or if I'd be the token bad bowler, LOL. I started out as that bad bowler ... the first week I only averaged 83! We started bowling the Wednesday after Labor Day, and now have 15 weeks (45 games) bowled ... and I've brought my average up to a 103! I've even qualified for a couple of awards ... my high game was a 182!

One great thing about bowling is that we get a date night every single week now. Yeah, it's not a candlelight dinner or some other romantic outing, but it's fun, it's good exercise, and we're having a blast :)

Katie lost her first tooth!

It's been loose for a few weeks, and she's been working at it & wiggling it. Well, yesterday it came out :) What an excited little girl we had yesterday!! When Daddy was talking to her about the tooth fairy, Katie excitedly asked, "I wonder if she'll leave me a yo-yo and two dollars??" Apparently the tooth fairy didn't have any yo-yo's because she left Katie a brand new five dollar bill ... it must have been because it was her very first tooth to come out!

Trick-or-Treat!

The girls had a wonderful time trick-or-treating on Halloween. Daddy "won" the draw for getting to take them out, and Mommy stayed home to dole out the treats to our visitors! (Best costume of the night was a teen who came dressed as a basket of laundry ... complete w/ underwear on his head!!)

Katie dressed as Princess Ariel and Mackenzie was Tinkerbell. Here are some pictures...



Some of you may remember that since Katie's first Halloween, we have put a "big" inflatable pumpkin in our front yard and taken pictures next to it, sort of a size gauge for each passing year. It's become a Coles Family Tradition, and I thought you'd like to see the progression from year to year ...

Katie's first Halloween, October 2003 ...

Katie's second Halloween, October 2004 ...

Mackenzie's first Halloween, October 2005 ...

October 2006 ...

Last Halloween, October 2007 ...

And finally, this year, October 2008 ...


Suddenly our "big" pumpkin is seeming kind of SMALL !!!

Autumn Leaves

What do you get when you take one HUGE leaf pile and add two giggling little girls? Lots of great pictures and a whole lot of fun ...











Here are a copule of short video clips of the fun ...


Here is Daddy blowing the leaves on top of the girls ...

Katie played DOME soccer!

As part of the fall town league, each team was given the opportunity to play a game in the DOME in Bridgewater. Katie's team played on Tuesday ... they had a blast! Katie did super ... actually listened to her coach, followed directions, paid attention, and did really well. She played goalie for a while, and actually ~DOVE~ for the ball!!! She knocked it away, the other team rebounded and shot it in as she hadn't gotten up yet ... but we were proud as punch at her effort! Daddy treated her to an ice cream at Skinner's after the game for trying her best :)

Excuse the picture quality ... again Momma forgot the 'real' camera & only had her phone camera to capture the moments!

Katie waiting for the action to begin ...


Trying to get into the scrum for the ball ...


Coach putting on her goalie jersey ...


Katie waiting for the opportunity to save ...



Peering over the boards at the game (she had to stand on something to see over the boards, LOL!) ...


And a quick side note ... Katie and Mackenzie are actually at an age where they can play a game together, by themselves! Here they are in their room, playing Hi-Ho Cherri-o!

Visited Jake at UMass Amherst :)

Finally we were able to get out to visit Jake at UMass-Amherst! The campus is beautiful, and H~U~G~E!!! Jake took us on an abbreviated walking tour, pointing out the buildings where he has classes, his dining hall, etc. Of course I forgot my camera, so the pictures I took were all on my phone. I think my favorite building is the Old Chapel ...



Here is Jake's dorm building, Webster Hall ...


Jake's dorm room is good sized, and remarkably clean for two guys! LOL Here are pictures of Jake & his sisters in his dorm room ...



Here is one of the three of them outside ...


After our tour of the campus, we had to walk back up 'the hill' to get to Jake's dorm ... what a killer! No wonder the kids are all so skinny, LOL! Jake gave Katie a piggy-back ride & Daddy gave Kenzie one ... no one was left to haul my sorry butt up the hill, so I had to huff & puff on my own ... UGH!


Here is a shot of Jake & Shawn goofing around


We took Jake to Target and bought him some Halloween decorations for his room, some snacks, gatorade & iced tea, and a new jacket ... then we took him to dinner at the Amherst Brewing Company. Food was great! We didn't get home until after 11 p.m., but it was so great to get out there and visit! Now to get Jake to come ~home~ for a visit, LOL!

Soccer!

Katie is playing in the East Bridgewater town soccer league this fall. She is in the instructional age group, which is kindergarten and grade one. The main focus is learning the basics of soccer and having FUN! Katie is starting to get the hang of the game, and even gets a kick in now and again. Here are some pictures of the season so far ...

Katie playing goalkeep ...


Katie's BREAK-A-WAY!!!! ...


Waiting for the game to begin ...


Little sister Kenzie cheering Katie on ...

and not happy that *she* can't play yet ...

Jake loves it at UMass!

Jake is settling in at UMass Amherst, and really enjoying himself! He is thinking about joining a fraternity (Alpha Delta Phi) with one of his friends. He's joined a fencing team, a flag football team, and (no surprise) an intramural soccer team!

These are Jake's first semester classes:
Greek Civilization
Art History
Anthropology
Theory of Relativity
French Film
Dean's Book
Quite the course load! Says the food is good in the dining commons :) Also said (during one of his fairly infrequent phone calls LOL) not to expect him home anytime soon, LOL. Yeah, I guess he likes it out there!

Welcome to the world, Olivia Ann!

My niece Holly & her husband Dave welcomed their first child into the world this morning. Olivia Ann was born at 11:30 a.m., weighing in at 7lb 15oz and measuring 21" ... Mommy, Daddy, and Olivia are all doing well.

KINDERGARTEN!!!

Katie is now a kindergarten student :)

Yesterday we got to go to the school and meet her teacher, Mrs. Lasdow (who, coincidentally was James' kindergarten teacher!!!!) and see her classroom. She was so excited, and very disappointed that she didn't get to stay the rest of the day, LOL. Here she is getting in to the car to go meet her teacher ...


Today was her first day of school, and she had a wonderful day. She gets to take a snack to school every day, and today she chose a capri sun juice bag & peanut butter crackers. She says that is what she wants to bring every day, LOL. We'll see if that lasts! She brought home a picture of a raccoon and a cute little 'first day' poem that are hanging on the refrigerator!

Here she is posing for the first day of school, first with her newly learned military salute & then in her cutest goofball pose ...


Here is the "look at my cool butterfly t-shirt" pose ...


Had to have a pic with sissy ...


Walking down the driveway, first picture her feet aren't touching the ground, LOL!!



Here she is standing with the other girls at the bus stop ...


And finally, getting on to the school bus for the very first time ...

We have to walk to the corner (one whole house away LOL) for her morning pick up, but in the afternoon the bus drops her off at our driveway! YAY!

Had a SUPER vacation with the Griffins!

We always have a great time traveling with the Griffins, and we had a wonderful time staying with them at their house in Fort Worth :) All four girls got along fabulously ... and the adults had just as much fun together!

We arrived late Saturday night, and on Sunday we all went to NRH20 - a cool water park! Everyone had a blast, got too much sun, and we arrived back at the Griffin house very tired.

Monday we went to a mall in Grapevine, Texas (cool name, huh?) and bought Katie her 'first day of kindergarten' outfit! We also went to another store & bought Shawn some new shorts & t-shirts for his birthday. The girls treated us to a 'fashion show' that night, here are some pictures of the grand event ...


Even Scott got into the action ...


Tuesday was Ella's first day of school, and that was pretty exciting! She has a long day, but she was a trooper. Katie was *very* jealous that Ella started school before she did. Tuesday night we had a babysitter watch the kids & the grown-ups went to Buca deBeppo to celebrate Shawn's 40th birthday ... it was a blast!!

Wednesday we hung out in the morning, and left for Lawton, OK, after lunch. We attended James' family day activities on Thursday & then hung out with him at our hotel suite. On Friday the Griffins drove up to Lawton and we all attended James' graduation from basic training at Fort Sill. It was a very emotional day, and after saying goodbye to James in the late afternoon, we headed back to the Griffin's.

Friday also marked the day that Jake moved in at UMass-Amherst! Unfortunately we were not there to help him move in, but we were there in our hearts. He's all moved in & loves it :)

Saturday we hung out at the Griffin house after going out to breakfast at the "Snooty Pig Cafe" ... how's that for a great restaurant name??? We ordered in Mexican that night, mmmmmmm!

The girls were practicing their salute, so we got a picture of all four girls doing a military salute ...


Sunday we packed up and came home. We left the Griffin's house at about 11 a.m., stopped at Sonic for lunch, then dropped off the rental car & got to DFW with plenty of time for our 2:55 flight to Charlotte, NC. Had a 3-hour lay-over in Charlotte, so we relaxed and colored w/ the girls, then had a leisurely dinner & got the girls dressed in their pj's. We boarded the plane for our 10 p.m. flight, only to sit on the runway for more than an hour waiting for severe thunderstorms to pass through the Charlotte area. We finally got in to Providence around 12:45 a.m., picked up our car, and made it home around 2 a.m. It was a long day!

A huge Thanks, Y'all! to the Griffins for extending their hospitality. We plan to return the favor next summer when the Griffins come up North for a visit :)

A few more random shots ...
Kenzie and Brenna playing together

Ella and Katie eating lunch