trick or treat 2018

neighborhood buddies Osten and Wil once again took the UWRF campus residence halls by storm by trick or treating on Tuesday night. Here Kylo is trying to put mind reading on a victim and Master Chief is defending the universe.

Wednesday, buddy Coulter (Steve from Minecraft) joined in the fun.

the pumpkins are the craft of my talented husband. Katie's sloth, Osten's Viking, Anders' traditional face and my big eyed wide mouthed Jack o Lantern

Happy Halloween to one and all!

learning every day

Today in school, one of my star students brought in a share about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I learned SOOO much about a wonderful human being and am so impressed by the research and presentation by a young learner who would make RBG so happy.

aMAZEing day with Julie and Libby

I'm so thankful for my wonderful friend, Julie and her equally wonderful daughter Libby Ann. We met near Roberts at a Corn Maze and Goat Yoga farm. We conquered the mazes and had a great time playing with the goats.

After our time on the farm, we went to Caribou in Hudson for a little refreshment and nourishment.

So thankful for my wonderful children and lifetime friends

eau claire you are lovely

On Saturday morning, Katie Grace and I drove to Eau Claire for a 7th grade girls basketball tournament. She still wasn't able to play because her toe isn't healed, but it was really fun to watch the girls play some great ball. Our team won two games and lost one. After the games, we went downtown to find a fun meal at the Acoustic Cafe and then went shopping at a store called the Local Store where I purchased a wedding gift for a friend and some other little gift items for stocking stuffers. Katie always has an eye out for interesting photos for 4H projects and caught a couple of a back patio at the Local Store.

Then we got home to RF and she went to the middle school dance. It was a fun and beautiful day in Eau Claire with my daughter.

meeting his favorite player

Today, I got two messages from teachers over at Westside Elementary. One was Osten's teacher Ms. W. who said, we had a visitor today and the other was from the visitor's Mom, Ms. Flood.

Payton Flood (number 11 for the River Falls Wildcats) found out Osten was a number one fan and stopped by Osten's classroom today to say hello.

As I was walking home from school today I was thinking about how special our Osten is and how nice it was that so many people went out of their way to make him feel special. Just warms my heart.

girls who give back

Our Katie has been active in a group called Girls Who Give Back at Meyer Middle School. They work on projects that help give back to the community. Tomorrow they are planning a day of service and this a a photo of their brigade:

happy birthday dear Abby Rae B

To our lovely and willowy Abby B...wishing you a wonderfilled year of being 18.
Here you are ready for prom last spring:

classic iron ranger

Anders is preparing to perform in the musical Newsies. I had bought him a pair of cheap dress boots a few years ago at Kohl's. He had been using them for practice and then the heel fell off one of his boots.

I decided it was time to buy Anders his first pair of Red Wings. Brad had just bought a pair for his hunting trip out west, my Dad bought many many pairs of Red Wing boots and from pictures, Great grandpa Clarence Sr. also wore Red Wings.

Anders is now sporting a pair of 11 EEs

bouquets of the week

Here are two bouquets at once. The pumpkin is a rouge pumpkin that grew in our compost pile and the leave are a taste of bounty of leaves that carpet our lawn...

sports day in River Falls

Saturday was a huge sports day in River Falls. The football team won the first round of playoffs versus the Galloping Ghosts of Kaukauna (team about 5 hour drive...yikes) 25-21. It was a tight game with lots of back and forth.

Brad's hunting buddy Garth with son Austin and wife Jenny

Next, the soccer team lost a heartbreaker 3-2 to New Richmond to end their playoff run.

Then some family friends--Joey Madsen and Grant Magnuson qualified for the state cross country meet (so did another classmate of Anders' Mason Shea)

Lastly, the volleyball team won their playoff game so is making a run for another state tournament appearance.

Go Wildcats!

music in the air

On Saturday, Anders wasn't able to watch the amazing sports of River Falls as he was off in Eau Claire performing at the Clearwater Festival on October 20. I wish I could have been in two places at one time.

Here is what I found online about the festival:

2018 Featured High School Choir: River Falls High School Concert Choir, Mrs. Carrie Loney, conductor & Ms. Sarah Joosten, conductor. 

Every year, UWEC is proud to open up Clearwater Choral Festival Concert to one High School Choral Ensemble who continues to show excellence in their program and community. This year, we are excited to announce that the Featured Choral Ensemble is the River Falls High School Concert Choir. Under the direction of Mrs. Carrie Loney and Ms. Sarah Joosten, this choral ensemble and program continue to display the excellence of choral music.

Anders is in back row 3rd from left in his Harry Potter shirt

he's home from the mountains of Idaho

Brad had a great adventure to the beautiful state of Idaho with a group of guys--Garth, Jerry and Mike are three names I can remember. They ended up with two elk in the party and a wonderful experience. Here are some photos that Garth captured:

stripe day

Today was a glorious day outdoors and several of us at our school decided to celebrate by wearing stripes...so fun!

our performing arts master!

Here's Anders in the Chamber Choir for River Falls High School (the audition choir). Evidently he is performing in Eau Claire at an event on October 20. It's nice to learn these things from social media ;)

he is in the back row, 4th from left

a spike and a bill

Brad has been texting me updates on his trip to Idaho and he sent a message that one in his party got a spike elk and another shot a bill. I think he meant bull, but I just have to write bill because I think it's pretty cute.

shopping with my favorite daughter

On Saturday I pitted well child versus well child and had both Osten and Katie clean their rooms while I spent some time at the gym. I got home and voted Katie victorious. She was able to pick anything in the world to do and she chose to go shopping for a new winter coat and out to dinner at Portillos in Woodbury. Great choices Katie!

the mountains of Idaho

Part of the reason I've been lax on posting is because my very hard working and extremely helpful husband Bradley Cole has been in the mountains of Idaho since Friday morning. Osten has been at Kids Club many mornings and after school. His teacher sent me a note saying he needs snack (I totally forgot, I'm that Mom).

We are eager for our Dad and husband to return so we all are on the right track.

the rearrange game

Sunday, I spent the day rearranging our bedroom. It's been a few years since it's gotten a thorough cleaning and it was time to make a few changes. I moved the bed and all the furniture. Did a super clean of the layers of dust and am happy with the result. We will see if Brad is happy when he returns from his big elk hunt on Sunday ;).

football fever

Friday night as Anders was fevering, Osten, Katie and I went to the final River Falls Wildcats game of the season. The Wildcats easily beat Eau Claire north and found out we were the Big Rivers conference champions as Hudson lost to Chippewa Falls. Osten got to meet his hero Payton Flood and we spend time congratulating the team after the game.

Saturday morning dawned and Osten played his last game of the season with his buddies Jonathan, Cody and Hugo. The newly crown BRC champions welcomed the teams onto the field and Osten's team beat the only team that beat them all season 32-6. Fun times!

team: William, Osten, Hugo, coach Dan, Brandon, Nolan, Connor and Jonathan (missing Cody)

 Osten cheering his buddy Jonathan

Going after a flag

super speedman

center action

running through the tunnel of BRC champions

Last football of the weekend was watching the Vikings play on Sunday. Osten was wearing his new Xaviar Rhodes jersey and was so happy to see the Vikings beat the Cardinals 27-17.