Beware Evan's Fireball

 Or you might end up with a big, fat shiner like me! Evan does not want to play baseball this spring. He is afraid of getting hit with the ball. In an effort to help him overcome this fear, we have been throwing baseball with him in the yard. My plan apparently backfired. He is now REALLY afraid of getting hit with the ball. I am now REALLY afraid of getting hit with the ball. And we've decided to let him sit this season out. Evan is pretty proud of himself, however. He's definitely got an arm on him!

5 days later... worse than ever. I definitely get some strange looks in parent-teacher conferences... but they don't mess with me!

The Heat

Well, Evan played his last basketball game yesterday. He improved a lot throughout the season and says he really loves the sport. I never did master photographing basketball games. The last game I took my camera to, I used manual settings and although the lighting was better I had almost no pictures in focus. Maybe I'll practice more next year if he decides to play again.

In other news, Evan has declared that he doesn't want to play baseball this spring. I am really struggling with this because I think he is the best at baseball out of all the sports he has played. Also, we've played with the same team for two seasons and I'm good friends with lots of the moms and I will miss being a part of it. If he doesn't play this spring, he can play in the fall. I've been trying to get to the bottom of why he doesn't want to play. Honestly, I think he is just burned out on activities right now. He wants to have time at home. I understand that. I'm not sure that he understands that he does have a couple of months off before baseball starts, though. He has also expressed fear of being hit by the ball. He did get hit a few times last season, but never injured. I don't want to force him to play if he doesn't want to, and I won't. But I also want to make sure he is making the decision for the right reasons. Sign-ups started yesterday. We are letting it go for now and then we will talk to him about it again before the sign-up period is over and see how he feels then. This is one of those tough mom moments for me, though.

What We've Been Up To This Fall (the super long version)...

The end of October included Evan's first sleep over and the last soccer game....

 A trip to the Kerbella Shrine Circus....

 Getting ready for Halloween by carving our pumpkins...

 Celebrating Halloween and "Pirate Day" in preschool...

and first grade. Yes, he was Indy again.

Fall baseball came to an end. The Cubs were rewarded with trophies for their great season. And we somehow accidentally bleached Evan's shirt, so it was a good thing the season was over.

And of course the end of October could not be complete without...

Halloween!

This year did not disappoint. We had gorgeous weather which brought the multitude of trick-or-treaters we have every year. This year, with the kids older, we branched out and went to more than just the five or six of our closest neighbors. We didn't make it to every house, but we went to most of them in the lower subdivision. The kids were thrilled with the extra candy, but I think Chloe had the most fun handing it out. She would say, "What a cute costume!" or "You look so cute!" or if they were scary, "Whoa, that's a scary one!" or "Cool costume!", or if they were really scary, "Taylor, you get this one."

Here is Evan, the hunter.

 He always picks 2 or 3 different costumes. This year we had Anakin, Indy, and the hunter.

 Chloe stuck with Tinkerbell for everything. She made a great one. My favorite was when they dressed up for ballet. She was so sweet doing their "Princess Dance". Of course, I didn't bring my camera:(.

 We had our usual crew... Grandmother, Granddaddy, Granddaddy Ben, as well as Richie and his family.

 All the cousins.

The hoardes of trick-or-treaters descending...

 Evan and Chloe's first stop was our next door neighbor's, Jay and Linda.

Trick-or-Treat, Cousin Lance!

Evan was brave enough to venture down the haunted path to the house across the street from us this year. This was the first year he decided to try it and he loved it!

 Nightfall did not stop the trick-or-treaters.

 Happy Halloween Everyone!

We have also begun riding Bo and CD now. The kids had been on them a few times, but this was the first time we've really saddled and bridled them for Matthew and I to ride. They had not been ridden in probably close to a year. They weren't too happy with their bits and other gear, but they finally decided to let us ride. Bo did really well with me (although, truthfully, I was terrified), but CD did give Matthew a hard time. She jumped around a few times, but was nice and didn't actually throw them off. We are going to try to ride more regularly so that they will be more comfortable with riders. It is much different now that I'm older though. I kept looking at the ground and thinking about all the bones I could break if he threw me off:). Where does that bravery go?

The first of November brough mine and Matthew's birthdays. We celebrated with a visit from Moppy and Poppy (and Rocky and Casey, of course) and a yummy dinner at Wasabi. Thankfully, both of our children have now outgrown their fear (mostly, Chloe is still a little afraid of the fire) of Japanese steakhouses and enjoy the food. It's a good thing because it is one of our favorite meals!

We also went with Brian, Beth, and Oliver to Disney on Ice!! We bought our front row tickets to this before we decided to go back to Disney World this fall. We probably wouldn't have bought them if we had known we were going to decide to go, but I'm so glad we did. The kids had a GREAT time and it was a fabulous show! And it made us want to go back to Disney World again, soon. I think we are hooked:)

Believe it or not, I forgot my camera! I have been soooo bad about remembering it lately. I have forgotten it both times I got to observe Chloe's dance class and I'm so mad at myself over it. Beth was kind enough to send me a few pictures though.