September Randoms

Curtis attended a retreat for his AP classes that, as a school counselor, I helped out with. My portion of the event was to help students with stress management. Students in AP classes tend to be high-achievers who care a lot about a lot of things. That's a strength of theirs, but can also lead to a lot of stress. I had them make zen gardens are an stress-relieving tool. Each component of the garden represented different aspects of life. 

I started a new hobby: soap-making! I love buying homemade soaps as a simple treat to myself. I knew I wanted to learn to make my own at some point and decided now was the time. This was right after I cut them from the mold. They still need to cure for 4-6 weeks. 

I opened the bottle of wine my friends got me for my birthday. 

And lit the candle they got me. Fall has arrived!

ChatGPT is helping me get some ideas for our master bedroom.

MHC Tennis Tourney

The Mid-Hoosier Tennis Tournament took place on Saturday, September 17th. It was a long, hot day of tennis. Bella made a special trip to watch her brothers and came prepared with their heads! 

Curtis and his doubles partner, Aiden, won their first match and lost in the championship game. Graydon rematched his opponent from senior night. It was another close match, but he lost to him again. I'm bummed that they are both seniors and won't be playing each other again, but he really is such a nice kid. 

Out on the Town

We went out to celebrate one of my dearest friends, Brenda, who turned 45!

She knows spots in Indy better than we do, so we experienced some of the fun Indy night life by eating dinner at Kilroy's followed up with drinks at the bar, Howl At The Moon.

Brenda is a ray of sunshines who brings love and light wherever she goes. So happy we got to celebrate her!

Tennis Senior Night

We celebrated Senior Night for tennis on September 15th. Graydon ended up playing a marathon three-hour match that evening against a friend of his who attends Edinburgh. He ended up losing, but the kid, Braydon, and his family were so nice that the whole thing was still very enjoyable (well, for us, maybe not for the boys who were utterly exhausted after playing so long in the heat!) 

Graydon and his good friend, Damyon.

A handshake from Coach/Dad.

Our Seniors: Graydon, Brady, and Joel. (Can you tell that Joel is also a basketball player!)

Brocktoberfest 2026

Two weeks after my parents' anniversary weekend, we were back up in WI for another family celebration: Brocktoberfest! Bella and Graydon couldn't make it this time, but Andy, Curtis, and I were free.

Aunt Bia brought wine for tasting.

Curtis and Andy challenged each other to wagon basketball.

We let Curtis have a small glass of beer. Technically, he'd be of legal age in Germany.

Kristen made commemorative Brocktober Fest glasses for everyone to bring back year after year.

My mom's cotton candy machine was a hit with the kids!

Nothing like a good brat with sauerkraut and mustard!

The animals were nice enough to share their farm with us for the day.

Andy running toward the ball in a competitive game of kickball!

Catching up with Mary. If you zoom in on my face, you can see the exact moment I was bit by a mosquito!

My cousin, Matt, takes us on a hayride each year. I always love this portion of the evening.

Brocktoberfest Bingo!

Tired but happy.

August Randoms

Andy had to work at a golf outing for his company. Here are some pics he took from that event.

Sorry for the gross foot pics, but my feet were attacked by chiggers after a hike. (I'm assuming it was from the hike). This was significant enough for me that I need it documented. In addition to my feet, I had bites on my legs. I counted 87 bites. They were SO itchy and wouldn't go away. They just turned to bumpy blisters and were still itchy a month later! This pic is from when some of the inflammation went down. 

The main reason I still update this blog is so I can print out the book and have documentation of our family stories. It's always an exciting mail day when a new book arrives.

My friend Jen sent me this lounge set for my birthday. I sent her this photo to show that it fits perfectly. I think comfy clothes are my new love language.

Curtis and I went out for burgers on my birthday and the restaurant had a Happy Birthday banner in the entryway. I decided to take a selfie in front of it. Naturally.

I don't fully know the context of this photo, but it had something to do with Curtis helping out with our youth basketball program.

I'm starting to tell myself that mess is the boys' way of saying "I love you, Mom." Because if that's the case, they love me SO much!