Paige earned her high red belt in Tae Kwon Do and moves up to another class. She actually switches days and times with the bonus being that it's earlier, so I can walk again while it's light out. Only one more week til daylight savings changes all that. The next day I drove her, I noticed people out on the street corners holding signs that LinensNThings is going out of business. After I dropped Paige off, I went in to purchase a curtain rod and sheers for Paige's bedroom that I had been meaning to get. They were 30% off!

Wind Symphony at the high school had a concert Tuesday night. The best piece was a suite of music from Candida, composed by Leonard Bernstein. I loved it. No matter where we sit in that auditorium, we never get a good view of Bryn way back in that low brass section! Which means no pictures for me!

Paige joined Builders Club at her school and they painted pumpkins for a local nursing home at their Wednesday meeting.

Saturday Jeffrey turned 46! We celebrated the evening before by going out to a nice Italian place for dinner. Saturday was Bryn's sectional meet for Cross Country out in Hartland. The course is very flat which encourages fast times for the runners. We let Paige bring 2 friends along. The boys ran first and we cheered them on. By the end of the race, tears were rolling down my face as one of our top 2 runners was kind of delirious and didn't even seem to know what was going on. He slowed down to a walk by the end and barely crossed the finish line. Another of our runners looked as if he was really in pain. Obviously they gave it their all, but only 2 runners will go to State this year because they didn't qualify as an entire team. Sad. Bryn was up next and looked strong as she finished 28th (1st of our runners) with a great time of 16:31. None of our girls qualified for State. I kept Paige's friends for the afternoon so they could work on their Halloween costumes. They're going as the characters from the game Clue. Paige will be Colonel Mustard. They'll each wear clothing in the character's color (Scarlett, Mustard, White, etc.), then accessorize with a few items. I dropped them off at Bartz's and WalMart while I grocery shopped and they found a few items. Later, Bryn, Paige and I took Jeff out for a waffle cone at Pop's.

Today both Paige and Bryn have Sunday School: Paige in the a.m., Bryn tonight. I had them both vacuum their rooms - which means they also had to pick it up. In turn, I have lots of laundry to do. I decided to begin to tackle organizing our storage in the basement. I'm still finding things Abby has scurried away! I discovered 2 backpacks that Abby could live out of for 2 weeks! Rotten apples, granola bars, endless gum wrappers, mechanical pencils, baggies of Goldfish crackers, mittens, nail polish, hand sanitizer, and don't forget a water bottle! I really thought I had gone through all that by now. I brought down Abby's storage bins and didn't realize that we have 6 bins full of Abby memorabilia! She is a packrat! But it is fun to look through. Today I found "Why I Am Proud to be Your Daughter" where she filled in the blanks of a poem from school. I brought it up to my room by Bryn's version. Jeff and Paige decorated the front bushes with spider webs, then went out to the pumpkin farm to get our pumpkins before the weather turned, while I baked. We noticed on Abby's Facebook that's it's snowing in La Crosse! I'm going to draw the UWL logo on Abby's pumpkin tonight. Jeff downloaded a few ideas so we'll see how the others turn out!

Jeff and I both were able to attend Bryn's concert at UWM last Sunday night. With my parents visiting, my Dad happily volunteered to stay home with Paige. And so my Mom also got to finally attend a UWAY concert of Bryn's. The music is so beautiful and this being their first concert of the year, the brass section opened with a special piece.

Paige graduated to rubber bands at the orthodontist Monday morning. She was not excited when we got back in the car and she realized chewing gum would no longer be an option. I was not excited remembering finding those tiny rubber bands everywhere when Bryn went through this.

We said goodbye to Bryn Friday morning as she left for school. A friend's family was kind enough to offer to host her for the weekend while we went to La Crosse for Friends & Family Weekend. So sad that I was going to miss one of her Cross Country meets. And the conference meet at that! On the other hand, Theo had an excellent dogsitter for the weekend.

The rest of the day was all about prepping for the weekend: Friends & Family Weekend at UW La Crosse! Abby emailed me the night before with her grocery list, so I dropped about $100 at WalMart. I also did my weekend grocery shopping so I didn't have to come home to that on Sunday when we returned. Jeff's sister, Terry, was able to come along so she drove here Friday afternoon, then shortly after Paige got off the schoolbus, we left for La Crosse! We arrived at Abby's dorm about 8:00pm. Basically got to bring in her grocery shopping order and say "hi!". Paige stayed with Abby for the night. Abby had an exciting evening planned for her that included doing laundry (what???)!

Back in the Falls, we (me and Paige) recruited many friends to cheer for Bryn at her meet Saturday morning. Our recruiting paid off as Bryn brought home a medal finishing 21st and just about doing her personal best this year! We texted her thoughout the morning with words of encouragement, then congratulations.

Saturday morning Abby walked us through campus, we shopped at the bookstore and then took Abby to her first UWL football game. UWL's field is under construction this fall, so all their home games are played in Winona, MN; about 1/2 hour away. The field was beautiful: nestled in the bluffs along the Mississippi River. We left after the third quarter to stroll along the other side of the river back in La Crosse. Terry persuaded one of the riverboat owners to let us take a look on board. We all promised to take a cruise on future visit. We took Abby out to dinner, then met some of her new friends back at the dorm. Paige was really happy to be able to stay with Abby again. This time Abby took her to the Prayer Garage at 2am... This is not what I did in college on the weekends, but Abby's probably better off.

Sunday we picked Abby and Paige up for church. Abby's become very involved in CRU at UWL and goes with many of its members to church every Sunday now. The new church is very different from our Catholic church. Kind of like a concert with a band on stage and screens all over. Paige said it was much better than our church. After church, we got to eat brunch in the main UWL cafeteria. Then we drove Abby up to Grandad Bluff where the view was spectacular! The weather was so perfect for our visit. And it was so nice to see Abby well-adjusted and happy in her new college life. Life is good. I can only hope our visit is this perfect next time when Bryn gets to come along.

It was Homecoming Week in the Falls!!!

With all the extra school activities, Bryn got worn out. With my nudging, Bryn came home early from school Tuesday. It was a rainy day and Bryn got herself a bad cold that seemed to start wtih a sinus headache and is dragging on with a congested cough. She slept the afternoon away and missed Cross Country and Powderpuff practice. She still went to UWAY rehearsal that night because she has a concert this weekend (tonight!) and it was my turn to drive. Wednesday she made it through school, but the Cross Country coach excused her from practice again hoping that rest was better for her recovery than pushing her body. The weather took a turn for the better and Wednesday night we watched as Bryn battled with the Junior girls to try to upset the Seniors at the Homecoming Powderpuff football game. (It's tradition for the seniors to win.) Bryn was in on the scoring plays, but never got to handle the ball. I think the Cross Country coach paid for Bryn to be protected.


Thursday Bryn and Paige enjoyed a half day of school. Of course it's never the earlier half of the schoolday so they can sleep in. Paige and a friend made Beatles t-shirts to wear the next day to school in honor of Beatles Day that their band teacher turned them on to. Bryn had to report to the bus at 1:45pm for a Cross Country meet in Saukville. It's a beautiful natural park that the kids either really love or really hate. It was definitely not Bryn's day as she didn't finish her usual first for our team. After the race she sighed as she couldn't get a good breath throughout the race and her legs felt really out of shape missing those practices the last couple days. Poor Brynnie.

Abby called me Friday morning to scream that she was in the mosh pit (standing area directly in front of the stage) at the McCain rally in LaCrosse! She was only 10 feet or less away from McCain and even got to shake his hand. She is so lucky that in her first voting year she was able to see both party's candidates in person! (She saw Barack just a couple weeks before.)

And Friday night was the big Homecoming game. And Bryn still didn't have shoes for the dance the next evening. Luckily Bryn doesn't care to shop so we found them at the first store we went to. As I was making dinner, Abby walked in! We were expecting her at 7pm, but her last class Friday was cancelled (really?) and she and her carpool were able to leave earlier. You should have seen the big hugs she got from Bryn and Paige! We got to eat dinner together and knew we'd lose her for the rest of the night with the game—and most of the next day, as she informed us that she was sleeping at Kendal's. The Falls lost (big time) the game to Brookfield Central. Jeff got to chat with a college buddy whose son is the punter for the opposing team.



Saturday morning Jeff drove Paige down to MSOE for her Tae Kwon Do testing. He liked exploring their new fieldhouse. Bryn had dress rehearsal for UWAY at UWM that Jeff and Paige had to pick her up from that so she could make her Homecoming hair appointment at 1:00pm. In the meantime, I had to grocery shop for Abby's possible 64 Facebook friends that she invited to our house that night and exchange Bryn's Homecoming shoes for her proper size. We all made it and were very impressed with Bryn's very girly hairdo. Bryn was disappointed she couldn't take in a nap before pictures because of her hair already being done. Abby and her friends became Bryn's makeup artists and did an awesome job! Her date came to our house first to pick Bryn up and let us take a picture of just them two at house first. Then Jeff and I followed them over to the designated Pictures House for their group and the pictures stations were so coordinated. I was very impressed. They left for dinner and the dance and we went back home to our pre-anniversary dinner (ribs and potatoes). Abby's group arrived around 7pm and we set out candles and had the firepit going. We all (including the party) left the house for Grand March at the high school to see all the couples, then the party ramped back up til about 1:30am. Bryn returned home around then too.

Missing out on Katie's baby shower today. I picked up this cute fleece star wrap and taggie blanket from the craft show I went to with Kristin a couple weeks ago. Hope they like it! We're all a little tired today, but OK. Jeff blacktopped the driveway. My parents are here, making a pitstop on their way to Indy for a mini-vacation with Meg's family to DC. Then Mom & Dad will continue to Florida where my aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Kristin & family stopped in too to see Abby complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies for her to bring back to college! Abby's already on her way back to La Crosse. Tonight is Bryn's UWAY concert that my Mom and Jeff and I are anxious to hear.

Bryn got tired of sitting around and waiting to be asked, so she asked a boy to Homecoming on Monday (29th). He's a year older (senior) and is also a Cross Country runner. I had pretty much dismissed the idea of her even going by now. So now we have less than 2 weeks – and only 1 weekend! – to find a dress, shoes, jewelry, garter and order a buttonneer! I don't function like this! But I am glad she made it happen. And her friends are very glad to have her join the group.

Tuesday (30th) Paige tried out the adult class at Tae Kwon Do since she's pretty much the oldest in the kids classes. I drove her and took a walk on the nearby BugLine Trail while she was in class. Beautiful evening and I'm so sad that it's getting dark out earlier and earlier. I hate walking on treadmills. Paige decided being the oldest kid in the class is much more fun than being the youngest adult, so she's switching back.

Bryn has Powderpuff Football practice now with that game coming up next Wed during Homecoming Week. They say she has a pretty good arm, but has mostly been positioned as a running back. I just hope she doesn't get injured.

Jeff stayed behind with Paige on Friday (3rd), while I rode up with friends to watch Bryn run in Fond du Lac. Another gorgeous day and another well-groomed course. Bryn looked confident and strong again as she ran her best time this year: 16:20!!!! I went up to congratulate her after her finish and I never noticed she had only one shoe on! She lost it about halfway!! She was making jokes about it. One of her coaches did end up finding it for her before it got dark. So Bryn only has one more meet this Thursday, then it 's on to Sectionals the following weekend. Go Bryn! Jeff was a good dad and stayed home to take Paige to Tae Kwon Do again, and then to chaperone Paige's sleepover.

Saturday Bryn made plans with Kendal to shop for Homecoming dresses at Kendal's personal outlet. Bryn ended up choosing one and following Saunders tradition: minor alterations will be ready on Monday. Thank God for Holly. Kendal came to pick up Bryn and it was really good to see her. I think it was a nice substitute "Abby" fix for me (Kendal is as close as it gets!).

Today we went to the high school Rededication Ceremony where we could tour the entire building. Impressive. I hope Abby gets to see inside next weekend when she's home. It'll be a dramatic change for her to see.

We're all so excited to see Abby this coming Friday. We've got her room all ready for her and a couple nice surprises. And Kendal informed me of a surprise from Abby. Abby asked me weeks ago if she could have her friends over Saturday night during the Homecoming Dance and of course I agreed. Kendal said I should check out Abby's new Facebook group: Falls Alum Homecoming Get-Together - where she basically invites ALL alum to her (my!) house for a party. A couple more people than I was anticipating (current count is at 63). Abby laughed when I asked her about it on the phone tonight. Spontaneity. That's what we miss about Abby.