Halloween 2019

Our Halloween started out with the Vocabulary Parade for Camden and the Story Book Parade for Casen. This year, Camden chose the word expedite and Casen was Shoeless Joe Jackson.

We were so excited that  for the first time in a few years, it wasn't raining when it was time to Trick or Treat! Thank goodness!!! It was a little cold outside, but nothing we couldn't handle.

The boys like to be scary things, so Camden dressed up as some demon guy with red eyes and Casen was Slitherman. The one thing I love about their choice of costumes is not having to worry about if they are smiling or not.

I must say they got a pretty good haul this year. It looks like we will be eating candy for a long time!

Marching Contest

With the boys busy soccer schedules, we had not yet been able to make it out to watch the Bridgeland band, where Shawn is the head band director and Braden is on the drum line, perform. I had heard from numerous friends that it was a great show and the band had already won or placed high up in several competitions. Today was the Cypress Showcase at the Berry Center and our schedule was open, so we headed out to see the show for ourselves.

It was an awesome show and the band did great!! They ended up winning the competition!!! Super proud of all the hard work and dedication both Shawn and Braden put into the band. Being a band nerd myself in high school, I can appreciate all the time and effort as well as the sacrifices made in order to be successful. And, it helps to have a supportive mom/wife like Melissa.

 

Champions!

What a fun weekend for Casen. He played in a tournament, hit his first home run of the season and his team won the championship. Each player had a shining moment throughout the weekend and it was a true team effort. They have come a long way since the beginning of the season.

I am not sure what Shane will do next year when he is no
longer pitching for Casen's team. He coaches Casen on
and off the field. It just might be a nice break for them both. :)

Casen with Coach Rick (the head coach). I love how they
are both standing the same.

This picture cracks me up. Casen plays third base and
throughout the game, he constantly stares down third
base, just like in this picture. I always wonder what
he is thinking . . .

Casen receiving his championship ring.

And not to leave out Camden, he played soccer this weekend in between baseball games and his team won as well. A great sports filled weekend!

Allergies Be Gone

If you may recall, back in 2015 Camden had allergy testing due to his bad allergies. It seemed he was pretty much allergic to everything, but we really didn't want him to start allergy shots at that time. So the doctor recommended then that along with the Zyrtec he took, we add Nasonex nasal spray, which we did. The combination of those two things have, for the most part, worked for him. So when Casen started having horrible allergies, we of course tried the same regimen. Unfortunately for Casen, it just didn't work for him like it did Camden.

Casen really seemed to have a flare up of his allergies in July of this year when we were at the beach and they just have not calmed down. Being an allergy sufferer myself, I know how miserable it can be and the energy it takes out of you. So, we decided to take Casen to the allergist about a month ago, and of course, he recommended allergy testing, which we did today. He had to stop his Zyrtec 5 days ago (which we forgot, so he didn't have it for 4 days) and bless his heart, he was a horrible snotty mess with the dark allergy circles under his eyes.

It was very interesting to see that he really is only allergic to grass and dust, unlike Camden who seemed to be allergic to a little of everything. My hope was that we could do sublingual immunotherapy drops for Casen, however the FDA has not approved them kids under the age of 18 for one of the allergens he is allergic to. So, shots it is.

Luckily, they are able to mix the allergens he is allergic to in one vial, so he will only have to receive one shot each time. Starting in a couple of weeks, we will go twice a week for 3 1/2 months until we get to maintenance dose, and then once a month. Unfortunately we won't see results for about 5 months. Casen is excited to get started so he can start feeling better. I pray this works for him!!!

Busy Birthday Weekend

We had a busy, but good week and we then had a jam packed weekend of sporting events. My parents came this weekend to watch the boys play the sports they love and boy did they get to watch some sports.

Earlier this week, Camden received his recorder and I have heard nothing but sweet melodies morning and afternoon since he received it. LOL. While I am getting ready in the morning, I am serenaded by a song he is learning, with honks and squeaks intertwined. He has been looking forward to receiving his recorder ever since the first week of school when he found out in music class that they would be playing them.

Casen came home from practice with an awesome surprise. If you recall, they won second in a tournament a few weeks ago and received a medal, while the first place team received rings. Unbeknownst to us, our boys were to receive rings as well. As you can tell, he was very proud.

On Friday night we headed out to the Farm League to watch Casen play some flag football. This is the championship weekend, but unfortunately due to Casen also having a baseball tournament, he was only able to play two games on Friday night. They won one and lost one, but as usual, it was so fun to watch him play. His team ultimately ended up losing on Saturday as they were short several players and were unable to pull out a 'W'.

Melissa also came and watched our little
football player.

On Saturday morning, my parents, Camden and I headed out to the south side of Houston to watch Camden play his soccer game. It was a fun game to watch and Camden scored a goal off of a penalty kick, which was really awesome!

We left there and headed to the baseball fields to catch Casen play his first two games of the Fall Classic tournament. They ended up losing the first one 18-17 in a really tight game, and then won the second one 13-8.

After we left there, we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant and had some yummy food, then came home, opened presents and had birthday cake to celebrate Shane's 45th birthday.

This morning, we got to get up and do it all over again. This time however, Camden's game was closer to home and Casen's baseball games were further away from home at Baseball USA. Casen ended up playing 3 games since they lost their first game, won their second game and then lost their last game. Honestly, can I tell you I was glad then ended up losing their last game because it was over around 7:00pm and had they won, they would have played at least one if not two more games. That would have been a really late night for seven year olds (not to mention their parents). 

So, in case you lost count, we had 2 flag football games, 2 soccer games, 5 baseball games and a birthday celebration. It was a great, busy, birthday weekend but we enjoyed all the family time we had. Now, to go to work tomorrow and to try and get some rest!