Ho-Hum Halloween...
I guess this is what happens when you get to high school.
Oprah on TIVO is more exciting then the door to door routine.
Unless you are Jacob...and then you join
your neighborhood pal in the pursuit of candy.
But what ever happened to the Disney characters? Or Superheroes?
And before the night is out Brynne is lured out the door
by some familiar high school students.
And Lacey gives up on door answering because we are down to less then 10 pieces of candy, and giving away Halloween popcorn singles is lame,
and whatever Dad is watching on Bravo is a better deal.

Monday night the students had their first
Students Standing Strong meeting.
I would guess there were 400 kids in attendance.
I really enjoy these kids and this organization.
The kids in red are the officers.
Brynne designed the shirts just for them!
It makes me proud to see
some of the representatives of that generation.
Our speaker (next to me) spoke on a text from James.
He challenged them to "Suffer Well".
This followed a campus suicide and attempted suicide.
Tough stuff!
His wife is a grad from our district.
The mom on the other end is the
founder of SSS and a real inspiration to parents.

Lacey and her swim friends traded Halloween night for the Saturday before.
Lacey had, count 'em, two parties to attend. Last year it was Crayons...this year it was reminiscent of an old Olivia Newton John 80's video. Without exaggerating it was probably 5 separate gatherings or shopping sprees not to mention countless phone calls, texts and e-mails
to get the look just right!

Over the course of the last couple of months Gregg has enjoyed a long distance book study with a brother-in-law. They were going through Wild at Heart. In this book the author presents the idea that men have 3 quests in their life, one of which is adventure. You might imagine how Jacob's ears perked up when Gregg shared first thing this morning he had gone up on the roof to see how it was coming along. Of course Jacob wanted to be a part of a repeat adventure. His mother was far less sure. However, before Jacob could change out of his pj's and into jeans Gregg had convinced Elizabeth that the ladders were nailed to the roof and it was not only checking the adventure box for the day, but also a great photo opportunity.

Although the friends were not able to sit together they were able to hang out right behind the Patriots bench thus having lots of opportunity to see #12.

Jacob and Gregg's permanent seats were 6 rows behind the bench on the 40.
A dream come true!

A couple of weekends ago Jacob had the afternoon of a lifetime. A bit of history is required...or should I say math. You see at the end of the school year at St. Vincent's School the students were given a math book to be completed over the summer. Jacob had the notion that a new school meant no summer workbook - wrong-o! However, his dad did dangle a reward, one that would be slowly revealed as each quarter of the book was completed via clues. Jacob was all the better in math and one happy Patriots fan to learn that he was going to the Cowboys/Patriots game in Oct.

Gregg was equally surprised that both teams came to the game with winning records thus sending ticket prices through the roof! And then some!! Thankfully a friend came through with a connection that resulted in not one, but two pair of tickets. Jacob and Gregg were joined by a long time AA pilot friend and his son. Are the boys Patriots fans in their matching jerseys? YEP! Are the dad's neutral football fans in matching Nike shirts with cargo shorts? YEP!! That was good for a big laugh on the front porch!!

The second weekend in October we had some special visitors.
It was a treat to have Josh and Miranda drop their boys off with us while they went on a long weekend with friends. Joshua is 3 and Jonathan is 1. They were so good for us and seemed to adjust extremely well to the mommy/daddyless weekend. We did our best to have lots and lots of little boy friendly activity and at the end of one day Miranda asked, "You did that all today?" We are not sure when we will get to see them again, there is a good chance it will be after the new baby arrives. Yep! Lobs Grandbaby #11 will arrive in May! GIRL??!!??!!??!!

Can you believe Brynne and I made our first college visit?
We checked out Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
A.C. is a small, private liberal arts college that caught Brynne's eye due to a 5 year masters of education program in addition to a Spanish immersion house.
Sherman is about 90 minutes from us, not exactly the most happening place when you have lived your entire life smack dab between Dallas and Fort Worth. There are 1,000 less students then there are at CHHS. It is the first of what we anticipate will be 5 college visits over the course of the next year as she thinks this all through,
rolls it around and gets to the bottom $$ line.

Last night we gathered with some other kids
and parents for a bit of tailgating
before the Homecoming game.
We played the Carroll Dragons,
perhaps they sound vaguely familiar.
They have had lots of national exposure in USA Today, Sports Illustrated and various other high profile publications. They have a remarkable record and our stadiums are literally across the street from each other. Without much elaboration I can tell you that all of the local teams desperately desire to be the team that stops their ridiculously long winning streak. The Dragons motto is "Protect the Tradition" as you can see in the background banner.
Consider it protected. Enough said.

It is homecoming time and the swim/dive team entered their
water themed float in the parade. They take their entry seriously
and truly enjoy their togetherness in and out of the water.

Care to brush up on your multiple choice test taking skills?
How is this explained?
A) There was a sale at the red-white-and blue store
B) We have decided to add another bathroom to our home
C) We are having our roof replaced and don't want roofers to...
you know where I am going with this.
D) TP'ing isn't much fun for our local teens...how about tipping??

So you are a new kid to a school.
What would you do?
If you are Jacob you run for President of Student Council!

Jacob gets the award for most outgoing in the Mattson family.
Without bias I can say he likes kids and they like him.
When he opted to throw his hat in the ring we were proud of him and happy that he was as comfortable as he was at his new school. He was on the ballet with 6-7 other kids.
And get this...he won!