October & November 2011 Catch-Up

Thanksgiving car ride with Grandpa D
Getting a kick out of old Dieckman family photos

Dig in! Much to be thankful for.

Jim prepping the Tofurkey as Grandma D looks on

St. Pete Times Turkey Trot (Heather, me, JB)

Thankful for friends who have such cute collages I can steal (Rollerskate GNO- Melissa, Sara, me, Maria) bunch of other fun gals were there also, not pictured here

Always wanted to see what Jim would look like all decked out in the OR....but not under these circumstances :(

The break

Toby in his sweet koala bear hospital gown, made for a 6 yr old

Taken about a week before the break in his SHS soccer uniform, all jazzed for season

Dad, Mom, Arielle, Toby

Mummy Pizzas

Halloween FHE and pumpkin carving

Melbourne GNO at Jill's house :) I went as "Daniel-Son"
(Jill in back row all the way left, Maria in dalmation 80's get up, lol)

Clark Kent, Hermoine, Computer Head (friend Holly)

Arielle, Niko & Skyler at Mom/Daughter Camp Out (Church Ranch)

Girl's just wanna have fun!

(Maria, Melissa, Vanessa, me)

At mom/ daughter camp out

Well the family is at church and I'm home sick so I figured it's a perfect time to catch up on Oct & Nov.'s many adventures. Highlights (and lowlights): Mom/Daughter Camp Out, Halloween, Mom & Dad visit, Toby breaks his collar bone :(, Girls Night Out Roller Skating, Thanksgiving in Clearwater, and many days spent at the horse stable...

Melbourne ward has a fun tradition of mother/daughter campouts. This was a first for Arielle and I and we had a blast. Luckily it was cabin camping with full baths and only one night so it was easy for us first timers. We went with a group of friends and had a great time chatting around the campfire, making s'mores and the girls climbed trees and ran around until 2am!

Halloween was nice and warm. Toby was Clark Kent, Arielle was Hermione from Harry Potter and her friend Holly Carter was a computer head, lol. Holly came with our family to the Melbourne ward trunk or treat at Wickam Park. The kids enjoyed a hayride and we all enjoyed the potluck chili supper. That was a couple nights before Halloween, then on Halloween we walked around Martesia, which the kids were told is "the place" for treat or treating. One nice thing about Halloween in FL is that it is warm enough for Halloween to be like a block party! Lots of older couples were sitting out front, no need to ring bells, just float from house to house. Some homes went all out serving drinks and providing haunted houses. Jim & I walked Teddy and trailed Arielle and her friends as to not embarrass her (heaven forbid we should be SEEN by her friends- gag!)

November started off mellow enough. Arielle was going to the barn in Rockledge (30 min away) to visit Dali a few times a week and Toby was playing lots of soccer. HS practices had started he was wrapping up his u14 competitive season. Mom and Dad came to visit Veteran's day weekend. We enjoyed going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and River Rocks. They also met Dali, and met up with Uncle W and Aunt F in Viera at the Avenue shopping center where we all relaxed by the fountain and had a nice lunch. Then, their last day here they were watching Toby ROCK his soccer game, he'd scored 2 goals and their team was winning. He started to get guarded HARD. A little TOO HARD. BAM! He got sandwiched between a couple guys and fell onto his shoulder without the use of his arms. Looked kinda bad, but things tend to be physical in these games. When he stayed down a couple minutes I thought he was "flopping" . He got up and walked back to bench. Jim decided to go check on him. Next thing I know Jim is walking over to me quickly with Toby and asking me for the insurance card. NOT A GOOD SIGN. We end up in the emergency room where sure enough he's got a nasty break on his collarbone. They throw a sling on and send us home. It pays to have connections in the OR. Jim showed 3 orthopedic surgeons the x-ray and they all said- operate! This was a bummer since often collarbone breaks don't require surgery. But Toby got a plate and 4 screws and he's out the rest of the soccer season, not to mention missing almost 2 weeks of school and trying to catch up....Ugh.

Luckily he felt good enough to venture to Clearwater for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a big spread by Chuck & Karen. They are such great cooks! Turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesecake, pumpkin pie and these wonderful little pearl onions in a creamy sheri sauce that I had never had before (they were my favorite!). Chuck & Karen don't like pics taken of them, but I was able to snap a couple. We had fun laughing at some old Dieckman family photos, and Chuck took the kids for a spin in his convertible. The morning of Thanksgiving Julie, Heather & I ran the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 5k. We orginally planned to do the 10k but Julie was sick and we knocked it down to the 5k. It was a really fun and well organized race with a decent dry release race shirt. Our visit with everyone was too short since we only had about 24 hrs in Clearwater due to Jim's schedule!

I also had a blast with the Melbourne GNO group at our Roller Disco Party :D. Besides falling and getting some sweet bruises, it was a really fun night skating around and grooving to some 80's tunes.

Arielle and I have now moved Dali (the horse!) to a barn closer to us and we go out there everyday to turn him in from pasture and feed him. I love my barn time with Arielle. We listen to country music on the way there and I just relish in the peaceful, homey atmosphere of the barn. Jim...not so much. He loves to see Arielle ride but I think he is seriously SICK of hearing the word horse around our house!

We hope Toby will survive the winter without going stir crazy. He plans on dressing out and sitting the bench for a few games and he'll probably sit around the house and play way too many video games and I'm going to let him.