My Day...Got up at 6:15am, showered, got kids ready for school and out the door, loaded the dishwasher, sent out a few emails, went to the dentist for a cleaning, drove to Richland Hills for fingerprinting (per new sub teaching regs), went grocery shopping, picked up baseball trophies at the YMCA for Saturday's game, came home to look up new flight info for friend, put in 3 more loads of laundry, made posters for both kid's Rockin Fun Runs for tomorrow at school, coached bird who flew into the house out of the house (don't laugh...it worked!), picked up kids at school, worked on resume, sent out emails for rescheduled baseball games, made dinner, picked friend up from airport, watched head spin around on neck in the mirror, laughed uncontrollably, thanked God for all my blessings, and went to bed. Amen.

A Few More Halloween Pics...Here are a few pics from Halloween with our friends, The Pates. One cute dog, one beautiful witch, one scary witch, and two ghoulish Jason's.

Straight A's for Jacob...So proud of Jacob! Found his report card this morning in his backpack. He made straight A's (99 Language Arts, 99 Social Studies, 99 Science, and 93 Math) for this 9 weeks! He also made the highest level M=Mastery for his student conduct and study skills. We are so proud of him all the time but he has worked hard this year and his hard work is paying off! Good job Jacob!

Halloween 2009...Officially, the biggest crowd of trick or treaters I have ever seen! It really made for a festive evening to be out and about in our neighborhood. The kids and I met up with our friends, The Pates, for our 2nd annual treat or treating extravaganza. Julia was a bride and Jacob was a Clone Trooper. Then we came back to the house to finish passing out candy and watch Batman movies while we sorted through the candy loot and ate popcorn. It was a very fun evening to share with friends. I am including a few pics from last night but also a couple from Julia's dance class this week. They got to wear their costumes to class. Very cute!

Nikki's Current Song Obsession...It is Pat Green's What I'm For. Take a list if you want.Pat Green - What I'm For [ New Video + Lyrics + Download ]

Life In General...Things have been really busy around the Elliott house with baseball, dance class, school, work, and Jacob is participating in an after school program at his school once a week for 6 weeks called MAD SCIENCE. He is having a blast and doing really cool science experiments in the process. And he is just amazing on the baseball field. He is really doing so great and we are constantly amazed that this is his first year playing. He really seems to have a lot of natural ability. He hits the ball and gets on base every time he bats, he hustles like crazy, and does a great job catching the ball. And he is having FUN! I am so proud of him.

The kids and I are in the process of figuring out which faces we want to draw/carve on our pumpkins. Seems like a good weekend project. The weather is gorgeous and in the 70's so it is wonderful to just have the windows open enjoying a cool breeze.

Julia got her Halloween costume today in the mail from Gramma and Big Daddy. She wants to be a bride. Oh boy! Is she gorgeous all dressed up in her gown, veil, and bouquet! I'll have to post some pictures this weekend.

We are anxiously awaiting the OSU football game later today. It is homecoming weekend and we sure wish we could be there to take the kids to their first walkaround, parade, and OSU football game. No one does homecoming quite as great as OSU! GO POKES! Beat Mizzou!

Have a great weekend!

This is my great grandfather, Walter Holke. He lived from Dec 25, 1892-Oct 12, 1954. He had a very successful 11 yr career at 1st base playing for the Giants, Braves, Phillies, and Reds. He was a switch hitter and was a left handed thrower. His nickname was the "Union Man". I am so proud of his accomplishments and the impact that he made on baseball. But mostly when I see this picture, I see my grandfather, Pa (Kenneth Holke), my dad (David Holke), my brother (Doug Holke) and my cousin, Landon Beck. His face so reminds me of Pa. But there is something in my dad's eyes that reminds me of Walter. And my brother and my cousin have his head shape and square jaw. So, when I look at him, I see my life. And now, as my son starts baseball for the first time...Jacob has Walter's piercing blue eyes, his ambidextrous abilities, and his left handed-ness. I hope my son enjoys baseball as I enjoyed softball. But more than that, I hope my son looks back on these cards and sees an honorable man who worked hard, raised an honorable son with a great sense of humor, who then raised my father (another good man), and then there was me...and then Jacob. I can only hope we carry on that same sense of character. And maybe I am imagining things...but I think I see a little bit of this german girl in Walter "Union Man" Holke.