Pumpkin Carving Party

It was such a fun morning hosting our first pumpkin carving party! We had Joel's 10U Avalanche softball team over. We chose morning so the girls would be bright eyed and ready to get creative and so the families could still enjoy their afternoon together!)  

We woke up late but I think our decorations were still pretty cute. 

Paper lanterns make everything a little cuter and more festive!

We made a fall mix using candy corn, pretzels, Reese pieces, and some orange and purple marshmallow popcorn and pumpkin shaped potato puffs... All from Target. We put them in clear treat bags and tied them with green tulle to make it look like pumpkin and leaves!

Colorful pirate eye patches and vampire fangs were a hit!

Ghost pops = easy adorable treat for cheap! It's a PEEP!!! Simply push a ghost peep on a sucker stick and voila!

Disposable table cloths are a must! This makes for easy, quick clean up!

Spider Cider was a smash! So delicious! We mixed 2 gallons of apple cider, 1 large can of pineapple juice and 5 cinnamon sticks. Warm on stove and and serve in a spider punch bowl... What else?!

Get your coach to scoop out all your gunk. That's an obvious. 

And the finished products with their creative artists! I loved seeing all the girls get to know each other a little bit better. They already have the sweetest friendships... We can't wait to keep them growing those relationships. 

Happy Pumpkin Carving Party!!!

XO

Jari 

Gold Anyone?

Michelle Smith made her appearance at the Little League State Tournament in Missoula last weekend. Our girls were so excited to participate in her 2 hour pitching camp. 

I'm not sure if they even realize who they just got coached from, took their photos with and got their ball signed from. 

We are talking about Michelle Smith!!! Olympic GOLD medalist... Not once but TWO TIMES!! Michelle was a pioneer in the sport of fast pitch softball and is a great role model for young girl athletes. (I'm pretty sure the girls will be doing a report on Michelle this school year ;) because I'm the mom AND the teacher and I said so ;)

Softball has become a family sport here at the Spry house. Even so much that Joel is going to be head coach of the Montana Avalanche 10U team next year. (And I pray both if our big girls get a spot on his team ;) I couldn't be more excited and proud of him. My husband loves baseball. So when you are blessed with 3 daughters, you learn to love softball too :)

Joel has a love for the sport but even more, his passion is to help develop girls into strong young ladies on the field and off. Working hard and learning to be a good leader and encouragement to your team is so important. Doing your best without having to be the best is another key phrase when it's time to tie up the cleats. These are life lessons that they'll be learning but I also know that through this season in our lives (who am I kidding?! Like the next 18 seasons!) Joel and I will probably be learning more than we'll ever be able to teach. 

I'm sure you'll get to hear all about it right here over the next year. It's going to be a fun, fast-paced journey. 

Did you play sports as a child? What did you play? What was a life lesson you learned from that sport?

XO

Jari

Breakfast: vanilla protein shake with strawberries and blueberries 

Snack: granny smith apple 

Lunch: a cup of GF chicken gumbo soup and a big salad filled with fresh veggies and I used the juice of the pepperoncinis as my dressing 

Early Dinner: naked burrito with brown rice, black beans, lime chicken and mango salsa scooped up with tortilla chips. 

Snack: almonds

Snack: vanilla protein shake with peanut butter and cinnamon