It's been fun for us, now that R.J. is old enough to babysit. And things actually go pretty well as long as we add a lot of bribery to the occasion. :o) One thing he struggles with though, is getting Conner to bed. So sometimes when we get home, this is what we find...
So cute.
Braden loves TV shows where survival is the goal. His favorites are "Monsters Inside Me," "I Shouldn't Be Alive," and a new discovery, "Survivorman." This guy goes out into wildernesses of all kinds, like jungles, or the Arctic, and just simply survives. Braden LOVES it. So, we were at a soccer game of R.J.'s and this is what Braden spent the 1.5 hrs building...
It was actually pretty impressive. If I ever have to go on Survivor or something like that, I hope Braden is on my team.
Our school's annual turkey trot is really fun. Someone always dresses up as a turkey, and the fastest runner for each grade wins a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. Last year R.J. won a turkey for me. This year, Braden & Sienna gave it their best shot. They both ran 9 laps, but sadly that wasn't enough. But don't worry, we still had Thanksgiving.
Braden started out strong, look at him go, right in the front of the pack...
After a few laps, he started to lag. This is a lot of running for those of us who don't love running!
All done, and still alive!
Now it's Sienna's turn...
Sienna also tried really hard. And she stopped for a drink after every single lap, lol...
Phew!
Several months ago, I set up an appt. for family pictures with a friend & talented photographer. When we made the appt. it was still sunny at 6pm. When the day came to get our pictures taken, it was dark at 6pm. So we rescheduled. The rescheduled date came and the sun was out, but the wind was blowing a million miles an hour. So we rescheduled. Our appt. is now set for tomorrow, and sunny skies are in the forecast. But this is what I found...
Am I doomed? I don't know. Wish us luck that we can do a cute enough comb-over and still have decent family pictures this year!
The Horse...
The Sniper...
The Angel...
and The Leaf Blower....
Braden changed his costume for trick-or-treating, he is a Gangster now...
R.J.'s 1st band concert was last week. It's hard to get a good picture at a band concert! I learned some things about R.J. at this concert that I didn't already know. I knew he was in the regular band and that he had also joined the jazz band. I didn't know that he was in the ADVANCED jazz band. And I didn't know he tried out for a solo and got it. R.J. loves band. I don't know if he'll burn out, most days he has it 3 times in one day, but for now he loves it.
Operation Caramel Apple was a huge success. Without absorbing the ramifications, I signed up to bring caramel apples to a theatrical performance of R.J.'s G.A.T.E. class. At the time, I did not know it was a fundraiser and the teacher wanted to SELL the apples. And she wanted me to make a lot. So now I was stuck, having never actually made caramel apples before, and now they need to be pretty. Step in friend Tammy. Tammy saved my life. She came over and helped me make 29 caramel apples (I started with 30, but Conner grabbed one, pre-dip, and took a huge bite). And guess what, it wasn't that hard, it was fun! Of course, later I made 3 all by myself and it wasn't as fun or not hard. I've decided the success of caramel apples depends on two sets of hands. Thank you Tammy for saving the day! And P.S., every last one of my apples was sold. :o)
And here is R.J. in his performance, reciting a couple of stanzas from Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven."
The much-anticipated 3rd grade trip to the Bernhard Museum has finally arrived for Sienna. You have to dress like a pioneer and learn all the things they had to do, back when this was a working farm. Sienna learned how to do laundry, make soap, make her own doll, build a fruit crate, make biscuits, and something else I can't remember now. But it was really fun! I was able to go with her and be in charge of wood-working. And I pulled it off. :o)
