"Diversity Means..."

We had our Reflections art contest at North Star Elementary this past month and both of these guys won ribbons! The topic was "Diversity Means...". Hannah won first in literature, second in musical composition, and second in visual arts. Dylan won first in literature and second in visual arts. ( They were in different categories-- Hannah is in the 3rd-5th grade division and Dylan is in the K-2nd.) I love that they embraced this topic and worked hard to understand it!

On another note, we just had parent/ teacher conferences and there was nothing in either conference that could have been better academically, socially, behaviorally for either kid! How did I get such smart, sweet, and talented kiddos? I am one proud Mama!

Below is Hannah's artwork, then Dylan's artwork, Hannah's poem, then Dylan's story!

Things to Come?

Today, we went into the woods to shoot promotional photos for "Into The Woods"! Mason plays the part of Rapunzel. (I believe they are going to possibly photo shop the hair onto the photo because she does not have the wig yet.) In this picture, the witch is trying to keep Rapunzel and her prince apart. I've got to be honest here and tell you that my mind drifted into the future when the boys start showing up on our doorstep. I can absolutely see us in this pose except that is me in the middle! :)

A Cute Guy on a November Day!

Winter!

On Tuesday, we adopted another new friend for our family! This one is going so much better than our adventure with Oso. He and Boudreaux are playing pretty well together, walking together with me on my walks (I am still wary of running with two of them because my hips have been soooo bad lately), and even sleeping together in the same enclosure. There have been a couple of small growls as they work out who is the boss but nothing bad at all. He came with the name, Winter.

And our trusty old friend, Boudreaux!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Lunch!

Dylan is thankful for: food and vegetables, mommy and daddy, uncles, friends and aunts, and home. (I am sure he is thankful for his sisters, too, but apparently they were not on his mind that day!)

Boudreaux's Birthday!

Our pup turned three years old on Sunday! Praise the powers that be, he is finally becoming a calm dog! We survived puppyhood! We played ball with him out on the park and enjoyed a really beautiful fall day! And, call us crazy, but we have another potential friend for him coming to meet him today. Really, the last thing we need is another dog but, well, he was cute... We'll let you know how this one works out-- hopefully they will get along better than he and Oso did.

My Little Guy!

More Zombie Shots!

Pirates of the Penzance, Zombie Edition!

This was the now annual zombie version of the October Box play! The kids do an extraordinary job and always perform a dance choreographed like Michael Jackson's Thriller video. This year, they performed it on a bigger stage! Lots more pictures coming tomorrow!

Halloween (and an apology...)

Am I not THE. WORST. BLOGGER. EVER. these days??? I am so sorry and I have so many pictures to post! I really thought that when all three kids were in school, I would have so much time on my hands! I planned to organize closets (not done), cook a lot (yeah, right), finish Christmas shopping before November (haven't started)... You get the point. Why didn't anyone tell me??? Life is so crazy busy now that there is time for none of these things. My family is lucky if they get a real, home-cooked meal. Between volunteering at both schools, field trips, running PTA programs, driving the girls to theatre rehearsal, and keeping up with the house, I am too swamped to even blog. I do promise to do better again, though!

Halloween was lots of fun! We had the usual suspects over for dinner and trick-or-treating. We had a scavenger hunt, played Halloween Twister, made rice krispie pumpkins, and had lots of great pot-luck foods to choose from! Poor Hannah had come home from school sick and threw up for some of the afternoon, but she rallied for the trick-or-treating. Mason caught the bug later in the night. Thankfully, our dear friends and family still braved coming over to our house and only one got the bug, too. (Sorry, John!) The next post will be of (drum roll, please) THE PIRATES OF THE PENZANCE ZOMBIE VERSION!!! This was truly one of the best shows ever!


Luna Lovegood

Our super-cool pirate set-up! Dylan got to bring the pirate ship home after the last Pirates of the Penzance show! We used it as an enemy ship battling our blow-up pirate ship. It was complete with strobe lights, and pirate music. The kids insist we had the best decorated house in the neighborhood!

Our litle sick one...

He calls it "his facial hair".

Twister!