It’s been quite a week.  We’ve had our ups & downs.  The week started out with lots of fun.  Kelly had a Girl Scout event at the rollerskating rink.  Their troop wore their Halloween costumes and Kelly tied for first place in her age group.  Then on Wednesday, she came down with an awful cold.  By Thursday, I had to keep her home from school.  She did go to school today because her class went on a fieldtrip to the ice skating rink.  Nate went along and she was so excited to have Dad at her fieldtrip.

Megan had a wonderful week!  She was running for Treasurer at school and won.  She got a part in the play, A Midsummer  Nights Dream (the part she wanted) and she scored a goal in floor hockey today.  I’m not sure how she can top this week.  They both had their fall parties at school today and enjoyed eating junk food and pop.

Tonight we carved our pumpkins, which is always fun around here.  It always gets us laughing and this was a week that we needed it.  Tomorrow night will be cold, but the girls can’t wait to go Trick or Treating!  I’ll be sure and blog about it.  Till then…..

Not sure who has the silliest face!

Kelly's pumpkin

We had an early morning today.  Kelly had her first basketball game at 8:15 a.m.  And I forgot my camera!!  It was a lot of fun to watch and to learn how this game is played.  I’m not familar with basketball just yet.  Kelly’s team lost a close one, 18-14, but I think they learned quite a bit from this game.  I did too, this is an aggressive sport!!   Kelly played hard and it was fun to cheer them on.  Go Polar Bears!!!  (they have white t-shirts)

It’s finally happening around here.  Our fall colors are beginning to pop out everywhere.  Today we had a beautiful, 50 degree day with lots of sun.   The trees looked spectacular and very vibrant.  We had a terrible week, weather-wise, so it was so nice to see the sunshine and get outside to enjoy the fresh air.  I worked on getting all of the summer tables & chairs put away. Our deck looks so empty now, but much larger.   I also put out the Halloween decorations.  Megan helped me hang skulls out by the front door and a witches broom.  We did some inside decorating as well.

The girls got out their chalk and used our driveway as their canvas.  They were in the Halloween mood, and made lots of neat drawings to jazz up our front. 

Megan's candycorn & bat

It felt so good to get outside yesterday and see the neighbors.  I started the day by running to the post office and library.  Then came home and took Jazz for a walk around the pond.  She was so excited to be going for a walk that I had to keep her on a short leash  for a while until she calmed down.  After that, I made a pan of pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars.  We enjoyed them last night after dinner and they were delicious.  A perfect fall treat.  

Nate went and bought himself a new toy for outdoors.  It’s like a leaf blower, only it sucks the leaves into the bag which he carries on his back.  He  reminded me of Bill Murray in Ghostbusters.   It worked really well and helps out his back.  No more bending over with a rake, we’ll leave that to the girls.   I also took out all of the screens in the windows.  For me, summer is officially over when I take those out.  I love being able to look out my windows again without a screen.  My house feels brighter.

Today, we may try and get outside for awhile before the Vikings take on the Baltimore Ravens at noon.   Tomorrow, we all head back to school/work.  Our Fall break felt long and it was nice to be able to sleep in.  Our next break isn’t until Thanksgiving….I hope it’s warmer by then. 

What a confusing October this has been.  Yesterday I was out picking pumpkins for Halloween and today I’m taking pictures of the girls building a snowman!  Crazy!!   It actually turned out to be a fun day.  We have this week off of school because of conferences and MEA workshops.  So when we woke up this morning and saw it snowing out and we didn’t have to go to school/work, it felt just like a snow day.  We dug out allof the winter gear and the girls got on their hats, mittens, boots, snowpants and jackets and headed out for some winter fun.  The snow was very wet and sticky so it was perfect for making a snowman and snowballs.  The girls decided to name their snowman, “Mr. Green” because we’re all “going green” these days and he was made out of all natural elements.  I thought this was pretty funny & creative.  After the snow fun, it was time to come in and have some hot chocolate and pizza rolls.  A great choice to warm you up!  

I hope I wake up tomorrow and it’s 90 degrees!  That would be a nice change.  The way this October is going…it could happen!

Today we headed out to Mark & Peggy’s to find our perfect pumpkins.  Terry and the boys joined us to make it even more fun.  When we first got out there, Mark brought us straight over to his popcorn machine for a yummy bag of freshly popped kernels with a variety of salts to add on top.  Mmm…a warm bag of popcorn in your hands is perfect on this cool fall day.  Love that aroma as well.

After our snack, we walked over to the greenhouse and found some beautiful pumpkins.  It was really hard to choose one this year because they had so many nicely shaped pumpkins that we kept saying, “oh, I like that one…wait, how about this one!”  ha!   But in the end, all four of us chose are best one and Terry’s boys got some interesting gourds to show off at their house.  Daniel told us that his will be great to stick a firecracker into after Halloween.  Boys…..

We’re suppose to get snow tonight and into tomorrow, so I guess my nice pumpkin display will have to come indoors for the night.  How sad is that.  I hope it warms up a bit for our trick or treaters.

Brrr…something is terribly wrong with our weather these days.  It feels like November and it should be October.  Temps should be 60 degrees, not 40!  Other than the weather being lousy, I had a good week.  The kids at school have been very cooperative lately and even my little kindergartener has turned it around.  Every morning, I continue to say hello to him and he greets me with a smile and tells me, “You look very beautiful today.”  He’s probably sucking up, but hey it’s better than having the “f” word yelled at me.  I’m actually enjoying working with him now.  He’s a fun kid with a great imagination and an even cuter smile.

Family news….Kelly is getting ready to begin basketball season.  Something new for her and she’s really been practicing a lot and enjoying her newest sport.   Megan finished making her poster for school.  She’s running for class treasurer.  She still needs to write her speech but feels she’s got a good chance to win.  I hope she enjoys this “political career” of hers.  It’s always a confidence booster.  I’ll let you know how the votes come out in a couple of weeks.

The Twins lost another game to the Yankees tonight.  They had many chances to win, but just kept throwing it away.  I guess we never expected them to beat the Yankees, but could they just get one game please!!

Tonight was an exciting evening for Kelly.  She “bridged” from a Brownie to a Junior Girl Scout.  This is a big deal for these girls and a special night.  She now will wear the green vest rather than brown and their patches will be round rather than triangles.  Little changes but big stuff for a girl scout.  Kelly couldn’t wait to show off her green vest, so of course I needed to pull out my camera.  She said, “I feel more grown-up in this vest.”  I agree.

Our Junior Scout

It’s been a full weekend already and it’s only Saturday night.  Last night, the girls & I went to the Hidden Valley School Dance.  Megan & I helped out at the concession stand selling popcorn, candy & water for a half-hour and then Megan was off dancing with her friends.  Kelly & I said good-bye to each other as we entered the school and she saw her friends.   She was off!  I told her I’d see her at 9:00, when the dance ended.  It was the schools first dance and it was very successful and lots of fun.  The DJ was terrific and kept the whole party dancing!   It was a good time for the mom’s to chat and have some fun as well.

Today, Nate & I spent most of our day outside watching soccer.   It was tournament time, and Megan’s team won their first game which advanced them to the finals.  It was very cold, cloudy and even a bit rainy at times throughout the day, but the girls did their best and came out the winners.  Nate & I pulled out all of the winter gear, just to stay warm.  Luckily there was a two-hour rest period between games, so the girls could go home, have some lunch and warm up.   We did notice that the girls dressed a bit warmer at their second game.  Shorts just weren’t going to cut it on a day like today, so the sweatshirts & pants came out for game #2.    It was a great season and we enjoyed all of their games.

Way to go Megan!

What a cold and blustery day we had today.  The rain was coming down quite heavily and the wind would blow it in your face.  I was happy to have had my large umbrella with me at work today.  My small one would’ve never held up to that wind.  I still ended up with soggy pants but better than ruining my hair for the day! 

Kelly started choir today.  She is amongst many other 4th-6th graders who are very eager to sing loud and sing proud.  They will be practicing every Thursday morning, before school, until December and then will put on a concert for us around the holidays.  Can’t wait for that.  Our music teacher has a knack for choosing some interesting songs that make you laugh.  I love it!

Both girls are involved in an after school program called The Environmental Club.  This club is dedicated to help clean up our school on the outside and make it look nice.  They do things such as pulling weeds, planting flowers and today they put out mulch all around the new landscaping.  This was a tough job because they had to do it in the pouring rain!  These kids were out for about 45 minutes shoveling mulch and placing it down around the bushes & plants.  They deserve much appreciation for a job well done, considering their circumstance.  I only hope they don’t all get colds!   Kelly is still fighting her first one of the season.  I’m sure being in the rain didn’t help.  But that’s what environmentalist do….they work outside, no matter what.  Good going girls.  Mom was thinking about you outside today as I sat home in the nice warm house.