Trick or Treat!

Our Halloween came and went without a hitch. We had a ghost, Jedi (again), motorcycle dude, and a pirate....arrrrgh!


Garrett is a little old to be going door to door, but letting him go was worth not having to go myself.

Bird House

Noah has been a Cub Scout now for a whole 21 days and he whizzed through
the Bobcat requirements and is almost finished earning his Wolf badge.
(He has a year to complete this).

This is the bird house he built for requirement 5. We found a pattern online went to Lowes and bought a cedar fence board....a few hours later (with mom's help with the power tools) ta-da it's a birdhouse!

This is an 'action' shot.
Notice that he's biting his lip...he gets that from me. I get it from my dad.

This is what adorns the inside wall.
Okay, I admit it is cheesey but I couldn't resist (and Noah thought it was cute).

Catching up!

It has been awhile since I have blogged. I have quite a bit to tell you all. No life changing news....just a lot going on. Garrett (our oldest) celebrated his 13th birthday in May, shortly after my last post. I certainly don't feel old enough to have a teenager. It helps that he doesn't act any older than 2 most of the time!

Here is the one okay photo of him with his cake.
(notice the tealight....I didn't have birthday candles. Classy huh?)

Scripture Olympics

The following weekend we had a Primary activity at church for the kids age 3-12. I was in charge of this one (we have 4 a year) and we picked "Scripture Olympics" as the theme.

The kids had a blast shooting "Goliath" with marshmallows

and "Samuel the Lamanite" with water balloons.

We had a "Nephi's boat race"

and "Noah's Ark" challenge.

The kids had ice pops and water afterwards. We had concerns having an activity on Memorial Day weekend, but all but 9 kids showed up!

Noah's Concert

Noah "Yankee Doodle" Haines

Noah performed last night in a 2nd grade "Patriotic" concert. He did such a great job! This is the only good photo. He was on the top riser in the back behind the lights. I took some great videos of him singing. As soon as I figure out how to upload them, I will!

It was either out of focus or too dark. He found the hat at Mom's and Dad's last weekend. We borrowed it especially for the concert. It sure made him easy to find!

Noah outside after the show!

2008 Olympic Team Trials

Garrett had a fantastic opportunity to volunteer with his scout troop at the US National Whitewater Center. The 2008 Team trials for Whitewater Slalom are being held there this weekend. He worked all day in the sun passing out drinks to spectators and athletes. He was able to meet some of the athletes (Kyakers, ages 12 -14). He had a blast! I am so proud of how hard he worked today THERE and then in the garden!

Garden Party!

The garden is started! I was so industrious this morning and went to Lowe's (and then Home Depot and finally Pike Nursery, UGH!) to get the vermiculite, peat moss, and compost. Oh! and the rest of the plants/seeds. But by the time I got home I was hot and tired and honestly a bit cranky. (Home Depot no longer sells vermiculite? Some garden center!) So I took the afternoon off. Not very productive of me, but hey, it's my garden.

Later in the day (5pm) I finally felt a need to get it done. So here are the photos. Though the garden isn't complete, I am off to a great start!

Garrett hefting and pouring compost for the garden.

Okay, I know this isn't the most flattering photo of me. Keep in mind that Eli took this one and I had pretty much lost all feeling in my face because he took his dear sweet time!

Here's the cukes and beans (seeds planted)

From the top, tomatoes, and onions.

Here is part of the garden behind the family room (where the garden was last year) There is another box this shape and size mirrored to the left. This has carrots and onions in it so far.

Still to plant: zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkin.

Party like a ROCK STAR!

Eli is six years old and he partied a LOT to celebrate.

He shared cupcakes with his school friends at lunch.
He ate the icing and left the cupcake.

The family celebrated with pizza at Chuck E Cheese's.

You are never to old to have fun....

Even BIG kids like Chuck E Cheese's

On Friday he had a party at Sport's Connection with mini-bowling and games.
He got to blow out the "6" candle and make his wish.

Head Gear is Cool!

At least that's what we are telling him! Garrett got his ortho appliance yesterday. He only has to wear it 12 hours a day. Luckily he can avoid peer ridicule by wearing it while he sleeping.

Art

This is a pretty random post but I thought it was worth the time and effort. I am not an expert in the arts. I appreciate the talent it takes to create art in it's various forms. I think what I like the best is accidental art. Take this photo for instance. My sister-in-law was feeding her 19 month old a last few bites from her plate when this appeared. Our little carrot face. It was worth a quick photo.

Then there is this "mud head" Noah made. Now I realize this isn't a Picasso, but it takes talent to turn mud, grass, and stone into a man.

Enjoy!

Reed Gold Mine

There was no school today so we went with the cousins, Liam and Sutton to Reed Gold Mine. After the movie and a tour of the mine we went panning for gold. Evan went with the hope of getting enough gold to buy a flat screen tv. Let's just say, though he had fun, he left without enough for even the remote!

Eli and Liam panning for gold.

The boys hamming it up at the outhouse.

Looking up the mine shaft.

The boys on our tour of the mine.

Evan's Birthday!

Tuesday was Evan's
10th birthday. We went
to Bob Evans to celebrate
and the waitstaff sang
"Happy Birthday" to him
when they brought him
his sundae. He ate it up!
(the attention and the ice cream!)
He has always LOVED
to eat there. At one point
he referred to Bob Evans as
"thefancy restaurant with
wacamoni and cheese".

Summer's Over

After long days at the beach, we have come back to reality.
I have posted some photos of our summer and first day of school. I hope now that we have a regular schedule I'll be able to keep up with the blog.

The "Beach Boys" at Virginia Beach.

Winter Weather

After last month's near miss of "Winter Weather" the second time was a charm, we got snow! Bryant planned to work from home that day and the kids enjoyed the day off from school to play in the snow. This is the snow-baby that the kids made. They used celery for buttons and eyes and a baby carrot for a nose, of course.

They made two large balls of snow for a larger snow man but they got too big to push and they ended up in different parts of the yard. OOPS