So much to say...

There is so much I can think of to write about that this in going to be really long winded and you really don't have to read it all. I'm afraid I might scare away the few people who read this blog (LOVE YOU!)

Gary and James are off at their first performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I opted to take the kids next weekend to see it, in the afternoon, before they are tired, hungry or cranky (tall order I know, especially on the middle one) but I am kind of sad that I can't be there every time to see my sweethearts on the stage. They have worked like dogs on this show, trying new talents and skills. I hope they come home happy with their performances tonight.

Report cards came home this week, and Amelia's has a surprise inside- her teacher wrote her a note on hot pink paper "Amelia, you ROCK! Keep up the AWESOME work!" She brought home average marks and I am extremely pleased with her adjustment to the full school day.

James also brought home his report card and he was a bit surprised by some of his marks. It seems that his dislike for handwriting (and the resulting short words/partial sentence answers) have finally caught up with him. Don't get me wrong, he is extremely bright, he just hides it well when he writes. Hopefully, he will understand the importance of writing as well as he speaks. (He had a poetry assignment- one of those month long big project ones and it was like pulling teeth to get him to write down anything substantial. Finally, I had him explain each of his one word lines without writing it down, and he said amazing things. I said "did you hear that?! Write down the thing you just said!" As we talked through the assignment, it came together really well. He got great marks on it- I'll have to put some of it on here, when he brings it home.) I think that he sees written work as a way to fill a blank on a paper, not as a way to communicate ideas. Anyway, enough about that. He got great grades on math, social science, music and PE.

I am 13 weeks pregnant and happy to be pregnant. Around moving time, the baby was threatening to miscarry and that was an added stress. Things have settled down now I am hoping for an uneventful 14-40 weeks.

Had my second turn at hosting Joy School. I usually read the lesson plans the night before (I know, procrastination.) On Tuesday, I talked about the kids with a nature walk we would be doing on Thursday (it was in the lesson plan to inform the kids.) Wednesday night, I read Thursday's lesson plan it called for an 85 minute "nature walk" that was to include a petting zoo and a wienie roast. (By my definition, a nature walk means walking on a trail, looking at nature.) Now I KNOW Frying Pan Farm would have made a great location for this event. However, I was not going to pull it off at the last minute, in the middle of a rain storm. (not to mention, pregnancy has put me off hot dogs. Even the sight of someone eating them is enough to send me over the edge.) So, I set up a tent in the back yard and we observed nature through the little mesh windows and then roasted marshmallows over the George Foreman Grill- just FYI, it is not hot enough, even when set on high. That's okay though. The kids were really patient TRYING to roast their marshmallows and in the end, they ate them warm and tough.

Monday, an appraiser came to check out the house. This one represented the second lien holder on the house. The first appraisal (for the mortgage holder) went well and so they decided to go along with the sale, but the second lien holder must also be convinced before the deal can go through. Hopefully, we'll hear back good news in a few weeks.

I got asked to be the assistant wolf den leader and am excited about that- unfortunately, the scouts meet at night here and Gary will be out of town, unavailable to watch the smaller kids. I think I'll have to get another parent to fill in for me because the Amelia really feeds off the energy of the wolf den and it would be absolute chaos if she came along.

While we don't make a huge deal about Simon being lactose intolerant, he is starting to notice something is different. If there is cheese/milk in a dish, I usually prepare him a little bowl of the same food with soy equivalent. Sunday, I left a bowl of shredded cheese on the table untended, and when Gary came to finish setting things up for dinner, he found Simon there, munching on a huge pile of cheddar cheese. When he took it away, Simon protested "I want REAL cheese." We were hoping that the cheese wouldn't bother him and we could call off the whole "lactose intolerant" thing, unfortunately that was not the case.

Simon loves saying "poop" when it's his turn to say the prayer. He always finds a way to sneak it in. I like Jonny's prayers better- he says "we are thankful for tickles." Here's another story about Jonny, he asked if he could look at my piggy bank and I said sure. There is a Chuck E Cheese token and a penny in it and it's pretty sturdy, so I was not worried. Jonny has a Chuck E Cheese token too, that he likes to carry around, and I am always finding it places. So later in the day, when I found a Chuck E Cheese token, I gave it back to him and he said "Can I have the one back from your piggy bank then? I lost yours, so I put mine in there." I was surprised (and pleased) that he was willing to give up his own Chuck E Cheese token to fix his mistake, so I gave him mine too. Now I'll just have to take him there so he can use them.

Jimmy's third grade did a very patriotic Veteran's Day Program, all veterans were invited to attend and several showed up, in uniform. My favorite part was when they sang the military songs and had the veteran's stand as their song was sung. The kids really got into that and sang their hearts out. After that, they read each one's name and the kids brought them flags. My favorite part was when this very old marine gave the little girl a kiss on the cheek when she handed him the flag. I heard lots of moms say "how sweet." How sweet indeed and how grateful I am for the men and women who have fought to protect our freedom. Truly, they are our national treasure. Thank you to Pop and Cousin David and all you other veterans who have served our nation.

And now to reward you for making it to the end of my long and rambling post, here is a photo snapped of the kids playing in the autumn leaves. They really wanted an action shot, so everything is a little fuzzy, (except Jonny's widow's peak!)

And for those of you who are as sleepy as me (therefore- no filter on my brain: I'll probably wonder why I wrote all this in the morning) Here's a more restful pose, taken one night after the kids had fallen asleep.

Sweet dreams!