Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at my mom's house this year. Ellie was helping in the kitchen, and she is really helpful. We enjoyed some games and had fun getting together with all the grandparents. I love Thanksgiving! It's a great meal and a great time to think about everything that makes life special. I am very lucky to have such a great family!

Third grade music program

The third graders at Kalapuya put on a great music program. It was a jungle safari theme to go with their study of rainforests. Each child went to the microphone to state a fact about the rainforest and they had some great songs they sang as well. Jack was very proud to show us the toucan he drew afterwards and eat some cookies. He gets nervous for these kinds of things and did NOT want any of us to sit in the front row.

Volleyball

Ellie played volleyball for the second year. The first thing to notice in the team picture is who is standing in as one of the coaches. Yes, that's me. I did play volleyball, but I wasn't any good. But we worked as a team with some of my friends(who do have volleyball experience) to coach together. Ellie enjoyed me helping out and I guess in the end that is all that really matters. We only won one game. Hmmmm, could that have been the coaching. Oh well, the girls had fun. I had some fun too. But I do have to say I am glad the season came to an end.

Pumpkin Carving

Even though it's almost Halloween I had to get these pictures in the blog. It seems like it is getting harder and harder to find time to carve pumpkins. But the kids love it, so we will always make time. Ellie especially loves getting in and cleaning the pumpkins. She was covered in goop and very happy. We roasted some seeds and got these done the night before Halloween.

Halloween

So we should make a rule that Halloween is on the last Saturday in October. Monday for Halloween is just plain cruel. That said, the kids enjoyed themselves, the rain stayed away, and I survived. We met our friends at their churches party. The party had games for candy and even a blow up jousting and racing area. Of course, Ellie loved that and Jack didn't do it. Then we went trick-or-treating. The kids had a blast and got plenty of candy. As usual Ellie could stay out all night and Jack is ready to be done after about an hour. But they came home with plenty of candy! Just made for a long week for the grown ups.

Family Halloween party

Our friends Drew and Renee had a family Halloween party the week before Halloween. Everyone was supposed to dress up so we came up with a pirate and parrot costume for Doug and I. Then Ellie decided she wanted to join us as pirates. Jack stuck with his Mario costume from last year(gotta like that, it saves a little money). It was a really fun party, should have taken more pictures. They had karaoke, bobbing for apples, and since it was still light when we got there the kids got to run around their property like crazy. We had to leave by 8:30 since Ellie had an early morning swim meet the next day, but we had a good time.