School Happenings!

The girls have been having a fantastic school year.  They have been working hard and having fun.  Sidney was tasked with showing the new girl around at the beginning of the year.  As it turns out the new girl, Mia, is a perfect match for Sidney.  The two have been inseparable.  In fact, Sidney has had two sleepovers with Mia.  Aside from staying over at the Nelson's house (who are really family), this would new for her.

 

The fifth graders had the opportunity to sign up for crossing guard duty this year.  They had to go through training and get a parent waiver.  Each student has duty for one week at time, about 5 times throughout the year.  Kendall had her first week just before Thanksgiving.

As I mentioned, the girls have been working hard.  Sidney was rewarded with several awards at the first assembly, to include a leadership award.  Nice work, Miss Sid!

Kendall is such a character.  I just never know what she will come up with.  A few weeks back, I asked her to go on a walk with me.  This is what she came out wearing.  Love her style!

Kendall also received a few awards.  Sadly, I did not know about it.  Thankfully, one of her friends parents sent me a few pictures. 

Magnolia Farms - Just Wow!

I went to Texas last month for work.  I had a pretty packed week, but scheduled a little fun on Wednesday.  My mom joined me on a trip to Magnolia Farms.  We were staying in Dallas, so we woke up bright and early Wednesday to make the drive to Waco.  We are both huge fans of the show Fixer Upper. 

 

We hit the Silos on a perfect day.  It was the week before Thanksgiving and early, so we managed to avoid any crowds.  The place was very nicely done.  It was cute, quaint and comfortable.  I wish I would have taken a lot more pictures.  It was super inviting, with a garden area and lawn area that is meant for families to come and have some fun.  My mom and I hit up the bakery right away.

 

 

Since it was a "vacation" day, we opted for this yummy cinnamon roll.  Neither of us typically eat cinnamon rolls, so this was a treat in more ways than one.

 

 My mom was an awesome sport and let me take a picture of her indulging. 

While mom is away, daughter will take a selfie of her own.

Isn't my mom just the cutest?

We put Boise in the guest book!

My mom had mapped out a few other stops along the way.  It was absolutely awesome to spend the week with her.  I even managed to put her to work on Thursday.  It could not have been a more perfect trip!

Halloween Fun and a Visit From Grandpa.

The girls dressed up as Hermione Grainger and Wonder Woman for Halloween this year.  I am especially fond of the Wonder Woman costume.  When I was Sidney's age, my mom made me a Wonder Woman costume.  It was my all time favorite.  I remember an adorable picture that my mom had taken of me wearing it, but neither of us can find it.  We took the girls, along with Blake and Jackson, to our church party.  The church did an amazing job of putting it on this year.  It was more organized than ever, and there was something for everyone.  Kevin won a Cold Stone Creamery gift card.  He promises to take us all out for ice cream.  The pastor shared pictures and stories about our church community garden.  Like I said, it was a great time.

The kids were actually sharing their candy with us...Woot Woot!  I guess someone got the word that I like Almond Joy candy bars.

 

My Dad came down for the weekend.  He helped us with a ton of projects around the house (dishwasher repair, yard cleanup, light bulbs).  Wow and thank you!  He also surprised the girls by bringing a pirate costume and taking them out trick or treating.  He was quite the trooper, as the World Series was on that night.

The girls and Grandpa getting ready to head out.  Can you believe he is wearing shorts?

Our carved pumpkins did not last long this year in the heat.  The girls got a couple of other pumpkins to paint.  They took them to the Awana party and had some fun.  Kendall's pumpkin in a mutant Minion.  Sidney painted an alien pumpkin.

This was my living room that weekend.  Kevin and I ordered some motorized blind from my mom for our upper window (let's just hope the batteries never need replacing).  We had to rent scaffolding in order to install them.  My Dad did the installation and changed all of our light bulbs while he was up there.  What a job!

 

 Now for a couple of random pictures.  The girls and their friends having a good time.

 

Terrell took Kendall to piano practice and snapped this cute picture.  Though we were sad to see Miss Diane retire, Miss Margaret has been a great teacher as well!  I am glad that we were able to find such a nice lady. 

The Farmstead.

The girls have been earning passes for the Farmstead the past couple of years.  Like any exceptional parent, we have never went.  It seems that the season escapes me.  I always remember right after they have closed down for the year.  We made it a priority this year and spent the afternoon enjoying some good old fashioned fun. 

 

As we were arriving, there was a lady leaving with a bunch of kids.  She had some extra punch cards that she kindly passed along to us.  It made our trip extra special.  Normally, Kevin and I would have sat the activities out.  Instead, we all tried our hand at them. 

 

Sidney enjoyed feeding the animals.  This was a first for her.  Usually, she is too nervous to get close.  I was extremely lame in getting pictures.  I suppose we were having too much fun.  We DID do the big Pac Man corn maze.  Kevin sacrificed and did it with us.  I was too nervous that I would get lost in it.  With Kevin's navigation skills, we were in and out in no time.  It did help that one of the people working there told us to keep to the outside of the maze.

The apple shooting was, by far, my favorite.  Kevin had to give each of the girls a quick lesson before they tried it.  "Had to" or "wanted to"...hmmm.

The girls' favorite activity was the bee zip line.  Toward the end of the day, Kevin and I sat down at a nearby table while the girls did this activity repeatedly.  I am pretty sure they did it about 20 times. 

Let the Games Begin!

 Last weekend, I used up a ton of my tomatoes with some homemade tomato soup.  It was my first time making it, and it turned out pretty good! 

 

 

We figured with some nice warm tomato soup, it was the perfect day to carve our pumpkins.   

Kendall was intent on doing the entire pumpkin gutting and carving completely on her own.  The determination of this girl is amazing.

Sidney deliberately and skillfully carved her pumpkin.  Kevin is looking pretty serious in the background.

I chose to carve a spider into my pumpkin.  Oh, the irony of that!

They look beautiful!  Pumpkins by:  Kendall, Heather, Kevin

...and, Sidney!

The USS No Name.

Sidney came home last week with a very cool assignment.  Her Math Lab teacher had the kids organize themselves in groups.  They were tasked with making a floating ship that could hold as many grams as possible.  The only thing they were required to use was a piece of foil that the teacher provided.  The remainder of the project was entirely up to them.  They brought in random supplies from home the following day and set about building their ships.  Sidney joined forces with Owen and Elona to make this awesome pirate ship. 

Sidney provided the pirate, and Owen provided the cockpit.  Elona came up with the great idea of using 2 liter bottles for the flotation device.

 

On Friday, the team had a chance to see what their ship could do.  It held 260 grams.  the limiting factor was the size of the cup they used for holding the cubes.  They learned a ton through the project and most of all...they had fun doing it!

Today is a Good Day!

Kevin said it best in his public Facebook post today: