Super busy end to the week!

We had a fairly normal week with a couple extra things added in but nothing too busy.  But then Friday hit and we were off to a busy start of the weekend!  We started out with the Christmas parade.  The 8th graders got to join the high school band and it was so much fun to watch and we are so thankful Anna got the opportunity!  Take a listen (and you can ignore my couple of comments!  

And in case you are wondering, it is really hard to take a photo of a band member since they are constantly moving!  Ha ha!  This is one I got at the end.  

And here is one just before the end.  It just barely shows her.  

And the boys were good sports about watching the parade.  

And then we had an early morning on Saturday.  Although it could have been an hour earlier, it was still very early.  We went to the schooling horse show where Anna competed in her first 2' event.  In the afternoon she competed in two groups of cross rails.  This is her first event on Sunday. Note - I have put music on the videos (sorry if it is annoying) but the talking in the background was too much.   

And a couple of photos.

 

And this is her second event.  She got third!  

While we were watching there was a lot of air traffic including a plane with a banner with a marriage proposal.  There was also an osprey!  Very cool to see!

And this is her third event on Saturday.  She got fourth!

On Sunday this is her first event.  She got third!

And last but by far not the least, this is her second event on Sunday and the last of the show.  And her first ever first place!

Today we remembered to take her photo with the cool backdrop they have!

Anna had fun talking horse with her cousins who are also riding!  Maybe the next show one of them will also be showing!

And they were awesome and helped her groom the horse after the show.  

And as cool as all of that is, the best prize, the smile on her face!  Keeping her spirits up and not just jumping out of the arena when the times got hard is a sign of her determination and love for what she is doing!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving!  We had a very simple day plan and it had a bit of a wrinkle but as we have learned to do over the last 18 months, we just made the best of it, which was easier for everyone but Matt.  On Wednesday afternoon Matt got his COVID booster shot and starting about 12 hours later he had some nasty side effects and felt like he had the flu all of Thanksgiving.  On Friday and Saturday he still wasn't 100% but much better than Thursday, and as rough as that was, it is better than getting COVID.  And thankfully it didn't impact his regular Sunday bike ride.  

Today he helped the boys put up their new lights in the shape of their name on their bedroom walls.  The lights need to adjust a bit out of the box shape but they are getting there!

And after a few days off we now are getting ready for a hectic week ahead with band practice, holiday parade, and a horse show.  Whew!  It will be busy but good!  

One down and one to go!

This week kept us busy!  On Monday we celebrated my birthday.  On Tuesday we attended the boys parent teacher conferences at school and they are both doing very well.  It was nice to talk to their teachers and learn about how their hard work is showing!  That afternoon they received their first COVID vaccination!  We are super thankful that they are able to get vaccinated now.

The weather was cooler on Wednesday and during my walk that night I got this very cool photo of the moon.

The kids were thankful that Thursday and Friday were easy days and now they are on fall break until the 29th!  Lucky!  

Looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and getting ready for the holidays.

Missing the fall weather

Well, this week has been busy!  We enjoyed a four day weekend together and the last few days have made it hard to remember that it is November but the boys made sure to remind us that it is indeed November!  And to think we had rain (not much unfortunately) on Tuesday and wanted warm clothes.  Thursday we went shopping for a new artificial Christmas tree in our shorts, tee shirts and sandals.  Friday was a beach day, Saturday and Sunday were hot days were we planned meals using the BBQ so we could try and keep the house cool!  

We are back to no rain in the forecast but at least the temperatures are suppose to drop to the 70's instead of the high 80's/low 90's.  I guess that is better than nothing but really missing that sweater weather!

 

Golden Birthday!

Today Mason and Olivier turned 12, their golden birthday!  And they had the day off from school.  And what better way to celebrate your birthday when it is very warm out (mid 80's!) than to go to the beach!  We went to a beach we usually don't go to since we figured it would be less busy today and we were right.  The boys enjoy some time in the waves (yes, they did go in the water).  I joined Olivier on the edge of the water helping him pick rocks to skip for a bit.  

We went to the local candy store that specializes in unusual candies, namely candies with bugs.  Olivier got an apple lollypop with a scorpion in it.  And yes, he did eat it!

 

After having lunch on the pier the kids explored the playground a bit.  They have a cool whale play structure.  

Later in the afternoon we headed to the monarch butterfly grove and enjoyed seeing the butterflies.  It is hard to show the groups but here are a couple photos of that show the butterflies.  

We returned home and cleaned up and finally let the Olivier and Mason open their gifts.  

After pizza and a movie it was time for their chosen deserts, cookie dough and pumpkin pie!  

Happy birthday to Olivier and Mason!

Olivier:
What is your favorite color: green
What is your favorite book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children or My Life as a Ninja
What is your favorite gift: (pending - hasn't opened them all)
What do you want to be when you grow up: coding or animating
Who is your best friend: Dorian or Sutner
What is your favorite thing to do: bike or play video games
What is your favorite thing to do at school: science
What is your favorite food: pizza
Where is your favorite place: Canada
How old will you be when you grow up: 21
How old will you be when you get married: 25
How old will you be when you have a baby: 30
He is the exact height Anna was on her birthday, 5' 2.375"

Mason:
What is your favorite color: blue
What is your favorite book: Wings of Fire series
What is your favorite gift: (pending - hasn't opened them all)
What do you want to be when you grow up: engineer
Who is your best friend: Blake and Shay
What is your favorite thing to do: read or play video games
What is your favorite thing to do at school: science
What is your favorite food: pizza
Where is your favorite place: home
How old will you be when you grow up: 18
How old will you be when you get married: 22
How old will you be when you have a baby: 25
He is 5' 6" and we had to measure me to make I am still tall, and I am by half an inch!  Whew!!

Enjoying November!

This first week of November has been keeping us busy but this weekend was a nice reminder to slow down and enjoy.  Although the boys are in countdown to their birthday mode!  

On Saturday during Anna's riding lesson I was petting some of the horses and this very sweet boy was falling asleep as I gave him pets.  He is a giant but super sweet!  You can see his size in comparison with my hand!  

Today we got a couple of visitors who we haven't seen in quite a while!  My cousin Ciara stopped by with her baby Jacob!  He was super sweet and the kids loved hanging out with him, it is the first baby they have all spent time with in a very long time.  And he loved hanging out with them.  

The kids are thinking he will need his own giant bear!  

This afternoon we took family photos and tried to adjust to the time change.  And get ready for busy week with a couple of golden birthdays happening on Friday!  

 

Fun weekend! Black light Halloween!

We started our weekend off with the normal Saturday activities, but then make sure we got the pumpkins carved!

Mason's pumpkin:

Anna's pumpkin:

Olivier's pumpkin:

And here is what the look like in the dark!  

Saturday night we had some fun activities.  Olivier went on a zombie hunt and I took Anna to Band fest at the university.  We had a really good time and enjoyed having the balcony to ourselves!

This is the wind orchestra and the wind ensemble playing together.  

And the marching band:

And today of course we celebrated Halloween!  We have a Dorothy, Charlie Brown (poor Chuck only got a rock!) and the Grim Reaper.  

Charlie Brown is happier with his rock now!

And your friendly garden gnome joined the group!

The kids loved the carnival in the garage last year and asked to do it again this year, so we did!  This year Matt did a lot of painting with black light neon paint which made it super fun in the garage!  We had ping pong games.  

Ladder ball with neon poles and balls.  Neon putting green with glowing balls.  

Neon corn hole too!  

The pumpkins looked cool in the black light!  And you can see my shadow and tell I stayed in costume!  

We did have the dart balloon game again but decided that was best played with the lights on!  

We had a great time!  And it is hard to believe November starts tomorrow!  It will be a crazy busy month with birthdays and holidays but also a lot of fun!