Halloween-ish

We didn't do much for Halloween this year.  The boys had a cross country pasta party that they dressed up for, and they decided to be jelly beans.

We had a ward party and the girls did a dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller.  They got to wear zombie make-up.

The children did some activities on Halloween evening.  Emily and Claire dressed up and went trick-or-treating, Eli went out with some friends, and Caleb went to a party.

I didn't get any pictures this year of their costumes.  They had quite the haul in the candy department...

Back to School - AGAIN

With moving came the start at another school.  I have four children, and they go to four different schools.  We came down in the middle of October during our MEA break and met with counselors and administrators at all of the schools.  This way, they would know we were coming, they would have an idea of what the children were involved in, they would have a head's up on the courses they were taking, and hopefully, we would have a smooth transition.

Overall, it went well, however, there were a couple of bumps in our road.  Caleb's counselor wanted to start his classes over.  The senior high is on trimesters here, and we came a week before the first trimester ended.  She wanted to put him a chemistry and a Spanish class that were beginning the second tri-, rather than continue him in classes that had started at the beginning of the school year.  He had to restart his pre-Calc class because they didn't have one that had started.  There was one honors course offered that he "could" take, but it was offered at the same time orchestra was offered, and he felt like he needed his music.  He tried out for choir, and he was put in men's chorus.  It was not the transition we were hoping for.

On his first day of school, we had not unpacked the moving truck yet, in fact, I don't think it was even here yet.  Needless to say, Caleb was not excited about going to school.

I took Caleb to seminary at 6:00 a.m. and left him there.

With all of the craziness in trying to get the other three children off to school (we had to drive them because the bus was not set up yet), I didn't get pictures on their first day, so we took pictures on their second day.

Emily was a little nervous about going to school because she was going from an Elementary School to a Middle School.  She now had a locker with a combination lock, she had to carry her books with her, she had gym class where she is expected to change her clothes in the locker room, she had several different teachers, she would be starting orchestra several weeks later than everyone else, and she had to make new friends.  She was a pretty good sport, and took it well.

We had a little bit of trouble with Eli's scheduling.  When we got to the school to register him, they had put him in pre-algebra.  He took that course last year.  We jumped through some hoops, and in the end got his schedule changed, and he has algebra and choir with eighth graders.

Claire's scheduling was easy.  We went in and registered her, they put her in a class, we met her teacher, and we were done.

The first day of school went well for everyone except Caleb.  In the end, we met with counselors, rearranged some classes, and got a schedule for Caleb that would work better, plus, the second trimester would start the beginning of the next week.

This is another day of school that first week.  I looked out the front window, and loved the silhouette effect.  Of course, I had to run out into the road and get another picture of them "watching" for the bus.

As the bus approached, I had to quickly run back to the house, and by this time Brett was headed out to work.  The children are the first to get on the bus, that is why it looks empty.

The Last Race

...in an Austin Jersey!

With the move approaching, we had known since February that we were going to be moving.  With every season, there was a last race.  During swim season, there was his final swim in the Austin pool.  During track season, there was the last run, and possibly the last race.  Then, we started school in Austin, and there was cross country season.  When school started, we knew we were leaving, and we knew where we were going.  This was Caleb's race in an Austin jersey.

Caleb had been working towards his goal of breaking an 18:30 - 5k.  This was his last chance, and he had a nice run with his coach, set some goals, and was prepared to make it happen.  (That is his coach over his shoulder cheering on the next runner - he runs all over the course and encourages all of the runners)

He did it!

Eli had been nursing an injury.  He had rested it quite a bit, and he was going to try to run this meet.  When I got to the golf course, Eli came over with tears in his eyes, and he was hurting.  He couldn't run.  He had a little broken heart.  He wanted so badly to finish the season with one last race.  My heart ached for him.

Here are some members of the team:

 Here is Caleb with one of his friends:

Here is a photo of Caleb from his very first race!  I can't believe how he has matured.

Creativity Abounds

I was outside the other day with the puppies, and I found this in the snow.  I decided I needed to get a picture of it, so I grabbed my phone, and snapped a shot.  

 

I knew Claire had been outside playing, she has to exercise 16 days this month, so she goes out and runs around the house, or just strolls through the yard.  I also knew she was playing in the back yard with a piece of rope, and she had tied it to a chair.  The chair, however, was still in the pile of snow.  The next day we went outside, and she showed me how it worked:

Here she is on her own swing.  She had a lot of fun with it, until it broke.  Fortunately no one was on it, so no one got hurt.

HOME-SWEET-HOME

Brett has a new assignment, and we will be joining him shortly.  Here is a preview of where we are going.

This will be our home for the next little while! 

This is a small part of our front yard.

This is part of our back yard, capturing the sunset, looking through the corn field.

Caleb's room - BEFORE!

The wallpaper was scored by us so we could remove it.

The wall paper is gone.

Eli's room - BEFORE!

He really was NOT sad to see the bears go.

All - gone - wallpaper.

Emily & Claire's room - BEFORE!

Lovely wall paper.

We're Back

Since we are still in A-town, the children started school today.  Eli was out the door first.  He had to catch the bus.

Caleb was the next on to leave.  Since he is getting older, he has friends who drive, and he got a ride this morning.  There aren't too many days where he will be able to get a ride because he starts early morning seminary next week.

Emily and Claire left at the same time.  They go to the same school, and they ride the bus.

Brett was planning on being home today, however, he got a call and had to go to one of the facilities.  He will probably be there the rest of the week.  Since we took pictures of all the children, he wanted his picture taken, too (well, maybe I wanted a picture of him).

Brett going to work.

Eli on his first day of 7th grade.

Caleb on his first day of 10th grade.

Caleb's ride - he saw me with my camera, opened his door, and said hello.

Caleb getting in the car - Can you tell he is humoring me?

The boys waving.

Emily on her first day of 5th grade.

Claire on her first day of 3rd grade.

Brett excited to go to work.

So, here I am today.  I thought I would be able to spend it with Brett, but that didn't happen.

8( 

Am I a Stalker?

The cross country team has pasta parties the night before their meets.  This one was held around the corner and across the street.  The boys came home to get a ball to play four square, so I decided to take a couple of pictures.  I didn't want them to see me, so I went into our back yard, and then into the neighbor's back yard, and these are the pictures I got.  Doesn't it look like they are having fun?

First attempt at getting a picture - too many things in the way!

Next attempt- through the trees and the swing set.

Had to try one more time because my boys weren't in the last one.

My children play four square in our driveway.  The way the concrete is cut makes a very nice playing field.  It looks like the neighbor's driveway is the same.