Our Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day was really wonderful. We started the morning with the Turkey Trot at the zoo. Keri, Charlie, Marilyn, Kevin and I ran the four mile race. It was nice to get out and be active before sitting down to a big meal. The weather could not have been nicer. There was a chill in the air but it was sunny and clear. Lisa was busy preparing food while Norm and Eric watched the kids. We convened at the Harkers' at about 10:30. Everyone pitched in providing different dishes for the meal--many hands make light work and lots of food. I think we had like nine desserts for the 10 people at dinner. Nice odds for someone with a sweet tooth. We had some traditional Harker dishes and some that were introduced for this meal. Everything tasted great and we have food to spare for at least a few days, if not more. There was lots of laughing, sharing of things that we are thankful for, game playing and pictures taken. All in all, another successful Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This is probably my favorite holiday of the year. It is less commercial than the other holidays, although you still end up spending a ton of money on one meal. It happens to be my favorite meal of the year as well. I thought I would express thanks for some of the things in my life. I am thankful for my family--all members. I am grateful that Kevin settled his big case so that he can spend Thanksgiving weekend with us without being stressed about trial prep. I love my children, even when they have been fighting all vacation so far. They are still the most wonderful children in the world. I am thankful that I don't have to host Thanksgiving dinner. I am only responsible for a fruit dish, the veggie tray, and Kevin does his Pear Tart. I am glad that we have a home with heat that we can afford to turn on. I am grateful that my parents are coming for Andrew's baptism in a month. I am thankful that I can stay home with my children. We are blessed with health and safety which I am most appreciative of. There is so much more that I am thankful for. . .

First Kindergarten Field Trip

Marin had her first field trip in kindergarten yesterday. We went to a state park and learned about trees. There were two classes but plenty of adults. I only had 3 kids in my group, Marin, Cole, and Andrew (not our Andrew). They had four different stations that they went to. At the first one, the kids decorated bookmarks. At the second, the kids wrote journal entries about the nature station. Then we gathered together for lunch. Lunch was outside and it was a pretty chilly, foggy day. Then we learned about the different parts of a tree and the kids each got to play the part of a tree as they constructed a human tree. Marin was the roots of the tree. It was really cute. The last activity was a nature hike through the forest. It was pretty interesting. Marin collected quite a bouquet of fallen leaves. It was a fun field trip. I am glad I got to chaperone, although Marin didn't want to sit by me on the bus ride. She preferred to sit with Andrew and Cole.

Hobo Purse

i got a crazy notion that I wanted to sew a purse. A girl in my ward has a really cute one that she made. I am not a great seamstress by any account. I went online and found a website that gave directions, minus a pattern. I made my own pattern and added interface to the directions so that the purse would have a little structure. I chose two different corduroys. I love cord material. I spent time before church and after making the purse. It took me longer than I thought it would, partly because my needle broke and jammed in the motor. I had to get out pliers and pull it out. Luckily there was no lasting damage. The purse came out pretty well. Not bad for my first attempt.

Andrew's Soccer Award Ceremony

Andrew's been on the Chasers for 3 years now. Most of the kids have been on the same team for that entire time. It allows for good team bonding. These boys get along pretty well. Most of them go to school together as well. Each year, the team has had a pizza party and award ceremony. This year was no different. Jeff has been a great coach and really built a great team. The kids really came together at the end of the season, passing to each other, sacrificing goals to let someone else score, etc. At the ceremony, Jeff presented each boy with a medal and talked about what he enjoyed about that boy or what they brought to the team. He said that Andrew was a hard worker and that he could tell that Andrew really enjoyed soccer. The medal was really nice. It was a great end to a wonderful season. Good job Andrew.

Run for Darfur 5k

This morning Kevin, Marilyn and I did a 5k fundraiser to support aid to Darfur. It was organized by a high school senior. There were a couple technical glitches but overall, it was a well executed run. The course must have been a high school cross country course. It was really nice, with varied terrain. The weather was spotty but good for running. Kevin was shooting for 25 minutes. Marilyn just didn't want to be last--which she wasn't even close to being, and I wanted to break 28 minutes. I had run 9 miles yesterday and so I didn't know if I would be running that hard today, I was just shooting for another 3 miles to boost me over 30 miles this week. I ended up finishing in 26:33 which is a PR for me. Kevin finished in 25:14 which is excellent and Marilyn finished in 37 minutes. We all had fun. I even took third place in my age group. What a great start to a Saturday.

Closing Soccer Ceremony

Today was the last day of fall soccer. Marin's Kick and Chase team had an award ceremony. She was very excited to get a little trophy but of course Andrew couldn''t resist telling her how small it was. Competition--does it ever ease up? She scored a couple goals this morning in their scrimmages. One of the other parents told Kevin that she has good skills. Hopefully she will continue to enjoy it through the years. Andrew also had his last game of the season but his award ceremony is next week since his coach is gone this one.

Spook Alley in the Neighborhood

Our neighbors, Danni and Neil, the same parents that have the play during the summer put on a fantastic spook alley every year. They invite tons of people to come through and it is a fun thing for the kids to do Halloween evening. The kids wanted to go before it even got dark. We went down at about 6pm and then returned later when it got dark. It is pretty creepy.

Halloween at School

The kids were both able to dress up in the afternoon at school and the classes parade around before they have their class party. Marin was a Medieval Vampiress and Andrew was the character from the movie "Scream". I floated back and forth between their classes getting random shots of the classes. Marin did not want me to stay for her class party so I went over to Andrew's class. Marin's was a little heavy on parents anyway. Almost every student had at least one parent in attendance. Andrew's class only had six parents. At least the school gets a lot of parental support. They both had fun.

Pumpkin Carving

For Family Home Evening this week, we decided to carve our pumpkins. When I say we, I mean Kevin and I. Marin and Andrew like to think that they are participating, but they refuse to get their hands dirty. I did most of the scooping out of the pumpkin guts. Kevin did all of the carving. It was a fun activity though and the kids had a good time. Andrew even added marshmallows to his pumpkin so that it would look like teeth. They didn't stay lit very long on the porch, just long enough for us to get a picture and for the kids to see.