Christmas Time is Here!

Happy Friday!
It has been almost two weeks since I blogged. We have been busy as usual. Our Thanksgiving and time off was very nice. Thanksgiving day we stayed home and enjoyed a nice day relaxing, eating and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The girls helped me make cheese puffs, rolls and a couple pies. They really enjoy being in the kitchen and helping me prepare meals.

We had Wednesday off from school so the girls and I went ice skating with some friends. The girls really enjoy it and are getting better. I enjoy watching them. I skated too but I can only hold myself up so they are on there own holding them selves up. Callie counted how many times she went around the rink. So much more than last year, apparently. Emily was able to keep up with her friend, most of the time.

Friday we were all off so we went to a ski and skate swap and were able to buy some very nice used skis for the girls and me. Boots too so we are all set for ski season. We got a very good deal that was better than leasing the skis for the season which is what we had planned on doing. Now the girls can't wait to ski. I am actually looking forward to it. I think this is the first year that I am anxious for the snow to come.

So this week was back to school and work for all of us. The girls had their last D.I. try out and both will be put on a team this year. I will be coaching Emily's team. Boy, I am not sure what I got myself into. I will not be going to the workshop but now I have to spend some time going over a ton of information so I can get my team up and running.

Today Emily is on a field trip to the State House in Concord. Todd went along as a chaperon. I am sure they will both enjoy it. This is the first school field trip for Todd. (He has gone on Girl Scout trips but not school.) So...I am going Christmas shopping with a friend today.

We got out the Christmas decorations and the girls are dying to get everything up and in place. Callie found her Santa hat and is already wearing it 24/7. Last year she wore it all the time and even went to sleep in it.

So happy Christmas Season to all and happy shopping.

Wow, this week went faster than last week. Todd was gone all week but he is on his way home now.

As you can see I have posted some pics. I didn't have any new pics from this week so I posted some pics from the girls birthdays. The one at the very top with the blog heading was taken on the NH coast on Emily's birthday. She wanted to spend her special day there with a picnic lunch and open her presents there as well. It was a beautiful day. The next picture is Emily with her birthday cake. Then Callie on her birthday with her birthday cookie cake she took to school to share with her class. The last pic is the girls on Callie's birthday dressed in their special outfits they picked out with Mama Ann, Papa Bob and Auntie Allison. They wore them out to dinner to celebrate Callie's birthday. Ignore the dates on the pics as they are wrong.

So this week the girls were busy doing some projects for Destination Imagination. It is a school activity run by the gateway program open to all children interested. You can Google Destination Imagination if you want to know more about it. It starts out with three "tryouts" mainly for the kids to "try it out" to see if they really want to do it. Emily tried when she was in second grade and after the second try out she decided she did not want to do it. She didn't even consider doing it in third grade. So this year when the papers came home about it Callie right away said she wanted to do it and Emily said no. But after I read out loud the information sheet they both responded with a loud, "Yes, I want to do it Mom." This past week they had to pick one thing out of five things to do. Callie picked "trash heap" which she had to create a toy or game out of trash and/or things lying around the house. She ended up making a puzzle out of a cereal box. It was very nice! Emily picked "straw tower". She had to build a tower out of straws that could hold up one volume of an encyclopedia off the ground 6 inches. She built three towers but none of them could hold the book. She worked on it for three nights until I said she had to quit because it was after 8pm. The impressive thing was that she never gave up, never got frustrated and never cried! That is big for Emily. She took her towers to school and the gateway teacher was very impressed and told her it can't be done. Emily was the only one who even tried the straw tower. They only have one more try out to go after Thanksgiving. I have signed up to be a coach and will be going to a workshop about it. The thing about D. I. is that everything they do is their own. Adults can't help AT ALL!! It was very hard for me to just walk away when they were working on their projects this week. Between skiing and D. I. the girls will be busy over the Winter. It will make the Winter go by fast.

Well that is all I know for now. Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, another week has flown by. I don't know where the time goes. First thing I want to do is wish Papa Bob Happy Birthday last Tuesday. I have included a picture of Bob and Ann that was taken this summer when they visited us. The picture was taken in York Beach, Maine. It was a beautiful day!! We had a wonderful visit with them!! We went berry picking, took a trip to Boston and spent a day along the Maine and New Hampshire coast. It was a tearful goodbye!!!

The other pictures I posted are from Saturday on a Girl Scout troop trip with Emily's troop. We toured an animal hospital, talked with a Veterinarian and even made necklaces with a jeweler. It was a fun day. The pic of Em with the cat was so sweet. She walked up to Romeo and they went head to head and Romeo kissed her. The pic of the necklace is what Emily made that day.

This past week is a blur to me. We have all been sick. I was home on Monday but the girls made it to school all week. Today we are home for Veterans Day and Em still has a sore throat so we will be visiting the doc today. Todd is on his way to California as I type. He will be gone all week. Home Saturday evening if all goes well out there.

Callie had a special field trip this week to see a play put on at a local college. She really enjoyed it! Her all star soccer game was canceled again. So we are done for the season. She is talking about playing soccer in the Spring instead of softball. She would like to play indoor soccer this Winter but with skiing and other school activities I don't think we can fit it in.

That is all for now. We miss you all and please remember that there is a standing invitation to come visit us anytime!!

Happy Veterans Day to all the Veterans out there and especially those who are deployed right now.

Well we did it!! We hauled and stacked two cords of wood in ONE day last Sunday. Something that usually takes us about a week took us one afternoon/evening. We started about noon and finished after it was dark. The girls were awesome! They stuck it out until the end working hard. The picture you see of the girls in front of the wood pile is only part of the wood we stacked. Needless to say we were all tired and sore that evening.

It was a busy week of Halloween fun! The Halloween parties at school went well and trick or treating was a blast. The girls pooped out way before I did. I was ready to go on to another street and they were ready to go home. It was a nice warm evening with crisp Fall leaves all over the ground. The smells outside were wonderful. We were all tired the next day. I think we could have all used a day off. I have included two pics of the girls on Halloween night. Todd stayed back at the house playing spooky music out into the neighborhood and passing out candy.

The girls have been fighting some kind of bug. At this point I think it is just a cold but I am watching them closely b/c strep is going around the school right now. The weather has changed drastically in the last couple days. Now we have hurricane Noel knocking on our doors or like Brooke said, "Hurricane Todds Dad". We have lots of wind and rain.

Despite the weather, we got in the soccer games today. It was pretty nasty out but the girls were able to play and have their pizza parties and get their trophies. Callie was supposed to play again at 3pm today. They took two players from every team in her league to form a team to play against the travel team. The game was cancelled due to the weather. We were told it will be rescheduled for next Saturday. Emily's team went all out today and painted their hair and faces green. They looked fabulous on the field!!

That is all for now. This week will be colder. It is time to hunker down and prepare for the colder months ahead. Ugh! Changing of the clocks will make it feel more like Winter is coming. Have a great week!!