"Novem-blur"

Zoom... zoom.... zoom! November was a quick month full of learning and fun.It really flew by so quickly and I didn't get to blog nearly as much as I would have liked. Here are some highlights.

 

 

Adam got to make "weapons" (aka "tools") in his nature class and he was thrilled.
Both boys really loved all 10 weeks of their fall co-op.

Blue Man Group!
Jon and I got to go to this crazy, weird show with his co-workers.



Trick-or-treating in November... postponed due to storms.
Lots of fun with cousins and friends

 

We studied the 13 English Colonies.... and we built this 3-D puzzle model of Jamestown.
It was a fun family project.
Thanks Dave and Karen for this great gift!



Lego Fun!
The boys have really been enjoying building and playing with their Legos while I read aloud to them. We read Homer Price, The Knight's Castle, and  Alice in Wonderland this month (in addition to a lot of interesting reading about the colonies).

Adam and Ryan using a cipher wheel to crack a code at book club.
The boys cracked codes to complete a treasure hunt.
We read The Unbreakable Code and learned about the Navajo Code Talkers in World War II.

 

I helped my mom set up her display at our parish craft bazaar.
She makes AWESOME baby things and scarves and holiday napkins and wallets....
She's so talented. I'm proud of her.

Adam showing off a Lego flag at our Geography class.
We are loving our around the world adventures on Fridays.

Ray working on a flag sticker project at Geography class.



Adam - at Frisch's - right after celebrating his First Reconciliation.
He's really excited to begin his preparations for First Eucharist.

Crazy weather! (And crazy kid!)
I had to laugh when Adam came down in this outfit...
 a snowman shirt with shorts.
But that's truly how crazy --- up and down --- the weather was all month.

Jon and Ray baking cookies for a bake sale at our co-op.

The champions of the leaf gathering!
(Although we STILL have leaves on the ground and in the trees.)

Adam and Ray at the Co-Op Showcase

Sorry for the blurry picture, but this is Adam and Ray's music class performing at the Showcase.
It was awesome to hear them sing. Adam seemed particularly animated and excited about this.
He and Ray are in the back row to the right of the cross.

A few days after the Showcase, the co-op presented an AMAZING performance of Alice in Wonderland.
I was surprised at how much the boys loved this book and play.

 Perhaps the biggest and most fun part of "Novem-blur" for us was a trip to San Antonio, Texas! I'll do a more detailed post about it soon. We had so much fun visiting my bestie, Susan, and exploring this great city.

I just had to add this great picture of Jon milking a fake cow at the San Antonio Children's Museum.
He actually pulled off an udder!!!! (But quickly fixed it.)
I love this man!

And then, THANKSGIVING! We had a wonderful day with my family at my Mom's house. Dinner was great and then we played a fun card game that we grew up playing with my grandparents. It's called "Schnitze" and the kids FELL IN LOVE with this game. I don't know why they're all hiding their faces in this picture, but I know they had a great time!

We enjoyed attending our town's annual Holiday Lights Parade.

 

And we ended the month with a fun evening of square dancing with some families in our homeschool group. At first Adam vehemently opposed participating in any kind of dancing. But we dragged him into the first dance ("The Chicken Dance") and then he stuck with the first square dances (mostly clinging to my leg). After a while he declared that he LOVED square dancing and insisted that we dance every dance. I love that kid!

 

And I couldn't resist posting this random shot of the boys and Carter making a "laser" maze in our hallway. These kinds of impromptu projects are just part of everyday life with kids. I love their ingenuity and the pure, innocent fun they have when they do these kinds of things. This was quite an elaborate and long-lasting project. I had to crawl over and under it to get to the bathroom.... and it was a workout! (The cats loved this too!)

So that's what we've been up to... and why blogging has not been happening much. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for reading!