Ice Capades

First skate of the season!!!

Chinese Lantern Festival

We thoroughly enjoyed the opening day at the Chinese Lantern Festival!  Nothing like a little culture in 39 degrees - Ha!!! It was absolutely impressive!  Max was amazed.  Anna was thrilled to learn she was the year of the RABBIT.  Kate was impressed with the visiting artists carving jade and painting glass beads. Alex loved being a part of it all! It was an awesome new event for us all.

Fun Day

Uncle Matt &Uncle Ron treated the kids to a spectacular day of BOWLING, ARCADE, and LUNCH! The kids had a BLAST!  Oh, how the kids LOVE and ADORE their Uncles - it is the most wonderful gift!

Mimi's Meal

We had a very special celebration Thanksgiving Day with Mimi, Matt and Ron.  Mimi cooked the most outstanding meal and her table was AMAZING.  The kids had a blast playing upstairs in their clubhouse. We all nestled together by the fire and enjoyed dessert.  It was a cozy and relaxing way to celebrate and remember all that we are grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

Giving thanks and gratitude for the unconditional love, support and compassion all around us!

Christmas Tree Farm

Got a great tip from a SUPER MOM that it was opening weekend at Jordan's Lake Christmas Tree Far, this weekend.  This means you can go select your tree and let it keep growing until you are ready for a freshly cut tree at your house!!!  So we found THE Tree and placed our marker and hope it looks just as good if not better in a couple of weeks! :) It does make my heart happy to support local farmers!

 

Rootbeer Floats

Mimi introduced the kids to Pop Pop's favorite evening treat!  It was an unexpected surprise!

Mimi's Makeover Edition

We did it!  Mimi's guest room is ready for guests!  

See you Wednesday Uncle Matt!

Max's Learning Exerience

Max's class had an awesome learning experience with crafts, food, and two experiments.  We worked on magnetism and electricity, shared what we were thankful for and ate pumpkin patches! 

BTW, I love any parent who can rock any science experiment they are thrown into with 2.5 minutes of preparation!

Painting

Mimi and I are on a mission to fix up a guest room before Thanksgiving!

My LIttle Turkey

This year, preschool is changing things up a bit now that they have a fancy new building!  I love traditions and helping create new ones is even better!  So to celebrate Thanksgiving, the kids made little Indian outfits for the Bee Tribe.  They had Indian names, Alex was "Eating Chicken"! They had a fancy feast together which included chicken nuggets, apples and carrots.  They finished up the day with a couple of cute songs for parents as we picked them up.  Loved it!

Duke Lemur Center

The kids and I joined Liz, Jenn, Shannon and their kids for a tour of the Duke Lemur Center. We saw a lot of curious little lemurs and learned about their behaviors, defense mechanisms, adaptations, evolution. Our tour guide was wonderful and answered every question the kids asked.

Baseball Wrap-Up

Alex's last game and "medal ceremony" was a big HIT! Alex played his little heart out!  He learned a lot this season.  He makes good contact with the ball and gets solid hits into the field and knows to drop the bat and run to first base.  He learned where the bases are and when to advance to the next one. He also learned that he has to step ON the base. In the field he has learned to stay in his spot and scoop up an balls that might come his way.  He also learned that after he gets the ball to immediately throw it to first base!  His catches and throws improved a lot as did his hand-eye coordination. He had a sweet set of coaches including his Dad that were so positive and patient with each kiddo and made it so fun for them.

2018 Champs

Max's team WON the championship game this season.  A HUGE win for the team and lots of personal bests and growth throughout the season. Max's confidence in the field really blossomed when he found his spot on the pitcher's mound.  Technically, the pitching machine does the pitching, but Max was named "the black hole" for all balls coming his way! :)  At bat, his mechanics and consistency improved. His hits were stronger and he had some awesome runs!  He was part of an awesome team, had a wonderful coach that was very encouraging and pushed the kids, and they encouraged one another and celebrated graciously.

Max, we are so proud of your growth this season and your team spirit!

Anna's Birthday Date

Anna's requested a birthday date with Mom and Dad for her brithday gift this year.  Peter and I were happy to oblige! :) She chose Five Guys for her dinner and then we went to see the Nutcracker and the Four Realms.  She giggled and beamed the ENTIRE night - so stinkin' cute!

Sunday with Mimi

Awwww, Sunday morning with Mimi...

Pancakes - Sewing School - Robotics - Legos

Diwali

Our neighbors hosted a Diwali event for our neighborhood!  It was absolutely amazing.  They had a henna artist, fireworks, dancing, singing, food and drinks, and tons of kids to play with!  It was a great way for the kids to see their friends dressed in their traditional outfits and celebrate the holiday!

Kate's Poetry Presentation

Kate's class wrapped up their poetry unit this week.  They each wrote a series of poems and made slideshows.  We were able to walk around and listen to the students share a couple of their favorite and explain the significance or inspiration. The teacher challenged the parents to identify their child's work in a collage of poems.

All of Kate's poems were inspired by her Pop Pop. She was so surprised to see Mimi at her classroom door for the presentation!!!