Christmas programs

B in the school choir singing at North Park Center









He's in the middle left of the choir teacher, by the microphone stand.

B in the school program. This one is blurry.


J in the school program. B did most of the filming. The boys at least sound nice. J is second from left in front row.

Between then and Christmas

I haven't blogged. Obviously. Here are pictures from the past month or so.


A participated in her first Intramurals at UA. Frosh Green. They didn't completely lose, they got 3rd in Mural.




Those are my pictures from Thanksgiving. The children all snuggled together watching a movie, actually touching each other. They saw the camera/phone and refused to stayed posed for me. And Ugly Dip, the favorite appetizer of the day, sent to the cousins to tell them to hurry over or it would be all gone.






B's birthday: Hot Chocolate Cake topped with homemade marshmallows, a gel ant farm that the whole family found fascinating, and hero-worshipping the cousins from Iowa






B constructed a tunnel in a pile of cedar leaves.

Baseball players at the lake

The day after Halloween, DH & B headed to the lake with some boys from the baseball team for an end of season celebration. The first cold spell hit that weekend but it didn't stop the boys from having fun.

Halloween 2014

I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween.

Halloween. It was a kind of a crazy rushed day. I worked. B had a half day. A went to Ranger Day at Jesuit and then helped with intramuals decorations. J had a full day of school. When I got home, A was already over at the cousins' house to hang out with her friends. She took her pumpkin with her. The boys had already carved their pumpkins but I didn't get pictures with them lit. I took pictures of  the boys before DH & B headed over to a halloween party & I dropped J off at a friend's house. When I finally made it to the party, it was crazy busy with kids everywhere. It was Halloween on a Friday night so everyone came. Last year B played too much and was upset at the end of the night because of he lack of candy. I walked with him and his friends trick or treating so we didn't have that issue this year. A & her friends came trick or treating at the party. J was dropped off at the end of the night. He had fun with his friends and 3 lbs of candy. Luckily, by then, the boys were tired and I could go home.

Autumnfest 2014

Last Saturday was Autmnfest. DH was busy all day with in charge of the beer tent. I signed up to volunteer from 12:00-2:00 so I would be free for the rest of the day. J got there and took off with his friends. I don't think I saw him again until 8:30 when he was ready to go home. B had fun and stopped in for a photo every now and then. A was there early with her friends but it was homecoming that night. They left around 2:30 to get ready for the big night. I can't believe how grown up they are all.

State Fair 2014

We ended up with an afternoon free on the last day of the Fair. A was at Six Flags with the church youth group, so the rest of us headed out. We took the obligatory walk through the auto show where the boys checked out sports cars. B practiced his Heisman stance. Next on the list was corny dogs.

We spent way too much time in the midway. B played lots of games. J tried multiple times on the shoot the star with the bb gun game. He came very close, maybe next year. They both rode the bumper cars and B rode a couple of little rides. He's still my little boy who loves motorcycles.

On our way out we walked back through the auto show so the boys could drive a simulation video game. They ended up being too short. We found a pinball machine instead and played for free. I was the queen of pinball and beat them all. All the boys want a machine at home!

We grabbed an ice cream on the way out. It was a great visit to the Fair.

Friday night

A went to a football game. J went backpack camping with the Boy Scouts. B played his last baseball game of the season. It was a good Friday night.