Thanksgiving Week

This week was a short week for the holiday.  We didn't have school Monday because I had a middle-of-the-day doctor appointment and we hung out at my parents' house with some cousins.  We did have regular school Tuesday and Wednesday, though.  We had to catch up last week's sick day and just keep going on some other subjects.  In our spare time, however, we did manage to decorate for Christmas!

I have loved this Christmas train for years and it finally went on sale last year so I bought it.  Nathan was in heaven over it and, actually, all the kids enjoyed taking turns using the remote.  The only problem is the size of the track!

Our 1 school picture of the week!  We made some GAK for science.  Lily's face tells how she felt about it.  :)  It was slimy and gross but a fun experiment that actually worked out.  

2 more week of regular school and then I'll be having surgery so school will be a bit different for them.  But, it's just 1-1/2 weeks of surviving substitute teachers (Brian and my Mom) until Christmas break so I think we'll survive.  It's been quite a year so far!

Hunter and Lily's Birthday

This week of school was short because I had planned on taking Tuesday off for the twins' birthday.  All the pictures I have are birthday pics but we did get some school in! Lily ended up with the stomach flu so she had a sick day Thursday.  On Friday, Lily was still sick and I was feeling worse so it ended up being a no school day.  Thankfully, I have a couple days next week to make up for it.  

Hunter and Lily, 9 years old

I think birthdays are a BIG deal so I plan on taking birthdays off of school and Brian takes the day off of work.  We let the kids decide what to do and this year, they wanted to go to Playstation.  It's not my favorite place but I figured it couldn't be too bad during the day.  :)  They also requested McDonald's for supper and they wanted to watch the move Brave that was released that day.  We made it all happy.  You're only king/queen for 1 day, right?

Lunch at the Playstation...it was pretty empty except a handful of young ones.  I survived it!  :)

Hunter and Lily also got to celebrate their birthdays with family.  The weekend before, we had a party with my side of the family:

Lily excited for her gift card.  Lainey and Kathryn are standing by for support.  :) 

Ripping into the box to see what it holds!  Samuel, Anden and Lily are support here.  That's Nathan and I in the background.  

On their birthday, Brian's parents came over to give gifts and check out their new toys.  Lily had practiced dancing to Grandma Barb's favorite Michael Jackson song on her new Wii game so she could show her.  :)  And, of course, Hunter wanted to show off his Skylanders game--his latest obsession.

It was a fun day and I think the kids felt celebrated and happy with their day!  The next day was Lily's book club and the boys and I went to another book club Mom's house for a playdate.  So, it was busy and sickly week.  Hoping we can all recover and enjoy Thanksgiving next week.

November is Busy

This week has been so busy!  November is off to a hurried start.  I didn't take many pictures--and no good pictures at all.  :)  But here's what I do have:

Samuel started Part 3 of his All About Reading so we are building our pirate word wall.  We also listen to Jolly Phonics songs for whatever letter we are learning and that's been a big hit.  All the kids love to hear the songs!

Friday was a half day of school because the local skating rink was having a homeschool skate.  The twins were super excited to go but they had just been skating one other time in their life.  Needless to say, it was much harder than they remembered.  These pictures were taken in the practice rink so it looks empty.  There was actually about 50 or so kids there.  I'm not sure either one had fun so we may not go again...

In other news, Brian's brother and his girlfriend had their 1st baby a week ago.  We got to go visit and hold her on Wednesday (and throw in a quick dinner date, too!).  It was a lot of fun.

Halloween week!

This was a week interrupted by sickness and Halloween but we accomplished a lot and we're happy to see November!!

We were in Italy this week for geography and it was a ton of fun!  Here are the kids enjoying some gelato.  Thankfully, I knew of a coffee shop that sold it so I didn't have to make it, as suggested.  :)

For their souvenir, they made an Alps mountain climber.  Very cute!

Nathan was the sick one this week.  Thankfully, it was short lived.  I cleaned out the game benches while we were stuck inside and Nathan found this game exciting.  

Just Dance Disney was a fun, end-of-the-week treat.  Counts as PE!!

*Halloween*  

Each kid with their own pumpkin design:

This year's costumes:

Lily...vampire

Samuel...Trigger Happy (Skylander)

Hunter...Ninja

Nathan...I couldn't get a great picture of him in costume but he was Thomas the Train.  Brian is a clown (so was I!).

This little guy had been up at 5:20am and never napped so by the time we got to Grandma Barb's house, he was OUT.  He had fun, though.

Once we were all home, the kids wanted time to dump their candy and pick a treat.  Nathan latched on to Samuel's costume.  :)