Hamsters, Rocks, and the Turkey Tango

Hola!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Lots of activity makes the clock run even faster, it seems. We have had some fun with school activities, and friends we haven't seen in a little while. Here are some highlights (oh--and a low point, too) of the past 2 weeks.

FAREWELL to a PET FRIEND. Kara has had her hamster, Karamel, since last Christmas. Usually hamsters live around 2 years. Strange as it seems, it is not UNcommon for a hamster to develop cancer. This happened to Karamel. She had a tumor under her chin, and then it only took about a week for her to slow down and stop. She passed away last Monday. Here is a farewell photo:

TURKEY TANGO. Kara was picked (literally: ALL the girls wanted to do this dance, so they drew names from a hat!) to do the Turkey Tango during the 5th grade song & dance performance on the day before Thanksgiving. Very cute! It was a song about this Turkey who learned the tango to get out of being cooked for Thanksgiving dinner. About 10 girls and 10 boys did the tango during the song.

PIE NIGHT. Fruit pies, pumpkin pies, lemon pies, chocolate pies! Our friends have an annual "Pie Night" the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so people can eat the best stuff (pies) before they gorge themselves Thursday on the rest of the food. Then they had to cancel at the last minute, so we offered to have it at our house instead. It was fun to socialize and EAT!

MOON PHOTOS. I must draw your attention to the header picture: Frank and Teresa took the tripod out at 11;30 p.m. last night, because the moon was so beautiful. They took about 20 photos, between clouds and adjusting shutter speed and aperture, and came up with a few really neat ones.

GRANDMA. This week I get to go visit my Grandma. She is about 12 days shy of her ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY! Is that so cool!!!!!!!!! They'll invite some people over on her actual birthday (December 10), but I will fly out a little early (Friday) so I can have some time to visit with her. Here is a photo of her in Belize a couple of years ago...

Have a great week! Kari

TK, Teeth, Tootsie Rolls

Hola--

Another week of November gone! We are flying through the days. Here are a few of our accomplishments for the week.

TERESA's BIRTHDAY. Yes, she's an official teenager now! "TK," as she is known at school, turned 13 on Thursday. It is Veteran's Day, and the kids got the day off of school. Teresa had our 3rd grade neighbor convinced that the school districts cancel school every year just for her birthday.


I was all ready to make a cake or pie for her dessert choice that day, and she chose...fudge! I think I have made fudge ONE time before, in my life. But I did it. Who says kids don't make you stretch?

TOOTSIE ROLL TRUTHS. Both the dentist and the orthodontist tell us regularly that chewy or hard candies are terrible for your teeth and braces. David comes home from school with a "piece" of something..."I was eating a tootsie roll at lunch," he explains, "and this got stuck in the tootsie roll.

Of course my stomach turns over, thinking it's a piece of his tooth. After a quick trip to the dentist, and another quick trip to the orthodontist, we are assured that it is a piece of bonding (glue), not a piece of tooth. Whew! I go home and immediately rifle through all the Halloween candy, and donate all but the candy bars. (Let somebody else pull out their dental work?!?)

Here are the girls with all that candy that Halloween Eve night...

WALLPAPER FUN. Kara's group of girls went to help a lady in the church with her daughter's bedroom this week. The girls sprayed the walls and scraped off the nasty old wallpaper. The girls had a blast. I think it must be more fun when you are helping somebody else...? When I did our bathroom 2 years ago, I don't remember it being all that much fun.

RUBIK. David got a 4X4 Rubik's Cube for his birthday. Did you even know they made those? Well, they do.

And that's the way it is. Monday, November 15, 2010. Kari

Fall and Pumpkins

Hola--

It's November! Time for lots and lots to happen. Daily. Hourly. Halloween. Birthdays. Carpool. Well, mostly it's just me driving, because the kids have nutty, individual schedules. So I wear the chauffeur cap and watch the gas tank needle go down, down, down.

HALLOWEEN. This was an entertaining time: the church had a chili cook-off, then Trunk-or-Treating night on Saturday night. A major, major Candy Exchange! You give my kids candy, I'll give your kids candy, plus someone will buy hundreds of yummy donuts and cider because there's not enough sugar in the air already, right??! Ha! Little kids are SO cute in their tiny costumes. (My kids are not really "cute" in their costumes anymore... "Cute" ends around 5, I think. Maybe 6.)

PUMPKINS. We had a Pumpkin-Carving Family Night, the week before Halloween. Frank has always done the carving before, but this year each child wanted to carve their own. Here are photos of the masterpieces.

Now, use your imagination: Kara is 10. Her pumpkin says "BOO!" inside the mouth. Teresa's (13 this week) says "Boo" in the back, with an owl on the left and a wolf howling at the moon on the right. David's (15) is "Boo," the character in the Mario video games. And it really LOOKS like the character! Very cool.

BIRTHDAY. Anyway, then there was David's birthday last week: my little boy is 15 now! He had some friends over this weekend, to play video games, Apples to Apples, eat spaghetti and watch a movie. I think A Good Time Was Had By All. And I was relieved to have made enough spaghetti. You never know with kids.

RAKING. We are back to Raking Season, oh--I mean Autumn, here in New England! This is the price we pay for gorgeous leaves in September and October. We RAKE! For the most part, we dislike it vigorously, but occasionally they are dry leaves, and the kids can play a little.

(My minutes have disappeared again. If anyone finds them, can you send them back to me? I really meant to do more with my time!)

Have a great week, Kari