Leaves are Coming and Other Such Nonsense

Well my goal was to NOT wait as long to post on the blog...September and October are pretty packed for us, so the days run together just a little bit.

CRISP DAYS.  We have had some gorgeous fall weather!  Sunny, and highs in the low or mid 70's.  Then it will rain, of course, but then the sun is back!  We are enjoying these days before...

LEAF SEASON.  Yes, it's coming, like it or not.  Soon we will have leaves on our lawn.  LOTS of leaves.  Not joking.  LOTS.

SOCCER.  Between the 2 teams she is on, Kara had 4 games last week.

VOLLEYBALL.  Teresa had 3 games last week.  Just to educate you on volleyball terminology: there are 5 "sets" in a "game." The first 4 "sets" are to 25 points.  If they play a fifth "set," it's only to 15 points.  The varsity team plays until a team wins 3 out of 5 sets, and that team wins the game.

Here is Teresa playing last week:

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHTS.  High school's was last week, so we got to listen to all of Teresa's teachers explain what to expect in their class this term.  This week we will go to the Middle School, for Kara's 8th grade teachers to tell us about THEIR classes :)

(Side note: usually in my life, I am more than ready to move on to the next stage, even before the one I'm in is over.  Impatience is my bane, opposite of boon...new vocab word for me tonight...example: I was very ready to be finished with the elementary school!  It was fine and all, but I had had 2 years of keeping up with 3 different schools, their emails, calendars, fund-raisers...ugh.  So, I was ready for Kara to move beyond elementary school.

BUT, the Middle School here is quite stellar.  The teachers, the field trips, the clubs, the philosophy, the music program...I really love it all.  I will be sad, at the end of this year, to be finished with the Middle School.)

SKYPING with DAVID.  Another highlight for my week!  We skype David on the weekends.  He has been practicing with the Ultimate Frisbee team, and this weekend they had a tournament in Logan, UT.  That's north of Provo a couple of hours. It's almost to the Idaho border, but still in Utah.
  The whole team stayed with one of the players' aunts.  She fed them a lot of lazagna, and allowed 20 college boys to crash on the floor of her basement.  It sounded like a fun weekend.  Well, for the team, at least...I don't know about for that aunt?!?! It was SO nice that she took care of them!

That's the scoop for this Sunday!  Hope your weekend was wonderful.

Kari

Fall Schedule and KaBOOM!

Hola!

"are you finished with the pictures, already?"

At the end of each August, I feel my blood pressure rise just a little.  Something inside gets nervous, and I'm not sure why...

At that point, summer may be winding down some, but it has been such a NICE season.  WE plan the activities, and fewer outside forces TELL us what the calendar events will be.

FALL BEGINS.  Now, I remember!  We are very decidedly back into the swing of fall.  School, soccer, volleyball, piano lessons, youth nights, seminary, church calendar.  Whew! :)

smallest soccer team member

SPORTS.  Teresa and Kara seem to like their teachers, and they definitely like the sports teams.  Teresa is on the varsity volleyball team at the high school, and they won their first 3 matches!  (Each time, they play until one team wins 3 of 5 games. That's a "match.")

Kara is on two soccer teams: the town team and the school team.  That means lots of games.

KaBOOM!  Here's a cool thing, we got to participate in.  There is an organization called KaBOOM! who builds playgrounds all over the nation.  They choose big cities, and research to find neighborhoods where there may not be any playgrounds, to help children stay healthy and happy by being able to PLAY.

green pieces of slide

So Waltham is just 2 towns over from us, and this time KaBOOM! joined with Brandeis University and Bentley University.  The New England Patriots, and United Health Care were also big sponsors.  Frank and I joined with other community or college student volunteers, to build this playground.  We had a Prep Day on Saturday. 

our missionaries helped too: center w/shovel

The big semi truck came with all of the supplies, which we inventoried and put into small groups, so on Build Day each group could puzzle-piece their section together.

On Build Day, it was this amazingly organized process.  Almost none of the volunteers had done this before.  But they put us into groups, and each group followed step-by-step instructions for their part of the playground.  Then all the pieces slowly came together.

our part: steps w/yellow railings

From a dirt field with holes, to a complete playground with planters, benches, a stage and a very cool play structure, in just 6 HOURS.  It was a really fun thing to be a part of.

here is the whole section of steps we "made"

VIDEO.  I came home today and got a link to this Playground Build video:


THE BEST PART: watch the video, and hit 'pause' at 1:02 minutes or 1:03 minutes.  I am in the lower left corner, back to the camera, sitting on the ground.  Trying to figure out the yellow railings for our part, the steps! Ha.

I have been too distracted lately to finish this post, but I really am going to send it.  Have a great week!

Kari

Labor Day and Back to School

Hola!

Well it's hard to know what day it is.  Labor Day weekend is behind us, and then school started Tuesday.  Wednesdays are always "short" days (students are dismissed 1 hour early on Wednesdays in this district), and tomorrow NO school, for Rosh Hashanah!  Here are a few of last week's highlights:

TRY to STRETCH IT.  We tried so hard, to make summer last just a l-i-t-t-l-e--b-i-t--l-o-n-g-e-r!!!  But alas, Labor Day came...and went.  We had dinner at a friend's house, and learned how to play Ticket to Ride.  And, I made deviled eggs!

WICKED.  The musical came to Boston, and Frank and I had our belated anniversary date.  What a clever and fun show!

KARA's HATS.  At girl's camp, there is always a service component.  They have a chance to write letters to missionaries, or contribute in some way to a local charity organization.  This year the girls learned to "loom-knit," and make newborn baby hats.  Kara liked making these so much, she continued when she got back from camp!  These are the ones she has made so far.

6 FLAGS.  We can't finish a summer without a trip to Six Flags!  Well, actually, we have before.  But this time, we "had" to go, since Kara had a trip coming, that we already paid for 4 months ago.  Her music group was going to perform and go to 6 Flags last May, and the weather was very rainy so they gave them vouchers to use by Labor Day.

So I took Kara and Amanda, one of her friends from school, to the amusement park and water park.  You may think that "perfect weather" means sunshine and warm temperatures.  But in the case of an amusement park, the definition of "perfect weather" changes dramatically.  What you really want, at Six Flags, is short lines.  What keeps the crowds away?  Clouds and rain, of course!  So when we woke up and it was overcast... chance of thunderstorms... we went anyway.  This time, we took a chance and won :)  Short lines and cool temperatures...it was just about perfect.  The girls met their goal of riding each of the 12 roller coasters, multiple times in many cases.  It was a good day.

GAS HEAT.  Last thing, I'll highlight our "final" home project.  We switched over from oil heat to gas.  Once again, it turned into more of an ordeal than we thought.  But the end result is a more efficient heater, will be a good one.  Maybe I can put in photos of before and after.

Well, just the "before" now...We're still working on making it a better room!  But BEFORE, it was this monstrous oil tank and an elephant of a furnace.  From 1950, when the house was built.  Really, it's the original...

"They don't make them like that anymore," is a common statement from people who come to do work on the house.

Time to take Teresa to volleyball!  Have a great weekend :)

Kari