Summer Learning-

Whoa ... took a bit of a break, didn't we?! Well, Ben has a Summer Learning Blog if you're interested to see what he's up to this summer: http://bwsummer.blogspot.com.

MOvember-

This year we started a team for Movember — the STL MOs — in honor of my dad (and uncle and grandpa)! Our little team raised nearly $1,000 to support men's health, including prostate cancer. We had a lot of fun and good laughs along the way … thanks to all of you that supported our team!

November

 Just because she's cute ...

 We celebrated Bubba's birthday (and the birth of their new cousin Zander!)

Ben helped to honor veterans at an all-school assembly by presenting color guard. "Yours truly" organized a coffee before the assembly for the Veteran's and their families (gotta love the PTO - haha). I must admit I was a little grumpy about the job (I had to buy coffee, treats and load 5,000 balloons into my car) not to mention that my co-chair bailed on me … BUT … it turned out to be a fantastic afternoon. The Veteran's were so sweet, gracious and proud — some of them were even in their uniforms. Most of them were grandparents (or great-grandparents) of the students. It really made me wish that our grandparents could have been there! They would have loved it!

 Nora's dream came true and she got to bake cookies with her new BFF Liz.

Ben built an awesome model of his school in the workshop with Grandad. They did such a good job that I decided to email the principal to let her know about his work. The model is now on display in a case at school, he got to talk about his work on the school announcements (on TV) and he felt pretty proud of his accomplishment. …Pinewood Derby Race here we come!!!

Halloween 2013

Wonder Woman, Rapunzel, Super Girl & Ninja

Nora's Halloween performance at school
(the younger kids watch the older kids)

A Big Weekend-

We spent a family morning at the boy scout camp grounds. The kids had a blast making leather bracelets, shooting darts ... but what they REALLY wanted to do (especially Nora) was ride the horses.  They loved it!

We also had Lacey — Nora's school guinea pig — stay at our house. They were soooooo excited for our house guest! However, I don't think a full-time guinea pig is in our future ... they are a little too smelly for me!

Ben Reading-

He's doing soooo well with his reading this year! We're so proud of Ben.

Cub Scouts-

Ben joined Cub Scouts this year. The first event was a Raingutter Regatta. Joe and Ben built this "sweet" (Ben's words) sailboat. He had a lot of fun and the boys had fun building their masterpiece.