Snowmen

Ethan brought home his light bulb snowman today. We hung him up with Rachael's from two years ago to take a picture. Dos amigos.

Fun day at school.

Today Rachael's class spent part of the day playing board games. She found someone with her favorite game "Life" and had a blast. Ethan's class went to their "buddy" class of first graders and decorated graham cracker houses. You could smell the sugar as you walked into the room. Good times.

Busy Weekend in Southern California

Rachael and Ethan with our friend Jared.

Ethan on the truck.

Last weekend we drove to Southern California to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with family and friends. We had a wonderful time Friday night visiting with friends and eating latkes. On Saturday Allen and Ethan helped Sabba out and Ethan got to climb all over the big truck. Saturday night we went to Hollywood and showed the kids Grauman's Chinese Theatre before heading up to the Griffith Observatory. A busy and fun weekend.

Happy Hanukah!

The first night of Hanukah.

Decorating cookies at the Hanukah party Saturday night.

Piano recital Sunday afternoon.

Friday night we celebrated Hanukkah at home with our friend Neola. Saturday night we went to the annual Richardson Hanukkah party. This morning we went to Religious School for more Hanukkah parties and dancing. Rachael and Ethan had their piano recital this afternoon. Then tonight our friends the Benson's came over to light the candles. Whew! So far three wild and crazy nights of Hanukkah!

Super Cold Morning!

Icicles on the house.

I had to break the ice in the water bowl.

Thanks!

What a day...

First, we missed the snow... It snowed a little here and there around us but did not stick so there was nothing to see unless you were there to watch it. Then our internet/email was not working. Thirty minutes with the tech guy to hear it is our computer. Hang up with him, reboot the computer and whalaa, fixed. Then the gas valve on our heater broke. Thankfully the repairman was able to come within an hour and fix it. :) It is nice to have heat when it is 37 degrees outside and only 7 pm. It is supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight. Burrr without a heater! The last time our heater broke we woke up to a dead fish... see last January for that entry!

Ethan in the morning.

The other morning Ethan was not ready to get up for school. Here he is snuggled within the blanket on the couch. At least he had a good attitude and wasn't a grouch.

Rachael and her tooth.

Rachael lost another baby tooth today during class. It was independent study time so everyone was working on their own thing. The person who sits next to her had gone home sick earlier that morning so no one saw her pull her tooth out. She said it was just hanging so she thought "what the heck" and pulled on it. She got a tissue and went back to work... Apparently when another student had lost his tooth the class made a big to-do about it. The teacher asked the class "haven't you seen someone lose a tooth before?"... She did not want to make a scene.

Sunday Morning

Enjoying our last November morning "being off track" from school. The kids have been home since Halloween. I figured pancakes with chocolate chip faces would be a good start to our day :)

The Day After Thanksgiving.

Today we hung out around the house. Watched some tv and played a little wii. I ran out to do a few errands and made it home before the rain started.

Miles giving Rachael a kiss!

Katie and Miles.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Go Thunder!!!!!!!!!

Last night's hockey game!

Whooo hoooo! This is fun!

Weekend wrap-up!

Two soccer games and two soccer parties later the weekend is now done! Whew! Notice I wrote "the weekend is done"... We are looking into indoor soccer for the kids. They both had a great time playing and do not want to stop.

Soccer!

Listening to last minute instructions before the game started.

Anyone out there?

Ethan flying in to get the ball!

Challah

Ethan and I made challah and cinnamon bread.

Cinnamon Bread

Unbaked challah, Ethan's creative braid on the right.

The finished product.

Ethan helped measure, stir, knead, braid and glaze the challah. He also helped spread the sugar and cinnamon on the cinnamon bread before he rolled it into the pan.

Wow!

Wow!

We had an awesome soccer day. The girls came back from 1 - 3 to win the game 4 - 3! Then the boys won 1 - 5! The kids were playing their positions and being a team. What a great day!

Trick or treaters!

Witch & 50's Waitress

the Boys

Pumpkins

Allen, Rachael, Ethan and Sabba's pumpkins.

Allen's

Sabba's

Halloween Day

Josh and Ethan on the rock wall.

Allen and Sabba enjoying the game.

Bubbe enjoying the sun and game.

Pumpkin Patch

Rachael and her pumpkin!

Rachael jumping from the top of the hay pyramid.
(It was brought to our attention, thank you Cody, that it looks like Rachael bonked her head on the pole. She did not. Also, thank you Aunt Karen, she is not sitting on the pole like a witch).

Ethan about to land from jumping off the hay stack. To get some perspective both kids were jumping from the top of the pyramid and when Ethan lands in the picture the top of his head will be about level to the top of the hay...

Cracker Jack

This is one of my lunchboxes from when I was a kid. Ethan had been using it to hold some of his toys (bouncy balls I think) but he doesn't need it anymore. Rachael asked if she could start using it as her lunchbox. Today I packed her lunch in it. When we talk about "recycle and reuse" I never thought she would be using my old lunchbox.

The boys.

The boys played hard this morning and had tied 2 - 2. They played with toys, sticks, dirt and mud during the girls game. The girls tied too.

Cub Scouts

Tonight another Cub Scout Troop had a deaf man come speak to the boys. It was a great experience. The man's wife interpreted for him and he answered many questions from the boys. He also brought his working dog and explained how the dog helps him "hear" things. A big Thank You to them for coming and speaking to the boys. The boys also wrote their names in braille and made tin can phones. Dad played with the cans...

Let's try this again, cookie anyone?

Doing better.

Cookie anyone?

This is what happens when the paper with the just baked sugar cookies slides off the tray while taking it out... Smell the burning cookies? Do you hear the smoke alarm? Well Miles our deaf dog does... He just asked to go outside. Katie is eating the non burnt pieces that fell onto the floor. Best part of the whole thing is I still have about 30 more cookies to bake and decorate for the bake sale at school tomorrow. I would go to Costco and buy cookies but there is still smoke in the house and I would need to close the windows to leave. I think it is going to be a long day. Hope yours is going better than mine.

2009

Rachael 5th Grade 2009

Ethan 3rd Grade 2009

Movie Night at school

On Friday night we went to the kids' school for "movie night". We visited with friends, ate candy and watched the movie Bolt. Fun for all!

Nimbus Dam at sunset.

We showed Darren and Mabrissa around Sacramento on Saturday. It was nice spending time with them. We ended up at Nimbus Dam at sunset. Hopefully when they come back we can go on a few hikes with them.