PrairieFire

We have two days off of school for parent/teacher conferences.  Today we went to Prairiefire Museum right by our house.  It's small, but the kids always enjoy it.  It's a fun morning activity.

They loved holding a 10 million year old asteroid and petting the bearded dragon.

They're favorite part is always creating the dinosaurs and watching them on the big screen.

I'm not sure how I feel having a T-Rex named after me, but the boys thought it was hilarious. 

Andy's Frozen Custard just opened up next door, so we walked over and enjoyed the pumpkin pie concrete.

Mischief Mantained

 I continue to be impressed with the amount of mischief these cats can get into.  They have a sixth sense of when to show up to create the optimal amount of chaos.

Grandpa got them a Halloween house that they love.

And of course, they love the children and the children love them, so we keep them.  :)

Parent Teacher Conferences

 It's always interesting to get the teacher's take on how each child is doing.  I also usually learn rather interesting things about each of them.  Little Guy was concerned I would find out he was "horrible at some things."  I was a bit nervous about what I was going to find out.  It turns out he's a talker.  He has a bestie next to him in line.  The teacher laughed when I told him that he thought he was horrible at stuff.  He's obviously loving kindergarten, and she says he's doing great. 

Little Lady was on the school news, and has been doing great. BB's teacher loves him.  She says he a leader and great example and that she couldn't ask for anything more than what he's doing.  Little Man's middle school open house was interesting.  I didn't even know who a lot of his teachers were, so I was glad he wrote out a list for me.  His Chinese teacher adores him and read me some of his family journal that was hilarious.  He had a couple of missing assignments, so I was glad that I went, but overall he's doing well in 8th grade.  All four of them are doing really well and are loving this school year. 

Amish Auction

When we lived in Ohio we loved Amish Country.  I was so excited when I heard there's a small Amish town in Missouri.  Jamesport (population 524) is adorable.  I went with a friend to the Amish auction.  We bought mums, and she also got red peppers.  She's an expert bidder, so she I just tagged along and followed her lead.  Afterward we went to the Amish bakery and had lunch at the Amish cafe.  The whole day was absolutely delightful. 

Layercake Lattice Quilt Top

I was in charge of picking blocks for June and July for do.Good Stitches.  I chose lattice blocks.  They're simple but really nice.  I made 2 quilt tops with the blocks everyone sent. 

Sports, Sports, and More Sports

Everyone's season is in full swing.  Little Man had his first Cross Country meet this week.  All of the middle schoolers ran together.  It was a bit like the Boston Marathon or the running of the bulls without the bulls.  Grandma and Grandpa Thompson documented the craziness.  They wear a device on their shoe to track the time since it's a bit of a stagger start. 

Little Lady had a double header this morning.  She was really happy, because she had 2 sets of 5 straight points from serving.  (At this age they switch ball possession after 5 straight points).  Her serve has improved so much, and she's completely overhand this season. 

The Littles Date Night

September is the little boys' turn for date nights.  They wanted the same exact thing, so they joined together again.  They just wanted a Happy Meal and ice cream at Betty Rae's.  They were very happy with their choices.  BB refused to give me a normal smile, so there you go.

Emotional Whiplash

 We typically make each of our children participate in some sort of sport to keep them active.  Little Guy sometimes slides through the radar, because he's the youngest.  He didn't play any sports last year, because our schedule was feeling already packed, but this year Joel felt like he really needed something.  We signed him up for i9 Sports.  It's practice and game all at the same time.  Little Guy's first day was Saturday, and he was very displeased that he had to go.  He whined, he cried.  He kept saying he hated soccer and why would we do this to him.  I took him and within 5 minutes of being there he decided he loved it.  He scored a goal during the game, and was smiling the whole time.  Little Guy came to sidelines hugging me telling me he loved his coach.  

In the great irony of the day, he was awarded the Enthusiasm award for the team.  Sigh.  Little Guy has always been a free spirit that takes me to my limits, but then he's super sweet and I agree to keep him a little longer. 

Singing is Contagious

We played "Singing Measles" in Primary today.  The kids LOVED it!  It's probably on the top 5 primary music days.  The missionaries were such good sports about it.  When a child was singing well their teacher would give them a dot sticker or two and they could go put it on the missionaries.  They say sang REALLY well and they giggled and laughed the entire time.  

In Full Swing!

 I always love to see how the kiddos describe themselves.  It's a little window into their mind.  I also love seeing all the pictures from their school day.  It makes me happy that they all really love school.

This is Little Lady.

This is BB.  It does my heart good to see him reading (and actually enjoying it).