Happy 6 month milestone....cousin!

Just 4 days before hefty Wesley was born, his cousin Viviana was born at 26 weeks 4 days. She weighed in at 1 lb. 12 oz. Today she is 6 months old and continues to bless all around her as she grows and shares her spirit. She's doing great! Today we're thinking of you, Viv. Cheers to you for all of the milestones you've hit, surpassed, and have the chance to face in your beautiful life. Tell mommie to enjoy a big helping of cake and ice-cream for you today.....
you deserve it! :)
Love, your Beantown family....
Uncle Waynerd, Aunt Becky, Nina, Bub, Gracie, Cutie & Wes

HAPPY 6 MONTHS, COUSIN VIV!

FUN Fundraiser

Grace brought home this school fundraiser & I love it! The company is called Square 1 Art. The jist of the fundraiser is that the kids draw a picture and later the company sends home a small magnet showcasing your child's art. You can then order any of a number of things featuring your child's drawing as well, & a percentage of the sales go to the school. Since hearts are Grace's "thing", I'm going to order the heart ornament.

Thomas...and his Plimoth Plantation presentation

Last week the 3rd grade at Thomas' school got an additional teacher to reduce class sizes in the 3 other 3rd grade classrooms. I met with the teacher and spoke with the counselor to make sure Thomas is adjusting well, etc. I was glad that they didn't move him to the new class since he's already had a lot of change and adapting to go through since Sept. His class now has 22 kids, and the teacher, who I'm so impressed with, looks thrilled with the change. As we planned to move here we prayed for good teachers,leaders, and friends, and it's wonderful to see those prayers answered this year for really all 3 of our school kids.
Last week the 3rd graders went on a fancy shmancy bus to Plymouth, MA where they toured Plimoth Plantation. Thomas came away with a head full of pilgrim and Wampanoag facts. Unfortunately he lost his disposable camera on the field trip, and Thomas was not thrilled about it since he wanted to use pictures for his poster board he made for his oral report. Aunt Amanda unknowingly came to his aid when she emailed pics her mom took from her visits there. Thomas ended up using most of them. He thought that was so nice of Amanda and her mom...I agree...Thank you!!! Attached is Thomas' poster. He practiced his oral report about 10 times in front of us, and we all learned quite a bit. Good Luck, Thomas!

Thomas' Plimoth Plantation poster...


Wampanoag info & to the right is Thomas' Thanksgiving illustration...


Thanksgiving info and pilgrim info. The "pull me" tab has you guess if the pilgrims ordinarily wore the stereotypical black or if they usually wore bright colors. If you pull out the pilgrims, they are both dressed in bright colors.


Wampanoag food info...dried cranberries are in the bag.


Update: After school Thomas came up to me with a huge grin on his face. I asked if he gave his report and he said, "Yes. I got a 4 out of 4!" The teacher told the class that 2 kids who scored a 4 will get to present their reports to the school committee and have it broadcast on the local TV channel. I asked Thomas how many kids scored 4 today and he said that all of them did. He said he would like to be chosen, but he would also have fun watching any of his classmates on TV too. That's Thomas for you...so good-natured. Congrats, Thomas!

Thomas

Tonight I was holding Wesley and talking with him about the pictures on the walls of his/Thomas' bedroom. Thomas was standing there and heard me ask Wesley if he remembered Nephi. Thomas said, "I know why he doesn't remember them. It's because it was a LOOOOOONG ride here." This mommie was speechless:)

(Nephi, Moroni & Enos are on the wall opposite this one).

It's raking season...

This maple tree is in our front yard. As we look out our family room window and admire the changing leaves, we are reminded of one thing we love best about New England...autumn!

Today Caroline took initiative and went outside to clean up the leaves Wayne had raked into a nice big pile.

What a big helper Caroline is!

You guessed it. Those leaves were never going to make it into the trash bag. Caroline couldn't bear to clean up the leaves just yet...they're way too much fun. So, the leaf pile lives to see another day. Maybe tomorrow I'll join Caroline in the leaf pile and have her teach me how to make leaf angels. That DID look like fun!

Apple-Cranberry pie, anyone?

The thought of tons of candy in the house didn't sit right with me, so I decided to make a real treat...apple-cranberry pie. Have you ever added a scoop (1/4 C is plenty) of cranberries to your favorite apple pie recipe? Cranberries are a staple here in New England and I don't know why I never liked them as a child. Boy, did I miss out! Whenever I bring home dried cranberries for salads, Caroline hijacks the bag and I'm lucky to get a few. But, back to the pie...I just used Pillsbury's pie dough and handed leaf and pumpkin cookie cutters to Grace and she cut out shapes for the top of the pie. It's nice to have a baking buddy. Half of the treat is how my kitchen smells while it's baking. It's one of the things I love most about autumn! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy some pie for breakfast before heading off to parent-teacher conference. Happy November!