School Events

During parent teacher conference week, I was able to volunteer to work the bookfair, which meant that I drove the three little ones to school one morning, and picked them up one afternoon. They were big fans of that. 

When I signed up for parent teacher conferences, I didn't realize that I could only sign up for 12 times per email.  So, my timeslots were off, because I had selected them and the timer hadn't timed out for them while I was trying to sign up! Ahhhhhh.  I'll know for the spring.  I digress.  I try to put five minutes in between each meeting, in case they are running behind (and they tend to,) and between that and scheduling double appointments for the twins, we ended up with a huge chunk of time at the end of the night.  So, the twins did some posing in the cool bench they never have time to sit on during the school day!

Spirit week once again had Adam Sandler day, so Emily borrowed some of Billy's clothes to rock the look.

Not my job day for the younger three.

Country vs Country Club Day for the big girls.

Grace was trying out her outfit for 2000s day.  She looked adorable, but I totally forgot to snap a picture the next morning.  Juliet also looked cute!

Emily dressed in red, white, and blue for dress for the wrong occasion day. 

William's math teacher gives extra credit to students who create the most creative craft out of their finished math workbook at the end of the unit.  William's friend had made a paper chain, and he wasn't sure if he could best that, but was happy to try and make the origami swan garland.  He isn't certain if he will get points too, since they are in different classes, but his teacher did put the swans up under the paper chain, so maybe?

Emily made plans to get ready with her friends, then meet up with her homecoming date, none of which I was present for, since we'd already made plans with the Corniches, but thankfully there were plenty of pictures that she was able to share with me after the fact!  These were my favorites.

She said that she had a great time, and it sure does look like it!  Next year, she'll be able to drive herself, and split her time between even more friends! lol

later days

Other Fun

I'm not sure how far I was into Alice's desire to drive saga, but in short, once she started college classes that allowed for driving students to leave early, she was all about getting her license.  We went up to the new elementary school to practice parallel parking, signed her up for the test, and she passed on a Sunday morning!  

Since the paperwork said that the testing company had until 8AM on the next business day to report the test results, Alice didn't get to drive to school Monday morning, but I did send her to the store when she got home from school that night!

Tuesday morning though, I sent my two oldest off 10 minutes after the bus ran!  She did great, but I'm still not fully at ease when she leaves, but it is a far sight better than it was this first time!

Billy's former coworker interviewed and was offered a position at his company, but he ultimately turned it down, but sent Billy a "thank you/I'm sorry" gift.  We enjoyed trying all the new things!  I have plans for the bacon, but it is the only thing we haven't eaten yet I think.

The apricot rugalach was unexpectedly tasty!

I think I talked about our pediatrician's office closing down, so over the course of a week, I got all the kids established at the new one.  I like her, though she's very young, she seems quite thorough.

 

TX Roadhouse had this nifty giveaway, where they gave you an envelope, then during a particular week, you came back with the envelope, and they would open it, and give you a coupon!  We went back for a Friday lunch date, and our coupon was for a free appetizer!  Billy picked the Onion Blossom, which I tried, but it wasn't my favorite.  I did enjoy my salad, rolls, and steak though!

Before the cold came, I absolutely had to clean the dining room windows.  It's not hard, but it does require moving the credenza fully out of the way.  During the morning between my bus riders leaving and my car driven children, I have about twenty minutes, which was plenty of time to get it sparkling again!

Juliet painted her nails, and I thought these three fingers looked like a sloth face! = )

Alice is loving her newfound freedom that comes from being able to drive.  She is able to bring her tea and leave the cup in the car!  She has also been dressing a little fancier, now that she can control the temperature in the car.

Over the weekend, Billy and I went to Buddies to use a coupon, and we were able to sit on the patio to enjoy the warm weather!

My dryer has been taking forever to dry loads for a few weeks now, and when I was putting the hose away for the winter, I saw that there was a stick in the vent cover.  When I pulled it out, several came with it.  When I looked inside, this is what I saw!  After unscrewing the cover and emptying this mess of a nest, my dryer has been working much better!

One last little adventure for Juliet.  I bought her this cute little earring case, because she likes Ariel. I figured she could put whatever earrings in it that she wanted. When I gave it to her, she found a hidden pearl, which was original to the collection, (at least according to AI!)  Together the case and necklace charm are worth a little bit of money, but she wants to keep both of them!

It's been a fun fall so far.  My favorite part has definitely been the favorable weather! ; )

later days

Garden and Nature

Each time I sub in a class on the Northwest side of the school, I try to take a picture of this tree that lives outside of the forest.  As fast as the leaves are falling, it might be bare by the time school starts back up, but in the meantime, it was still mostly green!

My poor neglected garden has continued to pump out a tasty supply of tomatoes that we've used for tacos and sandwiches and snacking for the past couple of months!

Now that Alice is officially a licensed driver, I can take pictures of sunsets, while she monitors for traffic!

The tarp/insulation bald spot in the back yard is slowly covering back up.  It took me 17 weeks to feed all the insulation from the shed into our can, but it feels good to be done, and not have spent the $600 on a dumpster!

A beautiful Grand River sunrise.  This was just a week or so before they pulled the flowers out for the fall.

A close up of a flowering weed, that must be awfully hearty, because it is cold at night now!

Billy and I had a picnic lunch in the park one day, then went to walk along part of the Lansing trail.  It was a little rainy, but not terribly cold, so we had a good walk.

According to reports it's been an "unseasonably warm" October, I've found it to be perfect. ; )  Hopefully, we can have the warmth stick around until Halloween at least!

later days