Sat, 31 Oct 2009
More HalloweenI forgot about the other thing we did today. The weather was so beautiful so we got outside and raked the leaves. We've had so much rain that there hasn't been a good time to do it. The tree in the front yard only had eleven leaves left this morning. Melody climbed the tree and picked the ones that she could reach. The tree in the back yard is a different story because it will keep its leaves until Christmas. So there will be lots more leaves to rake.
Raking leaves can be fun when everyone helps. Today the leaves were pretty wet so no one enjoyed jumping in them though.
Happy Halloween
I don't have Halloween pictures yet, but have pictures from our trunk-or-treat activity at the church last night. Tonight the kids will go trick-or-treating with some friends (supervised by Bryan) and Marc and I will sit in our driveway and pass out the candy. We will probably bring out the fire pit and start a fire to stay warm, although it is a pretty nice day. I also invited a couple of friends over.
We've had rain all week again, and it is a good thing it cleared for last night and today. I heard yesterday that this was the rainiest October here, ever. But, incredibly enough, the weather has been nice on Saturdays.
The big events this week, were that Bryan got his driver's license. His mean parents finally caved and let him get it.
Spurred by that event, Marc finally decided on the car he wanted for his mid-life crisis. So Bryan's first solo driving event was to help Marc and me bring the new car home. Bryan and I met Marc in St. Louis and Bryan drove the Honda home by himself. Since it was raining and in the middle of rush hour, it was no small feat. I'm sure this opens a whole new chapter in our lives as parents.
Melody was the only kid who wanted to carve a pumpkin this year. She did a good job of it and we used it at trunk-or-treat. Thank goodness that somebody has Halloween spirit. Remember that she also decorated the house. She does look like it is really quite a chore in this picture though. Maybe next year Marc and I will have to carve our own Jack-O-Lanterns.
She did a good job though.
Here is a picture of Marc passing out candy and Thomas in his Percy Jackson costume. Thomas always wants to be someone from a book he is reading. Or maybe it was just an excuse to use a sword. His shirt says "Camp Halfblood" He made that himself. I helped with the sword.
Bryan is too old for trick-or-treating so I'm not sure where he was all evening. Hopefully not gambling somewhere.
And here is the picture I took of Melody with two of her friends.
I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween.
Sat, 24 Oct 2009
Sunshine
Today was an absolutely beautiful day! Most unusual was that we had such a beautiful day on a Saturday, and one with no commitments (except Bryan's play which I'll tell about later). So, when we woke up, I told everyone to pick a chore to do that would help out the family and then do it quickly so we could go do something fun. Bryan and Melody cleaned the rain gutters.
And then we went to Old Town St. Charles to take some pictures.
Our pictures are still a work in progress. Can you see the pattern?
We had a picnic and then the traditional ice cream. We even asked a nice lady to take our picture.
Later, we went to the library book sale and bought more books that we don't have shelf space for…
Melody helped me by cleaning out our school supply drawer. She is a big help. It's a good thing that she likes organizing things. I need organizing.
Bryan had a 3:00 call for the last night of his school play. We attended the performance of "The Haunting Trio" last night and I thought it was good. They did "The Lottery", "The Monkey's Paw", and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." All were very creepy and spooky.
Here is Bryan in The Lottery.
And here he is talking to Icabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow.
It was fun to watch the plays. And fun that they are now over.
One last note about our week. Melody (and I) spent hours working on a "cell project" for her science class. What can I say about class projects? All I can say is that I, I mean she, had better get an A on this project.
This picture doesn't even show the whole project. She had to put these on boards, and label them, and make keys. It took forever. She did a similar project last year in sixth grade. We are going to save these however in case she has to do it again in biology 
Was that enough whining about school projects?
Mon, 19 Oct 2009
Some of us got sick.Melody and a friend decorated for Halloween for me this year. I love that I don't have to do it. But after they did it, the spiders came and did their part because this is what our bushes looked like the other morning. Very thorough, huh?
Last weekend was homecoming at East High School.We all went to the parade because it was just down the street from our house. Here is a picture of the band.
They had an impressive group of floats, a string of Corvettes for the royalty, and they threw hundreds of pounds of candy at the crowd. So everyone had a good time. Bryan went to school after to help with the set for his play, and then stayed after for the football game. He chose to go to the church dance instead later that night, because he likes dressing up for Halloween. He took the best costume award for his "Hyrum Smith" costume (but that's not really who he was trying to be…
After Bryan's busy day, when he told me he wasn't feeling well on Sunday morning, I figured he was just tired, but then he got a fever and I realized he was really sick. So he stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday. Since the weather was cold and dreary and I didn't feel that great either, I enjoyed the two days to stay home and watch movies with him. He had to go back to school Wednesday for the PSAT (there's no make up day.) Hope he did well anyway.
Then Thomas stayed home sick on Thursday and Friday. So it was an unproductive week for me.When Thomas began to feel better on Saturday, he and I made a sword out of paper mache for his Halloween costume. It was fun to make. It dried quickly and was ready to be painted this morning before school. I love making things out of paper mache.Costumes for Halloween are just about done.
Bryan's play opens this week, so costumes are done for it also.
Melody continues healthy. She went to a babysitting class at the hospital on Saturday, so now she's an expert and ready for a babysitting career. She actually likes kids.
A final picture. We've had a jay at our feeder lately. These guys are so much more polite and less aggressive than the Stellar jays in the West. We love to see Blue Jays, but they are shy and never stay long.
Wow, three pictures and not one of the kids. I'll have to do better.
Fri, 09 Oct 2009
CostumesOctober has always been a time to sew Halloween costumes, and I think that it is fun, but this month in addition to Halloween we've had several other reasons to make costumes. First, Bryan had to dress in yellow for a drama club "Olympics."
This week is homecoming for Bryan's high school so he has dressed up oddly every day. One day he wore his wet suit with his bathing suit. And here is his costume for "decades day."
Today is Egyptian Day for the seventh graders at Melody's school. They are studying Egypt. Hope she has fun.The costume was really fun to make.
I'm home finishing up costumes for Bryan's school play. I have one more trip to make to JoAnn's. (Maybe I should buy stock in the company. Or maybe in Goodwill.) And then I'll think of working on Thomas' Percy Jackson costume. That's only for Halloween and it's still a long way off…
One more note. Something deep and ponderous. The other day Thomas wanted to borrow my camera to go outside and take some pictures. Then he came running back in and said, "I need a banana!" He took it outside with him. Later I looked at the pictures on the camera. There were various pretty cloud pictures. And this one. Some time if I ever have time, I plan to ask Thomas about it.
Jan Dill Hall St. Peters, Missouri
Page created: 09 November 2008
Page modified: 31 December 2009
