Wasp

For months, Yoda and I would would track the progress of these wasps building their "home".

Then the wasps kinda disappeared. 

And then there was a huge rain/wind storm and it all fell apart and this is how it looked. 

Yoda, "Are the wasps doing home renovations?"

Up

One day while picking up Parker from school I came around a corner to see this...

Totally came out of nowhere!

(This was not the moment it happened.  I made him do it again so I could get it on video.  But this is very similar to what happened the first time.) 

Another day we were all there for something and I encouraged all kids to try it.  Mimi was into it, Yoda was NOT! (he's standing on Greg's knee or something in the photo below)

4th Grade Choir Concert

Yoda was in the 4th Grade Choir Concert last month, he was very excited about it this year.

 

There he is right in the middle looking all dapper.  (It was also his 10th birthday and he had just received that hat he'd wanted for a while!)

 We thought it would be funny re-live a moment from a 4th Grade Choir Concert of a few years ago...

Time Lapse Christmas

Thought it would be funny to film us opening presents, but in time-lapse mode!

So here's like 20 minutes of us unwrapping presents, but jammed into less then 2 minutes.  Right at the end we give the camera a wave :)

video

 We put together many puzzles this year! 

And chilling afterwards...

AP Psyche

Parker has been taking AP Psyche this year.  One of his assignments was to map out the brain.  This kid has such a dry sense of humor.  I looked over and one minute he was making the brain map and the next he was wearing it.  So so silly.

Merry Christmas!

Parker's last campout

It was a strong finish for Parker with scouts.  He very easily could have said, "no more, thank you very much", but he stuck with it when he could.  He'd camp, help younger scouts, attend courts of honor, etc. 

Last month he had his last camp out, Greg went along too.  Next year we'll see what our next move is with scouts for Yoda, who knows...

 

 They took along our bows and arrows (thanks, Dad!)

Thanksgiving Report

Tuesday: We washed some clothes and threw them in a bag.  Then we picked up each kid from school and drove off to NYC and NJ for Thanksgiving!

Wednesday: We ate our way around NYC. 

First Bagels by my sister's house.

  Then Cronuts.

 Amazing Pizza after a walk on the Highline

Then some Portuguese Pasteis de Nata

Later that night we had Chicken here, no photos though

Last was dessert ;) at the Milk Bar.  I can't find the photos from there, I'll get them in a bit...

 Greg and Parker had fancy ice cream, but Yoda, Mimi, Sonya and I custom designed our fancy cookie.  We were so full we waited until the next day to eat while we drove to NJ and my other sister's house for Thanksgiving dinner. 

 

 On the Highline

 

 Then Sonya lead us to see the Macy's Day Balloons being filled.  Can you see them in the back? 

Here's a few more close up...

 This one was the one Parker was most excited about but it was still flat!

DragonBallZ!

 Thursday: Yoda, Sonya and I thought we'd seen enough of the parade so we decided to stay at Sonya's to bake, pack, Yoda got to play with his new birthday Legos from Sonya.

 Mimi and Parker were rewarded with free swag from Netflix for going to the parade early in the morning with Greg. 

 Green Eggs and Ham! 

 By some miracle we had wonderful clear roads for our trip to NJ!

 The kiddos had lots of fun with cousin H and her new dog. 

 We went on a long walk after dinner. 

 I have another photo with everyone, I'll get to that...
UPDATE:
Here it is!

That night we drove all the way home so that Parker could work on Black Friday.  Phew!  What an awesome trip, so happy we could see family :)

Nice to know some things don't change

Mimi in a basket!

Some of Mimi-in-basket from the past...

2013

late 2008

 

early 2008

 

Happy Thanksgiving

While driving past a church with a sign that read, "Thanksgiving Worship Service..."
Yoda said, "Wait, they worship Thanksgiving?!?!"

Apples 2019

Yoda noticed that he has not picked apples as often as the older kiddos by the time they were 9.  So we felt guilty and took him apple picking a few weeks back...

It was a beautiful day and I'm glad we made it happen!

some kid thoughts...

Yoda, "Why are there no superheroes from the suburbs?"

**********

Parker goes to a school with no cafeteria, so we pack lunches and he's fine with that.

But occasionally he buys fast food down the street with his CREDIT CARD.  So, on those days instead of me asking if he has his lunch BOX, he said I should ask if he has his lunch RECTANGLE. 

**********

Back in Kindergarten, Mimi arrived excited for her Show-what-you-know conference with her soon-to-be-teacher.

recap:

She went to meet her teacher and walk around to get a feel for the classroom and school.  This day was called show-what-you-know, just a 20 minute conference with just her and her teacher.  When I explained what would happen that day, I neglected to say that the teacher would ask the questions and that Mimi would tell her the answers.
What ended up happening was Mimi marched in with her backpack full of school supplies, sat down, and started telling her teacher exactly what she knew!
Mimi:"There are different kinds of dinosaurs, bipods and quadrupeds.  Some dinosaurs are herbivores and some are carnivores..."

The whole story is in this link.

Even though it was 8 years ago, we retell the story often because it's so cute.

One day as we were retelling the story, Mimi asked sweetly, "How many dinosaurs did I GET to?"