Honor Roll Assembly

Both Kari and Joel made the honor roll and earned a 4.0 for the first trimester of school this year. Kari has had a 4.0 every trimester of her middle school career. Joel is 1 for 1 so far. :)  The school had two different assemblies at different times for each grade, so I came and went from the school a couple times that day. Kari was not happy to be up in front of everyone and was NOT happy that I was there. Joel seemed to like it, though! Kari also won a FORCE award (citizenship award) from their PE teacher, Mr. Hudson. Proud of our kids and how hard they work to earn good grades and be good students and kind classmates. They make it look easy and make our jobs as parents easier, too. Thankful.

First games

Joel made the 6th grade Barlow youth basketball A team with the same coaches and most of the same players as last year, and the second weekend of December, they had their first games when they played in a tournament. They took 2nd and qualified for the state tournament right out of the gate! We'll see how league play goes. The season is just getting started. It's a great group of boys, and we're thankful Joel gets to play on this team.
(only one missing in the photo is Hayden)

Christmas Puzzle

We already finished our 1000 piece Christmas puzzle and are ready for another. We put together a 1000 piece puzzle we got in Disneyland this summer before that, and when we got to the end, we were missing two pieces! Kari and I were so distraught. We looked all over for those two pieces and left the puzzle on the table for a few days, in hopes of the pieces turning up. We finally gave up and moved on to the Christmas one. Then just yesterday, I put my hands in the pockets of the long sweater I was wearing, and there were the two pieces, one in each pocket! I was SO excited! Kari and I decided we need to redo that puzzle now, so we can truly finish it. :)

Update: Finished the puzzle that was missing the two pieces!

My week

Last week was a typical, full week, but I remembered to take some pictures along the way. I subbed a couple days, and the rest I had other things going on. One afternoon I had Ellery here with me. We played games, ate popcorn, and prepped some dinner together. She talked almost the whole time--so cute.

Another day Joel had an orthodontist appointment, and we decided to have a lunch date at Killer Burger afterwards before he had to go back to school. He was a fan.

One afternoon I was able to volunteer in Aubrey's class while they were doing a bead/weaving project, creating "wampum" belts with symbols that represent something important to you. Aubrey's had a volleyball, a cat, and a cross. I love being at my kids' schools and being able to do things like this with them.

On Friday night, we went over to visit my mom (recovering from knee replacement surgery) and got to see my Aunt Brenda, who was in town for a couple days, which was just so great. I love her! When I get to see my Alaskan family, I always find myself wishing there weren't quite so many miles between Oregon and Alaska.

Band Concert 6th and 8th Grades

Fun to have two kids to watch and listen to at the band concert this year. They are looking so grown up!

Stitches again

Greg came home from basketball 20 minutes after he had left. I knew when I heard the garage door open that something had happened. Another guy's head collided with Greg's eye and led to 4 stitches at urgent care and a very colorful black eye. It got worse than this, but I didn't document it. Basketball is dangerous!

Tree Fetching

We tried a new place this year, and it was a success! Albert's Tree Farm in Corbett treated us well--$25 for our 10 foot noble. They cut it and loaded it for us, too. It's not the perfect tree (we've only had one "perfecto," as the kids fondly call it), but it's a nice one.

Black Friday

Greg went with me again this year on Black Friday, bright and early. We were at Fred Meyer's by 5am and made it to World Market in time to each get $10 gift cards. We were numbers 67 and 68 out of 100. The Wilsons and Millers were a little ways behind us and got the last four tickets! Greg and I were very successful in our shopping endeavors, and it was just fun to be out together. I actually have done most of my shopping online. I love spending money at Christmas. We save all year for it, and it's just so much fun to shop for us and others and find great deals (like these two cute Dutch ovens--aren't they adorable? $7.99 each!). We've had a vast amount of packages delivered to our door the last couple weeks, and knowing that more were on their way, I decided to do something for our delivery drivers. I've seen others do this and thought it was a great idea. The kids get all excited when they see them coming and watch to see if they'll take anything, cheering if they do. It feels good to show a little kindness and appreciation, even if it's just a small snack.

Thanksgiving

So much to be thankful for. Our tree was very full, especially since I was on it this year and had everything ready to go on November 1st this year. Might be the first and only time, but it was fun to have a full month of thankfulness. We headed to Grandpa and Grandma Arnold's for Thanksgiving dinner and had a nice, relaxing day together.

Veteran's Day program

No photos of the actual program, but I documented the girls' outfits. Abby's brother, Ken, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes earlier that day, and their parents with with him at the hospital (update: He's doing well! Only in the hospital for two nights.), so Abby went to the program with us. We even came up with a decent outfit from Aubrey's closet. I love that their music teacher teaches the kids patriotic songs and about honoring our veterans and the things we have to be thankful for.

Halloween

Five out of six of us dressed up for Halloween this year. Kari went as herself, a soccer player, Kylo Ren with a mini saber, and a spy. She really didn't want to dress up, but she did tromp around the neighborhood with her friends that night. Russell and Ellery joined the kids trick-or-treating. Joel took off with some friends he met up with in the neighborhood and came back a couple hours later with a ridiculous amount of candy. As usual, our neighborhood was a happening place. I stayed back and handed out candy and chatted with my friend, Traci, between knocks on the door. It's always fun to see so many neighborhood friends and school kids on Halloween. I got a lot of kids saying, "Mrs. Moffat?" and "Aren't you Kari's mom?" or Joel, Aubrey, or Grant's mom. :) Subbing and volunteering has made it so that I know most of the kids at East and West Orient now. Pretty fun! The kids all came back with copious amounts of candy. We have generous neighbors.

A Jedi knight, a mad scientist, Kari as herself, and Pippi Longstocking

I fell asleep on the couch right before the kids carved their pumpkins, so I confess I didn't participate in that tradition this year. The last weekend of soccer and the craziness of the week got to me, and I zonked out. Kari carved a Christmas pumpkin (loved that). Aubrey's was a winking emoji. Grant's had a toothless smile to match his own, as well as a Captain America symbol on the other side. Joel had a "classic," which he carved all himself.

Harvest Party

We dressed up for Halloween, our church Harvest Party, and a school Skateworld event before that, so we got good use of our costumes this year! Other photographers documented this day for us. Great to have those visual memories. The middle schoolers planned and ran the games for the party, and they did a great job.