Archive for November 2009

This was Colm’s first cello concert. He did a FANTASTIC job singing The Cello Song and looked super handsome to boot.

Liam did super awesome as well. He played Minuet 3 by Bach. For some reason Flickr is cutting off the last half of his performance. I will have to work on that. Does Flickr have a time limit on its videos?

I noticed tonight at dinner that Colm had something gross in his ear, so at bathtime I made sure that his ears got cleaned as well. It was so weird and gross I had to show it to him and ask him what he thought it was. His response? Oh, that must be from part of my lunch I put in my ear the other day. Heavy sigh and a chuckle. What else can I do? (I did explain to him that it was not appropriate for him to stick his lunch in his ear, but doesn’t he already know that?)

Colm is just now beginning to take off with his reading. He really wants to read and loves to snuggle up at bedtime and not only read to us, but be read to as well. This is sort of new for us since we never really had to work with Liam and reading, so I have been trying to find books that Colm can read that aren’t going to frustrate him. Rookie Readers are okay. They are leveled A, B, C, etc., but there are some A books that are pretty difficult for him and then there are some B books that he can read. I am not sure how they decide what words get in which books but it seems pretty inconsistent. Then I stumbled across Brand New Readers. LOVE them! I love how there is a summary of the book at the beginning of each book that the adult reads out loud to the child before the child begins to read. That way the child knows what the book is about and has an idea of what words are coming up. The illustrations go along with the text perfectly…just enough detail to help the beginning reader figure out the the words if they need some help. The website does a great job of explaining why these books are so awesome. I just know I love them and they are perfect for where Colm is right now as a reader.

Sunday-Out to eat for SIL’s birthday
Monday-Crockpot Chicken, Sourdough Bread, Sweet Potatoes
Tuesday-Tacos
Wednesday-Blue Cheese and Asparagus Pasta
Thursday-Sean’s Birthday- Out to Dinner
Friday-Chinese Noodles
Saturday-Fajitas
Sunday-Family Gathering for Sean’s Birthday

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Colm has been asking me and asking me when he is going to get to go on a field trip. Liam’s class has already been on two and is scheduled to go on a third in a few weeks. Well, yesterday Colm had a permission slip in his backpack…FINALLY!!! Where are they going? To go see the play The Princess and the Pea. That is NOT what he had in mind.

Sunday-Chili-Lime Salmon, Black Beans, Mexican Rice
Monday-Colm’s Soccer Party at Pizza Shoppe
Tuesday-Spaghetti and Meatballs
Wednesday-Chinese Chicken Salad
Thursday-Liam’s Soccer Party at Pizza Shoppe
Friday-Crockpot Chicken, Green Beans, Sourdough Bread, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Saturday-Fajitas

It was such a beautiful day today we just HAD to get out of the house. Who knows how many more days like this we are going to get. So, we decided to go to the Arboretum. We have been there in the summer and spring, but never the fall. I am so glad we went. The boys had a great time exploring, hiking, skipping rocks and enjoying the beautiful autumn day.
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Our kids love lamb’s ear.

Placing their stones in the medicine wheel
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Skipping rocks

Our two little ninjas were ready to go get some candy. Hiiiii-ya!!!
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Sampling the night’s treats
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Dumping it all out on the table
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It was a beautiful night to go trick-or-treating. The weather was beautiful and there were kids EVERYWHERE!!!! I loved watching all of them running around with their bags. How much fun to be a kid on Halloween. Does it get any better? We walked so long and so far that the boys were complaining about how much their feet hurt. It was definitely time to go home at that point especially since they couldn’t fit any more candy in their bags.