Crazy Hair Day

Last Friday was Crazy Hair Day at school. Paige opted for the poofy curls while Hannah went with twisty loops.

Put to Bed

I tucked my new blueberry plants into bed for the winter. Don't they look cozy in their blanket of pine shavings? I almost want to climb in and snuggle down for the winter with them.

Here are my garden beds with their black winter sheets. Don't they look sleek? I used to buy fancy garden cloth to cover them with. But a roll of black plastic from Home Depot does the same thing for a lot less $. The plastic keeps the cats out (they love it as a litter box), kills the weeds and helps the beds warm up quickly in the spring.

Let the Snow Begin!

Halloween

I thought I'd better post a photo of Halloween. We began with a little trick-or-treating around the neighborhood then moved to the church for chili, games and yet more trick-or-treating. Lots of sugar was consumed that evening.

Maren - big lady bug

Isabelle - little lady bug

Paige - butterfly fairy

Hannah - equestrian rider

Lion King

One word... SPECTACULAR

If you have the opportunity, get tickets and go see the Lion King. It plays in Spokane until December 6th. We took Hannah and Paige last night. We were all mesmerized. The costumes were beyond amazing. The singing was spectacular and and the scenery was something that I could never have dreamed of. Paige put it best when she said (in the middle of the performance - very loudly) 'This is sooo much better than the movie'!

Ski Swap

The ski swap is coming up on Saturday. Snow is in the forecast. Skiing season is getting closer! Yippee!

Last night the girls tried on all of their ski clothes and ski gear. We made a list of what we need for this coming season. What luck! It looks like only our feet grew this year. We need two pair of ski boots and two sets of poles. I don't know how my parents outfitted 6 kids to ski each year. I can barely keep up with 3! It will be interesting when Izzy makes it 4.

Fonetiks

Paige is in 2nd grade and really becoming a great reader. She is also learning to spell, but most of the time she still spells phonetically. I love this stage. Last week I felt like a broken record as I told the kids (for the gazillionth time) what they could and couldn't have for after school snacks. I must also add that Halloween was not that long ago and candy is still on their little minds. Candy is not considered an appropriate after school snack at our house. Anyway, after repeating myself yet again, I asked Paige to make a list to post to the refrigerator door. Here is her list of Healthy After-School Snacks... The photo is poor, so if you can't read it well - here is what she wrote: gogurts frut mufins cand pars carits uplsos cereal penit butr tost bred ches stiks penit butr and selre left over school lunches (Hannah) homemade granola (Hannah) pears (Hannah) Can anyone guess all 11 of Paige's items correctly?

Where are the falls?

This last weekend we packed up the car and headed off to Ione, Washington for a scenic train ride with the kids and my parents. It was a fun trip traveling from Ione to Metaline Falls and back in the fall colors. The kids had fun riding the train - especially when the conductor wasn't looking and they hung their heads out the window with the wind in their hair and the scenery whizzing by.

When we arrived in Metaline Falls and started back to Ione Paige (almost in tears) said, "But we didn't even get to see the falls. What was the point?' When we explained to her that there aren't any 'falls' in Metaline Falls and that we were on the train just to enjoy the ride, she was a little crestfallen. Without anything to anticipate for the rest of the ride she found just riding the train was fun. There were also some other highlights besides the ride...

We were able to spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa.

We did get to eat kettle corn and drink hot cocoa.

We also rode right over the Pend Oreille River as it funnels into the Box Canyon Dam.

And the scenery was beautiful.

The train rides are put on by the North Pend Oreille Valley Lions Club and are over for the season, but keep an eye out next year. They have rides starting in July. Check them out at http://www.lionstrainrides.com/.