My intention was to update our blog every month. Unfortunately life gets in the way sometimes, as we all know too well. As a consequence I haven't updated since July, so a lot has happened.
So it is now Fall, my personal favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. The colors, the smells, the holidays, the food!! We also do a lot of crafts this time of year like the melted crayon leafs in the windows!
One of the biggest things that has happened is our new puppy! He is a boxer/lab mix, he was 10 weeks old when we brought him home and we named him Juno, since he came to us from Alaska. He has grown a lot since this picture and has been quite a handful but he is very intellegent and the kids LOVE him.
I was lucky enough to get away for a weekend with my bestfriend from Juneau (yes she is the one who sent us the puppy.) We had a fabulous time relaxing and concert going. We went to the Gorge Ampitheater to see Dave Matthews band. It was such a great venue and I recommend it if you've never been.
Then we went to see Bonnie Raite, WOW is all I can say!! She is incredible, hands down one the best, if not "The" best, concert I've been to.
Once I got back is when things really got crazy. September and October are just the busiest months for us. We have Eris's School start, both kids new curriculum and schedule for the year, soccer, and scouts for both. It is a lot for one parent to handle, especially when you throw a puppy into the mix!
As if I didn't have enough going on I thought now would be a great time to tackle a home improvement project, by myself!! I just couldn't stand the carpet on our stairs any longer, so I ripped it up, hand pulled all the carpet tacks, sanded them down and painted them a nice dark mocha!
I love, love, love the results. Soooooo much better and easier to clean!
So Eris started eighth grade this year. She is still in the part time program she was accepted into two years ago. It is such a great program and she is really excelling both academically and socially.
To get ready for the first day she needed new glasses and a hair cut. Here are the before and after.
As you can see she has a lot of confidence in expressing herself. She doesn't like to follow trends, she likes to be her own person and does it soooo well. I really hope this is a quality she carries all through life!
Eris getting a little homework help!!
One of our first Cub Scout activities this year was Spelunking. Unfortunately Beren Spelunked right into a boulder! His first question was, "Is it going to leave a cool scar?".
Yes, yes it will!!
I couldn't resist this picture of Beren studying geography. This really captures the spirit of Homeschooling!
He is having a fun year. He is in advanced math, here he is building a 3d prism!
He is also studying early american history, so we went on a great field trip to a local tribal ceremonial house, where they re-enact a tribal storytelling night. It was AWESOME, I am going to go back with Gregory and Eris.
After, he picked a Native American tribe to study more indepthly. He choose the Pueblos and built a diorama replicating their village life.
Then we also have Soccer, which Beren loves. This was their first year playing with goalies, and Beren was a natural. The coach was so thrilled, he said most boys don't want to play goalie because they miss out on scoring. So he was glad Beren was so enthusiastic. During practice he would do goalie drills with the assistant coach.
Their team finished the season undefeated, and Beren was only scored on twice the whole season!! So proud of that little guy.
We went to the Zoo with the Cub Scouts. We just never get tired of Zoo trips. This was such a great day. It was cold and we had to bundle up, but ALL of the animals were out and very active. Also, there was hardly anybody else there. We had a great time!
Then before I knew it Halloween was fast approaching. We went to this great pumpkin patch in Oregon.
The kids in the corn maze. They were both terrified we would get lost in there!
They had professional pumpkin carvers. We loved this and could have watched all day.
They had so many activities that I couldn't post them all. But here is one of the giant slides. I almost couldn't get the kids off of this one.
Halloween!!
One of our favorite holidays.
Rainbow dash, and an Aztec Warrior. We love to make our own costumes. The kids plan them months in advance.
Here is a more recent pic of Juno. We finally had to implment a no dogs on the couch rule for various unpleasant reasons. He is a fast learner and understood by the end of the first day. However, he does think that as long as one or two paws are still on the floor he isn't technically "on" the couch.
So now that soccer is over and our schedules are falling into a rythym I hope to keep posting on a monthly basis. I like being able to keep intouch with those that mean so much to us, and keep you all up to date with what we are up to.
