Flipping for Christmas

Our house has been buzzing with Christmas excitement. Here are a few pictures which depict the excitement we see daily.

School Christmas Program

I was so proud of Richard. The first time they did this program he stood there frozen in fear. Later that night we got these darling videos...and he did a great job.

Birthday surprise

For my birthday I chose to go to The Nutcracker as a family this weekend so I was surprised to wake up to this...

Chris even let me sleep in while he took Richard to school and cleaned the kitchen while I lazily lay in bed. Thank you, honey for the wonderful day and making me feel so special! I love you!

Graham Cracker Houses

All of the first graders in Richard's school made graham cracker gingerbread houses today and Hannah was able to join in on the fun. We had a really fun, very messy, time. And it was great to see Richard while he was at school. Hannah misses him desperately when he is gone.

Miniature Bull Riding

Today Richard's class and the rest of the first graders got to go on a special field trip to the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. The Northwest Miniature Bull Riding Finals are in town and the kids were invited to learn about bull riding.

Here are Richard and Hannah with Richard's friend Seamus.

After a brief presentation the kids were sent to various stations. We began on the roping station. The kids did well considering this is a tough skill to develop. I was all smiles watching these little ones. The teen cowboys were adorable with the kids and that was just as much fun to watch.

After this station we headed outside to see the miniature bulls and talk to the owners to learn about them. The owners took us to the chutes and taught us about how they open and that bulls have a preferred side to come from the chute. They take great care of their animals and the bulls only work 8 seconds a day.

Then we went to the bull riding station. This was right at the end and older kids from other schools were taking over so the kids had very quick rides before we had to leave.

This has to be one of my new very favorite pictures. What a crazy kid! I am so glad Hannah and I were able to experience this with Richard and his cute class.



Visiting Teaching

My visitng teacher came over on Sunday. We love her, she is the primary music director and she is amazing! Hannah decided to play "visiting teachers" yesterday before our festivities began. She asked me to help her set up the table and chairs and get out paper and markers/crayons. She then had her visiting teachers meet her at the front door. I love her imagination and that important things are important to her.

Class Halloween Party

Despite all of our previous Halloween parties, we still had more going on yesterday. Hannah and I want to a trick or treat in downtown Helena yesterday. Many of the businesses participated and we wondered the town for 1 1/2 hours. Hannah really cleaned up!

Then we headed to the elementary school for Richard's class party. Hannah got to make a spider bag with class, join in hte costume parade, and enjoy snacks. It was a lot of fun.

Finally, after dinner we went into our little town and enjoyed more trick or treating from the local businesses. Another hour + later and the kids were exhausted (especially Hannah) and loaded up with enough candy to open a store. We had a lot of fun for Halloween in recent days but I am so glad we get to focus on other things now. Bring on Thanksgiving!

Halloween Meals

I am not overly creative with food as my children are good eaters so I do not need to go over the top to get them to try new things. As Rachel Ray says, "Don't dumb down your kids' tastebuds". She is not my most favorite tv personality but was able to put words to Chris and my philosophy. In any case, I was feeling a little creative and generous yesterday so the kids got some fun food.

Orange milk and orange cookie cutter (cat and jack-o-lantern) homemade wheat pancakes for breakfast.

Luch was cat, jack-o-lantern, and mouse sandwiches with veggies.

For dinner we had green mummy dogs, sauteed carrots and cabbage, and Halloween (yam & carrot) soup. It was a fun day.