Winter Camp

Ben and his friend organized a Venturing Crew for their daughters and any other young women who wanted to join.  They went camping the first weekend of December, and invited me to come along as another adult leader.  If you must camp in the winter, come to Texas to do it.  It was actually pretty perfect weather.

We went to the Boy Scout camp where I had gone to Wood Badge training--so many memories...  There was only one other cub pack camping there that weekend.  Our group had 3 men, 3 women, and nine girls (including Emma and Gracie, an honorary visitor).

Ben and I slept decently in our tent.  Ben has some good equipment to make it...decent.  This is supposed to be a selfie with the sunrise:

After breakfast we went out on the lake.  Gracie and I went out together in a canoe:

Emma was on her own in a kayak.

Unfortunately, we underestimated the power of the wind and the weakness of our arms, and we had to get towed back to shore by Ben.

(My view while being rescued)

(His view while rescuing Emma)

It was fun once we realized we couldn't head quite so far out into the lake, but that was enough on the lake for me that day.

We camped on these platforms made for boy scout tents, but we used our own tents.

All the girls after packing up our camp:

The last activity for the day was shooting 22s.  Ben is certified to run the gun range at scout camps, so we gave it a try--the first time for me, Emma, and Gracie.

Emma and I shot better aiming with our left eyes.

After lunch and cleaning up the guns, we headed on home.  It was a pretty fun camp out, and we didn't freeze, so I consider it a win.

Life

Benson discovered night time reading.  He started with some classics:

My check engine light came on.  Usually I wait for a while for it to turn off on its own, or for something obvious to happen, but this time I took it to get it diagnosed right away.  The readout they got was so broad that they said, "Just wait for something obvious to happen.  Maybe it will turn off on its own in a little while."

Ben gave a Family Home Evening lesson on working together.  He had the kids each hold the end of a string tied to a rubber band, and they had to stack cups with the contraption.

They did pretty well.  We're still working on working together.

I took my preschool class on a field trip to a pet store.  All animals, children, and teachers survived.

Tessa was the student of the week for her class at school!

I'm glad she's a good worker at school.

Benson had been the student of the week the week before, but I didn't get the message until it was too late to go, so here's a picture of him with Tessa's award. ☺ (His friend Quinn was in preschool with him last year.  They were so happy to be in the same class for Kindergarten!)

Thanksgiving Break

This was our first Thanksgiving without a trip planned in a while, so we had some time to get some Personal Progress projects done, to be ready to share at the end of November at Young Women in Excellence.  Gracie learned to play "I Walk by Faith," by Janice Kapp Perry, on the piano.  That song was almost the YW theme song in my youth, but it's not sung much any more.  I'm glad she chose that.

Emma chose to learn a homemaking skill from me, and she chose bread making.  First up was cinnamon rolls--yummy!

While the baking was going on, the kids started a long-held wish list item: a Star Wars marathon, from Episode I all the way to the end (IIIV? IX?  I don't remember).

Where was Cayite?  Eating waffles with Timmy.

Where was Scott?  Watching Psych on his phone.  He didn't want to watch Star Wars until we got to Episode IV.

We planned and shopped for our upcoming feast:

More bread from Emma--pumpkin, with white chocolate chips:

Another day we made the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving:

On Thanksgiving morning, the kids made apple turkeys (while watching the parade).

My turkeys with their turkeys on Turkey day!

We cooked and cooked and managed the chaos of the kitchen relatively well, and everyone did their assignments (except for Benson, who didn't want to help make the green bean casserole), and by the afternoon, we were ready for our feast!

We had our friend Michael over.  He's the husband of Kate, whom I drive home from Dallas from her doctor visits.  She had to be in the hospital for a couple weeks, so Michael was alone, and we were happy to have him.  We took turns taking pictures. ☺

Gracie's face sums it all up.  (Don't pay attention to Caytie's face...)

We finished with a cranberry tart that I made (which was too much work for me to do that recipe again), chocolate French silk pie from Emma, pumpkin pie from Gracie, and peach cobbler from Caytie (and Ben).

Ben and I gave in and went to Walmart that evening (hey, if you offer good deals, we will come) and it wasn't too crazy, and we got a few things that had sold out online.  Even checking out only took 15 minutes.  Then Ben took the kids over to Target, since they had never been "Black Friday" (on Thursday) shopping, and it was less well-managed there, so they got a good taste of the crazy.

 We had told the kids that we'd take them camping, but the reality of packing it all up and then cleaning it all up was not sounding fun, so we compromised and put up the tent in the back yard.  Of course we had to have some S'mores.

All cozy and ready for the night!  Scott was at a birthday party until late, and I was offered an out by Ben, and I took it.  (I slept well inside in my bed, with only a hint of guilt.)

This kid was so excited!

Two or three came in during the night because the temperature dropped fast, but I think the memory of the night was good for most involved...

The kids were anxious to get started on Christmas decorations, so on Saturday, they pulled everything out on their own and got started.  Our old bedraggled tree gave me one of my favorite pictures of the year:

And one final bread project for Emma to finish the ten required hours: donuts!

Sweet.

We really missed being with any family this year, but I think we made the best of the situation.  There is so much to be thankful for, and I'm glad to have a time set aside to help me remember.

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

We made it to our last Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast!  (I felt compelled to volunteer, since it was our last one and I hadn't helped out before, but I forgot that at kinder events, there are always PLENTY of parents ready to help!)  Benson was excited for the event, but not really for the food (except the rolls...yum).

I love his costume!

His "That's quite enough of the pictures, Mom" face

I'm thankful for his sweet teacher, his amazing school and the friends he's made, and for the fact that he LOVES KINDERGARTEN!

Gracie's Play

While my phone was broken, Gracie was in the play "Game of Tiaras," so these pictures are courtesy of Ben.  I mentioned before that she had a couple roles, like a dwarf (she got to wear a great beard) and soldier, and was the first to die.  They had a character called "The Blood-Splurt Guy" who would come out every time someone died, who would yell "Splurt!" and throw some red streamers over the person.  It was pretty funny, especially when Olof the snowman was supposed to die and he sizzled instead of splurted.

While bowing

With her adoring fans ☺

With Dwarf #2, her friend Natalia

She said it was a lot of fun, but probably won't do it again soon.

In other November news:  Tessa got officially diagnosed and accepted into the dyslexia program at school.  I had heard nightmare stories of people trying to get the schools to accept and test kids, but none of that happened for us.  It was really quick and easy, and I'm glad she's getting some help.  The theory is that kids with dyslexia learn to read with their right brains, and the therapy is to help them code words a new way, using their left brains.  Another advantage is that she gets to have her tests read to her.  I'm excited for her, and she seems to like it, too.

*Ben and I went with friends to see "The Orient Express."  LOVED it.

*Gracie tried out for the Calculator Skills UIL team at school, and made it.  She was the only one to try out. ☺ Her teacher is hoping to recruit some more people.

*Our Stake had eight wards with their Primary Programs on the same day!  It was due to rescheduling, as several wards went to Houston to help with Hurricane Harvey cleanup efforts in September, and we had General Conference and Stake Conference and then a surprise Regional Stake Conference broadcast in October and November, and with Fast Sundays out and Thanksgiving coming, there were not many other choices.  I personally went to three, and my counsellors went to the others.  I love the programs.  They're full of faith and love and so much Spirit.  I hope that next year they're a little more spread out, so we can enjoy all of them.

*I took Benson to his first dentist visit ever, and we got some BAD NEWS.  His little molars were in bad shape.  I had really never looked back there, since he's been independent with brushing his teeth for a while, but I guess I should have, because when I did look, the decay was obvious.  So--on to the pediatric dentist to make a treatment plan.

*Scott, Tessa, and I also went to the dentist.  Clean reports.  Whew!