Tonight was the local Christmas parade, so Andrew and I bundled up to head out and watch.  It was a bit cool (16 degrees, winds at about 9 mph), but we enjoyed ourselves!  Here are a couple of pics (I will be getting a pic of Andrew and myself from a friend and will share that later)…

Andrew and his friend Trevor chatting while waiting for the parade to begin.

Here it comes!

Now Andrew is warming up snuggled under a quilt and watching “The Polar Express”

Wow!  Where has the year gone.  It is hard to believe we are already in December.

We had a great Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad’s.  Everyone was there and enjoyed a yummy dinner.  The cousins all had fun playing together.  Like every year, I managed to snag a pic of Andrew watching the Macy’s parade…

Thursday night we went to Kristen’s house to spend the night before heading out in the morning to go shopping!  Andrew stayed with Uncle Craig and played with Kyra and Kaylee.  I managed to get almost everything on my list and am almost done with my Christmas shopping.

Al’s sister came to visit Saturday and Sunday and we had fun checking out the Festival of Trees.  It really helps to start the Christmas season looking at all the beautifully decorated trees.

Today, I put up my Christmas village.  It is always quite the job since I put it on top of the kitchen cabinets…lots of ups and downs!!  Here are pics:

Croppin Paradise’s Guest Designer for November!!

We had tons of fun on Halloween!  The day started out with a haircut for Andrew (not so fun) but then after lunch we headed to the cities to see the fam.  Homemade pizzas for supper before heading out on the “boo train” to trick or treat.  Some pics:

Before heading out

All of the cousins

Evan and Papa

Trick or Treat

Because we can’t call it a Halloween party anymore!

Anyway, I helped out in Andrew’s classroom this afternoon for their party.  After their afernoon recess, the kids were allowed to change into their costumes and they had a parade around the entire school.  Then they came back to their classrooms for a party.  Here are a few pics:

Here's SpongeBob!

Sponge Bob with his friend, Spiderman

Lining up to get ready for the parade

The class waiting in the hall for the parade to come (so they can then join in on the back).

SpongeBob enjoying some snacks (all sugary, of course!)

Saturday, October 17th, Andrew and I headed out with quite a few other families from church to a local farm to try our luck with their corn maze.  As always, we had a lot of fun (and were one of the last ones out of the corn maze).  A few pictures from the afternoon:

Getting ready to head into the maze

And we're off...

On the hayride.

We found the first punch!!

We made it out

Playing on the haybales.

Our driver. He fell asleep once and kept going around in circles!!

I don’t know why, but my pictures rearranged themselves, so they are not in order. Oh well, you get the idea!

Here is a scrapbook page that I made for the weekly challenge at Sketchy Thursdays

I took part in a ScrapPink crop last weekend online.  I had a ton of fun and co-won a Bingo game!  Anyway, here are some of the scrapbook pages I made during the weekend:

Here is the conversation that took place between Andrew and me after school today:

Me: Why are you wearing someone else’s coat?

Andrew: My coat is in my backpack.

M: Ok, but why are you wearing someone else’s?

A: I lost a tooth today.

M: Cool…but what’s up with the coat?

A: It isn’t a coat, it’s a sweatshirt.

M: OK, but why are you wearing it?

A: I lost a tooth today.

M: I know…what’s up with the sweatshirt?

A: When I lost my tooth I got a little blood on my shirt so the health aide made me put on this sweatshirt.

M: OK.

A: I like this one better than mine, it is way warmer.

M: I’m glad, but you know you can’t keep it.  I will wash it and you can take it back to school later this week.

A: OK (looking a little sad).

Not much new going on around here…we are getting settled in to the school year routine.  Tonight, Andrew had his first real night of homework for the school year…every Monday night he has to write a letter to his teacher.  Right now he can pick any topic but later in the school year the teacher will pick the topic.  I’ve heard his teacher this year gives a lot of homework, which will be a little new for him since he didn’t have a whole heck of a lot of homework in 1st grade, but I’m sure we will survive.

Tonight I had the first handbell choir practice for the year…we already play at the early service on Sunday!!  It is basically the same group of people in the choir this year as last, so we will have fun!!!  I hope to do some scrapbooking tomorrow (I have a few challenges at various websites I want to complete) so I will try to share some pages when done.