For Anna’s birthday in November, in lieu of a party, she decided to have a sleepover with a couple of friends.  We ordered pizza, made ice cream sundaes for dessert, the girls watched a movie, and enjoyed donuts in the morning. 

We celebrated with family gifts and dinner out too!  Happy 11, Anna!

In the fall in band class, students worked on small ensembles within the band.  Parents were later invited to class for a mini-performance.  We love popping over to the kids’ schools now & then for things like this. James rocked the marimba!  

During one of James’s drum lessons, Anna and I wandered next door to a wedding dress shop and enjoyed looking at all the beautiful gowns.  

New recipes…Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili & homemade bread.

For Veteran’s day every year, the fifth grade at Anna’s school memorizes the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.  James did the same when he was in fifth grade.  Anna worked on it for months, learning section by section.  After reciting it at her own school’s assembly, the fifth grade loaded buses to drive up the road to James’s school to recite it again at the large Veteran’s Day assembly the high school does every year.  Since I was free, I drove over and attended and so enjoyed it.  Many veterans attended, the high school band played several pieces, a men’s choral group sang, and students from the other two elementary schools participated as well.  Such a wonderful tradition at our school. 

Anna on Explorer’s Day at school.  She researched and wrote about Jaques Cartier, a French explorer, and then dressed like him for the day.  The students gave short reports on their explorers & rotated classrooms for various activities.  

This year, James was invited to a Halloween party with some friends and Anna was invited to another party.  So, Caden’s mom took the boys one direction and Kenny & I tagged along to Anna’s party which turned out to be lots of families and lots of fun. 

Anna was Hermoine from Harry Potter.  We bought a cape, she already owned a wand, and then we added a school uniform.  James wore a giant blue alpaca head he found on Amazon.

Kenny and Anna worked on a candy dispenser to leave on our front porch while we were gone.  A box that dispensed a few pieces at a time and made it difficult for one person to come by and take all of it.  Kenny continually surprises me with things like this!