Dr Seuss and Nancy Carlson

Carter's class performed a variety of Dr. Seuss Reader's Theaters for Dr. Seuss Day.  Carter was Thing 1.  He was pretty adorable, but don't take my word;see for yourself!

Alex was one of the selected students from his school to go to this years Young Writer's Conference at William Penn University.  He had to write a short story in order to go.  He wrote a story about a robot dog from outer space. It was great!  He is a fantastic little writer! While at the conference, he was able to select  which break out sessions he wanted to attend and the keynote speaker was Nancy Carlson.  She was excellent!  Alex purchased a book and had it autographed. He also picked out a young writer's hooded sweatshirt.

Alex also drew a Sneech in his art class at school for Dr. Seuss Day.  He is a talented writer and illustrator!

Pinewood Derby

The boys participated in their first Pinewood Derby.

They each designed, carved, and painted their cars with a little help from Dad.

Their cars looked fantastic! 

Each boy scout took turns racing their cars.  

It was a double elimination competition.

Alex never lost.  He took first place out of the entire den.

Beginners luck!  He was so proud!

And Carter came in 3rd!

Ironically, a distant cousin came in 2nd so it was a 

Johnson, Johnson, and Johnson victory!

 Both the boys are really enjoying Boy Scouts!

Carter's Wrestling Debut

Carter finished his first, (and I hope last) wrestling season. I really didn't like wrestling.  For one, it's too aggressive and the meets are WAY too long.  Despite my lack of enthusiasm, Carter did very well for his first season.  Wrestling is quite popular in Iowa and kids start young--like in their diapers young.  So, Carter was at a distinct disadvantage.  He wrestled in one tournament and while he didn't win any of his four matches, he managed (by the skin of his teeth), not to be pinned and he earned a few points in each round.  I would call that pretty successful for his first attempt.

He weighed in at a whopping 50 pounds. 

 

It was pretty crowded. I mentioned that wrestling is a pretty big deal around here, right?

Proof that he did score a point or two.

 Another reason I don't like wrestling.  Would you look at that mean face Carter has. 

Where does that come from? It's not something I see from him very often.

Carter fought hard and escaped a near pin.

And even though he lost every match, he still got a 4th place medal.  

Here's hoping he doesn't want to participate next year. 

A mother can dream, right?

Christmas Programs

Alex and Carter both had their Christmas program before Christmas.

Don't they look handsome?

 Carter's class sang the chipmunk version of "Christmas Hurry Fast" complete with hula hoops gestures-- pretty cute stuff! They also sang "Frosty the Snowman." 

 As usual, Carter was in the front row. He is second from the left.

Alex's class sang and signed the "Twelve Days of Christmas."  He did a great job!

  Alex is in the second row and is fourth from the left.

A snow storm postponed Hallie's program until after Christmas, but I am just going to include it here. Not all middle school students participate in the Holiday Program, just those in choir.  They sang "Let it Snow" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  You'll find Hallie on the second row all the way to the right.

Hallie has recently been asked to audition for the Honor Choir next year.  

She was very excited and of course we were proud!

Santa

Of course December wouldn't be the same with out our annual visit and fun Santa pictures.  I was a bit sad that I didn't have Doug take the kids to our usual Santa in Utah while visiting over Thanksgiving break, but in the end it all worked out.  Santa made a stop at the fire department in our tiny town.  The boys were acting like they were too big to actually sit on Santa's lap, but I reminded them if they wanted Santa to know what they really wanted, they'd better.  So, they obliged.  This was the first year that the girls opted not to visit Santa. 

Carter insisted on whispering his wish into Santa's ear so I couldn't hear.  This was his "plan" to test whether Santa was real or not.  It was adorable!

While Alex was quite the contrast.  He described in great detail what he wanted.

 Afterwards the kids were invited to decorate cookies and cupcakes and eat them of course!

I had fun playing with this picture with an App.

October Part 2

I was a little publish happy on my last post.  I forgot to look thru my iphone pics for October and I forgot I had a separate folder for my "October Skies" photos that I have been taking.

So, here is the rest of October.  

Carter actually lost TWO teeth in October.  

And in school they had a writing prompt of "What I want to be for Halloween."  

"I want to be a toilet for Halloween because you can put candy in the lid!"

 (And he later told me you could flush the candy down the toilet)  A toilet? So funny!

Aunt Misty sent the kids a huge bag of candy because she couldn't trick or treat with them.

I told her I'd be sending her the dental bill.

Nadya played basketball.  She's a great player!  Sadly, I only got this one picture as I didn't take my camera to any of the earlier games and  she ended up breaking her finger and had to sit out the rest of the season.

We had some amazing sunsets

October Skies

October

I'm so behind...... So, so behind...... Sorry, but I am just going to take it one month at a time.

We live in the country and country living means country critters and country critters mean country solutions. So, we got Kitties...... Four of them! They live outside and sleep in the shed at night.  They are so cute and so playful and are already doing a great job catching Mice.

Meet (from left to right) Snow, Garfield, Tiger, and Sparkles.

They've been a great addition to our family and they get along with everyone except our dog, Angel.  

In fact, when they see Angel this is what happens.

Which sometimes leads to this-

The beauty of being so behind on my blog is that I can happily report that the kitties are much better at tolerating Angel.  They still hiss and their hair stands up, but they don't resort to climbing trees and running from her any longer. The kitties have been a lot of fun, except for when the sit and "meow" at the windows begging and pleading to become inside cats.  

We Celebrated Doug's Birthday!

We were lucky to have Aunt Georgia, Gramdpa Roger and Cousin Adam join us.

(Nice face Hallie)

We had lots of leaves this Fall.

You don't bag up your leaves in the country, you burn them.

Carter can officially ask for his two front teeth for Christmas as he lost another tooth.

The boys had a harvest party with their Boy Scouts Troop.

They each bobbed for Apples and Alex won the best costume award.

Carter had recently lost his two front teeth so he came up with his own strategy all on his own.  I had no clue of his plan but he immediately plunged his head straight down into the caldron causing the water to rise and the apples to fall out.  He came up completely soaked, but grinning from ear to ear because his plan worked.  

The boys had parties at school as well.  They were required to dress up as a character from a children's book  so Carter was Jack from Jack and the Bean Stalk and Alex was Harry Potter.

We went Trunk or Treating at the church as well as Trick or Treating in town.

(The girls did not dress up this year but the boys did.)

Alex was a vampire and Carter was  Spyro from Skylanders.

Grandpa took Carter to the Symphony.   Grandpa said he was well behaved and Carter said it was good.

We really enjoyed our porch this Fall and our time with Grandpa!