Thanksgiving and Pat's 40th!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather was unseasonably warm and we were able to be outside with just sweatshirts and tshirts! It was fantastic!

Up are Gma we needed these stylish hats. Functional and fashionable!

The boys even were able to get out an fish! They caught a few and boy were they tasty!

We new the weather was too good to last! We woke up friday to this! What a difference a day makes!

Next stop on our holiday triangle was Gma and Gpa Van's house. All the Van Nelson boys were gathers so they decided to Skype Aunt Kt for home holiday cheer!

The new sibling tradition is to play the 5$ open/steal game. Since 3 or the 4 siblings were at gmas house we thought it would be fun to play while skyping (is that a real word now?) Kt and Brian. Oh the wonders of technology.

Next reason to celebrate...Pat's 40th Birthday. Woohoo! He handled it way better than I did. We enjoyed is requested dinner and carrot cake muffins! yummy!

We opened the presents and he cracked open the gift some Heike....interesting booze! Thanks Heike!
Happy Birthday Pat, lets hope for another 40!

The aftermath

It has become tradition to launch the pumpkins out the barn window after halloween.

Not sure why, besides boys like destroying things.

One thing they learned is that it is not as fun to clean it up afterwards. At least the pumpkin guts have been removed.

Ya, i cant comment on this. Not sure what this is. Hopefully it does not stick around.

It might be time to turn on the heat...if the cat is looking for heat and can only find it on the computer....it might be time. Either that or he is getting senile and has no idea where he is.

So Pat is gone hunting this week and so it is me and the boys. They are already challenging my patience. A couple months ago there was a soccer ball/window incident and we removed all balls from the house. Sadly, woodland critters have replaced balls and get tossed around. When they are tossed, they are banished to the top of the refridgerator. Well today the woodland critters, and a polar guest, banded together to declare that they are tired of being treated like balls. They have threatened the boys that they will gather ALL of their plush friends and march right out to the barn attic and enjoy a peaceful life. We will see how long that lasts.

Some other things that have been driving me crazy....and sadly have pushed me to this. I find that I repeat the same 10 things over and over and day after day. They include the following.

1. Leave the (fill in the blank) alone. usually "cat" of "brother"
2. Dont start a sentence with "mom"
3. Put your shoes in the cabinet and close the cabinet door.
4. Brush your teeth for the full 2 minutes
5. Sit on the couch as it was intended.
6. Wash your hands!
7a. Get the crap out of your mouth.
7b. Get your fingers out of your mouth.
8. Stop throwing things
9. Use your manners at the table
    -get your elbows off the table
   - use a utensil
   - sit on your chair
   -chew with your mouth closed
   - etc etc etc

So now I have resorted to stating a number...and expecting the boys to know what I refuse to get my mouth to say one more time. I am going to need a plane trip away for a few days, somewhere warm with fruity drinks and sand, lots of sand.

One a happier note....some other random funny things the past couple weeks.

"mom, what is for dinner" says Jamison.
"I dont know yet, i dont feel like cooking" says Mom
J says to P "that is a good sign that we might get pizza"

The car battery died so I tell J&P's bus driver that I will be riding home with them and that he should save me a spot on the bus! In horror Jamison screams "NO!" and Mark, the bus driver, says "Peter, you will have to live the life of the straight and narrow!" Later that night Peter says "I didnt know what that meant but I knew it wasnt good! (btw i did not ride the bus home, i walked)

U9 fall soccer season comes to a close

 Way to go Mount Horeb U9 Black team! You guys played hard, learned a lot and most of all they had fun!.

The last game of the season was against the hardest team, Verona. When they first played them they lost 7-0, but U9Black said that now they will unleash their secret weapon, the Cullen Brothers, as we were gone the weekend they played them. We still lost, but the score was a much better 2-1. The boys showed awesome ball handling skills and teamwork. Way to go boys!

They finished the season with 4 wins, 3 loses and 1 tie. We needed to celebrate with a pizza party at the Grumpy Troll!

Halloween and a little science

 Happy Halloween Everyone!

This year our house was attacked by Vikings and Pirates!

You got to love Savers! We were able to find the perfect belts for both costumes, a Ralph Lauren frilly shirt for Peter and fuzzy viking boot for Jamison.

 We were also able to get another year out of the "jedi robe and jedi boots" from a couple years ago. The boots actually fit Peter and they are a womens size 6!

 Who would you put your money on....a pirate or the viking?

 In science the boys had to collect seeds from around the house and woods. Thanks Gma and Gpa Van for sending us the really cool moonflower and catalpa tree seeds! no one had those!

Great job boys!