A Snowman Named Bob

Oh how it's snowing! It seems to have snuck up on us quickly with our near 70-degree day on Monday! It's been going all day long and still doesn't look like it's going to stop. I think we've gotten about 7-8 inches so far. But, it was perfect snowman snow!

We went outside today to try out the "snowman kit" I bought a couple years ago, and made our snowman. We decided to name him Bob, since my dad (Bob) received a book a couple years ago, appropriately titled "A Snowman Named Bob." This snowman looks just like the one in the book! More importantly, we had a great time making him!
Enjoy the snow, and drive safe this winter!

Operation Christmas child

As we do every year, we create a Christmas box for a child in a third world country and our church sends it to a little girl. Mira and Amelia were really happy to create a special Christmas box! They went to Target with me and picked out everything. We filled the box with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, crayons, drawing paper, underwear, socks, butterfly barrettes, lollipops, and a Barbie doll. We hope she loves it!

Trick or Treat 2010

Happy Halloween! Mira and Amelia had a blast trick or treating in our neighborhood, as always. It's so fun to see all the neighbors out and all the kids running around. We live in a terrific neighborhood for trick or treating. Some neighbors really do their houses up for the holiday.
My friend Megan, her husband Ian, and their kids Katherine and Austin joined us. It was a great evening.

Carvin' pumpkins

After a stupendous costume party to celebrate my niece Chesney's 8th birthday, we came home and carved pumpkins. The girls really enjoyed it and are keyed up to go trick or treating tonight!
Amelia loved the new eyeballs in the gift bag from the party!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Thumb in a hole

Amelia and I were on a walk today with Mira and Winter.

Amelia was holding my hand and she stopped and said, "Mom! We have to go back! I saw a hole! I love holes! I want to put my thumb in it!"

Okay . . .

Oh, and Amelia has changed her name to Natalie. It's the name of our babysitter who she loves! I'm trying to respect her name change, but it's hard!

First grade conferences!

Tonight, Chris and I met Mira's teacher, Ms. Lawson, for conferences. We were very happy with the report. Mira is doing very well in letter and word recognition! She can recognize 68 upper and lowercase letters (in no particular order) in one minute. The goal is 37, so she's well ahead of the average. She is also recognizing words beyond the learned reading words. And her math skills are ahead of average too! It was nice to hear that great report.

We asked how Mira is doing socially, and Ms. Lawson said she is quiet! That surprised us quite a bit! Hopefully the spring conferences will be just as great.

The school always has a book fair during conferences. Here is Mira showing her pick, A Diary of a Wimpy Kid book: I took Mira and Amelia to get their hair cut last night. I would only let Amelia part with 3 inches, but Mira insisted on cutting her hair to her shoulders! So she had about 6 inches cut. I was nervous, but it looks really cute and Mira loves it! She showed off her new style at school today and said she got lots of compliments.
Hope you are all having a great October!

Apple Jack's 2010

Today we went to Apple Jack's, as it's our tradition to go to a local Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch every year. The weather was actually hot, which we've never encountered at this annual outing before! The place was packed (beautiful day, and the Vikings weren't playing), but we still enjoyed our favorite things, like:

Getting faces painted:
Riding the cow train:
Playing in the hay bales:
Petting the farm animals:
Photo ops in the cut-outs:
And, new this year, playing along with the local band!

We're going to try to find a different one for next year, but this one is great if you are looking for a fun afternoon this fall.

Mira and a two-wheeler

A couple weeks ago, we tried to teach Mira how to ride a two-wheeled bike. She wasn't quite getting the hang of it {and still isn't comfortable}, but we'll keep trying!
Earlier that day, Mira and Amelia painted in our kitchen. It's a craft they really enjoy doing! They used up the last of their canvases and watercolor paper making their latest creations. We'll need to add those items to their Christmas lists!
I went into the girls' bedroom last week and saw this sweet sight:
I love seeing them just sitting and reading in their room! A little mini-me in the making! Hope you are having an enjoyable fall! With this glorious weather, how could you not?

Benefit for Uncle Gary

What an emotional day on Sunday! It was so wonderful to see everyone at Gary's benefit, and even more wonderful that he could attend most of it. It's a true testament to the wonderful man Gary is that so many people came to celebrate him and his family. Everyone was so generous and the benefit spoke volumes about how much Gary is cherished and loved. Here are a few photos of the day. I didn't get as many as I would have liked and encourage you all to share your photos and stories of the day.

The auction was great fun, and so many people were terrific at bidding on everything! I will certainly enjoy my first Twins game at Target Field this Sunday with Chris! It worked out so well that Sunday happens to be his birthday and I was desperate for a gift!

We love you so, Gary and Margene!

The Benson tribe:
The entire McCuskers team!
Mira became a lion for the day:
Amelia became a kitty:

Bekki, Griffin, Amelia, Michelle:
One of the wonderful clowns who entertained the kids! At one point, the clown told me he had too many "helpers"!

Benefit

There was a benefit yesterday for my uncle Gary. The McCusker's softball team that Gary (and my dad) played on organized the benefit. It was so fun to see these people from thirty years ago!

It was a somber occasion, but one that was also filled with generosity and love. Everyone seemed to give all they could to help him and aunt Margene. There was wonderful food, and two great clowns to entertain the kids! Mira and Amelia both got their faces painted. Mira became a lion (and so did many other kids after they saw her cool paint job!), and Amelia became a cat for the day. She wasn't shy about meowing to every single person who crossed her path!
The food was great and the live auction was great fun! I scored a pair of Twins tickets in the lower level, so I'll be taking Chris next week on his birthday. Such a memorable day. We love you so much, Gary!

State Fair, through the years

Every year at the State Fair, it's our tradition to get our family photo taken in the photo booth. It's great fun and we never know what kind of photo we will take! Here are the past 6 years:
Getting us all centered is getting harder and harder, but we are getting better at it! (Well, except for last year, when we forgot to shut the curtain and ended up with a dark photo.)

* Credit to my friend Ivy for putting her State Fair photo strip on her blog (http://skradebaby.blogspot.com/2010/09/strip-2010.html) and reminding me to do that on mine as well.

Mira's first soccer game

Today was Mira's first soccer game! After taking photos of the teams and individual players at 8:00 this morning, we drove to the park for her game.

Mira is on the Wizards team and they played against the Jazz! It was really fun to watch these sweet girls running up and down the field. They really put their hearts into the game! Mira's team lost 3-2, but boy did she enjoy it!

Mira played forward for the first half of the game, and defensive back for the second half. I'm not sure she anticipated all the running. By the end of the game, she was pretty tired out. No goals for Mira, but she had a few good defensive plays where she got the ball away from the opponent.

Mira is number 12:
Games every Saturday until Oct. 16. It's going to be a busy fall!

Postcards are in!

The postcards for my book design business are in! Spread the word if you know anyone who needs help with book design. I'm really excited for this new endeavor. I've created a list of local publishers, as well as those in nearby states to send my postcard to. Hopefully that will create some extra business!