Santa's here!

We heard a rumor that Santa had arrived early at one of the malls around town, so we headed over Sunday after church so we could beat the rush. Sure enough, he was there and we got some cute shots!

Manatees

Aquarium

 Yesterday we went to the aquarium with our co-op. We had lots of fun. It really is a beautiful aquarium.

 Katie's favorite part was the manatees. This week her homework is to write a report about them.

 We thought the tunnels were really cool. This one was for fish.

 And this one was for sharks. Even cooler.

 Love this picture of Lizzy!

 

We got to watch them feed the penguins, and some fish, and the sharks. 

Co-op Family Night

Monday was our last day of Co-op for the year and Tuesday was family night. All the classes set out tables full of the students' work. Here is Lizzy's. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of Katie's. 

 Then we enjoyed some music from the band

 

Followed by presentations from some of the classes. Lizzy's music class sang This Little Light of Mine and Wheels on the Bus.

 

Lions and Tigers and Cougars Oh My!

After school on Thursday, we went on a home school field trip to In-Sync Exotic Cat Rescue. We had lots of fun. The girl's favorite part was the 1 year old tiger cub who enjoyed chasing them back and forth across the fence, jumping up and down with them, and playing hide and seek behind a rock in her cage. They also had a less friendly mountain lion who kept licking her lips and watching them hungrily, and many other beautiful cats who just ignored them. I took some fun photos, but since I couldn't find my sd card, they are stuck in my camera's internal memory because (story of my life) I also can't find the usb cord for my camera and of course the eleventy billion other usb cords I have don't fit it. But they have a great website with way better pictures so you can click here for photos of the big cats.

 On Halloween, we had Trunk N Treat at our church. Our car was decorated as the MOPS car. We had a fun game, mop hockey, which is actually pretty tricky with the wind blowing your balls away. The girls enjoyed the other cars, bounce houses, pony and train rides. Thankfully, they didn't find the free cotton candy booth! After, we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. Halfway through, I had to carry a very whiny witch home because she got a blister on her foot.Believe it, or not, we actually made it through the whole day and they only got one piece of candy. For some reason, that's all they asked for, and I wasn't going to offer it if they weren't asking.

In Memory

Our hearts are broken today after hearing of Hannah's passing last night. Our prayers are with her family and all of her friends.

Happy Diwali!

We went to the 5th Annual Diwali Mela in Dallas on Saturday. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights. We had lots of fun, ate some yummy samosas and dosais, rode an elephant, and watched the Ramayana reenactment.

The Kraken - Enter if you dare! - The girls chose to buy a wristband for the bounce houses instead of a camel ride.

Wheeeee!

 

My turn to ride this year!

 

How do you get off this thing?

She did it! For a split second.

Now, she's ready to try this.

Got the girls some pretty bindis.

We kept waiting for a special Bollywood singer to perform, but it got too late and we had to head home. Maybe next year.

Pumpkin Carving

 Today we finally got around to carving our pumpkin. Somehow, it always quickly degenerates into a pumpkin guts fight. Theo seems to have gotten the worst of it this year. 

 

 Hmmm... I wonder if I should mop. Nah. If I let the kids play in the sandbox, eventually they'll track in enough dirt that it won't be sticky anymore.

Halloween Party

I was a bad mommy this year and we didn't have a chance to go to the pumpkin patch which we have tried to do every year, but we are going to 4 (yes four!) Halloween events plus trick or treating so hopefully that makes up for it. Here are pictures from the first. Thanks to Christina for hosting.