Thanksgiving with Connie & Ben

A few blog pictures from Connie during Thanksgiving. Thanks Connie!

Ginger Bread House

Connie helped the boys make a Ginger Bread House for our home. Bailey has been eyeing it for the past day... so has Simon.

Stockings

We've received many presents from Europe these past few weeks... lots of candy and gifts. Here are two of the stockings; Bailey's is hung in his dog house (a.k.a., Rich's room).

Shoveling with Protection

Last night we saw a movie with a man getting a needle stuck in his eye. Since then, Jan has been cautious about eye protection.

Gifts from the Boys to Rich

The boys made Rich a plastic dinosaur and a rubber skyscraper in Chicago. He was deeply touched by their gesture and the gift. Simon reminded Rich to post the gifts on the blog... so here it is!

;-)

Chicago

Chicago

Haircut #2... when all else fails, Drink Good Wine.

The boys had a good weekend of football and movies and raking at camp and homework. We even planned the first day in Chicago. But then the highlight of the weekend had to have been Simon's second hair cut. When things started to fall apart on Simon's head, Rich resorted to good wine, and that made everything look better!

Magic Moment

Lugging Pellets....

We heat in the evenings with pellets. The fire glows and brings the temperature on the first floor to a toasty temperature. At first, hiding in the tree, Jan and Simon [playfully] rejected the notion of lifting 3 tons of pellets into the house with me. But once I enticed them with promises of McDonald's Milkshake... wham, the pellets were away. Obviously, the boys were quite willing to carry the pellets in, but we writers like to embellish.

Pellet Stove Butt Warmer....

As you can see from Simon and Alex ('08-'09), the pellet stove has been very popular among our international family....

Presents from Jan's Grandmother!

A big package landed today in Rumford filled with treats for the boys and for Bailey... and a wonderful book. Already, we have sampled the chocolate.

THANKS, GRANDMOTHER!

New Sport: Password Hacking

The boys' friends, Joshua and Austin, came up before the big football game to play XBox and Ultra Wedgy.... One other game they played was "Let's Hack Simon's Computer." No luck!

"Math Bowl"

The boys have a math vocabulary quiz today. We studied last night playing a "Math Bowl" game show with the loser of each round having to do chores like carrying in pellets for the stove. This morning, 20 more minutes of review over cereal.

The English words on this exam are difficult, but their helpful math teacher, Ms. Russell, already said they'd get a little break since the boys are English Language Learners. Even so, I think boys liked challenging themselves.

Simon Day at Mountain Valley High School AND... at the University of Maine

Friends at the high school celebrated Simon Day by ticking their pants into their socks. We did the same at the University of Maine! Here's Rich in the hallways of his building at UMaine. A good look, don't you think?