Emily and her friend (who had already taken off her costume) dressed up as vistors to the spa, complete with mud face mask, eye masks (hanging from her friend's neck) and matching leopard print slippers. 

Isaac will rescue the galaxy. Isn't he cute! 

Avritt's dark side... 

The boys getting ready to battle the Halloween galaxy. 

Isaac enjoying his first very own holiday party at school. No more going to his sister's/brother's parties! 

Avritt at school with his friends from the dark side. 

turned in to a grassy area. The pile of dirt in the driveway will go away. The darker part in the center is seeded with grass. We returned the two big rocks there. 

The dirt pit in the center of the driveway... 

After! 

Before... 

Isaac playing on the playground. 

After! Notice the van in the garage -- Saturday was the first day we have parked a car in this new garage. It was a day to remember! 

Before... 

Avritt's favorite position: goalie. 

Avritt in his soccer gear. 

It's About Time

I realized that it has been over a month since I posted an update. I guess that says something about life around here. On Saturday we hosted a work day at our house. We belong to a house church and one of the things we do is go to each others' homes regularly and offer up our skills and muscles to get projects completed. We needed to get our yard back in shape, and we got a lot done on Saturday. It was a cool day in the mid-50s, perfect weather for working outside. We rented a walk-behind loader for moving sand and dirt around. We regraded the dirt around the house to deal with drainage, brought in topsoil to cover over all the sand that was left from the remodel, and seeded grass. We finished the area up by our half-circle driveway, and are still working on the area down by the old driveway. The progress has been a much-needed encouragement to Mike and I.

Emily is preparing to play a clarinet-flute duet at a Solo and Ensemble Festival in November. Avritt is done with his soccer season. His favorite position to play was goalie. Isaac is enjoying having some friends over from his class at school. They make much better playmates than his mom. The kids are nearing the end of the term at school, and Halloween will soon be here. Enjoy the fall colors!

This is such a fun picture, I just couldn't resist. It is from the first day of school. 

Avritt in his aircraft carrier crewman gear (those are reflectors on his vest). The arrangement of chair, table and couch is his ship.

Isaac in his Top Gun jumpsuit. 

All About the Kids

It's time to give some hard-core news about the kids. Enough about decks. (I know why people check the blog - it's all about the kids!) Emily is in an advanced math class this year and we have spent several evenings together doing beginning algebra. It has been an enjoyable experience for me, actually. I am able to utilize the level of patience that I have developed with students over the last 8 years. She is a quick learner, and so rarely needs more than a brief explanation, but it has been something that we can spend time doing together. Algebra isn't her favorite subject, though. She much prefers English and history. Emily spent the last two days at a camp with her team from school (4 classes make up a team, I think). It was 90 degrees both days, which wasn't as fun as the normal temps. this time of year. She had a good time anyway, and said she went on a zip line that was pretty high off the ground (not without screaming, though) She also enjoyed canoeing. She reported that the mattresses on the bunks were only a couple inches thick, and the shower wouldn't have gotten her any cleaner had she used it. Well at least they didn't have homework.

Avritt was asked today by his music teacher to take part in a demonstration of an African dance at a Community Celebration put on by the school district this Thursday. She told me that he has exceptionally good rhythm and kept the beat the entire dance today in class. She is asking a group of kids from school to help her demonstrate and then teach groups of people at the Celebration. He was excited about doing it and declared that he thinks his "talent" is good rhythm, and that he was relieved to finally discover his talent in life. Avritt started soccer last week. He has practice from 5 to 6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and games will start on Saturday mornings in a couple weeks.

Isaac is doing well in school, and is finally warming up to his teacher and friends. He is remembering the names of several of his classmates when asked (an improvement from the last two weeks). His teacher has told me that he is very quiet at school and doesn't talk much, but does a good job at whatever they are doing. Today he mentioned that he thought one of the boys didn't like him because the boy was playing with another person at recess. So we talked through the principle of mutual exclusivity and how it doesn't apply to friends (just kidding!). We did have a chat and got that cleared up. He told me that he was very good at school today and did everything he was supposed to do. He now sits by a boy on the bus that goes to school in the afternoon but isn't in the same class. I was at the school last week and quietly observed him on the playground from a distance. He was right in there with the other boys running around having a great time. I'm going to try to start inviting friends from his class over to play in the mornings, but it takes time to get to know the parents and time for Isaac to get to know the other kids well enough. We have finally received a replacement Leapster (his previous one had technical difficulties and was replaced by the company) and he loves to play the Dora the Explorer game that he got for his birthday.

For the kids,
Ginger