Last night they had a large concert for orchestra students of local schools grades 5 – 12. Jack got to play three pieces on his violin. He did a great job! His favorite piece was Impulse. Please enjoy the video of his performances:
Month: November 2021
As soon as I put our garden pumpkins on the mantle, she joined them. 
Tis the season for knitting and GBBO! 
Freddy loves a good box. 
We spotted a monarch as we left for school. 
It’s electric blanket season and the cats love it. 
I volunteered at the school book fair and browsed their kpop section. 
I made a pumpkin swirl cake, so good! 
Sam’s school had a field day. I forgot to put on sunscreen . . . 
Now they have matching mask-strap stripes on their necks (Jack eats lunch outdoors every day) 
I love every time I get to dress up and go to the dance studio! These new pants are super fun. 
The trees have been so glorious on our evening walks, I had to take a picture. 
I rarely take the kids shopping these days. I sent a photo to Ben and it reminded me of the olden days when I sent him baby-at-the-store pics. 
Picking out pumpkins. 
Trying to sew Halloween costumes. Freddy can’t resist. 
Letting Ben know his sweet sword arrived with a selfie. 
He wanted to cut down on the time it takes to get ready in the morning. I rejected his plan. 
I tried making some thai food at home. My pumpkin curry and these spring rolls turned out great! 
Resting their eyes while they hover nearby, waiting for treat time. 
The Masons sent a box of apples home. I made hand pies and applesauce. 
They love to use my apple peeler. 
Sam is efficient. 
Cutie in a castle. 
Sam’s “derpy” hair for school spirit week. 
Amanda’s classroom door was impressively decorated by her students! 
So. Many. Leaves. 
Halloween afternoon snuggles. 
A dinner pic I sent Ben while he was visiting GJ.
Did you know the kids sing a parody version of Smash Mouth’s All Star? It makes me happy to hear this. And old. I feel old.
(I think Sam hasn’t learned the chorus yet. I wonder how it goes.)
A cake I made to celebrate their vaccination Cookie dough ice cream and chocolate cake.
Both Jack and Sam had a chance to perform for us this fall.
Jack had his first real orchestra concert. It was hard to get a good picture, but he’s in the center of these with a black mask and glasses.
Ben took some video of the songs, since he had a slightly better angle than me.
We think he did a fantastic job! He was upset about a few mistakes, but we assured him that we didn’t notice at all.
Sam’s third grade classes have been working on a musical for the last couple months. They performed a “dress rehearsal” for the first and second graders, then a real show for their parents. He is wearing the green shirt & mask, red bandana, and brown hat.
The teacher had me record the whole show for her to save and distribute to everyone. So there aren’t any close-up shots of my adorable son. It’s a 30 minute show with 7 songs.
If you want to skip to Sam’s part, it’s at 17 minutes into the video. He forgot to come down with group 4 narrators, but he launches down the risers just in time to deliver his line.
I’m so proud of both my boys!
Personally, Ben and I were pretty stressed about being in the audience with a group of people, even though masks were required. It’s going to a long time before we are comfortable in public again. We are working on it slowly, and these performances were a joyful excuse to go out.
What a fun Halloween weekend! On Friday we all dressed up for school and work.
Link from the Legend of Zelda, and a medieval soldier. 
A vampire and the spirit of Halloween.
Jack’s costume turned out very well! We went to the thrift store and bought a green graduation robe, the boots, a silver scarf that became chainmail, the turtleneck, and the belts. I spent a few afternoons sewing the robe into the tunic and hat, and got some faux suede to make arm gauntlets. Most people knew he want Link (only one parent called him Robin Hood). Here’s a throwback to his first time dressing as Link, when he was one year old.
Sam wanted to be “The Spirit of Halloween,” which he described as a pumpkin head with black robes. I found an old Harry Potter cloak I had made for Jack many years ago. I added a hood and extended the sleeves. Sam picked out the mask at the Spirit Halloween store. We had the skeleton gloves from Jack’s Jack Skellington costume, and Sam picked out dark clothes to wear underneath. Easy peasy.
Ben found all his cool stuff online. We were all enamored with the prop sword, which looks really good considering how cheap it was!
I loved my costume this year. My vampire look was inspired by the many, many, many kpop vampire performances. (Those links are from the last year alone, and I left some out. Kpop clearly has a love of vampires.) I wore a ruffled shirt, cummerbund, and a costume coat that I tailored to fit. The dangly chain earrings, velvet choker, and combat boots are what bring this 18th century look to modern Korea.
Amanda’s musical auditions were this month. I posted a dance video for the kids to practice with. Of course, I had to post a Halloween version, like all the kpop groups do too.
I’m the room parent for Sam’s class, so I organized and hosted their Halloween party. After setting up, I got to watch the school costume parade. Then back inside for games and a craft project.
Sam and his BFF. 
During the parade Sam helped his other friend, who kept deflating, by holding hands to guide him. 
We were so excited to share Halloween with Andy this year! He drove over the mountains to join in our merriment.
Amanda took these great pictures of pumpkin carving. I’m proud of the kids – they did the most independent work ever this year. I only helped them a little on final clean-out. They scooped and sawed all by themselves!
Our new friends from trivia invited us to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood on the other side of Denver. The houses are close together and the homeowners decorate a lot! Kids from all over come to trick-or-treat there.
We came home for a quick dinner and to warm up. Then Andy and Ben took the kids out for another round in our home-neighborhood. I can’t believe how long they trick-or-treated! We have so. much. candy now.
Happy Halloween!
The boys got their first dose of the Pfizer covid vaccine this morning! Our pediatrician’s office was extremely well organized and celebratory. We are so happy!
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