Orange Juice

This morning while cleaning the kitchen, I let Ian watch Agent Oso on TV. The topic of the day was how to make Orange juice. After watching the program, Ian runs into the kitchen stating that we needed to make Orange Juice just like Oso. I found the plastic juicer while he grabbed an orange. He ran over and said "Mama, I know how to make it!" He proceeded to tell me ...

"Step 1 - Get the oranges"

"Step 2 - Cut the oranges"

"Step 3 - Squeeze out all da juice"

"Step 4 - Drink the Juice"

I have one happy boy who made his very own juice. He told me "I make the bestest juice mama"

Who can argue!

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so to celebrate, the K5-2nd grades had their annual Thanksgiving feast. The kids were able to dress up as pilgrims or indians and bring in some snacks to share. Mom was able to go to school to help set up and serve for this big event. The kids enjoyed their Thanksgiving stories read by their teachers before digging into their feast.

A quick class picture of 1st grade was taken before heading to the table. The kids were so excited to take a break from their studies and celebrate Thanksgiving.

Sausages, cheese, meats, vegetables, dip, an assortment of fruits, and even some treats were spread out on the table for the kids to choose from.

After the feast, the kids moved their desks and got ready to hear some music, which was provided by 2 of the parents.

After Cami's class ate, the 2nd graders were able to get their food. Several of the boys made multiple trips to the table for more food. I think the hard work and delicious food was a success!

Two of the parents shared their talents by providing music after the feast. The kids sang along to many of the songs.

Bethlehem

Playing a bean bag toss Noah's Ark game

My little angel

The angels in 1st grade singing

The town of Bethlehem was alive at ALCS on Friday, November 12. The school's annual book fair was themed Heaven. The library was decorated in a "heavenly" theme while the halls were decorated as the town of Bethlehem. The kids got to play games, watch pottery being made, practice woodworking, and hear people singing.

They also shopped in the market place for their favorite books to bring home and a few to give to their classrooms.

Watching pottery being made at the pottery wheel

Woodworker showing Ian how to make a box

Ian practicing his woodworking techniques he learned

The 1st graders project of the Book of Genesis

Poems by Ben

The Ant

Little ant on a hill

Little ant in the water

Little ant in the Sea

Little ant on me!

House

Theres a mouse

in the house! But

I don't think it's

a mouse. It think its a

bear. A very very small

Bear in fact.

FTKA bowling outing

Ian loved hanging out with Matt. Matt helped him bowl several times.

We love spending time with our Korean adoption group. Today we had a bowling outing with the UW Korean Adoption Group college students. The kids enjoy hanging out with the older kids. It is a great time for the students and for the families to get together. We, as parents, have the opportunity to chat with the students about growing up adopted and the kids in our adoption group have an opportunity to have mentors, who are just like them. Ben thought it was cool that one guy, Matthew, was adopted when he was 7 months old, just like Ben. Matthew is now 22 and a senior at UW Madison. Ian also took to Matthew. He helped Ian bowl and laughed as Ian ran from one side of the room to the bowling lane to push the ball down the lane.

The sun has set not long ago...

Time for a bedtime story with daddy, a great way to end another great day!

Let's Go Ride a Bike

Today Ian proclaimed that he wanted to ride a bike like Ben and Cami. He asked Justin to take him outside to practice. Thankfully it is 53 degrees on this beautiful sunny day in November. It makes it a lot more fun to ride when it feels warmer than it should and when you have the bright warm sun shining down on you.

I think we may have another one riding a 2 wheeler next summer!

No School! Headed to the Children's Museum

To break up a long weekend with Thursday and Friday off from school, we decided to head over to the Children's Museum. Our friend, Jason, headed to Madison to spend a day with our family. He was brave enough to help me take all 6 kids to the museum to play for the morning. The kids loved running around. They love having the freedom to build, paint, play trains, etc. I love them having the chance to burn off some energy and get some hands on learning. We spent several hours at the museum then headed to State Street for our favorite lunch, Ian's pizza. They have a variety of flavors of pizzas that most pizza places would never think of carrying. We enjoyed Mac and Cheese pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, and Steak and Potato pizza. The kids ate it up. We headed to Clary's popcorn to indulge my cravings for some delicious warm, buttered popcorn. After a stop at the popcorn place, Jason and Ben headed to the Historical Museum and I headed home with the rest of the kids. We enjoyed the nice, yet brisk morning and afternoon downtown.

Ian and Jason spent time building. Ian decided to make weights.

Cami and Ben were excited to see their friend, Haydn

One of Ian's favorite spots in the museum is the window painting area.

Ian and Mimi spend time building a colorful tower house (they named it color house)

The kids loved the giant hamster wheel

To end our time downtown, we headed over to Ian's pizza on State Street for Macaroni and Cheese pizza and BBQ Chicken pizza, 2 of our favorites.

Thoughts of Christmas from Cami

This morning Cami asked me if I knew that Jesus' birthday was on Christmas. I responded with yes, you are right sweetie. She told me that she knew why we get presents. She explained to me that Santa comes and hands out presents to everyone so that we can celebrate Jesus' birthday.

It is so neat to see her sweet innocence. I love that her focus remains on Jesus' birthday and not on Santa. May we all remember that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and not a day to celebrate Santa. As Cami says, Santa is just there to hand out the presents for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Midwest Airlines Reunion

On Tuesday, November 2, I headed to Milwaukee for the Midwest Airlines reunion at the Terminal. About 150 people showed up to reunite. It was nice to see fellow Flight Attendants, Pilots, Crew Schedulers, Ramp Agents, and a few Customer Service Agents. We enjoyed drinks, pizza, cake, and a lot of time to catch up. My years at Midwest were full of life experience. I know that I will never be able to duplicate my experiences there. I am thankful that God brought me to a wonderful career at the right time in my life. I am also thankful for the time I have now being a full time mom. I miss my coworkers and I REALLY miss my flight benefits. My experiences have shaped the person I have become. I look forward to what God has in store for my future "careers" in the many years to come.

Cat Reed welcoming everyone to the reunion

My redeye buddy, Martinique

Good times with good friends

Some pilots flew in for the reunion. Miss them!