week of changes

 Mother nature was right on cue with the changing seasons, the week started off in the high fifties and sixties and Thanksgiving night ushered in a 30 degree drop in temps and the years first snow.  The kids both had their teacher conferences and they went as expected. Both of them are adjusting well to the knew school and seem to have healthy groups of friends. Dance was cancelled as was soccer for this week, so we had some extra time to hang out.  This of course really means that we had more evenings to play poker.  However given the midweek drive back to EC for Thanksgiving and the mild weather, we decided to stop along the way for some deer hunting.  Wednesday afternoon we made it to the woods about 2:45 and put on our blaze gear.  I don't think we were in the woods for more than 4 minutes when 5 does came running right to us.  I was carrying Sophia's little 20 gauge and pulled up on the lead doe, but click, the safety was still on.  Even with all those deer around as they started to scatter I didn't have a clean shot at any of them.  It was still a good lesson for the kids in that it is better to miss a shot because your safety is on than to walk around dangerously with it off.  We spent about an hour and half leaning against a tree but the didn't see any more deer and I thought the kids sat very well for their respective ages.  Sophia opted to not go out on Thanksgiving day morning with the rest of us, but instead hung out with Aunt Becky and grandma for some toe painting and pink hair dye.  The House was alive with all the cousins and Aunt Toot showed up to play kick the can with the kids for more than an hour while the rest of the adults ate pie and chatted after the Thanksgiving day meal.  Friday found us at the Museum for a few hours and then some well deserved naps for everyone, before an evening of Turkey soup and cards at the round table.  Saturday was a drive home and the kids were exhausted and the rhythmic rubber on concrete quickly put them to sleep.  Merrick sleeping the whole way home.  Accumulated snow this morning when we woke up, so there is shoveling and snowmen to add to the days list of domestic requirements as we begin to retool for the upcoming week and shift gears towards the Christmas season.  This morning does require us to bake 3 batches of brownies for Sophia's science project.  We are going to test the effect of eggs and the brownie density.  Seemed more of a learning opportunity than a volcano and fitting of a caloric season.

Smiles of Late Fall

 
Only 3 in the afternoon but the grey light of late fall makes it look like the end of the day.  The temperatures are not rare, but at least uncommon for November, with mid fifties and even a warm rain, that feels more like spring than fall.  We have stayed busy regardless of the weather and just now have got back into the house with the kids' clothes soaked from rain and gutter rain off.  We started with a backyard fire, but as the drizzle became a downpour I headed into the house and the kids ran to the front of the house to build gutter dams with leaves.  They will dry and their laughter will become future memories.  Saturday was filled with some domestic chores including finding some dress clothes for Merrick and acceptable shoes for Sophia, for the symphony that evening.  Merrick had indoor soccer, but spent most of his time, chasing, being chased and generally showing off for a girl that is in his class as well as in soccer team and after school program.  I met her dad, and even he laughed at their conjoined amoeba style of soccer.  Sophia had a friend over to play for a few hours while Merrick slept.  The evening was spent at the symphony, clearly a change for us but I suspect a new variation of entertainment for our evenings.  The symphony was playing movie themes, including multiple Star Wars songs.  The opening song was the Star wars theme song and I am not sure if the wide eyes and grins on both the kids at the music or my perma-grin at the kids was more memorable.  While both kids loved the music, the sandman ultimately beat Merrick and Sophia agreed to leave only if we could go back without Merrick to see one of the Christmas shows.  Our seats were phenomenal front and center in the fourth row.  Sophia herself was sleeping five minutes after arriving back home.  Sunday brought the a birthday party for Sophia (Packers bye week) so Merrick and I were on our own to build a deer cart, eat ice cream at the local deli, make some chocolate cookies as well as play at the park for awhile in the nice temperatures.  We are going to make some corn muffins and generally warm up from an afternoon outside.  Merrick from the shower just said, "my hands have to feel like normal hands before I can wash myself."

Fall Forms of Fun and Fantasy

Leaf Piles, hunting, pumpkin carving and even some lost teeth to round out a couple weeks of fun. The yard mostly waited until one final sweep this year, we were too busy doing other things to worry about he leaves piling up, but they did kindly wait for us.  We raked large piles and the kids wrestled in the leaves as kids are supposed to do before we spread the leaves over the garden and blanketed it for the approaching winter.  It has been a good fall but with November here it is time to change our mindset the very real possibility of winter.  We were able to spend some time in EC with the cousins and even managed to carve some pumpkins on a cool afternoon.  The pumpkins, I understand, eventually were devoured by the neighborhood deer, but the carving was fun.  We also were able to take a midweek hunt and headed into the Oconto early one morning.  The kids had their BB guns and were searching for chipmunks and red squirrels that were so plentiful  a couple of weeks prior.  With the storm clouds rolling in we were quickly sidetracked by an oak that was such a perfect climbing tree that we had to dangle on its limbs before heading home.  Sophia dropped her hat on the way to the tree, and as a homage to Grandprize I tossed her hat into the air and blasted the brim off of it with the 20 gauge.  No worries, however she had a new hat by the following evening.  Merrick tore out his first tooth, after I told him it was a little loose and maybe in a week or so it would come out.  He didn't have that kind of time and ripped it out at the supper table in about 8 minutes instead.  Tossing it on the table and matter of factly saying, "Here is my tooth."  Halloween has come and gone although our pumpkins are still guarding the front door for another night.  Sophia was running from house to house as we trick or treated and Merrick was hip to that idea but his interest waned inversely with the amount of candy in his bucket.  Merrick is back at soccer on Saturday mornings, and the birthday party season is also approaching while Sophia is dancing during the week.  We are staying busy and Sophia and I have taken to evening tea after Merrick is in bed are having some great conversations.