Working Toward Bear

Whew! This has been a flurry of posts! After this one, I'll be all caught up with fall and ready to start posting about the many winter activities we have planned (i.e., Christmas, snow days, New Year, snow days, Pinewood Derby, snow days . . . you get the idea).

Last summer, Phoenix earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts, and when he turned nine in September, he moved up to the Bear den.* He has been very engaged with completing goals toward his Bear badge, so we've done lots of activities this fall that somehow relate to Cub Scouts. When he said he wanted to try his hand at building a model, I was all on board. I remember putting together models as a kid and loving it.

So the kids and I went to a hobby shop and picked out two tanks to put together, along with model glue. (Models are more expensive than I remember!) The kids had a good afternoon of it, but a month later we still haven't finished putting on the final touches on their models. Hmm, maybe that's a good activity for tomorrow after Church.

Another fun activity we accomplished for Cub Scouts was visiting the Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort on election day (a day off of school for the kids). We invited some friends, and the kids had a grand ol' time (as did I).

Phoenix and his friend (also a Bear Scout) got to accomplish the "Visit a Nature Preserve" requirement, as well as the "Talk to a Park Ranger about what he/she does," since I dragged them over to the park ranger and forced them to ask him some questions.

The kids especially enjoyed the new Quail exhibit, since they could play in the gigantic quail eggs. I have to tell you, I really enjoy the structure and goal-setting the Scout program provides (as it also works in perfect tandem with Faith in God). Whenever the kids don't know what to do or we are hankering for a new experience, we look in the Scout book and invariably we find something.

* Incidentally, in October I was called as the Cub Scout Committee Chair for our ward, so I have become even more engaged in the Cub Scouting program recently. They didn't release me as Gospel Doctrine teacher, but they did give me a team teacher, so I have the best of both worlds.

Odds and Ends ~ Fall Edition

Since this is an Odds and Ends post, nothing has to be connected, nothing has to be cohesive, and I don't need to have a central theme. That is my disclaimer. Now judge me if you can.

Now that the kids are older (9 and 11), we find that we are able to do more things, go more places, generally have more freedom. The downside is that the kids also have more opinions, more gripes, more arguments, and generally more freedom to be the individuals they are. Curse that freedom! :)

Still, when the power went out last September in our neighborhood and we asked the kids where they wanted to go out to eat, they both chose a Thai restaurant near the university campus. Yea for maturing taste buds (and children who can deftly use chopsticks)!

Phoenix's school chose to eschew selling items as their annual fundraiser this year in lieu of a ramped-up jog-a-thon. Thank goodness. (Those of you who don't have children in school have not yet experienced the inferno of school fundraising.)

Lutece had her heart set on a "Lateover" for her 11th birthday party (although we don't generally do sleepovers, we do occasionally do lateovers). We had 11 girls over on a Friday night for a rip-roaring night of crafts, games, food, and fun. The girls painted mini framed chalkboards (to hang on their doors) and beaded necklaces. They played various games (including the Sitting game . . . see above). And we had make-your-own burrito bowls and make-your-own ice cream sundaes. It was a really fun party, and Lutece's best friend from last year drove the 3-4 hours from Bloomington, IN to be there. Now that's friendship! (and good parents) That friend DID sleepover. We're strict, but not heartless :).

On Veteren's Day, I ran around town from school to school watching the kids' various musical programs. Honestly, it was a great way to spend Veteran's Day, and the programs were surprisingly enjoyable. Phoenix's school did a big singing program at the end of the school day, to which parents and Veterans were invited. (I snapped this very bad picture with my phone.)

Then in the evening we all loaded into the car and drove up to Lutece's school to watch the big band concert. The 6th grade band performed (Lutece's), as well as the 7th and 8th grade bands. It was a delightful evening. Seriously.

Lutece is in the back with the other trumpeters. She is really growing to love the trumpet (surprise), and in addition to the five hours a week of practice she gets at school, she often brings her instrument home to play and practice here as well. Again, it is surprisingly enjoyable to hear. (She's been playing Christmas carols on it lately.)

Speaking of music, both the kids still play the piano . . . Lutece more seriously than Phoenix. Lutece once again participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs Piano Festival. She did the hymn playing portion and the sight-reading one. (She's a great sight-reader.)

She earned Superiors on both. (The above picture has her holder her piano book, but the second picture is much better. Man, I've been really bad at taking pictures lately. Few pictures, and bad ones.)

A week later we enjoyed Thanksgiving break! We had a lovely meal at home that I spent a fairly relaxed two days preparing. We invited one of Stayc's students over and enjoyed sharing Thanksgiving with her. She is from Jinan, China . . . the very city we lived in when we were there. Crazy! This has become our new Thanksgiving tradition: invite Asian students over to experience their first Thanksgiving dinner :).

The kids wanted to do the table decorations, so I acquiesced, especially since they mentioned a cornucopia, which seemed appropriate. Little did I know that said cornucopia was not of the traditional variety, but rather a literary reference to the Hunger Games. Needless to say, the kids' "cornucopia" was filled with weapons and other instruments of death.
  

They also set up a scene from the Hunger Games on the other side of the Thanksgiving table. That's Katniss covering Rue's dead body in flowers. The odd paradox of a death scene played out with Playmobil figurines is not lost on me. Sigh. Yep, the kids are growing up . . . morbid senses of humor and all!

Happy Halloween-mas

This is definitely a first . . . posting Halloween pictures while I enjoy Christmas music and the twinkling of little white lights on a Christmas tree.

I knew I was going to be out of town for Halloween this year, since I traveled to California to help out Tim and Liz, so I made the costumes fairly early in the month, which worked out well because our Ward's Trunk or Treat occurred mid-month (and I was able to go!)

At first Phoenix wanted to be R2D2, so I ordered a large, round, white trash can online to fashion into a robot. The trash can arrived just three days before the Trunk or Treat in an alarmingly small box. Sadly, the "large" trash can turned out to be a very "small" trash can, not fit to encase a 9-year-old boy. So sad . . . and yet, so funny. Fortunately, Phoenix was flexible (not always the case), and he settled on Han Solo. I ran around to stores the next day, spent a couple of hours at my sewing machine, and whipped up a Han Solo costume just in time. 
 

As usual, Lutece knew months in advance what she wanted to be for Halloween. This year she veered away from scary and creepy (don't tell her that though) and chose to be the enormous golden bat Aurora from the book Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins.

Since I wasn't in town for the actual day of Halloween (the previous pictures were taken on the eve of the Trunk or Treat two weeks earlier), Stayc carved pumpkins with the kids on the day of Halloween.

Actually, I think Stayc just let the kids do the whole thing themselves, but he did take these two pictures :) . . . and the ones below of the actual evening.

It doesn't look like it in these pictures, but Halloween night was a rainy, sleety, snowy mess here in Lexington. We had our first snow of the season that night.

These kids are hardy though . . . and the lure of candy is too strong to let a little sleet and freezing temperatures keep them off the streets.

Another successful Halloween in the DuBravac household!

Fall Soccer

Soccer season ended in October, and it had its challenges this year. As usual, Stayc volunteered to be a coach and was given a team of 12 sixth thru eighth-grade girls to coach.

This was a bit tricky in and of itself, since Lutece is invariably the smallest girl in any group of girls her age. Put her with a bunch of eighth-graders and she looks like a shrimp (see photo above). Not only that, but you've got to be really fast to outrun girls who are two feet taller than you.

Lutece really enjoys soccer though, and you have to go through the rough years when you're the youngest and weakest to grow and develop as a player.

The hardest part of the season came when Stayc realized after three practices with the girls, that his 12-person team had been reduced to a 6-person team (some of the girls just never showed up, some dropped out, and some had conflicts). It was really frustrating. When Stayc expressed his concerns to the league, they responded that they would just pull girls from other teams to play with them so they wouldn't have to forfeit . . . every single week. Ummm . . . lame.

To make a long, sad story short, Stayc finally convinced the league to disband the team and split them up into the other remaining five teams in her age group (which had also lost players). It was a fairly smooth transition, but Stayc felt guilty about it the entire season. It was the first time in four years that he hasn't coached Lutece's team. I think he took it harder than anyone, since the girls and their parents all seemed fine.

All in all it was a fairly enjoyable season. Lutece had fun and improved. Sometimes, that's all you can ask for.

The End of Another Summer

I believe this is the longest I've ever gone without posting since the inception of my blog some 10 years ago. Over two months! Why, you ask, the hiatus? Honestly, I have no good reason. Life is pretty good, albeit busy, but that's nothing new. I think I just got out of the habit of taking pictures and out of the habit of writing about the few I did take. Let's face it, as the kids get older and busier, there are less picture-worthy occasions, or maybe I'd just rather enjoy the occasion than document it.

Case in point. How many pictures of hikes can you take over the years? Still, with an iPhone handy, I always manage to snap a couple of photos.

These pictures are from the last two hikes the kids and I took before Fall truly set in and the weather took a turn for the colder. The first hike was on a Saturday in late September at Raven Run.

The second hike was at Anglin Falls in Berea, KY. The kids got just two extra days off for Fall Break (Some school districts, including those in all the surrounding counties of KY, got an entire week off. Crazy!) so we took ourselves outdoors.

The kids love the huge boulders and dangerous situations at Anglin Falls. I just do my deep breathing.

We had a nice summer and a lovely (if short) fall. They say the winter is supposed to be as bad as last year.

I say bring it on! We've got all the snow gear I bought last year, just waiting to be used. I want to get my money's worth! I am nothing if not frugal.

Goodbye summer, until next year.

First and/or Second Day of School

The kids started school last Wednesday. There's a new school for one of them, new teachers, and a new schedule for the whole family. I'm glad it was only a three-day week and that this week is only a four-day week. We needed to work up to a full week of school.

I forgot to take a picture of Phoenix on his first day of school, so here he is on his second day of school. He's in the fourth grade accelerated cluster this year and has the same teacher Lutece had last year (Mrs. Laborio). We are all extremely happy about that. He already knows most of the kids in his small class (18 I think). We are hoping it will be a good year for him.

I drive him to school first at 7:30 a.m. The early mornings (6:15 wake-up call) have been harder for him, but he's been good about it. The harder part is the hour and a half AFTER school that he has to wait until Lutece gets home from school. Poor lonely kid.

I DID remember to take a picture of Lutece on the first day of school, but alas, it is blurry. Sigh. She is in her first year of middle school (6th grade), and the school is across town in a not-so-nice area (ahh, the joy of embedding magnet programs in Title 1 schools), so she takes the bus to and from the school every day. We drop her off at 8:20 at Phoenix's elementary school, where the bus picks up a large group of kids from the area.

Lutece seems to be adjusting to the vast changes that middle school imposes on life, but it is a hard transition. The second day of school she came up to me, hugged me, and started crying. I was worried that it would be the bus ride or new surroundings or lack of friends that was stressing her out. Nope. She was worn out and sad about the long school days with no recess. Poor girl. It's hard to go from elementary school to middle school.

On a good note though, she comes home happy, she likes her teachers and she seems to be making friends. She impresses me with her organization and responsibility. She comes home, eats a snack, and then gets done with her homework without my asking her to. She has a planner that she writes all her assignments in, and she also writes little notes about things she wants to remember to tell us about when she gets home. I love it!

I don't understand why it's so hard to watch your children grow up when you've been begging them to since they were born :). It is one of the many conundrums of motherhood.

The Walk to Church

I did it!!! Did you notice? I achieved my goal of blogging for an entire week in an attempt to get caught up on my posts. Let me tell you, it feels good. Now, I can go back to posting a couple of times a week. Whew.

Every since we returned home from China in May, we have walked to Church. It's something we started doing in nice weather before we left for China, but spending a year walking miles a day cemented the practice for us. After all, we only live a mile and a half (maybe less) from the Church. What a blessing!

When the weather started turning cold, it took a little more stamina and resilience to keep walking, but we persisted. I took these pictures three weeks ago on a Sunday that Stayc was at a conference in Orlando. I know it doesn't look cold, but the temperature was in the 20s. Brrrr. We didn't walk during last week's ice storm, but we did catch some snow flurries on the way to Church today. Awesome.

Blading It*

We've taken the kids ice skating and roller skating a few times at rinks in the area, and they have really taken to it with gusto. So when Phoenix saw a flyer about a FREE hockey day at the Lexington Ice Rink, he asked me to take him. Sure . . . I guess. (Hockey?)

In fact, it turned out to be a free hockey workshop sponsored by the US Hockey Association designed to lure kids into the sport. It definitely worked with Phoenix. There were only about 15-20 kids who participated (only eight who could actually skate on ice), and Phoenix had individual instruction for about half of the allotted hour. He LOVED it.

Sadly, the one hockey class they offer is only on Wednesday evenings, the same night as Scouts, so for now, it seems, he'll have to pass on Hockey. However, they do offer ice skating classes on other days that emphasize hockey techniques, so we may be trying that later this winter.

Lutece received skates for her birthday a few years ago**, but has since outgrown those little beginner skates (in more ways than one). For her birthday this year, she asked for roller BLADES, and we decided to splurge on some nice ones (thanks to Grandma!).

Despite having experience on skates, she was a little shaky on the rollerblades at first, but in true Lutece form, she persisted (she only does this when it's something she loves), and now she blades like a champ.

Whenever she can go somewhere on the blades, she does. Park, grocery store, book store (where we were headed in these pictures), she's on it! She's so cool, and she doesn't even know it.

* I don't know if that's a verb, but I just made it one.

** More than a few years in fact. When I finally found the old post, I had to laugh with delight. This was, of course, way back when she actually let me take pictures of her smiling and laughing.

Shaker Village

Ever since the kids and I went hiking at Shaker Village this summer (they have miles of trails in the surrounding area), I thought it would be fun to go back and visit the actual village. Shaker Village is a small reenactment center that educates people on the Shaker community that used to exist in the area. Entrance fees are fairly expensive, but I found that the fees drop by half on November 1. An autumn trip was in order.*

I left my jacket on underneath. It makes me look pregnant. Sigh.

Nearly all of the buildings are original to the Shakers who built them in the 1800s, but only a few of them are open to the public. One of the rooms had Shaker-like garb with which to dress up. Lutece insisted that if I wanted a picture of her, I also had to dress up so she could take a picture of me. Fair enough.

It wasn't extremely kid-oriented, but the kids were good sports anyway. There was a small scavenger hunt designed for children that the kids worked on. The black cat at the bottom of the above picture was on the list.

What? A picture? Here's a frown for you.

The snacks I brought helped too. They always do. I don't know if that will ever change.

Phoenix embodies pure joy sometimes.

Although the history of the Shaker religion and the handicrafts they produced were interesting, Shaker Village was a very small locale. I was grateful we only paid half price. I think we can wait another eight years before our next visit.

For lunch we drove the five miles into Harrodsburg and dined at our new favorite restaurant in Harrodsburg (ok, it's our favorite because it's the only one we've been to there). A good ending to (if we're being honest) a decent day :).

* The next few posts are going to be a mix-mash of fall and winter activities. I need to catch up with our past lives, but I don't want to wait to post about December until a week before Christmas. You understand.