Run4Fun Limo Ride!

Stanley was one of the top 2 earners in fundraising for the Run4Fun at his school, so he won a limo ride with the principal to go to Dairy Queen! He could bring a friend, so he brought Lisa. They had a great time in their first limo!

The group in front of the limo

Blizzards at DQ with friends

Science Olympiad

Stanley participated in his school's Science Olympiad team. He competed in the district-wide tournament recently. In a team of three students, he completed a variety of science-based events: estimating amounts of objects in jars, creating a self-propelled car, making bridges from tape and string, and answering questions about the muscles/skeleton of the human body and celestial charting. I was so proud of him for practicing and studying each week and completing the 3-hour tournament!

Ready for the competition!

All the Prune Hill Science Olympiad members

Stanley's 3-person team answering questions about space

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving day at home. Stanley's goal was to stay in his pjs all day (and he accomplished it). We had a delicious dinner. Matt smoked a turkey breast on the grill, and we had lots of yummy sides like stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, and cranberry relish. Don't forget the apple pie and chocolate pudding pie too!

Homemade Mini-Apple Pies

Lisa read all these books and then fell asleep
while waiting for me to play with her.
(I was making the stuffing!)

Ready to eat!

Our delicious dinner

Stanley's favorite: Cranberry Relish!

Other things we've been up to...

Turkey Bingo

 I didn't win a turkey or pie, but the kids both won prizes and had a great time!

Stanley & his friend, Jameson

Lisa

She was so serious about her game!

Walk at the lake
The kids didn't have school on Veterans' Day. Stanley went to a Science Olympiad camp. Lisa & I went for a beautiful walk at Fallen Leaf Lake.

Field Trip
Lisa's 1st grade class went on a field trip to see the play "Me...Jane" based on a children's book about the childhood of Jane Goodall. I was so excited to get to go with as a chaperone! Jane Goodall is one of my favorite people, and the play was so cute!

Lisa's 1st Basketball Season

Lisa started a 1st/2nd grade basketball league. Every Saturday in November, she has practice for 45 minutes followed by a 45-minute game. She is the only girl on her team, and she is holding her own! I'm so proud of her for getting out there and doing her best.

Run4Fun

Thank you to everyone who donated to Lisa & Stanley's Run4Fun! The school raised over $20,000! We're still waiting to hear who won the limo ride with Prune Hill's principal, Mrs. Swan. That is a pretty exciting prize!

Stan with principal (and penguin), Mrs. Swan

Lisa & friends

Lisa, ready to run 

Lisa ran 7 big laps!

Happy Halloween!

We had a really fun Halloween this year! Stanley was a grim reaper, and Lisa was a bat. We went to a Halloween carnival at the gymnastic studio and trick-or-treating. The kids even got to wear costumes to school!

Survivor contestant, Grim Reaper, & Bat

Halloween carnival cake walk

Trick or treat at the card shop!
They got free magic, pokemon, and a deck box 

Halloween!
Ready to trick-or-treat!

Wootens on Halloween

Library Book Club

The Camas Public Library has book clubs for kids. Stanley and I have been going since he was in second grade. We read a book each month, and then we meet with a librarian and group members to discuss the book and do a related activity.

This month we read the book, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham. We discussed questions about the book, the kids did a readers theater of a scene from the book, and we analyzed our fingerprints.

It's a fun program and gets Stanley out of his reading comfort zone. Also, he loves that there are snacks at our meetings.

What we've been up to...

Here are some pictures of things that have been going on lately.

Toy Story 4
We saw Toy Story 4 at the small local theater. The kids got combos with popcorn, root beer, and candy. They liked the movie, but I think they liked the treats better.

Hike
We walked around one of the local lakes, Round Lake. It's fun to remember when we first moved here, and I would carry baby Lisa on my back on this trail. Now she's running and hiking the whole thing herself.

Reading
Lisa is quite the little reader these days!

First day of school

Lisa started first grade this year. She has the same teacher and class as last year, since her kindergarten moved up to first grade this year.

Stanley started fourth grade this year. His teacher is Mrs. Coleman.

Stanley's 10th Birthday

I can't believe it's been a decade since our sweet boy was born! He had quite the number of fun birthday celebrations this year!

It started with a party in Indiana to celebrate his birthday and his cousin's birthday. They had a great time dancing, blowing bubbles, and playing games. I posted a bit about that in the Indiana Vacation post.

When we got home, he took his best friend, Jarek, to the arcade to play video games. Then we went out to lunch. After lunch they played at a park together. Stanley opened our presents to him that afternoon. He got a big Star Wars Lego set, Yu-gi-oh cards, Hot Wheels & a display case, and Squishmallows.

Playing Pac-Man

Virtual Reality Game

At the arcade

Out to lunch

Playing at the park

Nature games at the park

Sweet Girl

Opening presents

On his actual birthday, he had school. He wanted a donut for breakfast, which I indulged, but served him eggs and milk with it to try to get some protein and nutrition in him. His class sang him a birthday song. I made him his favorite dinner, BLTs, and we ate cake.

It was fun celebrating this super-cool kid and his double-digit birthday! I'm excited to see where he goes in this life...he has so much to offer the world!