hello

Long time no blog.  We've been busy doing homework...which is pretty awesome, because Kindergarten homework is FUN!  Miles is a reading and spelling machine.  We're lucky that he likes to practice because it means we flip through lots of pages in books, play round after round of hangman, and attempt to communicate by spelling out words so that a certain little brother can't follow along.  It sounds mean, but it's really not...he thinks he knows what we're spelling and we lead him to believe that he's right.  Only he's waaaay off.

Last weekend was dreary on the weather front (literally), and we were all taking turns battling the stomach flu.  It started with Weston on Thursday night, hit me by Friday, took out Tanner on Saturday, and ended with Miles on Monday.  Uffdah.  On the bright side, it meant lots of time to do art projects like this one --

We had to create a couple of pages for a family-themed scrap book that Miles' class is putting together. We are proud of how it turned out - it was a team effort!  Miles and mommy did the actual work while daddy and Westy voiced their ideas and opinions.  Probably a good strategy for future projects, too.

Miles turns 6 (say what?!) on Saturday.  To celebrate, he had his bi-annual dental checkup today.  No cavities!  But he does need to do a better job brushing his top teeth along the gum line.  Pretty sure he took detailed notes while listening to the hygienist (he was very interested), so we should see definite improvement at his next checkup.  Let's hope it continues into his teenage years.

And tonight we helped Owatonna kick off the holiday season with the annual lighted parade and Lighting of the Lights ceremony.  It was chillllllly, but we bundled up and had a great time.  I think we've gone almost every year since 2007 (except in 2007 because Miles was brand spanking new and still had his days and nights confused....therefore mommy and daddy were not interested in going to a parade).

Tanner and I have fun thinking back to the Lighting of the Lights ceremonies in St. Peter.  They used to make the magic happen with a big light switch - very symbolic.  There was hot chocolate, prizes (one year I won some colored pencils), and all sorts of activity in the Ginny May's parking lot.  Those were the good old days.  It's fun making similar memories with our little boys.  One of the best memories we'll have from tonight is Miles' reaction to "Steely", the Steele County Fair mascot (he's a moose).  Miles has seen Steely on numerous occasions and loves him -- loves all mascots, really.  We were certain that he overcame his fear of mascots long ago, but tonight was apparently an off night for him.  As Steely made his way toward us, Miles quickly moved to the back of the crowd along the sidewalk and squatted down behind a group of adults so that he wouldn't be spotted.  He was trying to blend in.  It worked!  Steely walked right on past him.  No big deal...we've got plenty of time to become friends with Steely.