4th Grade Colonial Days

The entire 4th grade at Schlegel Elementary School participated in Colonial Days in December 2012.  The children were encouraged to dress in colonial garb.  The girls made dust-bonnets and the boys made tunics.  Quinlan's dust bonnet was made out of the fabric the little girls wore in our wedding.  The kids made a punched tin designs, learned the art of paper rolling, made corn bread muffins and dipped candles.  The picture below is of Quinlan learning to dip candles.  Unfortunately, poor Quinlan had a bad case of poison ivy on her face.  Hard to believe that she could get poison ivy in December but she did. 

Well, hopefully this will bring everyone up to date on the goings-on in Ontario, NY.  Winter is starting to set in (we had a little dusting of snow on Sunday) and the wind is picking up.  We have been busy doing what we always do.  

Chris has been to a few Bill's home games this season courtesy of his boss.  The team is such a letdown though........ I think this might be the end of his season tickets until they start winning again.  And you can't say that he is a "fair-weather" fan..... he's been a fan since he was a little boy. (With Mark Cavallaro in 1974. It is a good thing the Jills have changed their costumes).

7th grade is going well for Max.  He likes gym class and lunch (of course). He spends time at CDS swimming, doing art projects and going on field trips.  They are wonderful people to work with and they LOVE Max.  They tell me what a sweetheart he is.(don't we know it!). Quinlan is still doing dance - tap, jazz and ballet.  She is in school chorus, orchestra and learning to play the viola.  She is also in the art club and loves to read.  Reilly is very excited about 1st grade.  She loves everything about school and is becoming an avid reader and writer.  She also has learned to color inside the lines (which is very important to her).  

I'm learning to live with myself most of the day.  It is a bit lonely with nobody home but me.  I'm starting to chip away at long overdue projects but I also volunteer in school 2x a week and I have 3 books started.  I love to shop by myself too.  I'll try not to let too much time pass before I update again.
Love to all.
ARC 

Halloween - 2012

 Reilly and her friend Jack (or is it Joey? I can't tell them apart) during the parade through the halls at school.  The kids were really cute and so excited. 

Then it was time for the parties.  Reilly's party included donut holes, cider and a yarn spider web.  They wanted to leave their costumes on all day but the teacher thought it would be too distracting.  And yes, I took the baton home with me to make sure nobody got bonked on the head with it.

 Quinlan and her friend, Xavier, work on "Mad Libs" at their Harvest Party.  We can't call them Halloween parties even though they have a "halloween" parade and are wearing their "halloween" costumes.

Here are the kids just before they went out into the neighborhood with Chris.  They were only gone an hour but they brought back some yummy treats to share with Chris and I.  I even sent some of the extra to Lakeside!

Quinlan - Birthday, Part 3

 Celebrating on October 22nd (her actual birthday) with cupcakes.

 An "Edward" doll to go with her Bella doll (from Twilight).

Cousin Will's birthday is October 30th so we always get together to celebrate. Here they are blowing out the candles.  Grandma and Granpa Connor were there to celebrate too.

Quinlan's Birthday - Part 2 of 3

We celebrated Quinlan's birthday with her girlfriends (and Reilly) with a butterfly themed event.  Quinlan designed the cake and I decorated it for her.  Reilly, Lilah Hann, Karlie DePaull, Meg Wade and Sarah Edwards.

 

Quinlan received some very nice gifts. And the girls enjoyed pizza, wings and a movie. 

Quinlan's Birthday - Part 1 of 3

 

We went to Build A Bear to begin Quinlan's 10th birthday celebration.  Reilly, Meg Wade, Quinlan and Max all got the chance to pick out and build an animal. 

 After they are stuffed but before they are closed up, each child gets to pick out a heart to be put into their bear/animal.  Before it goes into the stuffed being the child has to kiss the heart (to fill it with love), jump up and down with the heart (to fill it with energy and enthusiasm) and do a bunch of other things to provide good attributes for their project.

 Then the animals got a bath (not really).

 Quinlan and Meg pick out clothes from a lot of options.  Sequins, denim, fur, shoes and boots and uniforms were some of the choices.

 Then the kids had to name their creations and provide information for a "birth certificate"  

 When we were all done Quinlan got to "ring the bell" to signal that it was her birthday.  Meredith was our "helper" and she was great!

 Here are the kids with their creatures and their official "Build A Bear Anniversary Birthday" hats.  

 We visited the Lego store at Eastview Mall and the nice manager gave Quinlan a free Lego man.  

Then we went to Champs for lunch.  Here are Quinlan and Meg awaiting their meals.  Quinlan enjoyed her "Shirley Temple" and a burger.

Zoo Boo - 2012

 This year, instead of Wickham's Farm Market, we decided to do something a little different.  The Seneca Park Zoo hosts something called "Zoo Boo".  A not-too-scary trick or treat experience.  The kids went to stations within the zoo and got special treats.  And it was Chris's first visit to the zoo.  Here Reilly accepts a tattoo from "Belle".

 Quinlan, Reilly and Max pose infront of the new lion exhibit.  The lionesses weren't interested at all in the trick or treaters.

The elephants were out and about in their enclosure.

Quinlan was Merida (from the Disney movie Brave),  Reilly was a baton twirler (complete with the baton I got for Christmas when I was about her age) and I think you can figure out what Max's costume was.  (Thank you, Aunt Susie) for loaning us the cool sombrero.  It got a lot of attention.)