The first snow day

 The day started off with a little drive.  The snow was so beautiful, the branches were like an ice cave, a canopy over the road.

a stand of  pines

some pretty red berries

The boys built a snow ramp to ramp their sleds.

  Zero chased them.

 Then I got to work!  It was Christmas candy making day!  I did have a little help on one batch.

Rich and Ethan working

Wesley pretending to help

M&M pretzel candies, Rich's favorite

I made the rest of the candy myself.

Swiss Caramels, Ethan's favorite

English Toffee (my fave)

pumpkin custard (for Wesley since
he missed it at Thanksgiving)

Pecan Pralines (my second fave)

Apparently, I failed to take a photo of
 the fudge, except on Wesley's face.
He said it was great.

 Maybe this weekend I'll tackle the Oreo truffles.  I had to stop when the power went out.  Couldn't keep up with the dishes.  Then I finished my book and started the next one in the series.  All in all it was a great day!

Getting ready for Christmas

Monarch butterflies

Ethan found some monarch caterpillars and raised them to butterflies.  He released them after a few days.

Riding horses

Jon and Brooklyn came over with the horses today and took Ethan and Wesley for a ride.  Wesley almost got bucked off, but Brook saved the day!

Halloween 2011

Man, did we have a blast tonight!  We visited with lots of friends and family too.  Here are some of the highlights.

Pumpkin carving last week...

Ethan's own design

Wesley carved the one on the
right all on his own!

scary tree

creepy surgeon that Ethan carved
on his own

Halloween night...

a scary ninja (Wesley)

Charlie Brown (Rich),
he had a little trouble
with the scissors

Na'vi, Jake Sully, from
the movie Avatar (Ethan)

Luna Lovegood, one of
Julie's fave Harry
Potter characters, complete
with jewelry (dirigible plum earrings,
butterbeer cork necklace,
spectrespecs,
and beetle ring)

the whole gang

just the guys, a scary
lookin' bunch

A rite of passage

Ethan recently earned his arrow of light, the highest award bestowed on a cub scout.  He then crossed over into boy scouts.  We are so proud of him!  He has worked hard for several years to reach this point.  He now has his new boy scout uniform and is working toward earning merit badges in boy scouts.  They grow up so fast...

crossover bridge

during the ceremony

with his arrow of light

on the crossover bridge

It is now officially the season for Halloween

     Wesley and I decorated for Halloween last night.  We were both feeling quite nostalgic pulling out the boxes of things we have decorated with for years.    Wesley is one of those kids who really associates activities like this with his fond memories.  Of course, it can't be Halloween without the Charlie Brown action figures!  We can't set them up without watching the video either!  It is one of my favorite things to do with him.  Included are some of my favorite quotes.

There are three things I have learned
never to discuss with people:
religion, politics, and The Great Pumpkin.

Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.

A person should always choose a costume
in direct contrast to her own personality.

 If you try to hold my hand, I'll slug you!

You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it!

And the classic: I got a rock.