October

October started out normal until the 6th, when a teacher's strike began. The kids had no school for 23 days until the Provincial Government passed legislation to force teachers back to work. That happened on Oct.28, just in time for the kids to go back for all the Halloween things. It was annoying, but also not as bad as I thought. The kids' community activities, like basketball, still continued and the weather was really nice, so we weren't too bored. Boston's preschool teachers did not strike, so he was still able to go to school. 

This month the kids made haunted candy houses, collected the Superstore Avengers stickers (and stuck a bunch all over themselves), Boston fell asleep in the beautiful sunshine while waiting to pick up the kids at school, and Bentley and I went to the Taylor Swift "Life of a Showgirl" movie. We went with Tamara and Scarlett, and decided to dress us in our showgirl outfits! I had listened to the album enough to know most the words, but the girls seemed a little bored! Later, Bentley and I became very obsessed with her new album! It was a fun night though.

General Conference came, as did our tradition of making German Pancakes, bacon and fruit for breakfast before watching it. Always a great Sunday! We had Thanksgiving at Don and Cindy's house and had a great time eating turkey and playing some games. 

Jeff and I were able to get away for a night in downtown Calgary. We stayed at the Fairmont Palliser, as an early anniversary/birthday gift. We were tired from kids being at home so much and felt like we needed this little boost. We ate a delicious dinner there, got a couples massage at the spa, swam in the pool and hottub, and went shopping and explored downtown. My parents were so nice to watch the kids for us.

On one of Bentley's days off school, I signed her up for a babysitting course so she could at least be certified and start babysitting if any jobs came her way. She is super mature these days and I have no doubt she'd be great at it. She went with Jade to the course, and said it was very boring, but was happy she did it. 

Deacon got invited to his friend Sebastian's party at Flying Squirrel. This friend moved out of our ward, but he was glad to still get an invite! I decided to stay at the party and let Boston jump too. He had such a blast! I also threw a party for Deacon's basketball team at our house for some team building. We had pizza and slushies (with our new Ninja Slushie machine), and the boys went in the hottub and just played with the nerf guns and other things. Deacon was very grateful and had the best time!

That about sums up our month, minus Halloween, which will be on the next post!

Back to School

September came and we were back to school! Bentley went into Grade 6 this year, which is kind of considered Junior High at RDL. That means she gets a locker (in her classroom), is on the other side of the school, and comes out of the main doors instead of the side doors. She even gets to play an instrument this year - they try out a different one for each half of the year. They had the kids open a lock and Bentley was very happy that she did it fast enough to be the last person to get a top locker! Her teacher this year is Ms. Penney, and she is the absolute best! She has no complaints about her and is loving the year so far. Her main friends in her class are Madi and Violet.

Deacon went into Grade 4 and has Mrs. LJ. She was so great for Bentley, but Deacon finds her a bit strict. He has a few of his buds like Dax, Nixon, Tate, and Briggs in his class, but was sad that he wasn't with Spencer or Anders.

Leo went into Grade 2, which is the combined class with Mrs. Bilotta and Mrs. Hinton. That means that all of his buds are in his class, but he likes to hang out with Hayes and Nelson the most. 

Boston played at home with me until his preschool started a few days later. He has Mrs. Shannon and Ms. Boots again, who are honestly some of my favorite people! They are so good with Boston and all the kids. Boston gets to go every day this year. They changed the scheduling and it was almost the same cost to do full time, so I put Boston in full time but he usually just goes for a half day. He has the option of going for the whole day, though, which is super handy if I have something I need to do in that time. He really likes school now and always comes home with facts and things to tell me, as he never forgets anything he is told! He has become a little chatterbox and his teachers always tell me about the things he says to them. He is the cutest thing, and I'm really enjoying this last year of preschool!

September means BBQ season, and we had 3 in a row this year! First, it was the Back to School BBQ at RDL, which the kids always love. Jeff couldn't make it this year, but I made sure we didn't miss it. The next day was our Legacy Ward Chili Cook off and Corn bust. The food was really good, and as a Primary Presidency we were in charge of the games, which turned out well. There was 9 square, volleyball, axe throwing, bubbles, chalk, etc. Not sure if I mentioned that I got called into the Primary Presidency this summer. I am the 2nd counselor with Jenny Romeril as President, Jeni Brown as first counselor, and Jacquie Olsen as secretary. I really enjoy these people and my calling! We brought Abby Whiteley along to the BBQ and the kids had a lot of fun. BBQ number 3 was the one Jeff does for his work every year. It is held in the Sundance field and they rent a bunch of bouncy castles, and this year had a bunch of little field games as well. The food at this one is always stellar! 

We also love to participate in the dropping off and picking up of the food bank bags in September. We got a much better haul this year because we actually delivered bags. Last year they tried to go bagless and the number of donations went way down!

Deacon was the only one that decided to join Cross Country this year. He never passes up an opportunity, so I'm not surprised! I took him to all the races and we had a good time. On the last race, he came to the finish line holding only one shoe. His socks were very brown, and apparently he had given Bentley his other shoe to hang on to! Bentley volunteered at the race near RDL school and got to wear a vest and point people in the right direction. Leo had a good time finding frogs there!

It was a very successful back to school month, and as shown in the photos, lots of snuggles in bed happened too!