Kindergarten Thanksgiving Celebration

 The twins have been loving Kindergarten this year. One of the their favorite things has been the Thanksgiving performance that the entire Kindergarten class performed. Isaac was the star of the show... at least the musical performance. Each class was responsible for a song or poem the performed. Isaac was the loudest and most understandable of all 100+ students. I can not even tell you how many people commented on his stellar performance. The pictures aren't great because of where we were sitting, but I wanted something on here to record their entry into the world of performing arts!!

The story of Thanksgiving. You can't see the twins in this picture.... they are the little orange heads seated right in front of the stage.

 

The twins class. Olivia is on the second row and you can't see her face, just her pumpkin head. But, Isaac is on the front row on the very left.

 

Here is a very brief video of the class singing their song. It does not really show the volume and enthusiasm that Isaac performed with, but it is still cute! 

Happy Halloween!

Well, Halloween of 2012 was a fun and cold night of trick - or - treating and  going to a local Fall Festival for rides, cotton candy, and games. This is the first year I have let the kids dress up without matching. They chose their own costumes this year and helped me make some of the parts of each one.

Frankenstein.

Olivia the Pig.

Mad Scientist.

A little pumpkin action from the night before. They all loved getting their hands dirty!

Winner of Best Couple's Costume!

 Happy Halloween! 

We won "Best Couple's Costume" - complete with trophy and prize at the yearly Costume Party. 

Don't worry the paint came off easily!

Happy 70th Birthday, Grandaddy Bob!!

We had the privilege of hosting a 70th Birthday for John's dad recently. He has blessed our life in so many ways and we were happy to celebrate him on his 70th Birthday!

 When the kids heard we were going to have a party for their grandfather, they insisted on having a theme. Because Bob like Elvis Presley we choose a 50's Sock Hop Theme. As you'll see the kids wanted the house decorated and they dressed up for the big day!

 Bob opening his big gift from everyone. An Ipad. He was thrilled! 

 After the food we did something fun for the kids... a pinata. It is supposed to look like a record. 

 Then we took some pictures of the grand-kids with their grandparents!

 

We even took a silly one!! 

Happy Birthday! Let's do it again in 10 years!!

Broken Elbow!

 So... we encountered our first broken bone in the Hoots' household. We had a good long stretch of being break free - 8 and a half years of castless bliss. But, Isaac ended all that at the end of September when he fell off our bed and broke his elbow. He has been a cast for almost four weeks and is scheduled to get it off this Friday!! Wahoo!! 

He has handled the cast very well, but we are all ready to have it off!! 

 (Like the neon green? He got it to match his Halloween costume, Stay tuned to see the costume!!)

Virginia Creeper Trail

 Over Labor Day we went with a group of friends to Virginia. We camped at Beartree Campground and rode down the VA Creeper trail  as a group. It was great fun. I would definitely go again! I don't really love to camp - but doing it with these friends was really awesome.

 Ethan is a strong rider and we were not worried about him on the 17 mile (downhill) trail. But, Isaac and Liv are still learning and we were concerned this was too long for them. So we rented two "tag - along" bikes. Isaac rode with John and Olivia with me. They loved it! And, it made it a lot less nerve wrecking to have them attached to us!!

About 5 minutes after I took this picture it poured down rain on us! We were all a lot colder at the beginning than we thought we would be.

 

 After several miles we all stopped and ate lunch in this little shelter. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it was POURING down rain as we ate our pb&j's!! 

 Our three little bikers. Covered in mud. They had a great time - but were seriously filthy by the end!!

 

 After we had ridden about half way the sun came out and we stopped to swim in the (freezing) river that winds around the trail. It was refreshing!! 

 

 Most of the group. After the tents were all packed up at the campsite. So thankful for friends who invite you to do things you would never have thought of yourself!!