Out with the Old. . . .

. . . and in with the even older! Jim is selling his KTM dirtbike (top photo) and recently bought this Yamaha (bottom photo). He says he is too old for motocross racing and just wants a dirtbike that he can trail ride with. How 'bout that color?? Looks like a bike for me! He wants to change the seat color and racing stickers.

Giving Thanksgiving. . .

. . . .for a day off school. Today was a snow day for the kids due to icy roads and a small snow storm. They were certainly thankful for the day off and we ended up doing some Christmas shopping at the mall. It was hard to remember that it was a BIG holiday in the U.S., and this is the first year I think that I did not make a Thanksgiving meal on the US holiday. I must be adapting pretty well to Canadian life! Jim was a bit disappointed (he LOVES those big meals with gravy and mashed potatoes!) but Andrew (who washes dishes this week) was not! HAPPY THANKSGIVING all you Americans!!!

Birthday Boy

On Saturday, Daniel got to have his "big" birthday party. Each of the kids get to have one big one when they turn 10. Daniel wanted to have his at Kid's Zone, a large indoor play place. He invited 7 friends (one of them being Julia) and they had a great time. The top picture if of all of them going down a surprisingly fast slide. The bottem picture is of the cake they served him in his party room. He said it was his best birthday ever! He also had a smaller, family party on the 18th (Sunday) his real birthday. He got some dirt bike gear from Grandma and Grampa S., A. Jane, and Mom and Dad.

Piano Festival

On Friday, Hannah went to a piano festival. There she had to play 2 piano songs she had memorized for an adjudicator (judge). All the students in her group (there were many different groups) played the same piece and were placed according to how they did. Hannah did very well and got high marks. She does great playing under pressure and enjoys the piano a lot. I wish I had some pictures of her playing, but wasn't sure if we were allowed to take pictures. Next year I will bring it, because we saw others were allowed to take them.

Mother and Daughter

This past weekend, Leah and I went to Toronto for our Mother/Daughter Passport to Purity getaway. Here are some pictures of that time.

For dinner on Friday, we went to the fancy, revolving restaurant at the top of the CN tower. The food was very good and the view was amazing!

Here is a picture of Leah listening to the tapes and working in her workbook. This is a great resource to introduce and discuss the topics she will face with puberty and teen years.

On Saturday, we spent the whole day at the Royal Winter Agriculture Fair in Toronto. This is a big national fair held every year featuring the best of the best. We had tickets to the evening show in the Ricoh Stadium (the horse arena for the fair). Here is picture of the main event, horse jumping. This is apparently a big show because many people were in evening gowns and tuxedos. The people in the show included Ian Millar (he is to horse jumping like Tiger Woods is to golf) and Michael Wittacher. These are famous professional riders and their jumps were HUGE. Some as tall as me! This event is on TSN Dec. 1 at 3pm if anyone wants to see what we saw!

Part of the show included 9 teams of 6 draft horse hitches. They were really neat. 54 draft horses in the arena at one time!

Hi-Tech Redneck glossary

For all those cowboys (and girls) out there!

REBOOT: What you do when yer done scratchin' yer feet

CELL PHONE: What you use to make yer call from prison

SERVER: That feller who doles out the beans

POINT AND CLICK: What happens when yer gun misfires

HARDWARE: Nuts, bolts, nails, screws, etc

3.5 INCH FLOPPY: The droppin' of a really small cow

MICROCHIP: That same droppin' after it's been sittin' out in the sun for a spell

HARD DRIVE: A truck with two flat tires, stripped gears, and a burnt out clutch

Sunday News

Today we went for a bike ride after lunch. It was a cool, sunny November day and we rode on the rail trail for about 7 miles. Here are the kids having a break. The next two pictures are of the bike (and dirtbike) trailer Jim recently built. He bought the frame but put the rest together himself. He has been working on it all summer and finally finished it. We were excited to try it out today for the bike ride. Now the boys will have something to haul their dirtbikes on so we don't have to use the back of the van!

Leah on Blaze

Today was a beautiful day for riding, so Leah rode Blaze for awhile in the arena. He looks pretty promising so far. She really likes him.

Times are a changin'. . .

. . .for the Baxters regarding Halloween. We couldn't decide how we were going to spend the evening. First, the candy. Who wouldn't want LOTS OF FREE CANDY and getting to dress up in funny costumes??? But, we (the parents) just didn't feel comfortable with this trick or treating business, sooo we have always gone to a Christian alternative event on Halloween. Until this year. Some kids wanted to go with friends trick or treating, some to Bananarama (the Christian alternative event), and some just wanted to do a family fun night and get treat bags from Dad and Mom. Anyhow, we ended up going out for supper and getting a fun treat bag afterwards at home. Andrew went with some Christian friends door to door to collect food for the food bank. Today, we topped up our treat bags with discounted Halloween candy from the grocery store. Hope to have nice weather for the next two week (or months) so we can send the kids outside to burn off some sugar induced energy!