What We Do at Work

These are some leftovers from our adoption profile book pictures.  Have to add a little humor to the serious things of life.

 Da, da, I vill save him vitt my soviet-era medical eqvuipment.  Den de KGB vill deal vitt him.

A refund?!?

Fall Fun

Here goes one giant catch-up post.  When not doing school or working we've had many fun visits and events keeping us busy. 

 The tree in our backyard was gorgeous this year - all the colors in the area were so bright, partly because it was so dry.  We enjoyed the leaves on the trees and The Boy and neighbor kids had a blast jumping in the leaves over AND over again.

 One of The Boy's school projects - Kitchen Angels.  We found drawings online from Tomie de Paola's book, "Pascuale and the Kitchen Angels", which we had read from the library and enjoyed immensely.  The story is of a simple man who becomes a monk in order to pray but he is sent to the kitchen to cook instead.  He doesn't know how to cook, but prays that God would help him so he can stay.  While he prays, angels come to cook the meal, and Pascuale gets to pray the whole time.  Better yet, the monks love the cooking, so he gets to stay on as the cook, meaning, the angels keep on preparing the meals while Pascuale gets to pray.  I love having these angels on my cupboards - unfortunately they don't do the cooking, but it is a pretty sweet reminder of my guardian angel's constant presence, and The Boy had a great time coloring them and putting them up.

 Old Man Beside Me!  Someone had another birthday!  Happy belated birthday to my WONDERFUL man.  May you be blessed with many, many more happy years.

 We had a nice visit from Grandpa and Grammy last month.  They braved the rainy weather on the long drive and spoiled The Boy with attention and fun times.  We went to a corn maze, where Grandpa (who hails from the middle of corn country) provided a brief education to The Boy.

 Mudding through the corn maze.  It was in the shape of a giant pumpkin - we made sure to visit the eyes and walk through its mouth.

 Pumpkin bowling.

 The two happy fools - the jack o' lanterns, that is.  The small pumpkin was painted the next day, but for the time being felt left out.  The Boy helped with artistic direction, Hubby did most of the carving, and I did most of the scooping.  Yumm, pumpkin seeds!  The boys love them toasted with butter and Worcestershire sauce.

 We celebrated All Hallow's Eve with the homeschool group's All Saints Party.  The Boy was St. Raphael the Archangel.  It was his idea to stick with the Archangel theme, and we still had wings from last year. 

 What a bunch of holy saints!  The party was great fun.  Each family brings a carnival game for all the children to play and earn tickets toward treats.  We brought "Pin the Tail on the Papal Bull".  MJYK drew a large bull for me and the kids had to answer a question about current and past popes in order to get a tail to pin onto the bull.  Whoever got closest got an extra ticket.  

Are you smarter than a homeschooler?: Name two twentieth-century popes who are "Blessed".

What is a papal bull?  A type of official document written by the Holy Father.  It takes its name from the "bulla", or metal seal (usually lead) affixed to authenticate the document.  A bull includes the phrase "episcopus servus servorum Dei", or Bishop, servant of the servants of God".  My understanding is the difference between a bull and a brief is largely formatting (most encyclicals are released as briefs).

The Boy had a great time and came home with a large bag of candy which was quickly dispatched.  Some of my favorite costumes from the party - Mary, Queen of All Saints (congrats, RZMK) and Juan Diego (complete with the tilma).

 We visited Grandma K last weekend.  She taught The Boy how to play dominoes for points and we were able to visit Aunt C and Uncle D, too.  Grandma is probably enjoying the peace and quiet now that we are gone!  It was very good to see her.

All criminals, beware!  You will not escape the long arm of The Boy's law.  He refused to smile for the picture: "Police men do NOT smile".  I am under strict orders to sew a holster tonight.  We'll see.