Eiffel tower

Noah created this little replica of one of his favorite buildings.

Yard art?

Lukas received a book about ham radio antennas for his birthday. He spent about an hour and a half at Home Depot one day last week, stumping several of the associates with his questions and intimidating them with the schematic for his project.
The lure of building this new contraption was a great impetus to quit dwaddling and really focus on his school work, once the assignments are done, he is free to pursue his hobbies. It is amazing how quickly he got all of his tasks done.
The antennae is now firmly planted in our back yard. Lukas happily tried it out. This past week we had 40 mph winds, moving our patio furniture and knocking over our barbecue grill, but the antennae, it withstood the winds. Great job, Lukas.

First snow

Well, it was not the first snow of the year, who can forget January, February and March or this year? It was however the first snow of the season. The boys were anxious to head outside and worked diligently on their school work. Once bundled up, they headed outside for mainly fun as the drive and sidewalk were already shoveled.
When we spent time on a beach, it does not take long for Noah to either dig a hole or cover himself up - so it should not come as a surprise that he allowed his brother to bury him in the corner. It was easier to convince him to leave his snow cover than his sand disguise, maybe the temperature had something to do with that?

Clean up

The boys arrived back home on Sunday, tired, cold and worn out, but content. The lack of sleep, the early morning kitchen duty and chilly weather would wear out anyone and the boys spent most of the afternoon on the couch, bundled up, sipping hot cocoa.

When they had regained their strength it was time to tackle the gear and the left over food. By the look of Noah's jeans, I am pretty sure there was some mud wrestling going on at some point during the weekend. The jeans required hours of pre-soaking in order to gain an semblance of clean again.

Lukas diligently worked through all the left over food, labeled and bagged, sorted and consolidated, and last but not least scrubbed the cooler. Not a fun job, but one that had to get done, and he did not complain. I think he knows who will be using the cooler next time, and realizing it might as well be done now.

The feast of the unlucky turkey

The boys spent the weekend in a cabin west of Ann Arbor, and the parents were invited to attend the Saturday evening feast of the Unlucky Turkey. Bob and I enjoyed our ride out to the site and a delicious meal cooked by Scouts and leaders. Lukas handled almost all of the food and even assisted the less culinary inclined scouts with their contributions to the feast.
While Lukas was cooking, Noah played football in the clearing with a few other scouts and his Dad. Noah was responsible for the after dinner camp fire program which forever will be associated with "Bring Back, Bring Back and Bring Back my turkey to me to me... "
The blazing fire kept us warm and toasty and the boys were grateful for sleeping in a cabin as the temperature dropped below freezing.

Scout Food

Lukas volunteered to cook most of the food for the troop at the recent camp out. He spent time planning meals, organizing lists, calculating costs, revising as things changed and remained pretty calm throughout the entire process. Friday morning he set out for the Commissary with Bob to gather up most of the groceries. The afternoon was spent chopping, peeling, cutting and browning various food to make camp preparations a bit simpler. Noah kindly assisted in the kitchen duties.

There was not much 'regular' school done this day, but he sure learned a lot about comparison shopping, planning and adjusting to unanticipated changes. Great life skills.

They grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed out for a fun weekend with the Boy Scouts.

Our very own veteran

Bob had the day off from work in honor of Veteran's Day. Unfortunately, as a principal of SILL Academy he did not have the day off. After doing school with the boys, running errands and cooking dinner, it was time to relax and enjoy the newest acquisition, a new fire pit. Sadly, the light mist quickly turned into heavy cold rain, and we had to eat our Jambalaya by incandescent lights rather than fire flames.

Math and music

The boys doing math. Studies show listening to classical music is a helpful study aid while doing math.

Art unveiling

Noah has been working on a large scale piece of art to be hung above the fire place. This week he completed the work. To celebrate the artist we hosted a intimate unveiling, toasting the artist and allowing him to share his thoughts and inspiration.

Reading

I 'caught' both boys on the couch completely immersed in their reading. It so happened that both were reading something they received from precious friends in California. Once immersed it is hard to get their attention, not even breakfast offers break the concentration.

Buttered Waffle and Scuba Man

The boys decided that they were still young enough to go Trick or Treating. Bob, being an amazing Dad, bundled up and headed out with a Waffle with a pad of butter and Scuba Man. The weather was not on their side. The wind blew such that it was hard to open the door, the precipitation fell side ways in icy drops and the temperature made it feel like winter rather than fall. Maybe neighbors took pity on the few how brave the elements, or maybe they are always this generous, our boys arrived home with quite the load.
After warming up, changing into dry clothes and sipping some hot water the boys were ready to survey their loot. To make sure there were no mix up, Noah added a rope as a divider in the middle of the table. Each boy sorted his candy into piles and there were a bit of trading going on before it was time to head to bead. Lukas and Noah put their candy way neatly and tidy - now I know they possess the sorting, cleaning, organizing and putting away gene :-)

All tied up

I am sure I have answered the boys about a thousand times: " I am all tied up right now" so it should not come as a surprise when Noah answered me just that way the other night. He was literally all tied up while making his pizza.

Howling Halloween

The rain did not stop all day, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up on this the last day of October. The boys still wanted to head out so after dinner, they suited up. The official trick or treating  period is announced by the City Siren, fortunately we had read about that in the paper or we might have thought there was a severe weather warning, the weather was after all frightful.
Back home after a brisk walk around the block, the boys spread out their loot on the dining room table. To make sure their piles were kept intact, Noah placed a rope divider in the middle. After sorting and bartering, the piles were carefully stacked into containers, each marked and probably booby trapped to prevent looters, ehm parent tasting....

A scuba diver and a waffle with butter :-)

Pumpkin carving

The boys and Bob spent the evening in the garage carving pumpkins. Lukas added electronics to his, of course :-)