Reflections and The Street of Trick or Treet

First off - here is a picture of Ethan's reflections project.  The theme is "The Magic of a Moment".  He combined his love for drawing flags and his obsession with the different countries in the Olympics to make this picture.  I love it.  He did three different drafts and really worked hard on it.  I'm so very proud of him.The district ceremony is not until January, I think, but we will certainly celebrate as we turn it in this week!

 This week was conferences, which meant a whole lot of preparation, late nights, and Brian having to play Mr. Dad a lot more.  In short, we're all tired, but it went well.  Lucas and Ethan both started new swimming lessons - and both had to get goggles to be able to keep up in them.  Brian got to run soccer practice on Thursday - go Daddy, go!  And I spent some one-on-one time with each of my 24 families.
Last night marked the first of our Halloween celebrations - Trick or Treat Street at our school.  The kids get to trick or treat at the classrooms, and then there's a big dance in the gym.  It was fabulous fun.
Lucas is a fireman - complete with a dalmation, and Ethan is "Jack" from the Magic Tree House series.  The mouse on his shoulder is another character in the book - Morgan Le Fay.  The costume will go with his book report on Wednesday.

 The dancing was great.  Ethan was back to being my dance partner - which I loved.  Though, I am super sore this morning....

So, 1 out of 3 Halloween events done.  We'll survive - and hopefully so will their costumes.  And now I've got to start planning my own!

October Traditions

We met up with our friends to Corn-Maze-it up as has become tradition since moving here.  It was cold, but dry, so we counted our blessings.  I cannot believe how much older they all look from last year!

 Digital technology makes it much easier to navigate a corn maze - just snap a pic of the maze.....

 "Look mom!  I can touch the ky!"

Last Weekend - Rainy Days!

Rainy soccer, is just not the same.  It is cold and miserable. 

 And when you get hit in the face by a ball - it hurts.  But this tough guy just kept going.

 Angie and the boys came down to visit and the plan was to go to the trains after the game, but no one wanted to do that in the rain.  It was nasty!!!  So, we did the trains in the mall and just hung out.  My camera was dead and I could not find the charger, so I don't have great pics - but we had fun.  Brian and I even got to go out on a real, live date!  We went and saw Legally Blonde, the Musical - hilarious!!!
The next day, after church, Lucas and I hopped on a ferry to Seattle to see this little man!

 His mama is a good friend of mine from Idaho, and we were so lucky to get to see them!  What a little snuggler he is!!!
Lucas and I took advantage of being over there and decided to do the ferris wheel - so high up!  It was very cool.

 I don't think I could have had a cuter date for the day.  And he did not let the conversation go lacking - he was talking the ENTIRE time.  So much to say in that little guy's head.

So we weren't exactly rested for the week, but we did have a lot of great memories to take with us into it.

It's Been Awhile....

Time flies these days...  Life seems to revolve around school, soccer, swim lessons, and church.  Which is all good, but keeps us busy.  Everybody is happy and healthy (though a bit of a cold - very mild- has run through the boys and I).

Soccer's been tough as we've had a couple of rough defeats.  Ethan's kept his spirits up though, and still managed to get at least one goal at each game.  He really loves it and is playing so incredibly hard.  I love that I can see him strategize, and that he is just as loud as I am from the sidelines.

 Last weekend we managed to venture out to Seattle for the Northwest Chocolate Festival.  It was in the same place as PAX, so Lucas directed us on where to go - since he knew this time.  He has become incredibly bossy - though at times it is still really cute.

 Ethan insisted on going to a lecture about chocolate making in Ecuador.  It was a guy, in a dimly lit room, showing a bunch of pictures of equipment and trees.  I had a really hard time keeping awake.  But Ethan loved it.  The guy kept coming back to a map, and even gave everyone a copy.  My little cartographer was delighted.  Lucas only made it through the first few minutes before it was clear he needed to be elsewhere.

 The festival was a bit overrated, and overpriced, but it was an experience and here in the Sprague family, we live for the "experience" stuff.
At school, Ethan and I have started a before-school club where kids can come and play in the arts - making some big project each week.  I have loved it - though underestimated how popular it would be!  There are over 90 kids on the roster, though about half forget each time.  I have a colleague helping as well as several parents, so it actually is really easy.  But my favorite part is doing the planning with Ethan.  He's picked up his Dad's artistic abilities and I am loving seeing his ideas and expression.  He also started working on his Reflections project and I have to say that I am just adoring getting to watch him work on it side by side with Brian.  We went to Michael's yesterday and Brian helped him get the tools he'd need and then we spent the evening drawing, painting, coloring, just creating!  After so many days of sports - it was fun to focus on art.  And such a cool bonding experience for the boys.

Other adventures in the last couple of weeks....  Mini golf with Daddy while Mommy attempted to clean (but started watching Marley and Me and got totally sucked in) 

 Drawing faces on bellies - biggest giggles I've heard in a while.....

 Lucas showed up at the soccer game with orange beads and an orange "purse", orange shorts, and orange shoes...  No doubt on what his favorite color is!

 More soccer - another tough defeat, but some awesome defense from yours truly!

 Filthy, filthy children....  Cannot believe how gross he can get after a soccer game!

 And a few meals out here and there -including a trip to Toad House to build our own pizzas....

So life is good, though I've been quiet.  Swimming ends this Wednesday, along with Lucas' soccer and Ethan's climbing wall class.  We'll get a couple weeks off to decide what comes next.  But first, I'm going to sleep - at 8 p.m.  Everything else can wait for tomorrow :)