Happy Halloween!

A busy week for all of us!  Calvin finished up and submitted 3 early action college applications so we will eagerly await mid-December to see who wants him!  He also finished up a huge project that he has been leading.  His team is entered in the MIT Zero Robotics competition and their submission was due on Saturday.  He is now feeling a big relief to just get back to school work for awhile.  Max started practicing with the bowling team at his school and is really enjoying it!  The season officially starts in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, the varsity portion of his cross country team continues to do very well!  They placed 2nd in the Regional race this weekend so they will go on to the State meet on Saturday.  The JV team will be wearing their team t-shirts and cheering them on!  Quincy is continuing to work hard in school AND prepare his own meals these days.  Life in an apartment is hard work but he is enjoying it!  He did discover that Ramen noodles for every meal does not make you feel too good!  He also continues to dedicate a lot of time to volunteering at the St Louis Foodbank.  He started working there on Saturday afternoons 2 years ago and has been dedicated ever since.  This semester's schedule has allowed him to add Tuesday afternoons as well!  What a great kid!  Tabitha really helped me out around the house this week.  Josh was working in Europe so Tabitha was my extra driver and errand runner.  She was fantastic!  She also did a coat of paint in my office when I didn't have the time!  She continues to work on her quilt as well and is thrilled to see it all coming together.
I had a big week!  I had lots of work things going on including an all day senior fair at a local community center.  We also finally got our kitchen completed with the installation of some new cabinets and a new microwave!  Love it!!

 
I also continued to work on painting all week.  Finishing up my office and starting on the entry way and first floor hallway.  It is the grey that I wanted and we are all very happy with the result.

I also went to Columbus for the day with a friend to see another friend who had recently moved there from here.  We had a wonderful lunch and some good "catch up" time together.  My friend, Stephanie, and I then went straight on to a Cleveland suburb where we met and listened to one of my favorite authors!  Adriana Trigiani has entertained me through her books for years so when we had the opportunity to see her live, I jumped at it.  We bought tickets to the pre-show reception to meet her, to get a signed copy of her new book and to enjoy some of her famous Italian food.  She then spoke to about 400 people and was wonderfully entertaining!  Fantastic evening!

On Friday morning, I had about 8 of our neighbors over for a fika!  It had been way too long since I hosted a gathering and I am always happy to get to know our neighbors better so we had a great time!  Every one ate and drank and stayed for a couple of hours so I think it was a success.

On Friday night, Tabitha discovered that "The Secret Garden" was playing at one of our downtown live theaters.  This is her all time favorite musical.  So, we bought some tickets and headed to the show.  It was awesome!  We had great seats and both just loved the show and the music!

Saturday was Halloween but we knew that we would not get many trick or treaters due to our street being such a mess.  The kids set their pumpkins out and then headed out to dinner and to see a movie.  Josh and I went to see an early movie (Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani!) and then came home and passed out candy to the handful of neighbor kids that stopped by.  Pretty uneventful.

And, today, it was time for more painting and yard work.  A beautiful day though so we will not complain!  My mom has been having a great time going through old pictures and saving them digitally.  Here are a few of my favorites that she has shared.

This last one is a particular favorite of mine.  Gotta love the little chubby, sweaty version of myself.  As you can see, Sarah has always just been drawing pictures while I do all of the cooking!