Grandpa Cunningham

My grandfather passed away this month. We will truly miss him.

I missed the funeral by one day but came out early for Christmas. It was good to see everyone that lives out west. His passing brought alot of us together. He had a full life. He was an Air Force pilot.

My mom was the his daughter, the oldest of 8 kids.

Because we moved around alot, I didn't see him often but,
I have fond memories of getting in the back of his "dump truck" with my other cousins and hanging on for dear life to see who could hang in there the longest before being dumped out.
He let us pick peas and carrots from his garden to go to our clubhouse (a large dog house) to make soup. We played in his irrigation ditch as he flooded it with water. I remember him having strong opinions about things....arguing with the tv alot. Makes me laugh even now.

I'll be ever grateful to him for joining the church and being our family's pioneer and for raising and loving my mother and for being a religious and patriotic man.

Christmas Concert AFC 2009

The girls with Grandma Annie and Grandpa John
Nathan and the Choir....posting to you tube.
My mom, Ann and Nathan Osmond....warming up.

Meeting Craig Jessop after the concert.

We went to see the AFC Christmas Concert that my parents were in last week. I took Tara and Emily. We shivered looking at the ice sculptures in the quad, tried to sip very hot cocoa and then enjoyed a fantastic concert with guest soloist Nathan Osmond (son of Alan). The girls and I took a quick tour of the art museum while waiting for the concert to start. Tara said, "Wow Mom, I've never seen stuff like this before." It was the perfect thing to put us in the Christmas "mood".
The Conductor for AFC is Craig Jessop (former conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). My dad is the Managing Director for the AFC, so of course we got to meet him and take a photo.
These were photos downloaded to my parent's computer. You'll have to wait for an update of the rest of our adventure when we get home....some time early next year!

Odds and ends

Tara's recent self-portrait after studying Modigliani .....elongated necks.

Jacob has been entertaining himself with boxes we've recieved through the mail this season.

You can't see him at all, but he is actually under these boxes. Tara put them together to cover him and make him a robot. They have made racetracks, stores, etc. Isn't it great how the boxes can keep them busy until Santa came with the goods?

This is America

Tara's musical program was a great evening for all of us. She did a great job. All the kids wore red, white or blue shirts. There were all the best patriotic songs sung and alot of smiling. Because the kids did such a good job, Mrs. Flannagan and Mr. Wilson had to dress up as turkeys the next day at school. I'm glad Tara has good friends. Pictured above is her friend Adeline who asked her to audition. I'm so happy they both did.

For part of the program they had all types of servicemen escorted up to the stage while singing "American Tears"...very touching moment and there were tears.

Hippie Stone Soup Day

No joke. At the school Friday it was Hippie dress up day and the first grade also had stone soup day. So, this is as close as we get to celebrating Thanksgiving with the indians and pilgrims. No wonder our kids are confused about holidays. Jacob tasted the stone soup and didn't like it...but ate deli turkey, grapes and a roll for lunch. He was very disappointed the only treat was pie.

Gene was gone to Chicago this past week. I have been subbing at least 3afternoons per week with Monday afternoon my shopping day and Friday volunteer day at the library and doing friday folders for Tara's class. So, by the weekends I am super tired but, everyone is doing really well. I'll try to do better at getting info on the blog during the holidays.

Puzzles are Jacobs new weekend favorite thing to do. I volunteer in the school library on Fridays and in the afternoons Jacob comes and puts puzzles together until the girls get there. Here's one he really loved.

Jacob-MP commando...with a little attitude

Halloween 2009

Emily- the witch

Halloween 2009

Tara-the bronze fairy

trunk-or treating ....and treats in the trunk

We had our trunk-or-treat last night at the church. The kids were funny. They ran around with their friends and ate a few chips and cookies at the ward chili cook-off. We then went outside. I sat at the car and passed out candy. They went around and around the parking lot....(Emily 3 times!) and got candy. Jacob was frightened by a few scary masks and decided to call it quits and climbed into the back of the explorer.....then one friend joined him, then another...until soon there were about 8 kids back there hanging out and eating candy. No telling how much candy they ate. There were quite a few wrappers....but, I did get the often quoted "you're the best mom ever!" Yeah me! Tomorrow we hit Safety city and then Saturday trick or treating at the mall. There will be enough candy to fill goodie bags from now until Christmas 2010!

Monster Jokes by Ima Laffin

Emily checked out this book at the library this week. We spent plenty of time laffin at these ones. We thought we would share.

What does a boy monster do when a girl monster rolls her eyes at him?
-He picks them up and rolls them back.

What is a monster's favorite game?
-Swallow the leader.

Why does the little girl monster think her brother was born upside down?
-His nose runs and his feet smell.

What do you call a mouse who can pick up a monster?
-Sir.

What do you get if you cross a monster with a kangaroo?
-Big holes all over Australia.

What do you call a one-eyed monster who rides a motorcycle?
-Cycle-ops.

Why doesn't dracula have any friends?
-Because he is a pain in the neck.

Did you hear about the monster who sent his picture to a lonely hearts club?
-They said no one was that lonely.

How did the monster cure his sore throat?
-He spent all day gargoyling.

Jacob's tripping day

Jacob's first grade class had their field trip to downtown. I went along, thinking it would be a fun bonding moment with Jake and his classmates. I was assigned 3 other little boys. None of whom seemed to be able to hear me. It was rainy when we left...but, turned out to be a nice day.

We headed up the sunsphere. Then went to the courthouse (one of the little girls in first grade has a grandfather who is a judge). We then went to Neyland Stadium and saw cheerleaders, Smoky the dog took Jacob's lunch and chair for fun,one cheerleader gave him a temporary "T" tatoo, another made him a paper airplane. The kids got to run on the field, go in the locker rooms and go crazy.

We then went to see the basketball arena....for some reason the name is escaping me..and then walk on by the Tennessee river. It was a super long day. But, it was my first time to visit alot of places downtown after 10 years of living here.

October

We have really been busy this past week. The teachers in my class have been ill , but the kids have notall 11 were there....so, 2 days I took over (stayed the whole day and taught the class) It about wore me out. Between that, and getting PTA work done and planning Tara's teacher's birthday surprise and all three fall parties, I had ZERO afternoons to myself. Good thing "fall break"is coming up this week. I actually have my first inservice tomorrow. I got my tetnus shot on Saturday and my flu shot on Monday, so, I walked around with 2 sore arms for a couple of days.

Gene's well into his bagpipe lessons. He's coming along very nicely. The band needs drummers. I thought when the kids are just a bit older, we could all be a part of the band together.

I was called as gospel doctrine teacher and taught for the first time today. I think it went pretty well....it's hard to say. It was definately not as scary as I thought it would be. It was nice to talk about prophets the week after conference.

We cleaned out the girl's room completely last Saturday and rearranged their beds (thanks Richard for stopping by just in time to help). We realized most of their winter clothes don't fit from last year. I just happened to see a consignment sale and got about 15 items for less than $30. Yahoo! I now follow the girls around with hangers and encouragement to hang up whatever they are taking off. And no more toys in the room.

We had Gene's brother David and his family come and visit.

We got a new washer...to replace the transmission it would cost $300....so, we opted for a new one for just $100 more than the repair.

All of the kids, and both of us are healthy. Knock, knock.....I know the illness surrounds us, but for now we are good.

Tara's plant cell

Tara's first science project was due last week. She made a plant cell out of green jello, an avacado (for the nucleus), sprinkles for the chromosomes, frozen corn (for the mitochondria), a water-filled balloon for the vacuole, wax paper for the cell membrane, etc. It was pretty cool. Yeah Borden science team! I told her not to bring it home on the bus.

The bordens came to visit

David and Tina, Brooke and Connor came to visit this past weekend. They watched the Tennessee game and then came over for pizza and games. The kids took over the camera. They very much enjoyed their time with some of their Texas cousins. Jacob was thrilled Connor played Mario Karts with him. Brooke and Tara made some very delicious chocolate chip cookies. Hooray for family!

What?

I bought Emily these socks. .....later I read the label. A pair of socks for everyday....eight pairs of socks! What? I thought there were 7 days in the week!

Oh!

Before dinner

I told the kids to go run outside and play before dinner yesterday. There wasn't any running..........

There wasn't any playing.............although I did find a frisbee out in the yard.................
But, there was






DRAWING ON THE FRONT PORCH

What's wrong Mom?......nothing.....glad you are all having a good time.

Go Big Orange!

Wish all the cheering from home could have made a difference against Florida!