State Fair

 Hannah with her dragon puppet.

 Hannah's melted pony bead bowl. Joshua did one with a cool American Flag look to it but the picture I took doesn't do it justice. Ask to see it next time you come over;)

 Joshua's shell art.

 Hannah's "cherry pie" cupcakes.

 Hannah's chocolate mint bark (tasted like Andes mints) & Joshua's molded candy suckers.

 In the butterfly pavilion.

We went on our annual State Fair field trip last week. The kids were so excited to see what ribbons they won. I admit it, I was excited too. I am not posting pictures of everything they entered as there was so much but I am including a few. I will tell you the ribbon count in the student art section (that's the art you can enter for free):

Hannah-

3 Honorable Mention

4 First Place

1 Third Place 

Joshua-

2 First Place

2 Second Place

1 Fourth Place

While they did enter a bit more art than they placed in, they did do very well in the Home Arts & the Culinary entries-those are the areas it cost $1 per entry to enter. Then when you place, you win cash. $5 for 1st place, $3 for 2nd place, & $2 for 3rd place. 

Here's the ribbon count for those categories (you can do the math on their cash winnings):

Hannah-

4 First Place

1 Second Place

1 Third Place

Joshua-

3 First Place

1 Second Place

1 Third Place

Very exciting stuff. We also checked out the butterfly pavilion,the animals & petting zoo, the behemoth bug area, the body display, an NFL experience, and a couple rides. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the body display but it was sufficiently gross to the kids.  The kids got their 3 free rides through the reading program & went on the Tilt-A-Whirl together while Todd & I watched. Rides were just too expensive so with their leftover ride credits we went on one ride together as a family before heading home. We stopped for pizza on the way home. 

I took Hannah to her crochet class at the library that afternoon. She's making some pretty scarves that I think she should sell. I just need to figure out where. We were all exhausted .

I know I'm going backwards in pictures but I really wanted to post the TBQ stuff before these. 

Upcoming events include the kids & I seeing The Little Mermaid play, Hannah & I watching the Phoenix Moezart cast perform in Wild West Tales this Friday,  and volunteering with Feed My Starving Children. After these things we'll have a small lull so pictures will not be very often. BUT, when Hannah performs I'll be back in full swing:)

Hannah's "shot" at Archery

 Hannah at archery class.

 One of the days she did hit the center target.

 Here's a few pictures from her b-day.

 Us with our 13 year old!!!

Earlier in October, Hannah took an introductory class at the AFB for 4 days. She did pretty good & liked it. We're trying to figure out how to get a good but inexpensive bow & a place to practice. Joshua chose not to do it. 

The other pictures are from her 13th birthday before I took her to her friend's birthday party. Yep, she has a friend (2 years younger) who was born on Oct. 20th too. That's why we had her party yesterday-to plan around having the same guests.

God's Girlz TBQ 1st meet of the season

 The girls before the matches started.

 Waiting for announcements in the sanctuary before quizzing. Ready to go!

 Me & Joshua

 Lunchtime with a couple JBQ siblings.

 Being silly before the afternoon quizzing.

Me & Hannah

Yesterday God's Girlz (TBQ version) quizzed in their 1st meet of the season AND it was their first time in TEEN Bible Quiz. Hannah & a friend were no longer eligible for Junior Bible Quiz and one other friend is borderline in age so she can quiz in either JBQ or TBQ so she is actually doing both this season. Then we had one friend join who is completely new to Bible Quiz. Two of these girls have siblings in JBQ and Hannah has chosen to volunteer as an official for the JBQ version of God's Girlz so we still have ties to JBQ this season.

Anyway, the big news is that the team went undefeated yesterday!!! They won all 6 of their matches. I had to officiate in the A league so I didn't get to see them quiz this time but I heard all about it. Because this is their 1st year & they are 7th/8th grade they are in the B (or novice) league. They are memorizing half of the book of Matthew. They had to know chapters 1-5 for yesterday. Their next meet will cover 1-5 as well as chapters 6-8. 

Hannah is too humble to put this info out there but since I'm a proud mama, I'll let you know how well she did. She had 3 quiz outs. If you remember from JBQ info, quiz outs are when you answer a certain number of questions right & get bonus points. JBQ was 6 questions & 10 bonus points but TBQ is 5 questions right & 20 bonus points. After you get your quiz out you leave the table for the rest of the match. Hannah had 3!!! Her friend who is doing both JBQ & TBQ had 5!! Her coach told me that Hannah saved the day in their very last match. It all came down to the last question. IF the other team got it right then their opponent would win. IF any girl other than Hannah got it right from our team, we would have tied. BUT because Hannah buzzed in & got it right, she quizzed out (as it was her 5th question right), and those extra bonus points earned them the win!! This is all fantastic for the competition but what it really means is God's word is being hidden in her heart. I love that she enjoys it and the friends she has made are all wonderful girls. The other teams are fun to be around too. 

JBQ first match is Nov. 17 so Hannah will be going to officiate. I'll go with the first time or two as her back up if she doesn't do well then I can step in to help her out. 

The next TBQ meet is also the day of Hannah's performance in Wild West Tales so it will be an exhausting day. Well, it will actually be an exhausting week being production week. Hannah and the other TBQ girls (& a couple JBQ girls)will have practice for drama M-W,a show on Thursday,TBQ practice on Friday to prepare for the meet, TBQ meet on Saturday morning, & have a call time of 5pm that Saturday night for their 7pm show. Phew! Makes me tired just thinking about that week! Dec 2nd will be the ultimate day of rest:)

Wild Western Festival

 Hannah doing a sack race with friends.

 Wheelbarrow race with Daddy. This did not end well.

 Hannah with friends.

 Inside a house at the park from the 1800's.

We went to a Wild Western Festival yesterday thinking it would help Hannah's character development for her western play next month. We ran into friends there to make it fun. It was still hot so we didn't stay all day.

Hannah's 13th B-day Party Invitation

Hannah's 13 year pictures-Gorgeous!!!

 My Favorite (above)

 My 2nd favorite is below.

 

 My friend/ex-coworker took Hannah's 13 year pictures this past weekend. Here are the beautiful & stunning results. What more can I add? Love them!

"Magic" Show & Peter Piper Pizza trip

 The girls before the magic/illusion show

With a few friends at the Peter Piper Pizza field trip.

Not much going on. Last week the kids made pizzas at Peter Piper Pizza. They had a fun day there. 

On Saturday we went to a magic show at the base. We invited a couple friends. The illusionist was a Christian and presented the gospel message during the show. Very cool. If you ever get a chance to see him somewhere (Andre Kole), I suggest you do.

I took Hannah to the library today to learn to crochet/knit. She only learned some crochet today but she wants to go back. She's getting her 13 year pictures taken this weekend. We also have a busy week coming up starting on Sunday. The kids have to get their culinary baking done for the State Fair because drop off is Tuesday. Hannah has a 4 day archery class next week starting on Tuesday.  Add all that to JBQ (she's officiating), TBQ, more crochet/knitting, & theater. The first match she'll officiate for JBQ is coming up next week too. I don't have a free Saturday till Nov. 24th!