Fall/Halloween record keeping post and there are lots of pictures. Sorry.

School starts and we are just completely slammed.  These years are busy beyond belief.  I kind of think I'm amazing that I pull off 6 kids and their activities in the fall. :)

School:  Faith got a tough teacher.  It's been a good experience for her to learn how to manage the high expectation and stress that comes with that.  She is a helper in the classroom and is being stretched.  Seth has a teacher personally picked for him by his last teacher and the school counselor and I think she is perfect for him. He has a lot of friend in his class and he's enjoyed that.  Jane is in the advanced classes and it's been a  challenge.  She hasn't quite been able to keep up her 4.0 (that Mr Owen's is a tough but awesome math teacher!)but she tries hard and we appreciate her effort.  Gabe seems to have an easier schedule this year than last year or he's learned to manage his class load and his running better.  Emma doesn't seem too stressed (but that's kind of her way).  She takes hard classes and I can tell is learning and thinking.  I've learned to not feel anxiety or anger when my kids have different academic goals than I do.
 
Activities:
Faith and Seth did the inaugural cross country program at the elementary school and just loved it. I'd heard Faith was fast, but kind of hadn't paid attention.  We went to the first meet (against 6 other schools) and she won by 15 seconds!  It was kind of amazing and fun.  Seth did really really well, too, coming in 15th I think, I qualifying by time for the district race. For their second race, Faith was a little too relaxed and got beat and was SUPER bugged.  Seth continued to PR and loved it.  At the district race, Faith was determined not to be beat again.  She raced well, and edged out the girl who had beat her before, with about 200 meters to go.  The girl got mad and HIT HER.  Faith wasn't phased...just kept running while the other girl quit.  She got first and was really excited. Her time was 3:38 for the half mile race.  Seth PRd by a ton (6:38 min mile) and took 16th in the district.

Faith and Seth also did soccer.  Ryan was Faith's coach and she is still really good but REALLY is not good at taking direction and is learning how to be a good teammate.  Seth was surprisingly comfortable after 3 years off of soccer and we were glad he was out there enjoying himself.


Jane did soccer and cross country.  She loves her team and her coach and while they didn't have a fabulous season, she made some really great friends and I think continued to learn how to give it her all in every game.  Cross country was interesting.  She was consistently 3rd or 4th at every meet, so she is a good runner.  But she would cry through the last half of most of the races.  It was so interesting.  We talked about what the problem was (anxiety) and made some goals.  She worked on being happy with her finishes and showing good sportsmanship when she didn't place where she wanted.

Gabe of course was the cross country king.  He is the fastest kid on his team and took on a leadership role, but I think had a hard time figuring out how to push himself, with no runners ahead of him at training.  He finished in the top 2-8 almost every meet and while he didn't get his goal of 15:30 5 k (the kid aims REALLY high) and wasn't super happy with his state placement, his team really came together at the end of the season and all of the went to state.  Gabe finished 24th in the state and broke the 16 minute mark, with a 15:52 finish. As a sophomore.


Emma worked a lot.  We were proud of her efforts.  She advertised and got 2-3 regular house cleaning jobs,  usually babysits 6-10 hours a week and took on her first piano student! She is so so helpful and pleasant that we are happy when she is home and up for cheering on her siblings.

Jane competed in the math is cool competition as a 7th grader and the team took 2nd place!


Seth and Faith also participated in the Reflections contest.  Faith won a 1st place ribbon and went on to districts and Seth took 2nd place. Faith won a 2nd place at districts.


Seth, Emma and Jane all take piano and Emma is preparing a piece for competition this spring.

OUTINGS and HOLIDAYS:
Right before school started, Ryan and I went to Mccall Idaho for our 18th anniversary.  We found a little cabin on airbnb and it was perfect.  We mountain biked all afternoon, hiked a little, had some yummy food, played golf and met up with our SIL Zaundra who happened to be close by visiting her family.  They are expert river rafters and we were lucky enough to float the Cabarton with them.  Such a fabulous way to spend the day.

We loved taking the kids hiking: cheap, exhausting, outside, nature, less fighting.  We found a list of must-do hikes in Spokane and have been trying to do them all.  Trowell Falls was on Labor Day and it was so great.

Halloween happened.  Corn mazes, carving pumpkins, costumes. I was a paper doll, Ryan was a stick figure, Emma was a pop art cartoon, Gabe was a scarecrow (2 minute thrown together costume), Jane was a nerd with her cousin Elise, Seth has $100 bill, Faith was a 80s valley girl, Levi was a puppy dog.

Also, it was the most beautiful mild fall of all time.  It was gorgeous and warm until late October.  I hate fall (because it leads into winter) but it was really perfect this year.

Thanksgiving was just our family this year.  We combined with a friend who is a wonderful cook and another friend who is a wonderful party thrower and it was perfect.  We cooked and she hosted and we had a great easy yummy day.  We did our usual appetizers at lunch and had literally 25 dishes and desserts for dinner.  Games and laughing afterward made it a perfect day.