These Days

Here's the October and November installment of my project to take pictures of the kids every week. Week 40: October 2 - 8 Week 41: October 9 - 15 Week 42: October 16 - 22 Week 43: October 23 - 29 Week 44: October 30 - November 5 Week 45: November 6 - 12 Week 46: November 13 - 19 Week 47: November 20 - 26 Week 48: November 27 - December 3

Neil tested for Red Belt - Decided rank on October 18. He continues to enjoy karate and we are happy to support and see him advance in rank. Congrats, Neil! Video will be uploaded soon. Words from instructor before the test Getting ready to demonstrate his form All done!

Chalktoberfest is an annual event in Marietta featuring chalk art, and beer. I found out about the event on Facebook and thought it would be interesting to see so that's what we did after church service on October 15. We were there early and many of the artists were still working on the their pieces. There were many craft vendors and performances on the stage. I liked the festive family-friendly atmosphere, despite the beer. :) More than the art, Ela enjoyed interacting with the dogs at the event. She would excitedly point them out and go near them. If the owners and dogs let us, she would pet the dog, too. Lots of "big dog!" and "little dog!" exclamations from her. Historic Marietta Square Brunch at Sugarcakes Cafe. Chalk art Kids can try, too. The biggest dog we saw that day.

It's been very quiet here for the last 2 months but not in real life! I have a lot of catching up to do and will keep it simple to catch up on the backlog. Here are some pictures from Neil's vocabulary parade at his school this year.  His word is 'anonymous.' We kept it simple. I just sewed on question marks on his hoodie. (Past parades: 2014 2015 2016 ) Event date: October 13, 2017

September installment of my project to take photos of the kids every week. Week 36: September 4 - 10 Labor Day Holy Smoke Festival Week 37: September 11 - 17 Week 38: September 18 - 24 Six Flags Whitewater Week 39: September 25 - October 1

My parents visited us for ~3 months, from May to August. Before they arrived, I made a list of places we could visit. There's a few we didn't get to but I think we achieved a good balance of trips and time at home. We celebrated a few events when they were here, like  Neil's 3rd grade awards day , baptism ,  9th birthday , and my parents' wedding anniversary and Papang's birthday. Neil joined a  karate tournament  and passed his  red belt test . The big trip was to New York in June which coincided with two birthdays - mine and Em's. We also went on a road trip to Savannah ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) and Hilton Head ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), and day trips to Chattanooga ( 1 , 2 ), Southern Belle Farm for strawberry picking, BJ Reece for apple picking and to Helen, GA to see the total solar eclipse . Within Atlanta, we went to the Stone Mountain , Centennial Olympic Park  and the High Museum of Art . We also visited many of the nearby parks. I'm thankful that my paren...

Personal project to take pictures of the kids every week. Week 31 : July 31 - August 6 Pictures taken at the High Museum. Week 32 : August 7 - 13 Neil first day of fourth grade. Week 33 : August 14 - 20 At the Dunwoody Butterfly Festival. Week 34 : August 21 - 27 Apple picking at BJ Reece Orchards. Week 35 : August 28 - September 3 At Callaway Gardens