Pleasantly Surprised

Tonight Ashley played in the school orchestra concert.


The 6th graders played 2 songs with the 7th & 8th graders then the 7th & 8th graders played 2 songs. Much to our surprise, Mrs Dudley announced that Ashley would be playing the last of the 2 songs with the 7th & 8th graders. Ashley knew but kept it a secret. She was awesome. Mrs Dudley is one of the best reasons for Ashley being at Abbott.



Ashley has played the cello since she was in 1st grade. She has never switched instruments. When Ashley was in 3rd grade, Mrs Dudley had her play in the class with 5th graders because she was bored and frustrated with the kids who did not practice and take it seriously.



In the Abbott band, there is one boy who plays the baritone. He is an eighth grader now. That explains Ms Crotty's push for Alex to play with her next year, he will be her baritone.

Drew & I are very proud of our talented kids.

The Great Pumpkins

Our great pumpkin carvers. We got these great pumpkins and others for $.09 per pound!

Our smart pumpkins determined years ago which pumpkins will have more seeds when picking them out by their "physical characteristics".

Ashley likes eating the seeds and doesn't mind gutting pumpkins. Alex likes experiementing for with flavors, his favorite is garlic salt but just about throws up gutting pumpkins.

Alex goofed up his design so the carvings are not yet ready to be unveiled. This is why you have to draw out your design and submit your plan to mom before cutting. Its my fault, I approved his design but didn't supervise the actual carving. Fortunately they were only 9 cents a pound so he gets a do-over.

Saturday we tricked the kids. They thought we were going shopping - they are not great window shoppers. We had lunch at Sams Club then got back in the vehicle and went to Six Flags for Fright Fest. We only went on one ride, the American Eagle. It is much scarier in the dark when it is cold and you close your eyes! We also saw some frightastic shows and haunted attractions. Dead Man's Party was a great zombie show. The Human Freak Show was truly freaky. No, that guy is crazy! We visited Necrioikus: Haunted City of the Dead. The best part for us parental units - was taking the kids into the Mausoleum of Terror: The Horror Heart of Necropolis. It was a haunted house of decaying citizens of the Capital of Fright. The kids were scared good - parents were pleased. :) Can't wait to go back Friday night!

Halloween is coming...

Ashley's Birthday Weekend - Colorful and Full of Events

We started out Saturday morning with a beautiful drive through Wisconsin. This was the peak weekend for the fall colors. Once it gets a cold snap, the colorful display will be over.

We had been at Bill & Shelia's place for only a couple hours before things got really colorful and eventful. The four youngest kids went for a ride on the golf cart. They went down a hill they should not have been and ended up that the golf cart flipped, injuring all of them! The first picture below is Alex on the vessel after being treated. Then Ashley geing treated and the next picture is after all had been treated and medicated (the tears turned to smiles).

Amanda was hurt the worst. She went to the emergency room which is like 10 miles away. They got her an iv of morphine to calm her then got cleaned her up and bandaged up. She ended up scraped up, has a hole in her knees and in her feet where it was unstitchable - just holes that will have to heal slowly. She has both legs wrapped up, her right arm wrapped up and can't walk on her own yet. The bandages went on Saturday afternoon, this morning was the big test to give her a dose of liquid vicodine and take the bandages off. Not knowing how that was going to go made the anticipation horrible for everyone. It ended up going ok. She will not be going to school for a while - can't wear shoes yet.

Roger has scratches and scrapes - looks like a little boy from the suburbs who fell out of a tree.

Ashley got scrapes on her forehead, right arm, knees and on her hands.

Alex got a scrape on his right cheek and knees and pretty good wounds on his shoulder and right arm.

Allison (who will be 16 in June - how did that happen???) was not with the younger kids. She is the only one out of the four Hunt children who has never had stitches or anything broken.

Samantha was in Washington DC.

Relatively, this kids all made it out not nearly as bad as it could have been. With all of the scratches and cuts, so far, there are no bruises.

It was completely scary. Thank God none of the kids remember anything about the crash. I did not see it happen but I was the first to see the kids have had nightmares for the last two nights.'ll see how tonight goes.

Fortunately the kids were willing to cure their fear of the golf cart by getting back on. This time, the driver had her learners permit, they went slower and the ground was softer than the road. The boys made themselves a little bit more of warriors, adding blue tape to their gauze. The dogs ran with the kids. With all the running they did, they will be glad to see us go back to school and work tomorrow.

Saturday night we celebrated Ashley's birthday. I had stopped to get Ash a cake and Shelia did too so there was enough cake for the entire weekend.

On Sunday we went on as planned & went to a great corn maze. Amanda had a ride with blankets and pillows in a jogging stroller. It was a beautiful day, everyone had a good time. We stopped for raspberry picking on the way back. Yum!

Our kids and dogs all got to have freedom they are not normally given in the suburbs. The kids enjoyed theirs and the dogs did too. Daisy and Maddie had a blast romping through the woods. We went for a couple walks on the trails all in where the guys hunt and out to the corn field. It was beautiful. Today I decided to take a different trail back. I let the dogs lead the way. They were both ahead of me. Maddie led the pack running like a bolt of lightning. She would circle around and make sure Daisy was keeping up with her. Daisy would stop now and then to make sure I was still in sight. Then all of the sudden, Maddie would come out from behind me. I'm not sure how big of a circle she made to get there but it is still neat how the dogs stay together, just like Ashley & Alex looking out for each other.

The two pictures right below show a recent scrape on the ground and rub on a tree from a deer.

The dogs and I went down one trail that sortave came to a dead end but then started up again a little way from there. I trusted the dogs and they led me right to the ravine across from the house. They were thirsty from their running and knew just where they were taking me. There was water in the creek for a drink, enough for Daisy to lay in and get all wet just in time for the ride home but little enough that I walked on the rocks to cross it.

Even though it was a little scary, it was a fun weekend. The dogs but full of burrs, combed out and filled up again with burrs. The colors were so beautiful. The fresh air was great. The sounds in the woods alone were awesome.

I am glad to be home and am ready to hit my own bed.

Happy 12th Birthday

Ashley!

You'll always be our little princess, your tiara is just a little bigger now.

We're going up north to Bill & Shelia's in a few hours, if I ever go to sleep. We are all (including Daisy & Maddie) looking forward to a weekend enjoying the outdoors.

We would have gone up today but Ashley had a volleyball game & I worked with my mom.

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go!