National Christmas Tree

Thankfully I got there about 10 minutes before lights went out. The first year has still been the best year yet. Half of the area was gated off. For what reason I couldn't figure out. So, I couldn't even enjoy the other trees or the yule log. Oh well...next year.

Way to go Westmont

All the apartment complexs along Columbia Pike have their Christmas lights up. I saw Santa's and snowmen...but only one had a nativity. I knew I was living at the right place.

Goodbye!!

It was great having the Wolfs in town. As we were leaving the apartment the night they left, I showed Nathan the candles in my apartment windows and when he finally saw them he said, "they are lighting up the moon". I had to smile. So, here's a picture to prove it.

National History Museum

First ride on the metro. Nathan did a good job. There's the rocket ship.

Enjoying the kids interactive area at the museum.

You make a course and let a ball drop down it.

This was a winner too.

I don't know who has the bigger smile....Nathan or Kermit.

Turkey Time

First turkey...perfect. It was nice to have the Wolfs here to enjoy Thanksgiving together.

Planes

The planes were cool for awhile.

Occoquan

Nathan had a good time playing with my truck with the little cars inside, but he did say the first night they arrived..."Aunt Elizabeth, where are all the toys?". So I had to take him over to school the next morning to get more. Thank goodness we did. We spent some time in the afternoon going to Occoquan to enjoy the town.

I found this really small cute picture and then found the price tag that said 25% off. I thought that was a bargain until I saw the real price.

An afternoon of enjoyment

I decided to walk for a few hours around Washington and got some nice pictures. Of course, I couldn't help but go to my favorite monument in Washington. You wouldn't know it but there were hundreds of people crawling all over that place. I just got the right shot at the right moment when everyone was out of the frame.

The cherry blossom trees in the fall. I can't wait to see them bloom in spring.

You decide which Washington Monument shot you like the best.

Oh, to be a duck in the Tidal Basin. Must be nice.

Trunk or Treat

Trunk or Treat this year was pretty good. We decided to have our Fall Carnival the same night, which brought about a good turnout of people. Here is the truck that Kim and I did. She came up with the idea, and I put it all together. Sadly, we didn't win the best truck prize. Sigh...it's supposed to be a coffin. I tried.

We had tons of kids come through in their costumes.

Preparing For and Red Ribbon Week

The cutting of all the feet needed for the week began. You'll see why later.

Getting ready for our Monday day activity. Our theme for the day was make footprints worth following drug free. So, I had the entire school walk around the property five times and wear a foot necklace. Each time they came around to the beginning they got another toe punched. It was a hit.

I also had each student in the school color a foot so that I could make a school mural representing Red Ribbon Week...which I do every year. Last year it was a tree with everyone doing a leaf. This year it's feet. Oh...the reason for all this feet stuff is because our school theme this year is Following in the footsteps of the Lord. I must say, it looked pretty cool.

Spelling Artwork

I had my students do some spelling artwork to practice spelling their weekly words. This assignment was actually a hit. Here are some of them.