Joseph LeSueur

Welcome Baby Joey! 

My brother Justin and his wife Ana Paula welcomed their new baby boy, Joseph Oliveira LeSueur on November 15.  Ana Paula went to Brazil to have the baby and see her family for an extended time, but we're excited to see him sometime next year!

 Joey & Joshua

Veteran's Day 2012

On Monday I went to watch the kids sing songs to all the veterans in a great program they do every year.  I love that the kids learn all these patriotic songs and get to refresh them every year too.  Connor has gone to watch this program since he was a baby, and was so excited to finally get to be a part of it.

 

 The cub scouts do a full flag ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem and then all of the veterans are introduced.  They tell the area of the armed forces they served in, when they served, and who they are related to that attends the school.  Then the kids sing a few songs with them and to them, including My Country Tis of Thee and God Bless America.

 They also sing a medley of all the different songs of the various branches of the military.  The veterans stand when their branch is being sung and sing along with the kids.  This grandpa on the front row really got into it and the kids loved it.

 Savannah and Zach's grades were the third performance of the day (they separate it into three groups).  Savannah has been singing these songs for a couple of weeks now around the house.

 Zach really enjoys hearing when all of the people served and which wars they may have been a part of.

 

"When we're helping we're happy..."

On Friday night Jacob and Dallin attended the Stake 11-Year-Old Campout...which I have no pictures of.  I always send a camera, but they're too busy having fun to take pictures.  They were gone almost all day Saturday as well.  Here at home we had a movie night on Friday (The Lorax) and worked on a project all day Saturday.  I put together a new dresser for Connor and Landon's room, and Savannah was my main helper.  Zach wasn't too interested and Connor really wanted to help, but I had to keep his "help" at minimum for my own sanity.  She helped me with every step of the building and did a GREAT job! 

I asked her to open all the bags with the screws and hardware.  I turned around to see this...that's my girl!

After lunch I helped Zach finish up a few things for his Bear in cub scouts.  By helping me build a drawer he now has enough electives for three arrow points too.

We moved the drawer building to Savannah's room while Landon was sleeping.  I let Connor be the photographer and that kept him happy for a few minutes.

But all he wanted to do was hammer.  I found the perfect job for him, hammering in all the wooden pegs.  Too bad it only lasted 10 minutes.

Connor and Landon both LOVE the new dresser.  I love that I can actually fit all their clothes in one place and have more storage in the closet for other things.


What fun is a building project without playing in the boxes afterward?  I let Zach use this one for the afternoon.  Savannah and Connor used markers to completely decorate the other box, but then Connor got upset about something Savannah did and tore the box to shreds before I could get a pictures of it.

Star of the Week

Connor is the "Star of the Week" in his kindergarten class this week!  He was so excited to come home on Friday with this poster to fill out.

He wants to be a chemist when he grows up.  His "likes" include snakes, snake books, baby chicks, dinosaurs, legos, and his favorite website "Pebble Go."  His dislikes include enchiladas, fire ants, flu shots, carrots, and bananas.  His 3 Wishes are to see his grandmas and grandpas, have his very own lego set, and visit China.

 You know your kids are well-versed in Dr. Seuss when they bring you this and say "Look Mommy!  I made a whisper-ma-phone!"  (The Lorax)

Savannah's 2nd Grade Field Trip

Savannah's 2nd Grade Field Trip was on Friday.  My awesome visiting teacher watched Landon for the day so that I could go with her.  Other than a couple of the buses not showing up and the kids getting there an hour late it was great!  Savannah didn't mind though.  She said they got to play tag on the front lawn of the school.

We went to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm.  During the fall they have all kinds of pumpkin-themed stuff for the kids to do.  

 They learned about how a pumpkin grows from just a seed.

 We went on a wagon ride through the farm.

 Savannah and one of her best friends in her class, Audrey.

 After lunch Savannah decided to be "queen of the haystack."

 She's not very adventurous, but after some coaxing I convinced her to jump off.  And she loved it.

 We saw a bunch of animals, including Larry the Llama.

 The kids got to pick out little pumpkins to decorate.  Savannah chose the tiniest one she could find, and it actually looked more like a tangerine than a pumpkin.

I had to leave a few minutes early, but Savannah said one of her favorite parts was at the end when they ran through the "Crazy Maze."

Halloween 2012

We did our annual pumpkin painting on Monday night.  I forgot to take the camera to the pumpkin patch after school.  Landon calls pumpkins "apples," and it was so cute watching him run all around shouting "Apples!  Apples!  Apples!"  Connor and Savannah both chose small pumpkins this year.  Landon was very adamant about which pumpkin he wanted, and he carried it around for two days solid.  He tried to sleep with it too, but Dallin convinced him to leave it his dresser.  This is the only picture I got of Connor because he had a big meltdown when the paint from one snake dripped onto the other snake he was painting.  I could tell he was tired so I just put him to bed.

 Jacob painted Ninjago guys all over his pumpkin.

 I knew Landon would be really upset if he wasn't allowed to carry his pumpkin all around anymore, but I didn't want a painted pumpkin all over the couch and carpet.  I gave him a bowl of water and he was perfectly happy to paint with water.  It was a lot less mess anyway!

 Lucky too for Dallin that it was only water...

 Zach specifically chose a "warty" pumpkin because he wanted to make a witch.

 

 Landon and his "apple" right before bed

 Halloween night we went trick-or-treating on our loop in our neighborhood.  Landon was so cute.  He ran straight up to each door and immediately grabbed the bowl the person was holding, pulled it down, and chose out a piece of candy.  Then "tank you!" and he'd run back to me and drop it in his bag and take off running for the next house.  He did great until we were about 3/4 done and then asked me to hold him in between each house.  I was impressed with his stamina because many of the houses in our neighborhood have sloped driveways and stairs up to their porches.

 Just as we left to begin the kids saw their friends down the street and we ran up to join them.  We spent the rest of the evening with them and had one of Jacob's friends join us about halfway around too.

Happy Halloween!

Connor's First Field Trip

Connor's class had their first field trip a few weeks ago.  They walked to the fire station near our house.  Connor has already been there a few times, but this time was exciting because it was for "real schoool!"  I was supposed to go along to help, but Landon was sick so I had to stay home.  A friend took a few pictures for me though.  This is Connor and his buddy from down the street, who is also in his class.

 We've never gotten to spray the hose before!

 Connor with most of his class.

The Life of Landon

So often I look at Landon and wonder what he would have been like had he been born as the first child instead of the last.  I think having older brother and sisters has defined him so that I can't really picture what he would be like, except maybe really bored.  When they get home from school you'd think it's Christmas, every single day.  I know they love how excited he gets when he sees them.  Landon's new favorite activity is playing "big kid" legos with all of his siblings.  (Jacob is still the favorite though if he has a choice.)  Jacob pulls out the lego drawer and the kids all go to town.  Sometimes there is fighting, but it's not a perfect world.  Landon mostly just likes collecting his favorite pieces out of the bin since he doesn't really know how to build with them yet.  

 

 Landon has gone to visit the kids and help at the school since he was a month old.  Most of the staff and teachers know him, so it will be fun when he actually starts kindergarten.  A couple of days ago we made a special visit to see Connor.  We went to recess with him and then ate lunch with him.  Connor had the biggest smile on his face the whole time, so I need to make more of an effort while he still wants me there.  Landon just thought he was one of the big kids.

 

 When we were sitting by the kindergartners Landon would take a bite, then stuff his fingers in his ears.  This coming from the child who screams for the fun of hearing how loud he can get...it was THAT loud.

Luckily this year all of the kids' lunches overlap.  Just before Connor's lunchtime finished we went over and sat with Savannah for a while.  She still likes to have us there too.  When Zach came in we sat by him for about 2 minutes, and after having gotten about 2 words out of him in those 2 minutes we decided to go home so Landon could take a nap.