All I want for Christmas is.....

Kai has had a busy past couple of months getting rid of all his front teeth. He only has one more to go before all 4 of the major front ones are gone. He had to have the one on top pulled but then he lost the bottom two within a week of each other. I haven't ever had a child loose teeth in Kindergarten! He did get them the earliest though.  He has been so funny this month. He loves December since he knows his birthday is just around the corner. Every morning I wake up to find he's gotten up and turned on all the Christmas lights on the tree and the railing coming down the stairs. When I asked him why he just said "I love Christmas lights!!" Too cute. We trimmed our tree for family night yesterday and the kids had a good time finding "their" ornaments. I'm glad to have all the decorating done and I'm raring to go with the baking. 

Kirstin has been busily making hair

 bows for kids at school. Here she is with one in her hair now.  She is selling them for .50 a bow. Order yours now to beat the holiday rush! :)

Emil Michael is getting ready for his Piano recital in December. Actually he and I both are. He is doing so great with his piano. I'm hoping to figure out a way to record

 it on the computer and make a CD. If any of you have experience in this I'd love some pointers. 

Noah is busy trying to figure out how to get more time on the Wii. His current passion. He is a funny guy and we sure love him. Speaking of which I should probably go get him in bed. Remember to enjoy the season!  

My Thanksgiving Thankful List

Virginia Symphony

Last night we went to the Virginia Symphony with Emil M. and Kirstin to listen to The Planets by Holst. They also played The Hebrides by Mendelssohn. It was amazing! If you have never been to a live performance take my word for it- there is nothing like it. I think it is something everyone should do at least once a year. A play, a Symphony even a high school production just something live. There is a real difference.

Emil got tickets for his birthday and we went out to a Tai restaurant with the kids before hand. (It was so cold! Like 29 degrees!!!! Burr!) We had to walk a little because parking was crazy. Once we were inside it was fine though. I asked Emil what string instrument he would play if he could play any and he said the Bass Fiddle. I said Cello. It is just such a beautiful looking and sounding instrument. 

So that's going  to be one of my goals in life. Learn to play the Cello. Plus it sounds so refined.  Just for the record. Emil said he wanted to play the Bass Fiddle, which to me just looks like a cello on steroids, so he could beat up my Cello with it. How typical. I had to put up with the abuse because the tickets were his birthday present but you know.... ;)

So this is the big turkey week. We are going to Emil's parents and that should be fun. The boys have a turkey bowl thanksgiving morning. I'm sure they'll be sore from that. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Currituck Sunrise

I walked out the front porch the other morning to get the boys off to school and there was the most amazing sunrise. I had to take a picture of it. Landscape shots never come close to expressing the awe I find in nature but I thought this one was pretty good. Too bad all the houses are in the way. Oh well. Just think if you lived in Currituck, you too could step out your door and behold such beauty.  What a amazing world!

Emil and I got to go to the temple this weekend. The weather was a mess. It was raining and cool but we enjoyed the solitude and the temple is great no matter the weather. I took this pic with my cell phone. (I forgot my digital)
So for Family Night on Monday we decided to make a short movie. I think it is all of 3 and 1/2 minutes. It is so funny but I'm not sure if it's so funny because we made it or because it really is funny. I have to figure out how to get it onto the computer from the camcorder and then hopefully I'll be able to post it.  In the mean time I guess you'll just have to be content with some dance humor from Kirstin. Enjoy!

Halloween

We have had a good time this fall. Kai and I went on our first Kindergarden field trip to the Zoo. It was a little chilly and overcast but overall a pretty good day. Kai really liked all the animals but I was really impressed with the Lioness. They were so chill.

Halloween was fun with Kai and Noah going out this year. Kirs

tin and Emil Michael stayed home and passed out candy and raided our stash. Kai was a M&M. We have had that costume since my Nephew, Ben, gave it to us like 10 years ago. Everyone except Emil Michael has been an M&M one year or another. Noah was Link. I guess all the boys who play Zelda will know who he is. None of the adults did. They all guessed Robin Hood. He was very understanding that the adults didn't recognize him and after about the 5th house he just told everyone he was a fighting elf.  I guess that's a pretty good description of Link. Finally at the last house we went to there was a guy about 22 who guess Noah was Link on the first try so it was worth all the effort. He enjoys dressing up in his costume even when he isn't trick or treating so I guess it was worth making it. I think it sure turned out cute. Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Beach Slide Show

School, Beach, Hurricanes and Hiking

New and exciting times for the Moster Clan. School started for us 3 weeks ago. Kai is doing really well and I am soooo thankful for that. I was a bit apprehensive about that but it seems to be working so far. Kirstin and Emil M. are at the same schools and nothing much new for them by way of schedule just different classes and teachers. Noah is doing fine and so we're all good. I thought I'd have all this free time but have quickly filled it with all good things. It's amazing how quickly the day passes. I'm hoping to settle down into a routine soon and develop some type of schedule since I really like being organized in that way. 

Last weekend we got the chance to go to the beach for the day and it was great. The waves were small but fun for Kirstin to work her moves on. Kirstin, Noah and Kai discovered sand fleas and had a good two hours worth of fun catching them and observing them. Emil M. decided that he had had enough beach for the summer and opted to hang out in the truck the whole trip. Lest you feel sorry for him. He was perfectly content to write and sleep. The kids also tried their hand at fishing but they couldn't get anything to bite. It was the perfect end to the summer.

Tropical storm Hannah blew through NC without much of a fuss. It was a really mild storm with relatively little rain in our area. Lots of wind but not too strong. I think 60 mph was what the expected high gust were. We just had lots of leaves and little branches all over the yard with the power flickering off only twice.

This past weekend we went hiking on the Appalachian Trail. (spelling that was almost as hard as the hike was!) It was a 

grueling hike. Emil has really gotten into hiking as of late and wanted to wet our taste buds on his newfound passion. We left

home around 4pm on Thursday and camped at Sherando Lake.

Friday morning we got up and found this awesome little red spotted gecko. He was so cool. Then we went for the hike. I just got pictures with my camera of the before shots. 

Kirstin's camera was the one we took on the hike and I couldn't find it to download those pictures. It was so beautiful on Friday. The entire day we were hiking in the clouds. It was misty all around and the temp was a perfect 65 degrees. So even though we were working like dogs getting up and down the mountain we were cool doing it. We covered 7.6 miles that day I think. Much of it over very rocky terrain. That night we slept at the Harpers Creek Shelter. It was truly beautiful. So isolated and awe inspiring. The trees were so tall and lush they blocked out much of the sky. You just don't experience that in our busy lives these days. 

  

Saturday was a rough day. The sun was shinning and it was warmer. Probably high 70's. We had to hike another 5.6 miles out and we were all tired and sore from the day before. We had hopes that this would be an easier day since the map said we would be going down hill most of the way but it just meant that we would go down to go up again and again and again. We were so beat by the time we finished at 2pm. Kai's pack had been redistributed on Saturday morning and Emil took Noah's pack the last mile and a half. We were all sweating the entire time and soaked thru and thru. We spent a hour at the lake playing before we showered and started for home. I don' t know that I'll ever willingly agree to do another hike like that but at least now I can said I've done it. If any of you want a tour guide, I'm sure Emil would be glad to take you on a scenic hike.... just remember to bring your Ben-Gay!