Cub Scouts

Corey and Tanner have been busy with Cub Scouts this Fall. Tanner is a Tiger Cub and is in a Scout Pack through Valley View. Last night they had a field trip to the Fire Station.

Checking out the inside of the Fire Truck.

Kannon had fun on the Field Trip too!

Tannon has earned his Bobcat and has done over half of his Tiger Cub Requirements. All of the boys in his pack are 1st graders at Valley View which makes it fun. They are walking in the Jonesboro Christmas parade next week and then they have a Christmas Dinner and Party the following week.

Corey received his Bear Badge in October and now is working on his Weeblos Rank. He goes to Cub Scouts three times a month at the church. He enjoys all of the activities that they do each time.

Thanksgiving Activities

Kannon had fun this past week learning about Thanksgiving at Preschool. For "I" day we read stories about Indians and made feather headbands.

For "I" day we also ate ice cream and had an ice cube melting contest.

The kids had to melt an ice cube as quickly as they could without taking it out of the bag. Some sat on it, put it under their arm, rubbed it between their hands, and Kannon tried blowing on his. Everyone had fun!

We also learned about the Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving.

We all had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving. We sure are thankful for all of our family and friends. We are thankful to be healthy and to live in this great country. We hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Basketball Season

Basketball season has started for Corey and Dustin. Corey is playing 5th Grade Intramurals at Valley View. He has really done great this season. His team is 6-0 with just two more games to go this week. He has scored several baskets, blocked a few shots, and got some rebounds. He is getting much more aggressive and even fouled someone the other night. We sure enjoy watching him play and are proud of how much he has improved.

Dustin's team has just played three games so far and they are 2-1. They lost a close game to Westside Tuesday night. It is alittle different to see Dustin in "Blue" but he is doing a great job. He is really a leader out on the court.

Calling out the line-up at the Westside game.

Dustin is number 30 this year.

Tanner starts his season at the YMCA this week. This will be his first time to play basketball so he is really excited. We sure enjoy going to ballgames as a family and watching the boys play ball. Kannon keeps asking, "When is my game, mom?" It won't be long until he is playing too.

The Elf Dance

Check out the Jones' boys getting in the Holiday Spirit!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9576197470

The Zoo

We had a Stake Conference session on Saturday night in Memphis so we decided to go down for the day to the Zoo. The weather was beautiful and the kids are always up for a trip to the zoo. The animals were all so active it was awesome. The big cats were really up and about. The three tigers were running and jumping on each other and just playing. The elephant came right over to the trainer who was standing and talking to us. The polar bear was swimming around in his pool and the giant python snake that Corey loves to see had just been given his lunch for the week or month - a 40 pound pig! Yuck! We didn't stick around to watch him eat it. It was a great day at the zoo!

Barry's favorite animal

My favorite animal

Ready to watch the Panda movie

Sharing a Tropical Snow :)

Kannon was constantly posing and saying "take my picture mom". Here is a cute one of him in the China exhibit.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

The Arkansas State University Museum (where I work part-time) had a "Day of the Dead" celebration on Friday night. This is a tradition that originated with the Aztec and Maya and is still practiced in many countries today. It is a day to remember those who you love that have died. There was music, food, crafts, and Trick or Treating in the Gallery. The boys had fun making clay skeletons, tissue paper flowers, decorating masks, eating Mexican treats, and of course more Trick or Treating.

The boys also played in the new Earthquake exhibit while we were at the museum.

Halloween Festivities

It seems like we have been celebrating Halloween for weeks. We started off the Holiday with our Annual Halloween Family Home Evening pumpkin carving - ghost cookie making night. It just wouldn't be Halloween without the famous "Ghost Cookies".

Barry is quite the pumpkin carver!

The Saturday before Halloween we had "Trunk or Treat" at church.

Tanner and a friend from church.

They had a pretty spooky "Haunted House" set up in the parking lot but Kannon didn't want anything to do with that. Tanner was brave enough to go through though.

On Tuesday at Preschool, the kids decorated Trick-or-Treat bags. Each child brought treats to share. I let the kids "Trick or Treat" each other. They thought that was so fun.

Finally, Halloween arrived. First, we went down to visit Grandmama and have supper.

Then it was Trick-or-Treat time.

We walked all around the big neighborhood across the street from our house. I think these Trick or Treaters are worn out.

But it is all worth it when you get home and go through all of the CANDY!!


Hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

GlowGolf

Dustin, Corey and Tanner got their report cards toward the end of October and they all did great! We went out for a celebration to "Glow Golf". It was a lot of fun. It is basically playing putt-putt golf in the dark but with lots of glow in the dark objects. The balls and clubs glowed too. Everyone had at least one hole-in-one and Kannon even won a free game for getting a hole-in-one on the last hole. Now, he says we have to go back and play again so he can get his "Free Game".

This picture I took with the flash and ...

this one without the flash. You can see how dark it was in there. FUN!

We sure are very proud of our boys and how well they do in school. All three of them do homework just about every night and read 20 to 30 minutes too. They don't ever complain about working hard which is great! Keep up the good work boys!