Spooky week...

Fall & Summer...

Right now we have 28° C, waiting for the week of Halloween to start... recovering from Jamie's breathing problems again (had to go to the ER Thursday...) waiting for Dad to get back from work..waiting for the chicken to be done in the oven and waiting for the beers to be enjoyed when they are chilled enough...

Party leftovers...

Play in the rain...

Natalies soccer game was cancelled so this is what we are doing right now!

Tuesday fun...

Today Natalie had her second game. She tried to be a goalie for a while. I'm not so sure she's so into soccer yet... But since she wanted to try and the season is so short I told her to give it a few times and then see if she wants to give it a try again in the future... I think the team needed a few more practices so they small ones actually understand what the game is about. Now they only play games twice a week and no training... The thing is they need to practice passing the ball to each other and things like that not just run all over the field and one player has the ball all the time... Well we see how it goes later. Other then that not so much new.

I visited with the head of school last week for a possible opportunity to teach some biology there so today I got to visit three classes. I can say the biology lab. Equipment they have is something to be jealous at... ( for my former colleagues. .you know the kits in cell biology etc that we had to save money for that kind of class sets are everywhere)... Anyway, I think it'll be great to only teach biology but to start with I'm happy if I get a foot in and at least substitute or something part time...

Fall festival....

Yesterday we visited Neosho Fall Festival. Neosho is only a 15 min drive from us and it's a typical small town in USA. It is very common that the old downtown areas are a little "ghosty" in many towns mainly because the big changes that came with the idea to build shopping centers and bigger stores outside the central areas...I've said it before, it is such a waste of beautiful buildings and charming squares to not use them to full potential...BUT in Neosho the chamber of commerce is really making an effort and working on getting the square more attractive again. Yesterday the square was surely a vivid and entertaining place to be. There were all kinds of crafts, vendors, foods,  live music and performances. The kids had plenty of things to do!  We also had the first frozen morning so when the sun started to warm it up again we had clear blue sky and crisp air!

Jared had to work but me and the girls met Natalies classmate Harper and her parents Christi and David Sims. They both grew up in the area, Christi studied psychology and David just started his own law firm. So Christi is one of the Moms that helps me feel welcome here! The girls had a lot of fun and played until Jamie was so tired so it was time to leave... It is very interesting and it also feels important for me to try to find new friends in the area. Already now I can say it helps alot to meet many parents from Natalies school, so once again I am truly happy that we found that school and was able to get a place for Natalie!

Here are a few pictures from today...

Birthday plans...

Natalie has birthday in October and this time we will have a real birthday party for her. The other 4 times we've only celebrated with the family, no other friends. So now she will invite friends from school and we are going to have a Pirate party! ( Or Pirate Princess party...)
It's not going to be so advanced, but we are going to have a treasure hunt and do some craft projects for the kids so it'll take some planning...  I think she will like it alot!

I wish Natalie's family back home and all swedish friends could join us as well, but unfortunately it's a little too long trip for that....

Simple Halloween...

Today Jamie brought this nice piece home. I will steal this idea and make one with Natalie ...

You'll need:

* Two different kinds of thicker paper
* Bale rope
* Glue
* Other decorative items to put on...

We will get rain...

Even though it has been more green this year, the amount of precipitation is below average so rain in Missouri is a good thing! We have a few cows at Jared's Mom's place and now 9 pretty new babies. They will go outside all year so more good grass will shorten the period we'll have to feed them hay. The cows are a mix of breeds and of various ages. It's not a herd we are trying to keep in the long run but at least we got a few really nice calves so far!  To be calving is an interesting phenomenon among cattlemen... Usually the cows manage to calf all by themselves and especially now when the weather is alot warmer compared with in the winter months...We did loose one baby, but that one was very premature and the cow lost it about 10 weeks early.

Well back to the weather... I'm really enjoying this time of the year, and a few days with gray clouds and rain are in fact very welcomed!  I'm ready to light some candles and cozy up. I also hope we get to go on a full day hike soon while the temperature has cooled off.  The leaves are slowly changing colors but I don't think we get to see as much colors of the fall here compared with last year up more north...

First game...

Today Natalie had her first soccer game! She was a little nervous and also tired after a long day in school. To have games late afternoons/early evenings on a weekday doesn't seem optimal for our little girl. She  doesn't have so much energy left in the afternoons...Anyway it was nice seeing all the kids play today..or play I shouldn't say..more run after who ever has the ball... Natalie hasn't really understood the basics in soccer yet but I think she has a good time anyway... I've heard a lot of stories from back when I started play soccer.... I wasn't so focused on the game...for a long time it was more interesting with practising cart wheels on the grass... Natalie is very busy with talking to her team mates and go drink water and stuff like that... Well, eventually she will be more into the sport, or I guess time will tell. She might decide that soccer isn't for her..If so that's fine..There are a whole bunch of other activities to try out! One thing that I really like about sports in general here in the US is the idea that young people can play and participate in different sports without have to choose between them. The seasons and rules are set up so you have shorter and intense periods of each sports, and they don't really overlap either...So the result of that is that you can focus completely on one at the time...I guess the drawback is that you don't train the sport for a long time period so that might affect your progress a little...but other than that I think it's  a good way to approach all sports for the younger kids and teenagers.