*insert interesting post title here*

Lots of things that have been happening lately: (note: after this post, don't expect another for at least a week; it's going to be reeeallly crazy...)

We actually watched the last game of the World Series! First time for everyone except Papa. :) We don't have TV, so we got it streamed from the Internet...

It was actually really fun! We celebrated the Cardinals' victory with cookies. ;)

Knut took the camera to Lyceum last week and got some crazy pictures between classes and during Drama. Normally he wouldn't be allowed to take pictures during Drama, but they were rehearsing "the chase scene" of his play for the entire hour-and-a-half class period, and Knut (horrors!) is not involved in "the chase scene"! It might be a good idea to not post those pictures except with specific consent from the people in them. ;)

This is Vern. He is a glorp.

STAY AWAY FROM VERN.

That is all you need to know.

There is an annual free Halloween parade/costume contest in our town that we always enter. Ever since we first entered, four years ago, there has always been a Peterson in a prizewinning entry. This year we carried on that tradition...

Thor and the Claytons dressed up as pirates and put together a pirate ship out of big pieces of cardboard, two red wagons, and some black cloth for a sail. Their entry was amazing... and consequently they won FIRST PLACE in the "groups of 2 or more" division!!

Other entries...

Gloria dressed up as a butterfly

Knut and I dressed up as Ninjas. Both of these pictures are of Knut since I was the one behind the camera. ;)

Papa dressed as a cowboy and entered only after tremendous urging. :) Cecily and Rosemary entered as English Princesses, but sadly I don't have a picture of their lovely costumes. :(

That evening we were planning to go to a concert, but we were mistaken about the time. After some friends called us to let us know that THEY were running late we found out our mistake... and so for about five minutes were rushing around FRANTICALLY (and I mean REALLY FRANTICALLY) trying to clean up, get everyone out of costumes and into regular clothes, and get in the car and buckled up. Unfortunately we forgot about makeup... and so Thor went to the concert wearing eyeshadow (at least his scars and beard got washed off!) and Gloria went to the concert with lipstick, blusher, eyeshadow, light eyeliner, and face powder. :)

Speaking of makeup, I found out before the parade that it IS possible to apply mascara with your mouth closed. I don't wear any makeup, so I had always heard (and believed) that it was not possible... but when I put it on as part of my costume, I stubbornly kept my mouth shut. :) Random fact for you.

Stuff that is going on this month and next:

Peterson Family Singers is actually starting up again!! We have a concert scheduled for this Monday, so we've been rehearsing whenever we can to get ready.

Knut's First Lego League group has their competition in a couple weeks, so we hardly see Knut anymore! He's at FLL meetings almost all day on Tuesdays and after Lyceum on Fridays, as well as doing research and work at home for their project. Mom and I got to watch their skit/presentation a few days ago and it was really good! The team has definitely improved since last year.

Lyceum ends in a few weeks, and on the last day of Lyceum the older choir will be singing at the Lebanon homecoming. Also, the SCCCHE Christmas concert, at which both choirs will be singing, is December first!  Mom informed me yesterday that I will be accompanying one or two of the younger choir's pieces. (Yikes! :O) Peterson Family Singers will be doing a piece or two at the concert as well.

The Lyceum Drama performance is sometime in late-ish November... I can't remember exactly when; I think it's a week after Knut's FLL competition. So, that means that soon we'll be down to the wire trying to get our blocking taken care of. There are three plays this year; Knut and I are in different plays. Knut's play is having lots of trouble with blocking ("the chase scene" ;D) and my play has some very difficult period costumes that we're making without much in the way of patterns. I'm not sure about the other play, but I'm sure they're having their difficulties too! :P However, I'm sure the performance will be wonderful... with Ms. Jo (the wonderfully amazing director) it always is!

Bright Lights is still going, and so Cecily and I have meetings pretty much every other week. I also have a leaders meeting once a month, and do some emailing with my small group co-leaders to get agendas/accountability partners/etc. figured out. ;)

School... is my life right now. Other than Bright Lights, Lyceum, Drama, music, reading, working, the computer, and sewing, of course. ;) Cecily, Thor, and Gloria usually finish by lunchtime unless they're not focusing, so school doesn't take up too much of their day. Knut's schoolwork is beginning to take longer (and he's stopped teasing me about how long my school takes... I wonder why??), but he still usually manages to finish fairly soon after lunch. His FLL homework takes up a bunch of his time, though.

Cecily and I have been working at a public school (after school ends) almost every week for the past couple months. One of the teachers goes to our church, and she often has us help out when her class is finished grading students' work, cleaning off bulletin boards, making copies, cutting things out for projects, etc. It's interesting to work there because we get to see the kinds of things they're learning and the kinds of resources they have access to. I must admit that the resources (huge copy machines... smartboards... lots and lots of construction paper... PENCILS WITHOUT ERASERS CHEWED OFF BY THE BABY!!!) wouldn't be unwelcome to us (although we may not be able to fit the copy machines in the house anywhere :P), but then, lack of this kind of resource sparks such creativity (not to mention frugality) that maybe it's actually better to not have them. We could use more "whole" pencils, though... but that dream will never be fulfilled until we no longer have anyone in the house under the age of 3. And I'd rather have the babies. ;)

I have a sewing job for Grandma Joni that I need to have finished and shipped before December 1st. She wants 12 aprons to give to her friends for Christmas, and 7 of them she needs before December. So I guess only 7 of them need to be finished and shipped before December 1st, but I'm going to attempt to ship them all together. Let's see if that works... ;)

The monthly SCCCHE meeting is next Thursday, and all of us will be attending.

Mom and I are coordinating a farewell party for a wonderful family in the homeschool group who will be moving away this month! :( We're not sure yet when it will be.

Church: Choir rehearsal is Wednesday nights for Papa, Mom, and me, and then of course we all go to the  service on Sunday mornings.

Anything else? Um... I'm sure I'm forgetting something... but I'm ready to stop and I'm sure you're either tired of reading or you've just skimmed over most of the post. :) I'll not prolong your agony any longer. Hopefully you are now sufficiently convinced that we are busy and are willing to accept that as my excuse for probably not posting too often in the next few week, neglecting the Daily Family Insanity, and then not giving my lovely repertoire of excuses when I start posting "regularly" again. :)