Happy November!

We are still alive. I am having problems getting pictures to upload and trying to find some time to figure it out but it is one of the last things I am worried about getting "done".
We have been hard at work doing school. This year is going much better than last. The number one reason is probably because we aren't trying to remodel a house at the same time. We are still doing stuff to the house but there is less work or it can just be put off until after school.
Cody started a science class this year. He is doing General Science with someone other than myself teaching. He has to study and take quizzes every week. He likes it so far. He does well on the quizzes and is currently working on a catapult, they are studying simple machines. The class has only five students, besides the teacher, he is the only boy. I think we are going to do the same thing with math next year. By the time I figure out how to best explain his Math lesson, he is so frustrated and I do everything "wrong". Maybe it is something we will work through. We will see how the rest of the year goes.
Travis is starting into those preteen mood swings and that always affects our day. He is really interested in drawing right now and so all the kids are going to be taking some art classes in November and December.
Meleah is doing really well with school. She wants to do cursive writing like the boys and all the work they have to do, plus her own work. We are going to have her eyes checked. Her Sunday School Teacher said she is wanting everything really close and says she can't see it very well. She told me that, "I think I don't see things like other people...I think it is because I have red hair." (Really?) I have wondered about it because she complains, "My tummy hurts." when she is tired of reading.  Everything we do is close up work so she usually can do it but some of the letters mix her up. She does have times when she closes her eyes and rests and then will continue. We will see what the eye doctor says.
Bob is working outside a bunch when he is home. We are burning all the brush we have been cleaning up around here. He has been cutting up some of the dead trees. Too bad we don't have a fireplace.
Bob works with the neighbor, another Fireman, he said he saw a mountain lion out his window. Back along the back of our property is a wash/pond that drains back to the Colorado river. He saw a mountain lion out there.  It sure does make me nervous walking in the early mornings. We have some deer in the neighborhood as well. I think they hide down by all our stumps.
We are trying to get the church kids together more often. We had our first Young People sort of get together. It was a lot of fun. I hope that the desire to come will continue to grow in the parents hearts as well as the kids.
Hopefully, I figure out the picture problem soon but until then, we are alive and doing well.