District 4-H Food Show

This past Saturday, Jordan competed with other area youth in the District 4-H Food Show. She was able to attend because she placed 1st in the county food show last month. After doing so well, she still only received the dreaded purple "participation ribbon." She did very well and we are so proud of her. She baked the Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread like last time. It sure was a good snack on the way home! Jordan says that she doesn't really care for the competition part of the food show. She just likes the cooking. Good to know!

A few pictures of the latest adventure:

What Jordan does on the van ride to Abilene.

Hunter playing video games in the van on the way to Abilene.

Waiting for the awards ceremony to start.

Jordan's name in the awards ceremony program.

The purple "Participation Ribbon"

Birthday Girl!

Jordan turned 12 officially on Tuesday. She had a wonderful day at school that day and came home to the newest member of our family, Sammy. Sammy is a male Betta fish. Jordan had been wanting one for about a month now, so we decided to get her the fish since she had shown that she could be responsible. Sammy is hillarious. He is quite the performer!
After Jordan opened all her gifts, we loaded up in the van and went out to eat at Prima Pasta (this fabulous Italian food restaurant in town). Then, home again for cake. Can you believe that next year she will be a teenager?! Yikes!

Sammy the fish

Of course, clothes make a good birthday gift.

The birthday girl waiting patiently for her Mama to hurry up and take the picture so she can open the presents!

Blowing out the candles.

This is what was left of the cake that Jordan's Wednesday night class at church shared in celebration of her birthday the day before. lol

Birthday Party

Jordan & Hunter's Birthday party was this past Saturday, the 15th. They each had about 7 friends over to the house for some fun, cake, and of course presents! It was a blast. The kids were all very well behaved (very important!) and had a great time playing together. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

The boys playing on the fort in the backyard.

The boys playing football with Seth.

The girls in the living room playing Twister Moves...their own way!

Time for cake!

Blow out the candles!

Time for presents!

Gift cards are the popular gift these days.

The girls acting crazy...as usual! lol

Seth only THINKS he can school the girls in basketball.

Birthday Boy!

Yesterday was Hunter's 10th birthday. I think he grew a foot overnight because most the clothes he got will only fit for the next couple of months. That is ok, though. He needed some good clothes for fall/winter. We did presents as soon as he got home from school and then went to eat at Chili's for supper (his choice, of course). Then, back to our house for birthday cake. It was a great day!

Catch & the Trumpeteer

Seth and Hunter playing catch with the football in the street in front of our house.

Jordan with her trumpet--how we get to see her nowadays.

Jordan, the 1st chair trumpeteer.

It's Friday!...I love Fridays. The week has ended. Time for rest and relaxation with the family. It is SO nice outside--in the mid 60's--so Seth and Hunter got outside to toss around the football. Also, Jordan let me get some great "artsy" camera shots of her with her trumpet. She is learning to play the trumpet this year in 6th grade band. She is having so much fun and is really good at it. I can't believe how well she can play. It's not bad at all when she practices in the house. :) She has been 1st chair since the beginning of the school year, except for one week when the 2nd chair trumpet beat her out in the chair test. Now, there is a 3-way tie for 1st chair--so the band director said they could all be 1st chair for now. The band has their Christmas concert coming up next month. Seth and I are so excited that we will get to watch our baby play in a BAND CONCERT! *sniffle*sniffle* We loved band when we were in high school. Great memories were made there! Anyway, I will have an audio clip for you all to enjoy after that fabulous day. :)

Jordan is not playing the trumpet this year by choice, though. She wants to play the french horn like Seth did. The band director wants the kids to learn the trumpet first, and then in 8th grade they can tryout for the french horn. The fingerings and mouth piece are very similar between the 2 instruments. The trumpet is a little less complicated than the french horn...at least according to the band director. Seth disagrees, of course. Oh well...the director has a theory, a plan, and a fantastic track record for great band students. We will just have to trust his judgement in the matter. We bought this trumpet and you may be thinking, "What a waste of money when she will just switch instruments in 2 years!" Well...God is on our team! Hunter will be in 6th grade in 2 years and wants to play the trumpet!! Praise God! Hallelujah! He can play Jordan's trumpet when she switches to the french horn. God is good. I think the school loans out the french horns--so we may not have to buy one...we hope.

Anyway, kinda slow right now in the Pitman house, but next week is Hunter's 10th birthday and Jordan's 12th birthday is the next week, and then Thanksgiving is the next week, and then Christmas..........whew! I'll take my slow week for now. :)

Halloween

This year, the Halloween season was pretty much like it has been for awhile now. Seth and the kids carved the pumpkin the night before Halloween. Hunter wanted Seth to carve a Texas Tech symbol into the pumpkin this year, so Seth obliged. It looked great!

Jordan and Hunter don't really dress up anymore unless there is a costume contest at school. It was drug-free week at school and the kids dressed up at school for Halloween. Hunter dressed up as The Texas Tech University Masked Rider. The Masked Rider looks a lot like Zorro since the University is set in a Spanish Conquistador theme. It was really neat. Jordan dressed up as a Christmas tree. It was cool! From the Christmas tree skirt to the LED battery-operated lights, she looked the part. In fact, she won for Best Costume in 6th grade at school. See, you don't have to wear something scary, satanic, or bloody to have a winning costume.

Later Friday evening, we took the kids to our old church for a Fall Festival. They were already out of their costumes by then, but had a great time playing all the carnival-style games. Kialie and Calan came to have fun as well. We then went to a football game (Seth had to have fun, too!). It was a fun & safe evening. We then went to my Mom and Dad's house for the weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday on Sunday. It was a great weekend!