Max and Esme

Max got himself certified to referee soccer this summer - he's got a badge and a whistle and everything.  He's been spending the past few weekends working as a referee for the local youth soccer program.  On Saturday mornings he goes from 7am-12 working with the little kids - K-2nd grade. He gets community service hours for that work, counting toward National Junior Honor Society.  On Sunday he refs for the U8 travel team when he's not playing soccer himself. $31/game should buy him a lot of legos.  Or something nice for his mom and dad for Christmas to show his appreciation for driving him around Westchester all weekend. Kidding aside, we're very proud of him - he's totally professional out there, works great with the kids, and is handling the coaches and parents just fine.  Way to go, Max.

Max and his friends went trick-or-treating independently of adult supervision.  From all reports they caused no harm, but they did haul home a huge bag of candy.  Here's a shot of FBI agent Maxwell before heading out.

Esme wanted a creepy costume this year, so she chose to dress up as Drucilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Not many people of her generation knew the show, but she looked decidedly spooky nonetheless.  She sported the look for two days - in school on Friday for her class Halloween party and trick-or-treating with her devilish friends on Saturday evening.  The final picture is Esme posing with one of the actors at a local "haunted house" - what she can aspire to when she grows up.

Esme is sporting a completely new look this week.  The first addition is probably obvious.  A recent doctor visit showed us that Esme is nearsighted, her new glasses are needed to see the smartboard more clearly at school.  She was not happy about it (still isn't really) but she took a friend with her to pick out her new blue eye-wear, and is sporting it at school today for the first time.  We just picked them up yesterday afternoon, but she's already noticing things she couldn't see before! The second addition may be less obvious. To make up for having to get glasses, Esme also got her ears pierced.  She was very excited about that one!  She's taking very good care of them so far, and now has a whole new category to add to her Christmas list.

Esme baked the cake for Peter's birthday.  It was a Victoria Sponge cake - one she learned from our friend Callum and enjoyed for her own birthday in England.  Basically a white layer cake with a filling of raspberry jam and covered with icing.  Yummy.

Missing photo from Rhode Island. The post was almost 5 feet tall but Max was able to scramble up onto it.

Photo taken before she dug a 30 inch deep hole in the sand. We had a ceremonial filling of the hole at the end of the day.