Unlocking the mysteries one element at a time.

Always an adventure...The search for the perfect Christmas tree took place last night. I was happy to have big, strong Austin there to manhandle the trees.

Yes Austin that tree sap is a bit sticky.
Ashley and Austin thought it would be a good idea to bury Andrew among the 10 footers. Hmm.
Next I found him in the barrel. (Oscar?) Not to worry he is now safely home and so is our new tree named Twiggy.

Let's get this party started!

The annual Mancuso-Mullen football game proved to be very exciting with great plays on both sides.

Ashley and Austin win my potatoe peeling award. I left the kitchen and came back and we had enough potatoes for the 82nd airborne.

Turkey is in the oven. The annual "Mancuso stomps the Mullens" football game begins at high noon. Check back for the gorry details.

GO RAMS!
JV Rams won again. Austin played great and we all screamed and stomped MAN-CU-SO (He said he couldn't hear us but we had a good time.) It was a very exciting game.
Chillin in the cafeteria afterwards was fun too.

They WON!
Lake Mary Rams defeated the Lake Howell Silver Hawks last night. Austin said it was close the entire game and came down to a basket at the buzzer. Next game is tonight against Cypress Creek. I decided not to torture him with a photo this morning but, just so you know, he was fixed up. In his words "I look like Mr. Rogers in this sweater". Good luck tonight Austin!

Game Day!
Austin Plays in his first high school basketball game at Lake Howell today at 7:00. Good Luck Austin!

The Holiday Season is HERE!

Andrew and his friend, Tanner, worked on a banner to carry in the holiday parade.


The crowd was very appreciative! Especially these three.

















Who is this mysterious santa scout?

Ok Let's just say this pic makes me laugh and I thought I would share it with you in spite of the flack I will catch on this end.

Only a girl...



can get a boy...
to spend this much

time on the phone.

I was walking along, singing my song, when something fell upon my poor little head...BOOM, THUMP... the sky is falling down, down, down and I must tell the king. You come too!



Memories of a Chicken Little very close to my heart.

Field Trip to Sea World

Our trip to Sea World was highlighted by feeding sting rays and watching a show where 8 dolphins performed in the same pool at the same time.
WOW very amazing.
These three kids find adventure wherever they are. Whether they are hiding from "the parents" after lunch or "breaking" the Wild Arctic ride, as long as they are together they are having a blast.

Aren't cousins GREAT!

PADDOCK NEWS:
Scout was just a little too silly in the pasture with Phanny, and he injured the suspensory ligament in his leg. It's Andy's new job to take Scout for his morning walk, remove his standing wraps, and provide the occasional "I hope you feel better soon" - carrot. Maybe a little more than occasional.

What a cute couple! Adam and Desiree spent the day at Busch Gardens. They rode all the coasters and declared Sheikra their favorite. However the most fun they had was feeding birds in the aviary. They said the birds swooped down on them and were standing on their arms. Sounds like we should check that out! Thank you Adam and Desiree for the photo I asked for.

A little update on Andy's
homeschooling. His favorite activity is what we call field study.


He goes into a natural area and documents what he finds. He draws the animal writes a physical description and then adds where the animal was and what it was doing.
In these photos he has located some wild turkeys.




After filling in the information he yelled "Thanksgiving is coming! Run for your lives!"

Saturday we joined Florida Orienteering and challenged the Yellow Coarse. In regular talk we were handed a map and given a start time. Then with an optimistic attitude we sprinted out into the wilderness to find orange and white markers that were located near lakes, in sinkholes and some others that were just 'way out thar'. The sprinting part didn't last long, and our tendency to take off in any old direction wasn't working very well. Eventually we studied our map and found our way...but not before our water ran out.
Wekiwa Springs never looked soo good. No one was swimming because a snake was in the swimming area. We looked close enough to see that it was just a florida water snake. I told Ashley it wasn't poisonous and the next thing I know she is a flying cannonball into the spring, jeans and all.
It was a really nice day! Hope everyone will join us at the next event.

He did it!

One of three freshman boys to make the junior varsity basketball team at Lake Mary High School.

Yeah, that's cool!

I guess I am probably not the last person to get a blog but it feels like it. Starting the Den 5 blog and helping Andy and the A-team was fun but now its time to start my own story: I will start with last weekend's Halloween preparation -

We started with a search for the Great Pumpkin and a serious carving contest.
The kids decided to try their hands at roasting pumpkin seeds and making carmel apples. Adam was coerced into trying the first apple.
Following a rather crazy trick or treating was the big Candy Swap. Thankfully the kids gave me all of their Ick! candy because I ran out before the night was over and had to recycle theirs.

Special guests were Alex, Jack, Desiree, Mullens, Shals, Nina, Alli, Kristen and Jordy.