Halloween Round-up

I already told you how I feel about Halloween so I won't say it again.  I will say this, Halloween is a lot of work and seems to extend for weeks before the actual trick or treating happens.  Okay, so I had fun this year.  Halloween in Kindergarten is fun, whatever, this too shall pass....

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
The pumpkin patch was a lot of fun.  Patrick loved the hayride and riding the bus with his buddies.

Best Buddies

Dimitri, Patrick and David

Patrick's class.  I love these kids.  I get to spend time with them on Fridays and they are really fun.

 

When you are Keith, any excuse to dress up will do.  

We love pumpkins!  Keith is kissing his pumpkin.

The completed products.  Patrick's has ears.  Keith's has three eyes.  Kevin's is the little one.  We had fun.   The boys proudly designed their own faces. 

The Halloween Crew (in part).  I love this picture because Keith is either  trying to pull off Jack's mask or he's just harassing his cousin.  Either way.  Funny 

Keith was a spider because that's what Patrick was when he was two (he declared that next year he will either be Harry Potter or a Spider).  In the chaos of getting four kids ready to go and Keith being Keith, his hat with his sparkly spider eyes got left behind.  He did however manage to make sure he had gloves (because Jack's Batman costume had gloves), Patrick's baseball gloves.  He happily told anyone who would listen about his gloves, "I got goves, Pat-pat beisbol goves."  Patrick was a ninja with a small arsenal.  He was very into it, look at his face.  Hilarious.

And finally, the little ones.  Keith, Ava and Ryder with their lollipops (aka Popsicles).  Keith told me that he had fun hiding under the table with Ryder eating candy.  "I hide from you."

If you are looking for Keith, he is probably hiding in the corner trying to squirrel away his candy stash.

As for me, I am glad that it isn't October anymore.  And unlike last year I am totally skipping the Thanksgiving holiday for Christmas decorating.   The cards are ordered and the fun can begin the minute we get 23 boxes of Christmas joy out of storage.  Merry Christmas!

It rained today

All day.  It rained all day.  Which means this boy didn't get to ride his bike.... which is what he would do ALL day if you let him.  All day.

He was bewildered by the rain and why it should keep him from riding his bike.  Perhaps a jean jacket would make this scenario plausible?

I WIDE MY BIKE?!?!?!
p.s. Keith learned how to ride a bike.  Next week he is getting his motorcycle license.  I love the under 3 developmental milestones.... amazing.

Living Life To The Fullest

I learn from my kids on a daily basis.  Patrick is always good for a grabbing an experience by the horns and slamming it down on the hard concrete (I don't know what that means either... Snoop).  He loves to live.... and by live I mean eat.
Rule #1: Prepare yourself with a small snack.  Pacing is essential to success.

 Rule #2: Select the priciest, most exotic dish on the menu (after attempting to negotiate the value of ice cream before anything else).
Yes, that's ($10) Frog's Legs.

 Rule #3: Ice Cream=Happiness..... Gigantic Ice Cream=Gigantic Happiness

kkk

Rule #4: CW says "stop eating", you say: "Let's get something healthy, how about a taco?"

Rule #5: Dance like everyone is watching.

"Funny, that's what I do." Patrick, Age 5

 
I love this kid.  He reminds me what living is all about.

The Gauntlet...The Kindergarten Gauntlet

But we totally dig it. By the numbers....

73 hand crafted pieces of artwork created
57 pieces of paper have come home in the folder
32 pages of homework completed
27 days of school completed (1 absence)
26 letters and sounds to identify in order to get on the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree
15 checks written (you don't want to know the total)
12 pencils sharpened
5 sight words learned (see picture above), he may or may not know more. We won't know until we see sentence #2, now in production.
4 Lunchables consumed (why can't I have one every day?)
3 new friends who happen to be girls with names that start with "A" (I'll catalog the rest of the friends at some point but don't you think that it is interesting that these "A" name girls are so drawn to Patrick?)
1 PTC meeting
0 Bad behavior check marks

I would call the Kindergarten workload a 100 fold increase over Preschool. For us that is, I don't know about Patrick. I'm too busy writing checks to ask him how he is handling Kinder.

Patrick has been hoping and praying that I would come and work in his class like the other mommies. (Dear Other Mommies, Stop making me look bad in front of my kid wouldja. Love, This Mommy) If you could see my schedule you would gasp. Peeling away for an hour is difficult at best. I miraculously had time this Monday that wasn't scheduled. First I went to see my adorable new nephew and then I headed over to K-1.

It was fun but honestly the best part was Patrick's reaction. When I picked him up after school I asked him what the best part of the day was (which I always ask) and he said, "You coming to work in my classroom." My heart melts and I email his teacher to commit to volunteering as many days as I can squeeze into my schedule.

Kindergarten is fun, let's do it again.

Guess what? The art wall is finally finished. Kevin had to help me with the final pieces, there was a bit of confusion with the measurements (note to self: don't talk on the phone while having wood cut at Lowe's. You might just walk away with pieces of molding that are 8 inches too long.). Anyway, it is magnetic paint, which is a really cool invention. This is Patrick and Keith's (eventually Keith since he gave Grandpa his first masterpiece as a birthday present) place to showcase their talent. Because Mommy wasn't digging on Daddy and Patrick trying to hang things up on the wall in the kitchen.

It's gonna be a long month

"Mom, it smells like Halloween!"
This was Patrick's declaration after we dragged the Halloween bins out of storage last weekend. And with that scent of potpourri (which has been in my Fall rotation for YEARS but hasn't made it out of the Ziploc since we lived in Sacramento but penetrates everything Fall nonetheless) firmly under his nose, Halloween was on in our house. I didn't actually unload the treasures until this weekend. Owning this much Fall stuff is a tad overwhelming, I have to work up to it. And then there is the problem of TOO MUCH HELP.
Pumpkin Snatcher (I was taking a break from decorating to practice with my camera and the only subject that will stay still, until said subject was kidnapped)



Fall Vomits in My Dining Room

and Leaves it There Until the Next Day or two.

I Love Fall. And it looks like we might finally be getting a taste of Fall weather this week! Feeling optimistic, I put the duvet back on our bed and ordered the boys new sweatshirts (and sweaters and fake Uggs).

Patrick had a special prayer tonight: "Thank you Jesus for the gift of Halloween, Amen."

And the fake spider trick never gets old. And we have Martha back in rotation. We love Fall!

Cleared That Hurdle

Patrick has been to the dentist four times. Patrick has had his teeth check, counted and cleaned by the dentist once. That's right, four trips, one successful cleaning. If I had one word to describe taking Patrick to the dentist it would be: torture. And I've only taken him once. Kevin has taken him 3 times.

MOM: 0-1
DAD: 1-2

But now....oh now we have a dental-pro on our hands. While Kevin and I have been working on the same trial container of dental floss for 5 months, Patrick has officially polished off a whole one on his own in a little under 3 weeks. Impressive? He is floss obsessed. I thought he would be excited when I brought home the new ($7) Martha Magazine and he was. He was extra excited (in a bouncing off the walls kind of way) over the new package of Glide. I'll have to remember that! Whatever works.....

You know you are the mother of boys if.....

your 5 year old plays at least one Jedi mind trick on your 2 year old every hour. And your 2 year old screams "LORD VADER!" at the top of his lungs in response.

And by Jedi Mind Trick, he means relentless teasing about candy, toys, etc.

"I threw your silky out of the window Keithy........."
"Lord VADER!"
"haha Jedi mind trick, I have it right here."