Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween!

This was really Hannah's first true Halloween where she could really participate and get into the festivities.  Months ago, when I asked her what she wanted to be, clear as day, she said, "Minnie Mouse."  And Minnie Mouse she was:)  I didn't have to buy a costume for Jack this year because he could make any costume he could possibly want in a matter of seconds with things we already have in our house.  (And Grampy had already purchased the Iron Man costume that Jack eventually decided he wanted to wear!)  I was proud of myself for that.  Instead, I purchased three Minnie Mouse costumes to find just the perfect one.  Eventually we did, and I was able to return the others.

Hannah was really excited to go to school on Halloween.  She couldn't wait to wear her "bee-u-tiful dress!"

Wearing her Minnie Mouse gloves

Playing musical chairs

I spy a Minnie Mouse having snack

Jack picked the design and Daddy did the carving

A visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Showing off her bee-u-tiful dress

A visit from Grammy and Grampy

Iron Man and Minnie

Jack wanted to walk the Halloween parade all by himself this year.  Just another sign he's growing up...  Hannah couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating.  She went all the way around the block with Daddy and Jack while I stayed home and passed out candy.  Even though it drizzled a tiny bit, it was warm outside, and everyone had a great time.  The kids were especially thrilled about their pumpkins filled with candy:)

I look forward to many more Halloweens with these two precious pumpkins!

Happy Birthday, Mom

I love you.

Ninja Night

Last Friday, Jack attended Ninja Night at his Tae Kwon Do school.  They had advertised the event in class, and Jack had been asking me for about a week and a half if he could go.  Brad and I weren't completely sold on the idea, as this would be Jack's first drop-off event.  No parents present.  And a late night - the party didn't end until 9:30 pm.  I waited a few days to see if the excitement of the idea would wear off for him, and it didn't.

I finally made it up there and signed him up to attend.  That night, he said that he didn't want to go without us, and that he'd rather stay home.  I didn't push the issue or make it a big deal that now he had to go, I just tried to talk about how much fun it would be.  The next day was Ninja Night.

When I picked him up at the end of the day, I mentioned that we had to go home to get ready for Ninja Night.  I asked him what he wanted to dress up as, and he said he wanted to be a Ninja Turtle.  He had an outfit all planned out - one that consisted of green pajama pants from half of a Buzz Lightyear pajama set, and a Green Lantern pajama shirt turned backwards:)  I already knew that I was going to give him a pair of Ninja Turtle pajamas I'd bought and hidden awhile ago, but I just wanted to see what he had planned.  I told him I thought maybe I had some Ninja Turtle jammies he could wear, and he was so excited!

"You mean all green, like the turtle shell?  Nothing else?  No words?  Really?  All green?  Just like a turtle?"

"Yeah, I think so.  Let me go check, and I'll be right back."

When I came back downstairs with the all-green, true-to-form Ninja Turtle pajamas, he just about exploded with excitement.  It was so stinkin' cute.

He got dressed as quickly as I've ever seen him do, and we were off.  He was a champ.  When I dropped him off, he didn't seem upset at all.  I was so proud of my brave boy.

His sister, on the other hand, was very upset to leave "My Jack" behind.  She cried real tears and everything.  When I asked her what she wanted to have for dinner on the way home, she whimpered, "TopKick," the name of Jack's Tae Know Do school:)

Brad and I got a chance to realize how easy it was when we only had one baby to feed and play with and put to bed.  The house was so quiet...  We don't remember it that way, as being easy, but ohmygoodness - when we only have one at a time...

Anyhow, we had a great evening with Hannah Bear, and the whole time, I couldn't help but wonder how Jack was doing at his first event without Mom and Dad.  No one from the school had called, asking us to pick him up, so we took that as a good sign:)

We decided I would stay home with a sleeping Hannah while Brad would go pick Jack up from his party.  He was sad that he hadn't gotten to see Jack before the party, so it only seemed right.  I was sure that Jack would come home and be carried in by Brad, sound asleep.  Boy, was I wrong!

He was clearly on a party-high because Jack came bounding in the door, hungry and ready to eat.  We gave him some milk and yogurt and listened as he rambled on about all the fun he'd had.  He told us all about the haunted bus and the costumes he'd seen.  

I made a comment about how I thought he'd be asleep when he got home.

And do you know what that smart, little man said to me?  As matter-of-factly as possible?

"It's a short ride."

{My, how he's growing up...}

I'd write a million days of sub plans...

For those of you that are teachers, you know how horrible it is to write sub plans.  Literally, you'd rather go to work on your death bed because it would be easier to go and work all day then to write sub plans so that someone could take your place.

For those of you that aren't teachers - I'm not talking about pop-in-a-video-and-pass-out-a-worksheet sub plans, but sub plans where you're keeping the instructional flow.  Where you're trying to keep the day as true to form for your students as possible.  Those plans.

Anyway - they're awful.  Simply awful.

I avoid them at all cost.

And for the record - Monday sub plans are worse.  Monday is the beginning of a new week, new routines, the changing of classroom jobs, etc.  You get the picture.  AWFUL.

And then a letter came home from Jack's kindergarten teacher about his first field trip and about signing up for the possibility of being a chaperone.  And it was going to be on a Monday.

Here's the deal - one day, Jack will not think it's cool if I chaperone his class on a field trip.  He'd rather pay me to stay at work and to stay away from his school.  At least, this is my best guess.  But right now?  He thinks I'm awesome.  He smiles when I walk in the door.

So as much as I hate sub plans, I knew that I had to at least try to be a chaperone on this field trip.  And then his teacher picked me:)

Rather than being upset about the plans, I was so excited to get this opportunity to go with Jack on his kindergarten field trip.  I hunkered down and wrote the plans, and we'll see how that all went tomorrow.  But today?

Today was awesome.

Take a peek.

Sub plans?

Any day.

Silent Sunday

{This is sleeping well.  And, note-to-self, Hannah needs new jammies.  Her's are a little too small.}

Pumpkinville

Over the weekend, I took our little lovelies to Pumpkinville, a local petting zoo/fall festival.  The weather was chilly and cloudy on Saturday, so we hung out around the house.  But on Sunday, even though the temperatures were a little chilly, it was sunny, so it felt warmer.  No one else was available to go, so I packed up the kids, and we headed out for fall fun.

I'm so glad we did - I always enjoy that time with my littles.  And I think they had fun, too!

getting them both to look at the camera at the same time is nearly impossible

Hannah loved feeding the baby goat

Jack loves pony rides.  Hannah - not-so-much.

He kept this goat company for quite awhile.

So proud of my little girl!

Beautiful sunlight.

Hannah ran into one of her classmates from school!

Our little lovelies

Unusually brave...

Loving the slides...

With Mama on the hayride

It was a perfect, fall day:)  Thank you, October.

Silent Sunday

{pumpkins, slides, and frozen treats - oh, my!}

dreams really do come true

And no - I'm not talking about Disney dreams.  Although we're in preliminary talks for our first Disney excursion with the littles.  More on that to come, I'm sure.

Saturday was great.  We had a lazy, pajama day at home.  I took a nap while Hannah slept mid-day, and then I got cleaned up, and Jack and I went to the store to get a fall tablecloth and napkins for an upcoming fall birthday celebration.

On our way home, the light near the entrance to our community turned red, so I decided to "save time" and take a right into our neighborhood, rather than going the long way around.

In the front of our neighborhood, we have a beautiful street lined by trees on both sides, and the lighting and the colors of the leaves felt like it couldn't have been more perfect than on Saturday afternoon.  Jack and I rushed home to grab my camera and Hannah Bear and Daddy, so we could head back out to that perfect spot.

I've dreamed of taking pictures at this spot since we moved to this neighborhood -  we've been here for four years.  It's gorgeous.  Winter, spring, summer, fall - just beautiful.  Lucky for me, I was able to get everyone ready quickly, and Brad agreed to come along to help with traffic control.  It's not a busy road, by any means, but people coming and going to the clubhouse need the road, and we wanted to be safe.

I'm so glad we went.  I didn't get the best pictures - but the kids had fun running around, posing for Mama, and chasing the local geese:)  We had to share this beautiful spot with a couple of girls posing for Homecoming pictures (their moms have good backdrop taste), and a man who was walking the road for exercise.  I didn't care - it's that pretty.

See for yourself...

So, as I was saying - this was a dream come true.

Now I'm only hoping that the leaves will remain on these trees long enough for our family photo shoot coming up next week!

Just Now

I went in Hannah's room to wake her up, and as I carried her back to my room where Jack was sound asleep, her stretchy, sleepy self was just adorably cute.

I told her, "I love you so much," and kissed her on the cheek.

She said, "Yep."

"Yep, you know I love you?" I asked.

"That's why I wake up."  And she smiled.

And then my heart melted on the floor.

And her brother?  He just came into the bathroom and announced that he loves me.  For no reason at all. 

Today's going to be a good day:)

Under the Weather

For the first time in a really long time, Jack and Hannah are both healthier than me and Brad.  Brad and I seem to have something we can't quite get rid of.  A residual cough, headaches, and for me, ear pain.  Today, while Jack and Hannah spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa, I went back to the doctor to see I was doing okay after a week of antibiotics.

Turns out both of my ears are near infection, so it's another round of antibiotics for me.  Certainly explains why I've been getting dizzy when I stand up or why I feel like I'm still moving when the car comes to stop.  Hopefully, I'll feel better in no time.

The funny thing is, that aside from the occasional dizzy spell, I actually feel quite good.  I haven't lost my appetite, I'm not sneezing or blowing my nose constantly, I'm not exhausted or achy.  Apparently the first antibiotic did a little something, so that's always good.

Brad?  Hasn't been so lucky.  He still feels pretty sick, and only went back to work towards the tail-end of last week.

Thank goodness that the littles are healthy - otherwise, this would be a very unhappy household!

*****

In other news, while mourning the loss of Dexter (worst series finale I can remember, by the way - one blogger likened it to his best friend drop-kicking his puppy after eight years, and I tend to agree) and Breaking Bad (best series finale I can remember - thank you, Vince Gilligan!), Brad introduced me to The Walking Dead, and I'm hooked.  I'm currently watching crazy amounts of The Walking Dead to catch up to the current season.  Once you get past the zombie part, it's actually very good.  I wouldn't advise snacking as you watch:)

*****

Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Julie, and her newborn baby boy, Thomas.  It was so good to catch up after many, many months (too long, Julie!), and Thomas was just absolutely beautiful.  I got to hold him while Julie went to the bathroom, and for a tiny moment, I wanted one more.  And then it passed.

Today I met up with one of my past co-workers, Jeannette, and we chatted and shared work stories.  Always so nice to catch up - and especially so when I can enjoy an adult lunch with friends while the littles play happily with Daddy or their grandparents.

*****

Also, not sure if I've mentioned this on the blog or not, but I might be addicted to building things with Legos.  Yesterday, Jack and I finished The Daily Bugle:

*****

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  Hoping that everyone is healthy and the sun is shining - I'm dying to take Jack and Hannah on a fall, farm outing.  It's also time to decorate for Halloween - I can't believe it's already right around the corner!