Halloween 2012!!

Halloween was extra-special this year for several reasons.... First, it was our first day back in school after a surprise 2 day vacation thanks to Hurricane Sandy; Second, it was our customary 1/2 day; and Third, it would be celebrated without Daddy who was stuck in Atlanta, working.  We did miss Daddy, but didn't let it stop us from having a blast!

We started the day you should start any special day- Dunkin Donuts!!

When we got home from school, we made a batch of sugar cookies- to share with our neighbors during the post- Trick-or-Treating Party!

Once baked and cooled- and the kids had rode bikes, played on the swingset, and had a jolly ol' time, I was able to convince them to warm-up and decorate the cookies!  Our good friends even helped!

Once it was time for dinner, our good friends and dear neighbors had us over for dinner.  The Dad makes the best pizza EVER!  And he also decorated a pretty cool pumpkin, too!

The kid table- full of giggles, pizza and salad eating, and more giggles!

We then headed back across the street to get our costumes on!  1 Pirate and 1 Kitty coming up!

Candy was left- a full basket!  And by 8pm, there were literally 5 pieces left!

Addie LOVED running from house to house!  The weather was simply perfect- and we loved the cool, crisp, DRY air!

Whew- after visiting all but 2 small handful of houses on our street, we all crashed at a neighbor's house and enjoyed cider, cookies and fresh gingerbread!

Some of the loot and various costume piled on the stairs....

It was such a great time- perfect weather, generous friends, spunky kids to hang out with!!  We are so blessed!!

Hurricane Sandy- aka 2 Day Vacation!

Hurricane Sandy was slated to hit the Richmond area and it was supposed to be pretty nasty and was to start Saturday/Sunday.  In reaction to this prediction, just about everything was canceled starting Sunday- no church, no soccer, etc.  Sunday afternoon, it was overcast and drizzling- just the beginnings of Sandy.  We were all so excited to hear that school was canceled for Monday- yay!!  We did wonder if Al's flight out to Atlanta would still go on.... In the end, it was one of the only times that Al's flight out WAS on time- and it was one of the only flights out of Richmond and ended up being one of the last ones out for the next 24 hours!  

The kids and I planned lots of fun activities- and totally enjoyed having a jamma day!  As we crafted, played Uno, created with Legos, drank hot coco, played Wii, worked on dot-to-dots, we kept an eye on Sandy- it never got bad.  Addie put it best- "If people didn't have their channel on, they would only think it was such raining a lot!"  Still, we had a fantastic day!!

Tuesday we were still out of school- Sandy was supposed to get worse during the night, but she clearly didn't agree, and we woke-up to rain and cooler temps, but we had electricity and another day to play!! We headed over to a friends house to spend some time with them.  It was great to get out of the house after 2 days!

Wednesday is going to be fun- its a 1/2 day at school, normally scheduled, and Halloween!!  The kids can't wait to go Trick or Treating!!

Burning some energy on Sunday before it started raining.  Slightly silly?  Yes, but they loved sweeping both porches!!

As it was raining, we sorted through all the candy the kids gathered from the Trunk a Treat.  Can you tell someone was a littttle excited??

Monday morning- we started the morning with hot coco and the weather update!

Monkey Bread- yum!!  The kids were SO excited to get this on a WEEK morning!

Yes, we did some worksheets!  They loved it!!  Alden worked on his short vowels and Addie did complex dot-to-dots!

This pretty much sums it up- we are THANKFUL!!

We made hand print turkeys and then the kids wrote between the fingers things they are thankful for.  Some of my favorites- that our power lines are underground, special days off school, pj days, friends, school.

Paper pumpkins!

Crafting with friends!!

Burning more energy!

Super Cute Indian Corn napkin holders!

It was a fantastic, special time off!  Memories were made- and we didn't kill each other by the end of it!

Goddard Truck a Treat

Goddard hosts a Trunk a Treat for the local community that is HUGE!  The kids have asked to be involved- and last year it just poured- so this year, we were excited to try again!  After school, I picked up Addie, Alden and their BFF, Lainey.  We headed to a local park so they could play and burn some energy.  Al brought some dinner and then we headed back to Goddard to set-up the car- we were the Perreca Library!  The kids had to give their favorite book title to get a piece of candy!  Once the sun set, the kids started Trunk a Treating and had a blast!  It was still fun even when it started to drizzle.  The kids brought home more candy that we brought- and we brought a TON!  It was such a great, family- friendly event!

Climbing!

Picnic in the car since it started to drizzle a little....

Cute Kitty and a Pirate!  See the "library" behind them??

Taking refuge from the rain and showing off their mini caramel apples!

Kindergarten Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

This summer, I was involved in a grant that allowed me to take 5 extra days of during the school year!  The best part- I knew that I would be able to go on at least 1 field trip with each kid this year- yay!  Alden chose for me to go with him to the pumpkin patch- and Addie is wanting me to go with her in the Spring!  I adore Alden's teacher- she is so sweet yet strict.  It was so organized- and I had the pleasure of spending the day with 4 little boys!  Thankfully the Patch is close to the school and the weather was sunny!  The kids were all amazing- all 6 classes of them- everyone had fun despite the 85+degree temps and the lack of water!

On the bus ready to go!  Look at those little boys!!

SO excited to have his Mommy with him- he kept telling me "Thank you for coming mommy!"

Look at that mass of kindergartners- they were SO amazing!!

Giving Mommy a cheesy smile

Loving the tour!

They all picked out HUGE pumpkins and insisted they were strong enough to carry them- look at those muscles!

Alden has a way with the ladies....

Riding pigs...

Having a little snack on the way back to school- can you see how tired he is?

It was such an amazing trip!  The school my kids' go to is simply amazing- I am so honored that they go there- they are learning so much and growing academically and spritually!!

Pumpkin Carving!!

The kids have gotten a ton of pumpkins from a variety of places- so it was time to carve a few!!  They each thought long and hard about what they wanted.....  Alden decided on a traditional- and he drew the face and then asked me to cut it out.  Addie choose Hello Kitty- and helped put that design on but didn't want to cut it out!  They both did empty the pumpkin of all the guts and carefully pulled out all the seeds for their Daddy- such sweet kids!!

Ready to go- the neighbors are all excited to help!

A seed for Daddy!

He loved how gooey it was!

All done- so cool!!

Fall Fun!

We have been super busy lately- and blogging as kinda fallen to the side- my deepest apologies!!  Here are a few pics of what we have been up to!  God is good- we are all happy, healthy and busy building all kinds of wonderful memories and deepening relationships!

Al has been traveling a majority of the time- so his boss sent me this amazing arrangement of flowers as part of a thank you!   I love his company!

Yum- a good friend sharing a box of these treats with us!

Sorting!!  The kids have been doing a bunch of different kinds of sorting in school - so how better to practice than with the load of candy they gathered at the local homecoming parade!!

By color!

By shape!

 Another parade- yes, we seem to have a LOT!

Running to get candy!

You know it's a good parade when there are the zipping little cars!