Revisiting the Past - Halloween 2006

I chose this picture of the kids as a tribute of revisiting the past because Emily is the same age here as Matt currently is - okay she is 25 days older than him but you get the idea. When I look at this picture, I am amazed at how quickly they have grown. At that time, Matt barely knew what candy was now he is very familiar with the sweet treat. Sadly, tonight is suppose to be rainy so it looks like we will be doing an afternoon Trick or Treat session. All in all is should be fun! Happy Halloween!

Dorothy and Toto

Emily's choice of costume this year is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She was so excited to be able to dress up for her school parade and party. Of course, in her collection of stuffed animals, she had a dog that looked exactly like Toto. A Dorothy outfit would not be complete without ruby slippers and of course pigtails with bows. After her parade on the school grounds, Emily went back into school and had her party which was filled with many treats and many crafts per her teacher. Emily's class is a very crafty/artistic class so they were anxious to do as many projects as they could in the short period of time. Thankfully, she didn't come home with a ton of candy. She did come home with a very big bag filled with projects from the month. Ruby the spider has come home again too. It was a great day at school - very busy for Dave and I driving back and forth to school for all these events but fun.

Pumpkin Carving

Monday night Dave did his annual pumpkin carving time with the kids. The kids spent their time taking the "guts" out of their pumpkins which got a lot of "YUK" responses. Then, they each got to choose what image they wanted on their pumpkin. Matt picked a scarecrow that Dave cared out for him and Emily decided to do the "bejeweled" kit - no surprise there. After a short time, the kids lost interest so Dave got to finish them up for the kids. The bejeweled pumpkin has a strobe light that goes inside and makes the jewels glow- very cool. Unfortunately, the scarecrow is already starting to go bad, so I think it may have to be tossed before the Halloween event tonight. In the end, the most important part was the time they spent doing the project with their dad.

Our Chick Magnet

Yesterday, Matt had his school Halloween parade and party. I am a class mom for his class so I was able to stay for his party. While there, I learned that Matt has a few girl classmates that are his "girlfriends" - Julianna and Melanie. They are both very cute girls but we aren't ready for that stage of life yet. Now the funniest part was when the older kids had their parade at 1:00. Dave, Matt and I stayed for the entire parade, of course, in part to see Emily march in the parade but actually stayed until the end because Matt was getting a kick out of all the costumes. Well, our time their was enlightening. It appears that our little boy has become quite a charmer with the older girls - about 10 girls (from grades 3, 4 & 5) all took the time to say "hi Matt". At one point, there were 3 girls who said "hi" to him and he said "one at a time"....I just had to laugh. Of course most of these girls are safety patrol for the preK classes so that is how they have met him. There is one girl in particular, I think she's in 4th grade, that really dotes on him and he always hugs her when he sees her. I've seen glimpses of this little "Casanova" but it was funny seeing Dave react to all the girls doting on him. Of course, we are taking it as just a cute circumstance and not making much of it. The older boys by the way loved Matt being a SWAT officer (he was still in his costume) so he got a lot of high fives from them too.

Trunk or Treat

The church we attend has an annual Trunk or Treat event which is open to both the church and community. People, families and church groups decorate cars and pass out candy from their "trunks". Emily and Matt always enjoy this event - they get candy after all. This year Emily's costume was popular with the younger girls too. Here she is with our friends daughter, Gianna. Matt looks like he is barking out orders - it seems to come naturally to him, barking out orders. Even I was part of the event. Our MOPS group did a car with the Scooby Doo theme.....yes, somehow I got to be Fred, don't ask. We did win a trophy and certificate for Best Car for a Ministry group. Let me be honest and say it was nice to win. We all had fun.

Halloween Party - Take 1

Thursday night was the beginning of Halloween events for the kids. My MOPS meeting was that night and the kids attend the MOPPETS group during that time. They decided to have a Halloween party for the kids, so they were able to dress up in their costumes. This year Emily decided to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Matt veered from his normal firefighter format to a SWAT officer - no gun included with the costume. It does have a whistle which can get a wee bit annoying but it is only a week and a half of activities that it has to "available" for. I'm not sure where it will find a home after the festivities. The kids costume schedule consists of Trunk or Treat on Sunday 10/25, school parades on 10/30 and Halloween 10/31. At least, these costumes are being worn more than once .... it is the multiple accumulation periods of candy that is not so good. We've already had to make a candy eating rule in the house for the season. They are cute though. TRICK OR TREAT!

A Plethora of Pumpkins

Normally our fall decorations consist of just 4 "real" pumpkins - 2 for outside on the front stoop and one for each of the kids to carve. Well this year has been a totally different circumstance. Emily's class walked to the corner nursery where she got to pick out a pumpkin last Tuesday. Then Thursday, Matt and I went on his field trip to the pumpkin farm where we both were able to get a pumpkin. To top it all off, the kids went to their Moppets group on Thursday night while I was at my MOPS meeting and they each got a pumpkin there. This brings our grand total of pumpkins this season to 9 (counting the ones outside). Those are the real ones, we have three decorative pumpkins on the hearth too. I guess it proves the old saying "when it rains it pours" this time in pumpkins.

Look How Much They've Grown

This past summer we went back to Williamsburg, VA for a short family vacation. The last time we went there was is June 2006. At that time, Emily was our little fish in the water and Matt was about to turn 1. This past summer both of them were like fishes and they couldn't even be bothered for me to get a picture of them together in the water. Matt has changed so much in 3+ years and Emily is exactly the same just a bigger version. Here is to good times growing up.

Heaven Hills Pumpkin Farm

On Thursday, October 22, Matt had his first official school field trip to a pumpkin farm in Vernon, NJ. Being a class mom, I was able to go as a chaperon for the trip. We all loaded on to a tour bus (no yellow bus here a bathroom is necessary for preschoolers) in the morning and headed out on the long drive. When we got to the farm, we first went on a hayride through their "haunted" tour area - most kids weren't scared by it. Then, we saw all their farm animals which was followed by pig races. Matt was a little upset after that because he didn't win at the races. They chose kids to represent the pigs that were racing in each race and he didn't get chosen, so he had a small crying meltdown. After that we picked our pumpkins, ate lunch and then let them play in the different hay and cornstalk structures they have for the kids. The teacher bought apple cider donuts and cider that the kids had as a snack just before getting on the bus to head back to school. Now you would think that after all that he would have been sleeping on the way back, but no he was too bust watching Nemo on the bus TV. We made it back just in time for Emily to be dismissed from school. It was a great day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous which we were hoping for after our rain and cold spells we've had the last few weeks. It was so much fun being able to go with him too. Thank you Matt for our special day together.

This is Ruby

Meet the newest addition to our "craft" family, Ruby the Spider. Emily's teacher, Miss Palummierri wants the kids to use their imaginations for Show & Tell not just bring in their favorite toy to show. She gives them a theme the Friday before the following week - Show & Tell is on Friday's - so they have a whole week to "create". This past week's theme was to show something that means the season fall to them and they needed to use 3 materials to create it. So, I asked Emily what reminds her of fall...well, after talking it somehow came down to a spider - Halloween related. Off to the craft store we went. This is the final product. Ruby is made of a Styrofoam ball, black felt strips hot glued to the body, green pipe cleaners for the legs and smile and of course googly eyes. I know that is 4 things but I did ask the teacher if googly eyes would count as a fourth item and she said "no"....just the main part needed to be 3 items. I have to tell you this was one of my favorite projects she has done so far. Emily even made a chart showing the materials you need so the other kids could make one too. Her teacher loved it and said it was unusual because when it was her turn to present "Ruby" she froze at first - not normal for her. Emily's projects are quite a hit at school. The kids want to make them and there are several teachers that come in just to see what she has made. I guess the creative streak of the family lives on in Emily. So, say welcome to our newest friend.

Look What I Built

Matt has been perfecting his building skills as of late. He got a small link and log set quite some time ago and has brought it out on occasion to play with either Dave or I - we usually ended up building and he would knock it down. On this day, he was proud to show us what he was able to do all by himself. Great job Matt!!! It was another moment where I was jolted into realizing just how old Matt is and his capabilities. He is growing up way to fast.

Fall Just Isn't the Same

This is our first fall without the Japanese maple tree in front of our house. Unfortunately, it had to be cut down and removed when we had our oil tank removed last winter. I've missed seeing it throughout the year but this is the time I miss it most. It always displayed such brilliant red leaves during the fall season. Its removal also took away our annual activity of playing in the leaves when they started to fall. It seems silly, it was just a tree but it was a beautiful part of our home. We've decided not to plant a new tree. As the kids have gotten bigger they have required more "space" to play and seeing our front and side yard are the main yard, we thought we would keep it a wide open space for them. So long tree, we miss seeing your vibrant leaves. Can you believe how young the kids were in this picture?

Pumpkin Time

Last Saturday we headed out as a family to get pumpkins for the harvest season. We decided this time to head to a different "farm" than we usually do. Because Matthew is going pumpkin picking with his preschool class this coming week, we decided we would just go buy them. Both Emily and Matt were able to pick a pumpkin that they will be able to carve. Then, we got two big pumpkins to put on our front stoop. We had a very nice lunch there and then headed to a nursery nearby where we got our "traditional" fall mums that also go on our front stoop. Harvest season we are ready for you.

Out of the Mouth of Matt

So, Matthew had another hilarious interaction with a Lodi police officer who was patrolling their school for afternoon dismissal. As soon as he saw the patrol car in the parking lot across from the school, Matthew quickly ran to the window of the car. I was a little further back from where Matt was when the officer rolled his window down to say hello. The words that came out of his mouth, made my mouth drop....."Did you shoot any bad guys last night?" Fortunately, it was an officer with a sense of humor who laughed as he said "no". Matt didn't even pause to think, he immediately asked "did you shoot any bad guys this morning?" Thankfully, the officer laughed again as I explained to Matt that the police don't shoot the bad guys, they take them to jail. All I could think is that this officer must think we have a child obsessed with shooting people. Of course, he is 4 so a lot of remarks are "forgiven". Anyone I told this story to thought it was hilarious and knowing Matt, they were like "that is so Matt". So, now when we go for afternoon dismissal I am never quite sure if I want Matt to see the police officer there...who knows what he'll say next....then too it could merit another blog entry.

Student of the Month

We were thrilled when we received a postcard last Saturday notifying us that Emily was chosen as student of the month for her 1st grade class. She has been working so very hard and this is true recognition of all of that work. Emily has noticed how much work there is to be done and how long the school day is. Last year in her special ed class, I know that there was more "down" time throughout the day...now there is very little if at any down time. Emily is adjusting well though...however, by Thursday morning, she is itching for the weekend to come. We have been in touch with her previous teacher, Miss Lisa, letting her know how well she is doing. They are all so proud of her accomplishments. Emily holds a special place in Miss Lisa's heart. So, congratulations Emily at all your hard work. We are all very proud of you!