Halloween and the 3 Day 2011

I attempted to decorate the front of the house a little for the Halloween season. I got these two skeletons to hang from our front tree. Beena however, had a whole other idea. She picked up one of them and held it ever so gently and took it for a walk. At times they looked as if they were dancing the way she was holding onto him. It was cute. Shoobee came to her rescue after one of the skeletons legs broke off. She kept calling it her robot... oh well, close enough! 

Beena walks her new friend the "robot?"

Big brother to the rescue... a broken leg

Shoobee walking his new friend

Halloween turned out to be a weekend long event. Friday night the school had organized a trunk or treat in the school parking lot before their Family Fun Night event. They played Rio on a projection screen outside after dark. It got pretty cold, and they ran out of food. So Bart ran to Wendy's and got us something to eat while we froze and enjoyed the movie. Ladybug was pretty into it, but Shoobee got to a point about 3/4 of the way into the movie, where he was NOT having fun anymore! Thank goodness I brought so many thick heavy blankets to wrap up in! Saturday night our friends hosted a block party in our cul-de-sac. The kids dressed up once again and played games. We ate and hung around till the kids needed to go to bed. We actually put our kids to bed and got to go back outside (since it was right in front of our house) to continue the party with the adults. Monday night was Halloween. We have a long driveway and a busted outdoor light, so we chose to sit out in front with a small display of jack-o-lanterns and candy (and our bean bag haunted house that we placed a strobe light behind), and a chair. Bart opted to be the candy giver, which left me to take the kids trick-or-treating. They got so much candy it was incredible. And since this is the first Halloween Beena can partly understand, she was obsessed with the open bowl of candy!! To say the least there was a LOT of crying involved that night. 

Brother & sister dressed up before preschool Pumpkin Party

Pumpkin Patch visit!

Group pumpkin photo...

Halloween night... Thor, a ladybug, and Sif (Thor's friend)

My birthday passed and was fairly uneventful. I spent the morning at my favorite spa getting a 80 minute hot stone massage.... ahhh!! Then I took a nap, ran an erand or two and went out to dinner with the family. Bart surprised me with a very sweet gift! 

Friday morning I was supposed to be at the Kroger in Coppell at 6:00am to catch the bus to Plano for the opening ceremonies of the Susan G. Komen 3 day Dallas. I hardly slept all night, and finally fell asleep around 3:30am. At 5:50am, I woke up on my own to find that my alarm did NOT go off!! OMG, it was awful! I called my team captain, or at least tried to, but in my haze was trying to call an email address! Finally, as I was half dressed and falling out the door, I reached a team member and asked her to pass me on to Jackie. She said she would hold the bus for me and I dashed out the door. I got there at 6:18. So sorry guys! But we got to opening ceremonies with plenty of time to spare! 

Day One was great! So much energy and excitement, the miles just flew by. The weather was so beautiful, not too hot or cold. And no blisters by the end of the day! I stayed at Camp Doubletree with my team mate from last year. We figured out that since neither of us snore, we make for good roomies. It was great to sleep in a nice comfy warm bed! 

Day Two was the long day for us at 21.6 miles! The route was very similar to last year's, but thank heavens we did not go over the Addison suspension bridge because that was hot and brutal last year. My feet felt incredible sore at about mile 18, so the last 3.6 miles were accomplished on sheer will. I made it though! Another day down! My team was the largest and the highest fundraising team in DFW and we were therefore treated to a special dinner and a beautiful designer cake that night. There was a dance party which to me makes no sense, but my new friend Gwen & I actually stayed and danced for about four songs before giving in and walking back to the hotel. 

Opening Ceremonies, Day 1

Two of my good friends, and me

My walking backpack, the names on the ribbons are who I walked in honor of this year

Me, at the end of 60 miles, 3 days, and so much love!

Day Three started early, even with our extra hour from daylight savings, they started us out an hour earlier. We left the hotel and walked to camp to catch the buses to Ursuline Academy where we started our last day. It was again very similar, very scenic, and touristy. We got out early and walked a pretty brisk pace that got us to lunch, mile 13, by 11:40. So we had some serious time to kill. We took a 2 hour lunch break & rested. I needed it since my calves had charlie-horsed up and weren't relaxing at all. (Serious ouch!) Lunch, stretching, and a 2 hour rest was what I needed to be able to finish the walk. We finally made it, all 60 miles at about 2pm! We sat at final holding for a long while before making our final walk into closing ceremonies together! It was wonderful! The emotional and physical journey is such a bonding experience! I walked away with so many new friends, it was INCREDIBLE! Going back for more... 2012 here I come!

Ladybug's school troubles

Second grade whoas! As part of the citizenship portion of second grade, Ladybug's school sends home a daily behavior calendar that is to be signed and sent back. If there is a behavior issue that day, a checkmark appears in that day's box with a brief explanation of the infraction. If there is no issue, an ink stamp is placed in the box. This is nothing new, her school has done this since Kindergarten. And in the last 2 years, she has probably received 6 checks total, for 2 years worth of behavior. Well, let's just say we have surpassed that already and we are only 9 weeks into the year! This is ridiculous! So what exactly are these infractions you may wonder. Well, two involved playing or fidgeting with things in her desk (a calculator, & a pencil sharpener). One was for being on the wrong math problem when asked to give her answer out loud. One was a tardy, not to school, just not ready to start class exactly at 7:50 (all things put away, folder in box, and sitting at her desk). Another was for side stepping in line with another girl, not jumping or skipping or being loud or crazy, just walking sideways instead of forward. And finally, the other was for not remembering to put her green folder in the collection box. Okay, I think I am a pretty reasonable person. I can respect rules and try to teach my children respect for rules and authority, but OMG, these kids are 7-8 years old. They are creative and curious. Easily excited and yes, easily distracted. You don't give them calculators and not expect them to play with them. You can't ask parents to provide pencil sharpeners and have them in their desk and not realize these may peek some curiosity. If a student gets ahead of the class because the pace is too slow, should you really punish them? If school starts at 7:50 am, give the kids 5 minutes to get situated before giving them checks. And finally, how hard is it to gently ask a child for their folder if it is missing from the box when you need it. This beat down of a procedure is taking my "loves to be at school" princess and turning that love into fear and dread. She dreads bringing home her folder. Instead of discussing her day with joy and excitement, she starts her conversation with "mom, i did (or didn't) get a check!" Really! Not, "guess what I learned today" which was how she greeted me last year. It's tough, I used to think teaching her to respect the rules unconditionally was the right thing to do. But I see the defeat in her face when she does get a check and it breaks my heart. So, we have amended our approach to this whole thing. If she gets a check, well, we talk about it. If it is something truly behavioral that we can work on, we talk through it, and agree to try harder. If need be, she gets a privilege taken away. If it is something I don't feel is worth the beat down of her spirit, we let it go. A simple "well now we know NOT to do that again" and that's it. I seriously dislike this green folder thing, and so does Ladybug. 

5 yrs old.... the Halloween Birthday Party!

Shoobee turned five this past Monday and had a great visit from Gigi & Grandpa over the weekend. We took the Grapevine train to the Fort Worth Stockyards because he loves trains and none of us had ever been there. It was a slow, long ride. There were many "are we there yet?"'s, and "why are we stopping again?" but eventually we got there. We ate lunch and went to explore the area. The kids got to see a real cattle drive, and pet a steer. They went on a tethered pony ride, and we took some silly pictures behind bars (jail birds, below), before getting to feed animals at the petting zoo. Finally, before boarding the train back to Grapevine, the kids and Gigi got ice cream. The train ride back had fewer stops and almost all the kids fell asleep. On his actual birthday, we met up at Great Wolf Lodge for birthday breakfast. It was yummy and fun. The kids all got wolf ears and a tail and we sang Happy Birthday to Shoobee. He loved it!

Grandpa, Gigi & the kids

So, yesterday was his birthday party! We had discussed with him options for his birthday party and he chose to have one at home with a Halloween theme. Well, it's been 5 years since I hostessed a party at our home, and truthfully we don't have the space to have people over. But assuming we have good weather, why not have a mini Halloween carnival outside in our cul-de-sac! So, I got very friendly with Pinterest and came up with food ideas, and games, and a craft or two. To say the least, a LOT of work went into this party. A few days before, I found out my father would be traveling through town that day and I thought "Yay, how perfect, he gets to have his Papa at his birthday party!" It was so awesome, probably more so for me!

Birthday boy & big sis eating the halloween treats!

  

A group project (thank you, all!), the bean bag haunted house

A kid friendly version of darts, Pop the Pumpkin...

Thor blows out his candles!

We had 18 kids attend and what I thought was going to encompass my entire cul-de-sac, managed to be contained with in my driveway (a very long one fortunately). How perfect, less to worry about. We did a craft, played games, and ate lots of food. I had lots of amazing helpers! I am pretty sure it was fun for everyone. What a success!! I know Shoobee and Ladybug had a blast with all their friends! Happy Birthday my sweet boy! (We were missing a family member through the party, Beena was taking her nap through it all :)) My dad stayed until after the party was over, and Reuben & Emmie came too. Having family here made it even better!

Trying too hard

I had the greatest epiphany Wednesday evening. We had gone swimming at the gym after nap time and stayed for a few hours when it was time to head home for dinner and bedtime. It was pretty close to 7pm. On the way home, Bart & I chose to grab food since it would be faster and easier, we stopped at Quizno's. Once we got home, I shouted joyfully, "Upstairs to mom's room, we're having a bedroom picnic" The kids loved it. We all five scrambled on the king size bed with our sandwiches before us. Each of us in a slightly different direction but all still trying to watch the TV and eat. I looked at us, all cramped, twisted, wiggly, satisfied, and happy. I had to laugh! I have been trying so hard to make this a fun summer for the kids. I've gone on and on about how I wanted us to bond and be happy... little did I realize, we are. We have spent the last two months being together, learning to work together, to play together, and we are a very close and happy family. It's not always perfect, but that's life. It was so awesome to see! I couldn't help but reflect how life has thrown some lemons our way, but we keep finding ways to make them sweet and tasty. I am blessed, I am truly, truly blessed!  I love my kids, they are an amazing combination of personalities, temperaments, and heart. It may not always be easy to see, but I think we are doing something right. We are loving these kids with all that we have and showing them how to love right back!!

So next week, we are going to Sea World San Antonio!  Our first full family fun trip! We are staying at the Hilton, right by Sea World. We plan to take two days to see Sea World, so we don't feel rushed. We are also going to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo while we're there. I can't wait to see the kids' faces when they see Shamu and the dolphins! This is gonna be great!!    ~A